London Summary

1916

London, Sept. 11 — Armies of the five Nations have begun to turn back the German-Bulgar invasion of Greek territory. The British have crossed the Struma and driven their enemy toward Kavala in severe fighting. Under Serbian pressure on the other flank the Bulgarians have retreated toward Monastir, and the French, in the center, have let loose the full power of their artillery, pulverizing Bulgaria's defenses.

Greece is on the verge of war. A Ministerial crisis is imminent, and it is believed Premier Zaimis has already tendered his resignation, reports Reuter's correspondent at Athens. The Greeks, fired by the surrender of the whole provinces to the Bulgars without a blow, are flocking to the Allies for arms and a chance to drive out their bitterest foes.

While Russia is pouring troops into Southeastern Rumania, where the German-Bulgar army has conquered most of the Dobudja, it is claimed, the Rumanian forces are still advancing in Transylvania and overcoming vigorous Austrian resistance.

Vienna declares Russian attacks on Halics in Galicia and along the Kovel front in Russia have been brought to a standstill.

German counter-attacks against the British and French on the Somme front last night and today broke down without regaining any lost ground.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 7.

One Bullet In 100 Hits Man In War

1916

IT TAKES 3,500 TO KILL ONE COMBATANT.

Massed Formations Excepted, of Course — Shell Fire Not So Deadly as Shrapnel.

It has been estimated that only one bullet in every hundred that is fired hits a man and of those men hit only one in thirty-five succumbs. In other words, it takes 3,500 bullets to kill a single soldier.

In view of the awful slaughter that has taken place during the present war these figures sound rather startling, yet they are well within the mark.

Of course such calculations as these refer to averages only. An enemy advancing in close formation, as the Germans have been doing recently before Verdun, may be mowed down wholesale by rifle and machine gun fire, and in such cases the average of fatal casualties, compared with the number of rounds expended, will be considerably higher.

Shell fire is, as a general rule, even less destructive than rifle or machine gun fire, says a writer in the Boston Post. A modern high explosive shell makes no end of a row when it bursts, kills possibly a couple of men if it explodes inside of a trench, frightens a lot more, and — that is about all. The ruined walls of Rheims cathedral will testify for many years to come that the shell that shattered one statue seldom hurt its next door neighbor.

Shrapnel Fire Is Deadly.

Shrapnel is more dangerous, provided the fuse is timed just right and the gunner who fires it knows his business. A shrapnel shell contains a number of small round bullets, each about the size of a marble. What execution a shell of this sort can do, given a favorable opportunity, was shown at the "battle of the landing" in Gallipoli, April, 1915.

An attack was about to be launched against the British left and a fold in the ground hid the attacking Turks from the British forces. They were, however, observed by the Queen Elizabeth far out at sea and a projectile from one of her big guns was dropped right plump in the midst of them.

It was a shrapnel shell weighing 1,500 pounds and holding 1,000 bullets. The attack was smashed and 250 Turks were killed. This works out at one man per fifty-two bullets, and it probably represents the maximum efficiency of shrapnel fire during the present or any other war. For, you see, the conditions from the gunner's point of view were exceptional and ideal.

When There Were Few Fatalities.

On the other hand, there are many remarkable instances of shell fire — even concentrated and prolonged shell fire — accomplishing little or nothing in the direction of destroying life. During one of the tremendous preparatory bombardments, for example, that ushered in the early stages of the battle of Verdun, the Germans fired between 20,000 and 30,000 shells of all calibers against the French lines in the short space of five hours. Yet the fatal casualties amounted to fewer than 100 out of about 18,000 engaged.

One reason for this is, of course, that modern armies, when acting on the defensive, dig themselves in so deeply and so cunningly that they are practically immune from other than very high angle fire.

Yet the power of the modern shell is tremendous. If the charge of one of the larger caliber ones — say a German "Jack Johnson" — were burned away quickly it would send some millions of cubic feet of gas into the air. But instead it is detonated in a thousandth part of a second, and these millions of cubic feet of gas, with their steel casings, crush everything in their immediate vicinity to the finest powder. Yet men even a comparatively few yards away, especially if they are lying down or under some sort of cover, however slight, usually escape with their lives at all events, and more frequently than otherwise they are not even injured.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 9.

