Show BULLETPROOF COAT THE REMARKABLE IXVEXTIOX OF A MODEST GEUMAX Material Resembling Ordinary Cloth Which Withstands the Bullets Fired from the Best Rifles The latest sensation in all military circles cir-cles of Europe Is the bulletproof coat which has recntly been tested by a number num-ber of army experts The Inventor Hein rich Dowe Is being talked about more I than any man In the old world The United States government Is also much Interested in the development of these experiments ex-periments and the war office will receive full reports from their representatives of the various tests made i Herr Dowe has spent several years In perfecting this new armor and now seems to have brought It to the highest i perfection He caused some tests to be I be made last fall but these did not prove I i very successful and the German government I govern-ment did not pay much attention to the I matter Though very poor Dowe was I not discouraged but kept on alternately malting his Improvements on his invention i inven-tion and working I at his i trade as tailor rft IJ In the earlier part of March this year he had his bulletproof coat tested on a I semiprivate shooting range near Berlin A large number of people were present chiefly newspaper men military officers and representatives from the various German Ger-man gun clubs In order to thoroughly demonstrate the resisting power of the coat the same rifles were used against threeInch planks and steeel plates The targets were placed at a distance of 5T feet Several of the best makes of rifles were used among them the Mauser Martini I Mar-tini and Winchester though the small Infantry rifle known as the model SS was used the most The targets made of steel and Iron plates twoflfths of an inch In thickness backed with two inches of wood were perforated with ease After this had been proved a dummy covered with the bulletproof coat was put up and after receiving not less than fifteen shots was found to be without a mark all the bullets having burled themselves In the composition of the coat without penetrating It once All present were highly pleased with the result and Herr Dowe was warmly congratulated on his success THEY SHOOT AT THE MEN But it was 3 short time ago the in h ai t entor achieved his greatest success He had Interested Count Schouvaloff of the Russian embassy In his invention and I this gentleman said he would JUte to make a test provided the tailor would wear the coat while being shot at To his Dowe unhesitatingly consented ana he test was made before a brilliant gth erlng of military men The experiments were of the searching and severe order and after revolvers had beeen used on he Invulnerable tailor rifles were brought into action As a preliminary experiment a few shots were lined at a block of solid oak which was pierced by the bullets and the best made steel cuirasses were shot through as If they had been made of paper After this had been done Dowe again donned his bulletproof coat anti invited the count and his friends to blase away It was indeed very exciting while the rifle one of the most approvefl pat terns used In the German army was be lag aimed at the tailor The spectators were strung to an extreme state of nervousness ner-vousness and instinctively closed their eyes In anticipation of seeing DowB killed But after the report of the rifle rang out and the tailor was seen standing stand-ing apparently unhurt there was a feeing feei-ng of relief among all present Done keenly enjoyed their anxiety and fairly teamed with satisfaction as he shouted Fire again you cannot hurt mel A bullet was then fired from a Winchester rifle directly over his heart but dW no more harm than If It had been a spitball spit-ball The festive tailor was absolutely unhurt and all the bullets were found imbedded im-bedded in the bulletproof coat A second series of experiments was then commenced which proved fully as Interesting as the first It Is proposed that the cavalry of the future shall be protected by the wonderful material Invented In-vented by the tailor of Mannheim so a horse was equipped with a bullet proof coat A number of shots were Hred at the animal but they did not seem to to annoy the equine half so much as an equal number of selfrespecting horseflies horse-flies would The beast kept munching his oats in blissful serenity while the rifle balls plunked themselves harmlessly harmless-ly in the wonderful coat Herr Dow is overjoyed with the results re-sults of these many experiments and received re-ceived the congratulations of the Count Schouvaloff the army officers and others who had witnessed these conclusive proofs of the merit of his Invention To a question ques-tion from a naval officer present 1C this arrrcr could be successfully applied to the war vessels Dov e replied that any vessel provided with a sheeting of this bulletproof material would become Impenetrable Im-penetrable to the heaviest guns of the modern Ironclads This may sound a little lit-tle bombastic but seeing that he has car ned out his theory In regard to a fculiet proof coat for soldiers he might evolve something equally successful for covering war snips HOW THE COAT LOOKS Dowe has placed the coat he wore while being fired upon on exhibition as well as the solid pieces of oak which were penetrated pene-trated by bullets that were harmless against his coat The new garment looks something like ordinary army clothing material and resisting secret substance being placed beneath the outside cloth It is shaped like a breastplate and can be fastened to the side buttons of a soldiers sol-diers uniform It Is only to be used in actual warfare and weighs about five pounds The inventor Is not willing to explain ex-plain anything relative to the process of the manufacture of his bulletproof material ma-terial but only says that It Is extremely extreme-ly simple to manufacture and costs a mere trifle compared with other armor There seems to be no longer any room for doubt that the armor is all its Inventor Inven-tor claims for it and that he is justified in refusing the numerous princely offers made to him by army contractors and others who are desirous of purchasing his secret Since his successful exhibition of the invulnerable coat Dowe has been the object of universal attention not only from the press but also from the public at large He has been overwhelmed by a perfect per-fect avalanche of letters of the moot varied nature One fair sentimental writer offers to be a mother to his children chil-dren he being a widower Another more practical offers herself in marriage provided pro-vided his Invention really proves a success suc-cess An Austrian asks that he be permitted per-mitted to become the target at the next exhibit stipulating however that the shooters are to be experts and not send a bullet through his head Another writer a retired officer predicts that through this marvelous discovery universal peace will be the consequence AH nations will abandon aban-don warfare now that bullets can be made powerless thinks this venerable old soldier sol-dier Museum managers and showmen in general gen-eral have not been slow to recognize what an attraction a bulletproof coat would prove to the ever noveltyhungering masses Herr Dowe has had innumerable flattering offers some as high as 1000 a month from such men stipulating that he consent to bp the living target while showing the Invulnerable qualities of his new coat The Inventor Helnrich Dowe Is a very modest and retiring man He was born the llth of March 1S59 in Westphalia and Is of humble origin He has not enjoyed any educational advantages save those gained in a village school but is a very Intelligent man and has devoted all his spare time to the perfection of his pet scheme which he now sees crowned with success |