THE 8EMI-WEFKLV TRIRUWE NORTH PI ATTP. NFRRASKA,
FARM LIFE HIS IDEAL
THE PLTUPN OF gjfik
X ifiMltjI friliitiliJ or llunry VII (Ulivemo u.id Jtovorsu)
2- Skull Cap, l.uto HuviMitounth c'untury.
3- Snppur'a Hclmot. Mlddlo or Nineteenth CuntUry.
4- Btcrote. Lato Seventeenth Cuntury
6-Htucl Skull Cap. 1915. -"iury.
g-0"rBet, Eurly UlRhtconth Century.
Un .n. K?r! 1i,,,,,e?,nlU.at, Sixteenth Century,
s-l'lkemiins I'ot. Mldillo of Seventeenth Cuntury.
g
4
ARSHAL MAURICE of Saxo, writing
in tho mlddlo or tho oightconth cen
tury, deplored tho dlauHO of do
fonslvo nrmor as bolng tho cnuso of
largo numbor of casualtlea in bat
tlo. Ho vory truly obBorvcd that
most of tho wounds caused by
apont bullets, Hword, lnnco, or plko
thrusts would bo minimized, it not
Irovonted, by tho use of somo kind of metal pro
tection. Ho docs not suggest that Its weight and
unwloldlncsa was any drawback, for ho recom
mends a cuirass mado of buff leather, re-onforced
'with metal strips, weighing in all SO pounds, as
a vory useful equipment, and ho gives as his opin
ion that It was only tho cost of armor which
'brought about its disuse. From the middle of tho
ulxtoontu century there had been much discus
sion as to tho practical valuo of armor, and Sir
John Smytho, writing In 1G90, cites tho death
of Sir Philip Sidney from a spont bullot as a rea
won for adhering to tho old fashions In military
cqulpmont. As early ns 1BG9 armor was proved
by musket or pistol shot, and In 1590 Sir Henry
Loo, master of tho armories, arranged a trial
to detormlno tho rcspoctlvo merits of Shropshire
.iron and "Hungoro" or Innsbruck motal, with re
nulls disastrous to tho homomado product.
In tho "Vernoy Memoirs," under tho data of
1C07, wo find that ono Richard Hals proved his
nrmor with "as much powder as will cover tho
bullet In tho palm of tho hand." It was this
jiroof by musket shot, combined with the gradual
locadencc of tho craft of tho armorer, who had
by this time lost tho art of tampering his motal,
-which produced tho rraceloss and cumbersome
equipment of tho seventeenth contury proof
wgalnst firearms, It Is true, but so heavy and In
convenient as to bo entirely unsulted for extend
od expeditions, and for tho now school of military
(tactica. Tho last relic of tho completo suit of
plato was tho small crescont-shapod gorget worn
by infantry officers up to about tho year 1830.
Once this had been u practical protection to tho
throat, but lntterly it shrank to a small plaquo
of brass, llttlo larger than a roglmental badge,
flulltod armor, brlgandlnes, and chain mall wore
occasionally used after Held armor had been
given up; but thoso wore sololy used against tho
Attack of tho assussln, Napoleon III is said to
(have worn a defense of mail; tho cavalry of tho
Confederate army in tho American Civil war fa
jvorod a vest lined with plates of steel; and Nod
(Kelly, tho bushranger of our own day, woro a
jholmet and culraBS of bulletproof bollor plate.
