New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1918-08-05

least six of them are known to be
Working today, One is in Dresden;
ono in Switzerland; two in japan:
one in London, and one, a French
artist named Daniel Tachaux. who II
now working under the supervision OF
Major BaShfOrd, Dean OF the or
dnance Department in the armor
workshop of the Metropolitan MI
scum of Art.
I'd. Tachaux's Qualifications.
CAS- an artist in hammer work, NJ
FachauX, many students believe, is
superior to all. He was born in Blois
where his forebears had been doing
metal work for many generations.
Going to Paris in the seventies, no
was, apprentice TO the.~fadnOus Klein,
who was brought from the Dresden
armory at the order Of Napoleon III.
to clean and repair the armor which
Napoleon was then Installing in the
beautiful Chateau of Pierrefonds
Thus both by training and descent,
M. TaChauX represents the skill of
the. armorCIS of ancient times. Ten
years ago he was brought to New
Ork and given an appointment as
assistant to Major Dean, then cura-
tor of the armOr collection at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art There
the Frenchman'S skill was needed in
cleaning and mounting the armor Of
the collections.
when the war broke out, learn
ing that the government was in need
Of skilled makers Of models for the
preparation Of armOr, Director Rob
inson of the metropolitan Museum,
with the sanction of the trustees,
placed the department Of armor at
the disposal of Secretary. OF, War Bak-
er. Since then, numerous designs
have been carefully worked ont 81.
Major Dean and actually made bF
TaChaux and his young assistant,
Sergeant Martel, now of the ordnance
departm ent.
"Major Dean himself was brought
into the service of the army in No
vember, 1917. Owing to his lifelong
study of, the subject, he was COM
missioned as q najor and sent abroad
at once to report on the status OF
armOr He returned to the United
| States late In January and has kept
the aTmOr workshop of the museum
busy, week days and holidays turn
ing out models in accordance with
the Suggestions of General Pershing
ARD the ordnance department. No less
y
arinor defenses- have been made in
, various factories in experimental lots,
including in number from q few score
to many thousand pieces. some of
which have found favorable comment
at American headquarters. These
armOr defenses include even arm and
leg guards, the use Of which was sug-
gested by the study Of hospital sta.
tistifs in France and England. 1t ap-
pears that more than 40 per cent of
the hospital casualties suffered were
leg wounds and no less than 33 per
centTfaaan wounds. Il ~
In connection with this work,
everg eeforte4shas been made to, i'm
prove the character of metal used in
| the armors A committee of the Ma
! tio4sfl Council of Defense, including
the, names of such armor experts as
| Alexander Mcmillan Welch, Edward
Hubbard Litchfield, Ambrose Mon
! nell, DR.. G. O. Brewster, and Clar-
| ence- H Mackay, has dealt especially
| with the problem Of personal armOr.
And some Of the most eminent metal
| hrgists Of the country, including
| those on the committee, have devoted
| almost their entire time to the ques-
! ton. Among these Is Professor
! Henry NJ. Howe of Columbia uniyer-
| sity, who has made an exhaustive
| study Of helmet metal, aiming to give
the American soldier better protection
| than the soldier of any other nation"
! AK "