Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights
John Stuart Mill · en
The Japanese in modern times were first to resort to the forerunner of
armor. They used shields of steel and in the siege of Port Arthur such
shields were strapped to the front of the body. The Germans in the
charges have frequently used double shields, advancing in groups of four
behind a steel protector carried by two men, leaving the other two free
to fire at the enemy through port holes in the armor shields.
None of the armors has, however, proved its resistance to the high
velocity bullets which the powerful field guns rain against it.
Experiments are being made continuously along these lines, and Guy Otis
Brewster, of New Jersey, has developed a bullet-proof jacket and
headgear which it is said approximates perfection.
In the presence of ordinance officers from the Picatinny Arsenal he
invited an expert military marksman to fire at him from a distance of 60
yards. A Springfield rifle was used, with regulation ammunition. The
steel bullet had a velocity of 2740 feet a second. Only one shot was
fired, but it failed to penetrate the armor.
COMPOSITION A SECRET.
The composition of the latter is a secret, beyond the fact that it
consists in part of steel. Jacket and headgear weigh 30 pounds; but the
material is so flexible that the soldier wearing such an outfit can
kneel, lie down, rise and run, charge from the trenches, use the
bayonet, or throw hand grenades, without impediment to his movements.
It has been denied that dum-dum bullets, placed under ban by all
civilized nations, have been used by the Germans, but there is no doubt
that explosive bullets have been used. The report of the Belgian
Commission, which investigated the horrors when the Germans first
invaded King Albert's country, contains testimony which proves
conclusively that such missiles were used. These bullets were, in
effect, small shells containing an explosive chemical which was set off
by contact. Photographs taken of wounds show the effect which these
bullets produced.
More than that, the Russians charged that along the northern frontier
the Germans fired glass bullets, although there is nothing to sustain
the belief that such missiles were generally used. The dum-dum bullet
is a soft-nosed missile which, when it strikes a bone, flattens out and
splatters, creating a jagged wound which it is almost impossible to
treat or heal. The Germans, in ordinary, use a steel jacketed bullet
which possesses high penetrative powers, while the French at the
beginning of the war were using the ordinary lead bullet.
AN AMERICAN BULLET.