Tho thin strips of steel used in tho brlgandlno
Eero only of valuo agnlnst sword cuts, and It was
or this purpose that they woro omployo1 in tho
'"aocrotos" or hat linings, of which thoro are still
large numbors In the Tower, and In tho hat of
JBradahaw tho regicide, In tho Ashmolcan mu
tioura, Oxford. The modern French and Gorman
defenses of this nature would seem to be qulto
useless against long-rango rltlea. For many years
Inventors have brought forward contrivances,
claimed to bo bulletproof, which provided thrill
ing turns on tho music hall Btago, but none over
larod to race tho sorvlco rifle wearing their in
vention. As has been repeatedly pointed out in
recont articles on this subject, tho only valuo of
armor ut tho present day la as a protection from
glancing or spent bullets. It has no value what
ever against tho point-blank Impact of a projec
tile, for, oven If tho defenso is not penetrated,
Ul resultant shock is us serious as a bullet
wound., it la thoroforo this glancing surface
which should bo studied If armour Is to have any
Placo In modern warfare, and metal of a high
tompor and light In weight should bo employed.
It is linthinkablo that such defenses will ever bo
olllclally recognized, for, if Issued on a largo
scalo, thoy would groatly impede the mobility of
troops nlroady carrying moro dead weight than
did tho soldlor of tho sixteenth contury In his
suit of half-armor. If such contrivances aro pur
chased prlvntoly an oxhuustlvo test should bo in
sisted upon, and proof should bo recorded by
somo responsible body, as It was in tho days of
Charles I, when tho Armorers company of Lon
don wero ordered to carry out such tosts nnd
stnmp all nrmor that satisfied tho conditions
with their mark. It theso defenses are care
lessly mado of indifferent material thoy will as
suredly bo far moro of a danger than a protec
tion. It is Imposlblo to criticize tho modern produc
tions without soolng thorn In nctual uso In tho
trenches, but It would soora that tho pistol
shield with crossed bars is in direct opposition
to tho theory thnt tho'glanqlng surfaco" is of
Importance, for horo, whorovor tho bullet strikes,
It will dcllvor the full forco of Its blow and will
not fly off at a tangent as It would from Henry
VIII's pistol shield which is prosorvod In tho
Towor. Tho plain skull-cap BeoniH to fulfill tho
required conditions, except that it should be
provided with a brim curving outward, llko tho
chapel do for of tho slxteonth contury. Tho
French helmet appoars to provltlo Bomo lodg
ments for tho bullet In the straight brim and
high comb, but again It should bo noted that It Is
impossible to criticize practically until tho do
rouse is soen In action.
Besides tho ordinary body armor of tho lato
sovontoenth coutury In tho Tower collection
thoro aro a few Interesting specimens of slogo
implements which woro tho precursors of modom
contrivances. Tho chovaux do frlso of tho days
of Wellington aro a, sories of sergeants' pHiss
Joined by horizontal rods, and so arranged that
thoy can bo strotched across a road or tho breach
In a wall us a protection against cavalry an an
ticipation of tho present barbed wire entangle
ment. Tho sappers' mantels 'of leather nnd Iron
huvo continued In uso from tho tlmo of tho Ro
mans up to today, and tho weighty trappings
that woro used In tho mlddlo of tho sovontoenth
contury show that ovon then armor was serious
ly usod In the trench work. Sovoral of tho eight
eenth contury muskets In tho Tower of London
have brass cups fixed to tho barrel or butt from
which grenades wero thrown, a necessary precau
tion when tho fuso used was tho slow match.
Step by stop wo can traco tho evolution of mili
tary Invention, and It Is peculiarly Interesting
to Hnd that today, In tho light of all our scien
tific knowlcdgo and oxperlenco, wo nro suddenly
forced back to mako uso of appliances of four
hundred yoars ngo which wo had but recently
stigmatized as relics of barbarism.
Tho fucts show that from the stono ago onward
nrmor never became extinct It has always boen
worn. At tho present day, to bo suro, It appears
less for servlco than as a uniform of tho body
guard of royalty. And you rocall that corsolot
and steel hoadpleco aro still aeon In St. James'
park, or in Potsdam, or Indeed In Republican
Frnnco, whore the tradition of the bodyguard ot
the emperor still survives. Hut ovon theso rolics
of ancient armor aro known to bo sorviceablo.
saving many a guardsman from wounds of saber
or lanco or even high velocity projectiles when
striking nt an angle.