Hannibal In Italy

1910

Hannibal entered northern Italy in the year 218 B. C., and gained during that year the two victories of Ticinus and Trebia, both in Cisalpine Gaul. The next year he advanced farther south and defeated the Romans at Trasymenus, and the year following, having proceeded farther south, he inflicted upon them the terrible defeat of Cannae, at which time his ascendancy attained its maximum. He remained for 13 years longer, but gained no more decisive victories. He was finally recalled by the authorities at Carthage, which had never given him anything like a decent support.

New War Appliance

1917

A newcomer into the family of war appliances is the motorcycle-carrying airplane. A special platform built between the planes juts outside the body of the airplane, carries the motorcycle. The addition of this machine greatly enhances the effectiveness of the airplane and affords a quick means of land travel in case of a shortage of gasoline or disability of the airplane engine. If the aviators who were lost in the Mexican desert during General Pershing's expedition had been equipped with motorcycles their return to headquarters would have been a matter of only a few hours instead of a three days' wait for the searching party.


Learned Too Late

"Much evil comes from bad company," as the man said who found himself on the gallows by the side of the hangman.


The Average Man

It would discourage the average man if he was able to realize how very important he isn't!

Germany's Future

1917

Columbia university has some professors who refuse to confuse moral values, among them Franklin H. Giddings, head of the department of sociology. He was recently quoted by the London Observer as follows:

"There is no reasonable doubt that Germany has lost the confidence of the civilized world. It is completely gone. I do not believe that the world will forgive Germany in a hundred years. * * * In my opinion there will be no forgiveness of Germany by the civilized world before the mature days of our grandchildren, and to obtain it then she has to show works meet for repentance."

The boycott from which Germany will suffer will not be primarily industrial and commercial, but intellectual and moral. With the most liberal trade regulations imaginable, there are millions of people in the world who, after the war, will have nothing to do with the Germans. Their isolation will not be due to any commercial pact, but to the instinctive shrinking from a nation guilty of monstrous crimes against God and man. That is a feeling that statesmen can neither create nor eliminate. Men will be unable to associate in any way with Germany as it now is, or to have any dealings with it, without feeling a sense of personal degradation and contamination. — Indianapolis News.

New Methods of Fighting

1917

Modern Warfare Is Carried On Under Water, Under Ground and in the Clouds

"Digging in" has a new and important significance and the fantastic legend of Darius Green is long forgotten in the light of practical achievement by the bird-man of today. The cavalry of the earth has been supplanted by the cavalry of the air. The actual fighting of modern warfare is conducted under water, under ground and far up among the clouds.

Yes, there have been drastic changes in military tactics and military equipment since the old days when we used to drill in the armory over the grocery store in the little old home town. What we tried so hard to learn of military lore in those days would be classed as low comedy by a recruiting officer of this changeful period. But all the same, one can't help wishing that one were somewhere in France at this minute with good old Company C regiment of the National Guard, and we'd make a reasonable wager that of the survivors of that organization, if given an opportunity to go, there wouldn't be a slacker in the bunch. — Exchange.

Much-Shaken Japan

1900

In 1893 the Japanese government appointed an investigating committee on earthquakes. This committee, which has now nearly completed its labors, reports, among other things, that it seems likely that one part or another of Japan will be visited by a destructive earthquake once in every two-and-a-half years.

That portion of the land bordering the Japan Sea is seldom disturbed by other than local earthquakes, while the Pacific coast of the country frequently suffers from great shocks originating under the ocean. When a region is shaken by constantly recurring small earthquakes, it appears to be rendered safe against the occurrence of destructive shocks, because the accumulation of stress in the earth's crust at that point is prevented.


Modern Bullets

Sir William MacCormac writes in the Lancet that in most cases the damage done by modern bullets, and especially the Mauser, cannot be compared with that inflicted by the projectiles of the needle-guns or the Chassepôt rifle, weapons employed in the Franco-German War. A similar result is obtained when comparison is made with the work of the bullets used in our Civil War.


Studying A Prodigy

At Indiana University a 19-year-old boy who possesses extraordinary powers of arithmetical calculation is under investigation to determine, scientifically, the nature of his mental processes.

It has been found that a tenacious memory underlies much of his singular power, the rapidity of his calculations depending upon the great quantity of number relations which he has memorized, as well as upon the short cuts that he has invented. — Youth's Companion.

Shields For Modern Warriors

1900

Recent experiments at Sheffield, England, suggest the possibility that in the twentieth century shields may once more form an important part of the equipment of an army.

