A new bullet-proof cloth has been invented by a priest of Chicago, Father Casimir Zeglen.
Father Casimir is a man of peace, who takes but little interest in implements of warfare, and this great discovery was made by chance. The discovery once made, he determined to bring his invention to the highest state of perfection, hoping that through it he might lessen the horrors of war, and save many innocent lives that are now sacrificed for the honor of a country.
The cloth is intended to be used as a padding or interlining for the soldiers' uniforms, and its inventor hopes to make the cloth so thin and flexible that it can be worn without inconvenience.
It has already been tested, and the results were highly satisfactory.
The test was made at Fort Sheridan, near Chicago, and it was decided to use the Krag-Jorgensen gun against it.
The inch steel bullet thrown by this rifle has, it is said, been known to pierce through armor-plate. It has made its way through twenty inches of packed sand, pierced twenty-two inches of oak timber, and fired from a distance of six hundred yards it will pass through five feet of earth.
The cloth stood the test of these terrible bullets wonderfully well. Five thicknesses of the material were used for the test, all the pieces being exactly the same size, and laid together in one compact pad.
The first shot was made at a distance of four hundred yards. It was found that the bullet had pierced through the first thickness of the cloth, but had become flattened out against the rest.
When the bullet was removed from the cloth it was said to have looked like a mushroom, the end that had first touched the cloth being flattened.
The experiments were continued at shorter and shorter range, but the cloth was never quite pierced through.