It 1b true that tho disuse of nrmor followed the
invention of better grades of powder, but it must,
nevertheless, bo romembcred that, during tho tlmo
when armor was worn oftcnest In Europe, gun
powder was In common use. During tho latter
half of tho slxteonth contury not only cannon but
guns and pistols were seen ovorywhero. Never
theless armor continued to bo lined. It was In
many cases tho mnttor of oxponso which limited
tho wearing of armor; for In thoso days tho cost
of nrmor was high, vory high. Clearly, thoroforo,
a man would bo less apt to wear a really good
harness ono which might havo cost tho equiva
lent of ten thousand dollars, In tho present pur
chasing power of raonoy when tho protection It
gavo him was not completo; ho preferred then to
wear common heavy armor, and In tho ond to
nogloct wearing armor altogothor.
When he found that his ononiy kopt away from
him, tho range of firearms lncreasod. L"ator on ho
"took n chnnco" of rocolving a wound.
It was only during tho Thirty Years war, say
boforo 1C50, that cheap armor of vory grent
weight almost Intolerable came Into general
uso. Then, too, ono must remember that thoro
was for a long tlmo a fooling that armor was uot
horolc. Even in oarllor centuries many a distin
guished officer thought It chivalrous to appear In
battle only partly armctl. Thus wo road of .his
torlcal personages going Into battle with holmot
visor raised, and of such a knight errant as Sli
Philip Sydney fighting barohended. Tho feeling
that It la discreditable to wear armor is Btrong
evorKnt tho presont day.
Tho reasoning runa. It is cowardly to lake an
unfair ndvantngo ot an adversary. Suroly a man
in a duel would not wear a shirt of mall; so why
should ho bo armored In battlo, which is only a
duol on n larger scale?
Shields should bo and aro already in constant
use. It may bo recalled that tho Japaneso rede
veloped this system effectively In their war with
Russia, eapoclally in tho capture of "Two Hundred
and Throo Meter hill," where they moved along
In front of tho advancing Infantrymen, In earlier
times tho Japaneso sometimes woro a flat shlold
slung upon tho breast, but always as a defense
against shot.
When ono considers tho valuo to tho commu
nity of oven ono soldlor, suroly no nation should
nfford not to protect him as best It can.
Tho descendants of an Individual may amount
to thousands in tho courso of a couple of conturlea,
bo ono can flguro out what the human losses to
tho countrloa now at war must roprcsont In tho
future If armor will save oven n few hundreds
of mon it will certainly pay as a natloual invest
ment to uso It. Tho tlmo will soon conio when
governmental commissions will take up this mat
tor effectively.
I
"I wish I had had senso enough to
stny on a Kansas farm."
Instead of which ho wont into tho
army, gained fnmo and promotion by
spectacular deeds in tho Philippines,
took Vera Cruz away from tho Mexi
cans temporarily and mado it n clean
and habitable city, and now commands
tho United States troops that nro try
ing to maintain order along tho Rio
Grande For tho man who wi8lied ho
had stayed on n Kansas farm was
MaJ. Gen, Fred Funston.
"I was raised on a farm, nnd I
like tho feel of tho boII. It's good to
hoe potatoes nnd radishes and plow
corn," ho added.
"You got away from it about as
quickly as a farmboy over did," his
companion suggested.
"Yes, and I was a' rnttlc-pated
youngster, with mighty' llttlo gump
tion, too," ho returned. ,
General Funston consistently re
fuses to bo interviewed concerning
cither tho European war or tho troubles In Mexico.
"I talked too much when I camo back from tho Philippines onco," ho
explained to a questioner. "Now tho sphinx has nothing on mo. Tho leas
an army ofllccr talks tho better, anyway."
LORD BERTIE OF THAME
V'" " ' vs X
''i X
Back in 1903, when Balfour was
tho British prime minister, tho British
embassy at Romo fell vacant. Mr.