Steel shields, three millimetres in thickness and about 150 square inches in area, have been devised, which afford complete protection against bullets fired from the service rifle at a range of 400 yards. The small size of the shield, which weighs only seven pounds, requires that the soldier shall lie prone on the ground in order to be sheltered.

Each shield has a loophole for the rifle, and studs at the sides so that a series of them can be linked into a continuous screen. The idea is that by the use of such shields the necessity of digging trenches may often be avoided.


Decline of The Yellowstone Geysers

Prof. E. H. Barbour of the University of Nebraska, after comparing his own observations in 1895 with those in 1899, and collecting the opinions of other visitors to the National Park, expresses the fear that within a decade many of the scenes now most attractive in the wonderful Yellowstone Valley will have disappeared. He gives details showing that nearly all the hot springs and geysers have declined in activity.

"Old Faithful" geyser still does honor to its name, but the interval between its eruptions, formerly an hour, has increased to 75 or 80 minutes. Meanwhile there seems to be an increase of ebullition in the water of the greatest of all the geysers, the Excelsior, whose outbursts have always been separated by irregular periods, covering years at a stretch, and there is hope that it may be preparing another exhibition of its power. — Youth's Companion.

The Regimental Colors

1904

At the bombardment of Fredericksburg, Virginia, during the Civil War, a Confederate soldier was taking sight for a shot at an enemy across the street. Just as his fingers trembled on the trigger a little three-year-old, fair-haired baby girl toddled out of an alley, accompanied by a big Newfoundland dog, and gave chase to a shell that was rolling lazily along the pavement. Major Stiles tells the story in "Four Years Under Marse Robert":

Burke's hand dropped from the trigger. There was the baby, amid the torrent of shot and shell, and on came the enemy. A moment, and he had grounded his gun, dashed out into the storm, swept his right arm round the child, gained cover again, and with the baby clasped to his breast and the musket trailed in his left hand, was trotting after the boys up to Marye's Heights.

Behind that historic stone wall all those hours and days of terror that baby was tenderly cared for. They scoured the countryside for milk, and conjured up their best skill to prepare dainty viands for her little ladyship.

When the struggle was over and the enemy had withdrawn, the Twenty-first Mississippi, having held the post of danger in the rear, was assigned to the place of honor in the van, and led the column. There was a long halt, the brigade and regimental staff hurrying to and fro. The regimental colors could not be found.

Buck Denman stood about the middle of the regiment, baby in arms. Suddenly he sprang to the front, swung her aloft above his head, her little garments fluttering like the folds of a banner, and shouted, "Forward, Twenty-first, here are your colors!" And without further order off started the brigade toward the town. Buck himself describes the last scene in the drama:

"I was holding the baby high, adjutant, with both arms, when above all the racket I heard a woman's scream. The next thing I knew I was covered with calico, and the woman fainted on my breast. I caught her before she fell, and laying her down gently, put the baby in her arms."

Marches Well at 95

1900

The oldest veteran who marched in the G. A. R. parade at Chicago recently was William Taylor of the Fourteenth Wisconsin infantry. He marched over the entire route without facing any ill effects from the exercise. He is 95 years old and a veteran of three wars, having, taking part in the war with the Blackfoot Indians, the Mexican war and the civil war. He is a member of the La Crosse post and is as lively as some of the young boys of 60.


Bees and Peaches

One of the most peculiar suits at law ever brought before any court is soon to be tried in Van Buren county, Michigan, between two neighbors and old friends. One of the men, H. D. Burrell of South Haven, keeps about sixty colonies of bees. The other is a peach grower. A few months ago the latter complained of the former's bees destroying the early Crawford peaches, claming that the bees came into his orchard in large numbers, bit holes in the fruit and rendered it unmarketable for which he demanded $200. Prof. J M. Rankin of the agricultural college and the entomologist of the Agricultural department at Washington will be called as expert witnesses by the defense in a suit for damages.


Galveston Relief

Little has been said, and probably as little thought, of the beneficent work done by the railroads in aiding and promoting the measures set on foot for the relief of stricken Galveston. Thousands of refugees from that city received free transportation to any part of the country, and immense quantities of supplies were rushed forward without charge. This ready response to the cry of human needs characterized all the great railway systems of the country, the express, telegraph and telephone companies. The cash value of the services thus rendered is as impossible to estimate as the amount of human suffering and misery they helped to alleviate.

