New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-23
Sandbags Do Much Damage

On the Western front, however, there
is enough of such injury to demand
preventive action. Wherever there are
sandbags-and to thousands of soldiers
on the Western front war reduces it
self to a matter of sandbags AMI stink
an explosive or even a bullet may
spatter the contents Of a sandbag into
ones eyes, and the lifelong damage is
done.
What. then. is Captain Cruises de-
vice for prevention of these injuries :?
Il is a transparent mesh OF steel
rings, linked so closely together that
only the smallest particle could pass
through its meshes, and then only II
il struck at right angles TO the plane
of it's surface; tangentlal blow
would meet with practically contlnu-
Gus barrier Of steel.
The shield is fixed at its centre on
steel strut, which enables it to snap
down in a second into place before the
eyes, and which holds it up out Of
place when it is not wanted. 1t IS
fastened 70 the helmet and is not
separate piece of the equipment with
which To burden an already Overbur-
dened soldiery. A chemical process
renders it rust proof.
| have said that nothing like it is
in use in any of the armies.
Some time ago Captain Cruise sub
mitted slightly different pattern TO
the War Office, which the War Office
made up and sent out. But through
somebody's haste the first eye-shields
possessed a number of serious disad-
vantages. They had no steel strut to
hold them in place before the eyes,
and the simple steel mesh of which
they consisted rested on the nose when
in use, not only contributing toward
the freezing of mans nose in cold
weather. but sometimes rubbing
through the skin.
Aids Defective Vision
The new device, which is to supplant
the old. is q. large improvement on it
in every way
1t does not affect the vision in day
light, eXcept-a surprising thing, -
actually TO make it $50 per cent better.
slight hort-sightedness. took my
glasses off to don steel helmet with
the new eye-shie!d on it, and found my
vision without glasses wonderfully i'm
proved. The small steel mesh cuts
or the DeTlpHeIdl rays HANu IHe Sutll-
sighted eye gathers, and enables one
to secure a startlingly improved vision.
Captain Cruise personally has worn
the eye-shield in the trenches. and
knows from his own experience that
the new shield does not interfere with
q mans clearness of vision in bayonet
fighting, as many soldiers complained
the old one did.
which casts an interesting side light on
him look guy. And Tommy is very
vain.
The same objection was raised
against this steel helmet when the
Ministry of Munitions first sent them
TO the troops.
The eye-shicld is meeting with the
same stubborn opposition to its adop-
ton at the front that the steel helmet
first had TO contend with. although
the helmet is now worn universally
at the front.
Il is not sufficient 10 say that the
cye-sh!eld affords the same protection
to the eyes that the helmet does 10
the head, but it must be kept in mind,
in addition, that the eye-shield is a
preventive VI injuries WHICH would De
trivial TO the head, but in the case of
the eyes are fatal. Direct hits with
bullets destroy very few eyes at the
front, and, when they are obtained,
they are nearly always fatal.
The problem of protecting the SOL
dier's eyes is practically solved now
that Captain Cruise has invented his
eye-shield. All that remains is for
the Ministry OF Munitions to make il
and for the War Office to get the sol
diers TO wear it. And there are ways
of getting both these jobs accom-
plished. Other big jobs with refer
ence to the protection OF the soldier
remain still unachieved. The SOL
dier's body remains TO be made shrap-
mel proof, and so far no surgeon has
hit on piece Of armor which will
meet both the requirements of practi-
csbility and efficiency. There are vari-
GUS body armors on the market, but
none of them thus far has been found
so efficient that the army authorities
have had to take il up. No patents
or financial interests are involved. But
the inevitable idea has not yet been
hit upon.
tcovnsht 1917. By Edward ManhLll