Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-15
Armor for Soldiers.

ArmOr IUT SUluICISs
EULL suits or half suits Of armor
l. may once more appear upon the
battlefield 1t might be said that ar
NOR has already reappeared, for the
steel helmet which has been adopted
by all the armies in Europe and per-
haps in the other battle areas Is
strongly suggestive of the headgear
worn by knights of old and other
old-time soldiers who may not have
been knights. In fact, the steel he'll
met is called by the French "casque,"
which was the name of the full steel
helmet in the days when knighthood
was in flower. In Homeric days the
the shield. greaves, band. belt, tunic.
helmet. breastplate and his sword.
Before heavy metal came into use
on the battlefield this 'armor' was made
Of the toughest animal hides obtain.
ways by the use of metal and wood.
The shield was composed of layers
Of OK hide, sometimes studded with
short bronze spikes and sometimes
eYessa Which 1 Protected the legs.
were at first Of heavy hide and later
Of bronze. It has been said that
Achilles wore greaves OF tin. Still
later the ancient warrior put on 9
bronze or leather and in some cases
both Of these materials were used in
making the headgear. The CLASSIC
helmet not only covered the head but
also the face and had two Sits
through which the wearer might look
Armor making and the making Of
arms such as swords, spears, axes,
darts iavelin 8 and the like, cor cons IT,
bronze. and in the great museums Of
the world one may see almost an In
an ne Of yaae see Gf can nR f sss1
together. There was the hawberk. or
coat Of mail, for which the English
knights of Norman times had prefer
knees with loose sleeves that came
only to the elbow. The skirt was slit
as military overcoats are now in order
to fit over the saddle Of horse: The
lers," round in form and made of linz
den wood bossed and ribbed with iron.
At later period the English hawberk
was given sleeves Of mail that reach
knights at one time affected hood
Of mail or steel chain in preference
to the helmet. Later there was intro
duced helmet or a fighting head
plCCc CdI1Co lH0 UdSllnck, "AlCu udu
a movable visor which the knight
might open or close at will, but with
eyeholes through which he might
see,. even after the visor was low
cred. Various names for styles Of
armor and the parts, of armor for diff
ferent parts Of the body were nose
guard called the nasal" Golf
which was worn under the mail hood
or helmet to keep the metal from
chatting the knights skull or face,
breast and back plates under or over
the hawberk, knee caps to protect
the joining of the upper and lower
hose, alettes or shoulder protectors,
the vambrace, which was a special
brace Of plate for covering the outer
side of the upper arm, and then there
were such things as the "salet," the
canal" and other parts of the 'har-
ness"
The subject of the adoption Of
armor by the troops of the allies is
being seriously considered 1t has
been reported that reproductions OF
several suits Of plate armor that
shipped from the Metropolitan Mu-
scum in New York to France to be
tried out in actual war. It is also
SAID some of this armor is being worn
at the front by American soldiers and
mat II IT proves stout enough to de-
hect bullets from rifles and machine
guns 1t will be adopted by the mill
tary authorities as an aid in winning
the war The try-out is being watch
ed with interest. It is known that
modern steel makers can turn out
stronger armor Of less weight than
the ancient harness, and il the re-
ports on Its use are favorable mill
lions OF suits of armor will be turned
out by American steel mills.
MAI. Bashford Dean, curator of arms
and armor of the Metropolitan Mu-
scum, who Is a stout advocate of the
use OF armor in the present war, has
SAID that the modern soldier does not
IKE armor because it is not as COM
Portable as the clothes to which he
Is accustomed. but that there is no
doubt that many lives would be saved
by wearing it. He said: Three
Iourihs of the hospital cases caused
oy nc and middle velocity projectiles
and hiapnel balls or she'll pieces
would be prevented. We have had
ABOUT thirty models of armor made
mere and have sent some of them
baer ana ,ao they are now on trial at the
The Land of Famine.
A REPRESENTATIVES, was talking
about the bolshevika