Shooting Skies For Rain

1910

Uncle Sam Has Lost Faith in Rain-Making Schemes, but Italians Are Still Sanguine

Washington. — Recently when fire was sweeping over the mountains of the west, leaving death and destruction in its wake, the despairing people appealed to the war department to bombard the skies and bring a much-needed rain. For obvious reasons their request was refused. Uncle Sam, a few years ago, spent large sums of money experimenting along this line, sending up bombs and firing cannon at the skies to produce rain by artificial means. It was no use, for clouds refused to "leak" in satisfaction of man's tiny tickling. Since then the government has been without faith in any scheme for rain-making.

It is now held that the reason why rain usually followed the great battles of history is because whenever possible the commanders moved their armies and began battles when the weather was fair. Rain falls on an average of one day in three, so it is no amazing matter that the clouds should spill their contents about the time one of those famous slaughters would be over with.

Of course, the great men of science know that it is useless for man, with his puny implements, to undertake to bring about those stupendous changes in nature necessary to produce the phenomenon of rain. It would be necessary to lower the temperature of a vast area of the heavens, or saturate such a region with moisture to obtain results, and our means of accomplishment are too limited.

Though our government has lost faith in rain-making, however, the Italians seem to be quite confident that in one way, at least, bombarding the clouds is productive of good results. In all the vineyards of that sunny land there may be seen curious funnel-shaped guns pointing to the sky. Hail storms form one of the chief dangers to the grape crop in that country, and the Italians believe that the firing of these guns prevents such destructive visitations by dissipating the clouds which give them birth.

Gun Fires Million Bullets an Hour

1910

NEW YORK. — A gun that, its inventor says, can shoot a million bullets an hour at a cost of $20, that uses neither powder nor compressed air, and that fires bullets that do not require shells, was shot for the enlightenment of a delegation of New York reporters. The reporters saw the gun shoot, but they were not permitted to see that part of the gun out of which the little steel bullets came with such rapidity.

A Swiss named Bangerter was introduced as the inventor. In order that the secret should be maintained, that part of the mechanism that it is said causes the rapid shooting was covered with oilcloth. Only the motor that operates the gun and the little bucket-like receptacles into which the bullets are poured by the quart were visible to the reporters.

There were targets made of a series of big boards arranged in box fashion, each plank about a foot behind the one in front of it. There were four boards in each target. When the bullets started to fly, they riddled the target into a pile of splinters a foot high, and they did it in less than a minute. All in all, it was estimated that no less than 15,000 bullets pierced the target.

The reporters were permitted then to enter the gunroom. They saw a motor from the wheel of which a belt was operated. The belt connected the motor with another wheel which was a part of the mechanism on the top of which was the oilcloth covered weapon out of which the bullets came. They also saw the little buckets, on either side of the gun, into which the bullets are poured as they are needed. The reporters asked to see the gun in operation. Mr. Bangerter ordered another target swung into position. There was another whirl and a second storm of bullets struck the target. The fusillade lasted about ten seconds. Again was the target demolished.

But Mr. Bangerter and his associates refused to say anything about what was under the oilcloth in the little gunroom. They did give out a typewritten statement, however, saying that one of those guns "could face an army of thirty regiments of soldiers or 30,000 men, and could mow down that entire body of men as easy as a knife cuts the grass. There is no earthly possibility for any army to successfully face the fire from a gun of this kind which pours a veritable hailstorm of bullets into the attacking forces, who must either sacrifice their lives or turn in retreat."

It was stated that Col. Rogers Birnie and Maj. Tracy C. Dickson, ordnance department, United States army, who are stationed at the Sandy Hook proving grounds, and Maj. William G. Haan, coast artillery corps, U.S.A., had witnessed a test of the gun and that they had pronounced it a wonderful invention, and had requested that a gun be made for testing purposes at Sandy Hook.

Poisoning as a Profession

1916

Use of Deadly Gases Recalls Politics of the Dark Age Statemen and Diplomats

It is interesting today, when the opposing armies are "removing" their opponents en bloc by the use of poisonous vapors, to recall the horror evoked by the deeds of poisoners in the past. The names of the Borgias and the Medici are to this day held up to the detestation of mankind. Yet these and their like only poisoned individuals; the fighting forces today are compelled to endeavor to poison entire armies!

Their wholesale methods will doubtless go to enrich the annals of historical poisoning. For poison has played a great part in history. The employment of poison by the ancients is graphically and terribly illustrated in the deaths of Socrates, Demosthenes, Hannibal and Cleopatra, while in the reign of Artaxerxes II. (Memnon), B.C. 405-350, Phrysa poisoned the Queen Statira by cutting food with a knife poisoned on one side.

