A Military Bubble Pricked.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXI, Issue 8959, 7 December 1905, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Military Bubble Pricked.

Hit- f>t tin* l)t[[[vt-[>r'.'>f ciiim.-s in•tbrcmrf bv th-* rt.iily pr<K>—miii.ii more wi'tflv. it is t<> i>r ftMrcrl. tfi.in the taiv •>f tt» ii:ii"i!vi[iioti.H if»wii:.iil. which v..trsiiatjte Jr.jr it - Ii ;sp[>f.ira th.it the ctWir.Lt-jrf ciiir-i-'i iv.is t--icntty brought into ourt. nmcfi ng.iiitai it.-. itiVfiit.ir a U'tif. in muitc ifoil uitii thy «.>mip.irty"s tiit.tnMi. whi. ii h:ui twon:'.' inv.uvt'ti, vvitrt rhf r*.stiit it ".p.. ;'o:i:ui t»- ff .1, ' "ii;j i. ;>ltl:ouj;h just h->v.-Ikin.l-tti t«» lic-ivc rdi tlw 'X p-T«3 !!•>[ .tppc.tr. Mr Kr.tnci.s Marr-% uhi» cntnbat.'d th" nr-oiiiit !« Loitii'w. writes '"At til- c[»'iwni «)!' tilt- l!ti«■> •l.tpiriisf wiir Htn.r-rfctti •lEi'trt-.i to :!«• I V ir'ci ' ;»v. rnnrciit t-/ cjiiip tht«rmy with tii>-cuirth.it h- Ii t«l hivw.t* t».f. 'ihtch !:•• t» i>t- invu'r.ir.ibif. '1 fi>' itc.ticrt .i • at l!"rn<> w.is .'•-sk- ri t*> ' itc with iii"i .111 .•.:tn<i;e t-riV p,.;t in fxp.-rtnc-n:® which tic c:..r» ii ti> !.<■ 1 c.i!< [u.-ivc. Shortly ;i;t--r----w.ir.i. .t very i'lvxr.iii'" rt fwr" rn id.-, it nuii;.i.ry iittach'-. C'»iotic[ ii.iroii rii> Mitil.-r. w.i.t •>>'I■■ r> <i t*> itirrs with the I'■ t:1 >■ - <f-111 cnip uiy iin So itirnLsli 100.€00 ctiir.i.-4. >. <>i whicli 10.000 siinuirf i>- <ic[ivt?rt'tl in Atiiiii.it. IGO4. I>ll this ;n;tc>jntcnt I!cii>"ictti .ir.-l hi> .is.s ic;:i!c.i <itit unt-rf without ditFi. iitty from ,1 Milni bank .»n r.<of TO.OGO lire. I!nt the aKiir ttin»f>- .viruo itnifv. ;iwl the .|;tp.mcv; It iCittott at l!omt.. t- ok action, making roprcsctitttions t» the - It.<!i.m Oovenuiu ni r-.Mr.liitk" thr.» viohttion ot neutrality l»y •Kif of subjects in fiiriiiiiiii'.g the enemy with mprchaiifito-r 50 oviflciitly contnibaiul r>; w;ir. The preltxt of Mih'ii fillllllllOllol Mmrnu. manager of th" J'tiuxietti cosnpmy. and informed him otficiaiiy that ( by the tins of the kittg>ioi:i hi- was. an'l I v;ottlrl remain, forbidden to furnish ciiir- | to the Uitssian army. Signor Man- | z»rti w-,u. not grtMtlv distiirbcd . . and mirri-rfi itely tit.ide of ; ers of service to theJapanese emiiiiftV. which accepted tliom. It was now the turn of tlie Uti.-v-ians to act. and as they had advanced considerable money they made charges of breach •if faith and swiivdiin™. They even mentioned these :so loudly that the Mifanes? bank joined its protestations to ti.eira and, not content with complaints, rf rrtartrfeff tiiroc.'fi the courts the repivmt nt of tfit- 70.000 lire that it had loaned. It. nedett; and his associate. Manzoni. thus wr" put in a bad position: they h>il to C" into cotitt. lint Italian justice has coneif|er.»i)le curiosity : and it was not content With what hid satisfied the Japanese and UuMsun military attaches and the otticers i>( tbie i'afiati O'reral str.tT. Tfie court desired t<> examine the famous cuirass at ('•we •|ii.->rte[s, ret'itsing to take account <>? the a'letrerf results of experiments that were doubtless marvellous in appearance, but - . . without sci-'iitifir value. The restth of the examination was deplorable. Bent detti h.td never been willing to allow anybody to touch his marvellous device, hut under threat of immediate imprisonment he had to submit it to the minute examination of military experts, who went away l-uichn;,' heartily, having found out that all the experiments had been or.ly .'.-.ilfi:l tricks and that all who had been t rTvirueti thereby had been simply dtip>d :

.tvl thev pr-x! aimed in their report that invention ms a great fraud. Ami -VJ -wrath in all tfi- camps, general mmplaint. and an or<lcr of court Tcmawlling"

t'Varrifw. it appears. r.-'.> r believed in the |!>-m«lrUt cuirass. ami that journal arrord.iiiilty devotes several paragraphs to rejoic:nir""V« r the discomfiture of tl w who did. ar.ri to coniiratulatini: itsvlt that "events h>.ve justified its very scientific prudence." Mr Marre aays. in conclusion: "I was not present at lVred"tiV experiment?, hut I recollect that in 1806 1 saw some of the f.Mr.e hind that w.-re in a tie daily in the nuiiic-halfo hy a I'erlin taisor whose hame escapes n;e. They were wonderfully conctnaivr and the managers made brkfges of coki far their inventor. One fine day. however, the tatter, ttred of (he somewhat stale story that he had thus ac-

rj iirtd. . . offered to sell his secret t« the German Government. The Kmperr>r accepted on the sole condition that the rnirvisA jhotild successfully undergo the foßowinc test: 'The inventor should put it on. ami his Majesty himself, armed with a gun taken from one of the troopers of his guard, should fire at him three times.' The tailor accepted, but on the etc of the day fixed for the experiment he vanished ami no more was neard of lum. . . . Was Bencdetti a near rela-

tive of the Berlin tailor? In any cm© it wonld bo definitely interesting to know juat now he performed hts 'experiEeflts." !"