Paul writes of the “whole armor of God,” proof against “the fiery darts
of the wicked.”
Mr. W. T. Stead thinks that armor is certainly about to be
revived in the military forces of Europe. A bullet-proof
substance has been discovered; and if it be used as a
breast-plate like a steel cuirass, it will put a different face
on modern warfare. The French Government has tested the new
armor, and reports that it has four or five times the resistance
of chilled steel, and is invulnerable to rifle bullets. The
equipment is not heavier than a cuirass and costs half as much.
Of his own observation in this matter, Mr. Stead writes as
follows in the London _Daily Chronicle_:
“I have myself witnessed experiments which go to prove that the
soldier provided with this new armor can expose himself to the
fire of modern rifles, at a distance of one hundred yards, and
suffer as little from their fire as if he were being assailed by
pea-shooters. The regiment arrayed in this armor of proof, and
marching up to within one hundred yards of the enemy, suffers no
more damage from a mitraille of steel bullets than if it were
marching through an ordinary hailstorm.”
(132)
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