BULLET-PROOF ARMOUR

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9077, 23 June 1915, Page 8

BULLET-PROOF ARMOUR

SOUTHLANDBR’S INVENTION Press Association.

INVERCARGILL, June 22. Since the war began various methods of protecting soldiers against the deadly 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 results have up to the present been iVery gratifying. Tests have been .made with a Service revolver at a range of about three feet, and half a dozen shots.fired in the same spot just penetrated the outer skin. The same bullet easily bored a hole through a tough two-inch board and the" weatherhoarding of the shed ih which the trial was made. - The material, of which the protective; armour could be made without great difficulty, is light, cheap and adaptable. The bullets are not immediately stopped, but are caught in the texture, and gradual reduction of 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 of a hard wall at a 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’s facilities for experimenting are limited, and if the material could be more adequately tested by the Defence Department, R-hich better understands the requirements of bullet-proof armour, very satisfactory results might be obtained. Up to the present the tests have been mad© only with lead bullets, but no difficulty in resisting other varieties is anticipated.