Omaha daily bee., 1918-08-25
TIN HAT WORN BY
YANKEES PROVES
ITS REAL WORTH
Lives Are Saved by the PeCu-
liar Steel Of Which They
Are Made; Soldier SWal.
lows Bullet. #s
CORRESPONDENCE Of Associated Press.

Correspondence Of Associated Press.
Paris. July 30.-The case of one
American marine who went through
q hail OF shrapnel and machine gun
FIRE at Cantigny and is now convalesc-
ing from a wound in the great Ameri-
can military hospital at Neuilly, in
the Paris suburbs, seems to have
demonstrated that the American field
helmet, commonly called by soldiers
the atin hat" is thoroughly reliable
article when put to the supreme test.
This marine owed his life to his "tin
hat" and the peculiar qualities Of its
steel in giving slightly without shat
tering. In the midst of the action
he went down with ball striking the
top of the helmet and pressing 1own
to the skull He was brought back,
along with the helmet, which showed
deep indentation about the size of
half a base ball. 1t was this indenta-
tion which had pressed down to the
scalp, making wound which required
trepaning. But there it stopped. and
the metal OF the tin hat after giving
TO the missile until its force was spent,
had stopped it in its deadly fight
straight toward the brain. The tre-
paning operation was only slight and
the marine was well on the way to
recovery.
Helmet Preserved. e.
The indented helmet was preserved,
not as souvenir, but to be forwarded
10 the ordnance experts at Washing
ton 10 show them the good qualities
OF their helmets. II Is said that
hard and brittle steel, which would
have resisted without giving. would
have been shattered to bits by the
impact and the ball would have gone
straight through the brain.
In an adjoining ward a stalwart
young marine who had been in the
same Cantigny fight stood at atten-
tion with no apparent sign OF wound.
But the surgeon, feeling at the boys
throat, nodded approvingly, and then
remarked that this was one OF the
most remarkable cases that had ever
come under his observation. and prob
ably the only case of the kind on
record. A built had struck the sol
der In the left side of the neck and
had gone through to the gullet, where
1t stopped, and had then descended or
been swallowed into the stomach.
Swallowed Bullet.
An X-ray examination clearly
showed the bali in the intestines. But
instead Of removing it by an opera
ton, the surgeons decided to await
The course Of nature and see II the
aoldier would digest the rifle ball. And
this he did. One Of the surgeons re-
marked that the chances OF such a
thing happening were less than one
In 4 million, but a colleague added
that the chances were far less than
that, as he could not recall any like
case in the whole range OF military
surgery. !.
Many OF the French poilus under
American care were In the wards of
the Daughters Of the American Con-
federacy, with the beds marked with
the names of the we'll known southern
figures, such as Stonewall Jackson,
Senator Zebulon Vance. Gen. Joseph
Wheeler Of Alabama.
When the big dietary kitchen was
inspected later there was a savory
smell OF American dishes and dain.
ties being prepared for the wounded
men. and one OF the surgeons cheer
"a The cooks with the remark "YouI
dishes do more good than all oui
medicines" And this Is literally true
Tor these American wounded do not
want foreign foods, but long for tn,
simple old-fashioned dishes OF home
like boiled custard. matted milk, egg
nos and milk So that, even in the
food American cooks are doing thei
share, and down to the last detail
the Americanism Of the big militar,
hospital Is proving a blessing to th'
American manned and wounded wht
have come back from the front.