BULLET PROOF GARMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 June 1915, Page 4

BULLET PROOF GARMENTS.

A SUCCESSFUL TRIAL. By Telegraph.—Press Association. • ! - Inveicargill, Last Night. ' binco the war began various methods ' of protecting soldiers against the deadly . . ram of bullets have been adopted with > Indifferent success. Mr. W. Williams, of tust Koad, Inveicargill, has been expertmeting with a material prepared by himself, and the results have, up to the . present, been very gratifying. The tests arc made with u service revolver at a range of about 31 feet. A dozen shots bred in the same spot just penetrated the outer skin, while the sama millet easily bored a hole through a tough two-inch board and the weather ' boarding of the shed in which the trial was made. The material of which the protective armor could be made without great difficulty is light, cheap, and adaptable. The bullets are not immediately stopped, but are caught in the texture and the gradual reduction of impact entirely prevents concussion. Hie tests Mr. Williams made are more exacting than those necessary to provo the worth of the material for war purposes, for the resistance lent by a,hard \MUI at the yard 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' Incilities for experimentation are limited, and if the material could be more adequately tested by the lJeicnee Department, which better under.slands (he requirements of bullet proof armor, very saltsfactorv results might be obtained. Up to the present, tests have been made only with lead bullets, but, no difficulty in resisting other varieties is anticipated.