Balfour was at a loss to name the
right man to fill It, so ho consulted
Sir Francis Bertie, tho permanent
undersecretary of state.
"What sort of a man would you
put in?" asked Balfour. Sir Francis
Bkctched the Ideal ambassador. Ho
must bo this and that, ho explained;
and ended by making a most inclsivo
picture of tho person required for
Rome. "I see, I see." said tho other,
pondering. "Then, Sir Francis, I must
nsk you to accept the post," ho added,
with a smile capablo of dissolving the
most obstinate permanency.
Two years later Sir Francis was
transferred td the Paris embassy, and
ho still holds tho position thero. In
nil thoso years ho has performed his
diplomatic and social duties so capably
and skillfully that in his scventy-flrat
year reward ha3 como to him from th
crown. On tho king's birthday he was raised to tho peerage as a baron of
tho United Kingdom. His title, Baron Bertlo of Thamo, was a wiao solectlon.
for nil tho Berties aro descended from tho first and only Viscount Thamo,
who was a grandson of Sir Henry Norrls, ambassador to Franco in tho six
teenth century.
Lord Bertie is a son of tho sixth earl of Abingdon. Lady Bertie, a
daughter of Earl Cowley, belongs to tho diplomatic world by birth and train
ing as well as by marriage, and sho belongs especially to Paris, for it was in
that city that sho spent her youth when her father was ambassador. Both
tho now baron and his wlfo aro extraordinarily popular with the French.
SUBWAY SCULPTRESS
Boston always has beon proud of
its subway, and now it boasts of Us
wonderful subway sculptress, Miss
Bessie Paoff. Sho was awarded tho
first prize for sculpturo and modeling
in tho Boston School of tho Museum
of FIno Arts for this yoar'B work,
and great things aro predicted of her
by her teachers.
Any day and every day Besslo
Paeft may bo found at tho south ond
of tho Park street subway station.
Sho is tho ticket seller thero. Sho in
tends to remain there, too, until sho
has earned enough money to go tc
Paris and Btudy under Rodin.
As a child Bessie gavo evidence ot
having tho artistic temperament. She
was graduated from high school and
entered an advanced class at tho Bos
ton School of tho Museum of Fine
Arts. Thereafter Bessio Paoff allowed
nothing to interfere with her study of
art nothing but the selling of tickets
in Park streot subway station. And
oven horo her art work is not neglected. Noithor Is her work in tho subway
office. Sho takes pleasure In selling tickets, because It is tho source from
which sho has dorlved her success thuB far as a sculptress.
HE QUITS DIPLOMACY
Nelson O'Shnughnossy, former
churgo d'affaires of tho United States
embassy in Mexico City, la no longer
on Undo Sara's pay roll. Ho has
boen separated automatically by tho
provision of a law which prohibits u
longer period than 00 days of leavo
with pay. Privately, it Is admitted at
tho state department that Mr.
O'Shnughnossy is not oxpocted to ro
enter actlvo diplomatic sorvlco.
Mr. O'Shnughnossy acted as charge
(or tho United states ombaasy In Mox
Ico City from the tlmo tho last ambas
sador, Henry Lane WHboii, was re
called to Washington, until our diplo
matic affairs woro turned over to tho
Brazilian mission when United Stat03
troops took Vera Cruz. Mr.
O'Shaughnessy's work during that
porlod was most trying, in view of tho
openly hostile attitude of tho United
8tate8 government toward Prosldent
lluerta. Despite this situation, it is
said thnt Mr. O'Shaughnessy was ablo
to protect his nationals nioro effectively than they have ever been protected
boforo or since
Following his withdrawal from Mexico O'Shaughnessy was offered a sec
retaryship at his old post in Vienna. This he accented and' hold for some
months, but last summer ho was recalled and camo on leavo to this country
