BULLET-PROOF COATS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144713, 23 June 1915, Page 5

BULLET-PROOF COATS.

AN INVERCARGILL INVENTION. ' l-GR PRESS ASSOCIATION 1 . 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 »3' himself, and the results have, up to the present, been very gratifying. Tho tests are made with a service revolver at a range of about 3} feet. A dozen shots fired in the same spot just penetrated the outer skin, while the same bullet easily bored a hole through a tough two-inch board and the weather boarding of the sited in 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 th© # texture and the gradual reduction of impact entirely prevents concussion. The tests Mr. Williams mad© are more exacting than those necessary to prove the worth of the material for war purposes, for the resistance lent by hard wall at the yard range is much more considerable than that offered by a man at the average distance of opposing panics in battle or trench fighting. Mr. Williams’ facilities for experimentation are limited, and if the material could be more adequately tested by the Defence Department, which 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 resisting other varieties is anticipated.