TO MAKE SOLDIERS BULLETPROOF

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2495, 23 June 1915, Page 8

TO MAKE SOLDIERS BULLETPROOF

AN INVEROARGILL MAN'S INVENTION. (By Telejraph—Press Association.! InvercargilJ, June 22. Since the war began various methods of protecting soldiers' against the deadlv rain of bullets have been adopted, with indifferent success. Mr. W. Williams, of East Road, Invercargill, has been experimenting with a material prepared by himself, and the results have up to the present been very gratifying. - The tests are made with a service revolver at a range of about three feet, and half a dozen shots, fired at the samo spot, just penetrated the outer skin. The same bullet easily bored a hole through a tough two-inch board and the -weatherboarding of a shed in which the trial was made. The material, of which protective armour could be made without great .difficulty, is light, cheap, and adaptable. The bullets axe nipt immediately stopped, but are caught in the texture, and the gradual reduction of the impact entirely prevents concussion. The tests Mr. Williams made are more exacting than those necessary to prove the worth of the material for war purposes, for the resistance lent by a hard wall, at a yard's range, is much more considerable than that offered by a man at the average distance of opposing parties in battle or trench fighting. Mr. Williams's facilities for experimentation are, limited, and if his material could be more adequately tested by the Defence Department, better understands the requirements of bullet-proof armour, very satisfactory results might be obtained. Up to the present tests have been made only with lead bullets, but no_ difficulty in resist- ] ing other varieties is anticipated.