In the early part of the Christian era numberless professional poisoners arose, and for a long time exercised their trade with impunity. "Poisoning," says a well known authority, "was so much in use as a political engine that Agrippina (A.D. 26) refused to eat of some apples offered her at table by her father-in-law, Tiberius." It is a curious fact that Agrippina, while refusing to partake of these apples from her fear of being poisoned, was herself guilty of the poisoning of Claudius; but poetic justice was meted out to her in the death (by poison) of her son, Britannicus.

It was at this time, too, that the infamous Locusta flourished. She is said to have supplied, with suitable directions, the poison by which Agrippina got rid of Claudius; and she was also the principal agent in the preparation of the poison that was administered to Britannicus by order of his brother Nero.

"It was the custom of the Romans to drink hot water," says Mr. Wynter Blythe, "a draught nauseous enough to us, but, from fashion or habit, considered by them a luxury. And as no two men's tastes are alike, great skill was shown by the slaves in bringing the water to exactly that degree of heat which their respective masters found agreeable.

"A slave brings water to Britannicus; it is too hot; Britannicus refuses it. The slave adds cold water, and it is this cold water that is supposed to have been poisoned. In any case, Britannicus died, and extraordinary lividity spread over the corpse, which they attempted to conceal by painting the face."

There has come down to us a curious document, said to have been drawn out by Charles de Mauvais, King of Navarre, which shows how arsenic was much favored as a political weapon by crowned heads in the fourteenth century. It is a commission of murder given to a certain Wouderton.

"Go thou to Paris. Thou canst do great service if thou wilt. Do what I tell thee. I will reward thee well. Thou shall do thus: There is a thing which is called sublime arsenic. If a man eat a bit the size of a pea he will never survive. Thou wilt find it in Pampeluna, Bordeaux, Bayonne, and in all good towns through which thou will pass, at the apothecaries' shops.

"Take it and powder it; and when thou shalt be in the house of the king, and of Valois, his brother, the Dukes of Berry, Burgundy and Bourbon, draw near and betake this to the kitchen, to the larder, to the cellar, and in other places where thy point can be best gained. Put the powder in the soups, meats or wines, provided that thou canst do it secretly. Otherwise do it not."

Wouderton, failing to accomplish his task, was detected and executed in 1384.

No better example of this dread in which poisoners were held can be quoted than the fact that at so late a period as the reign of Henry VII extraordinary precautions were thought necessary for preserving the life of the infant heir. It was ordained that no person, of whatsoever rank, except the regular attendants in the nursery, were to approach the cradle, except with an order from the king's hand. Moreover, everything intended for the royal infant was boiled, to prevent all risk of poison as far as possible.

One of the more recent instances of political poisoning is that of the Sultan Abdul-Aziz, who died May 30, 1876. By reason of his advanced ideas he was forced to abdicate the throne, and four days later the unhappy sultan was found dead, it is almost certain by foul play. — From London Answers.

Horseless Vehicles May Be Used By the Army

1896

War Horses of Steel

Cavalrymen to Be Mounted on Motor Cycles, Artillery Hauled Without Mules

Horseless vehicles will probably be used in our army before very long. General Miles is now studying the question, and later the army may purchase or have built a horseless vehicle to be tested at one of the posts.

Before many generations, it is predicted, battles will be fought by navies, so to speak, patrolling the land as well as the sea, in ironclad vessels. True, the horseless vehicle, as we now know it, cannot be depended upon to climb fences, run over steep rocks or such obstacles, but it is contended that with these machines in use will come good roads.

The value of movable forts was greatly appreciated in ancient warfare, but modern rapid movements in battle made them useless; but with these forts propelled by steam their utility becomes at once apparent. An armored fortress moved by a power from within, and containing a picked body of sharpshooters, could work havoc on an enemy.

The army wagon has always played an important part in the protection of small bodies of men attacked from ambush on the march. Where there is animal power exposed, however, that propelling force is soon exterminated with a single bullet. The horse is much more easily hit than the man. War statistics, including all the world's battles fought between 1800 and 1865, show that for every 100 cavalry or artillery soldiers killed there were 120 horses. But a traveling fort could not be destroyed nearly so quickly as a warship, for the reason that there no water to rush into the former. A hundred holes can be shot clear through it, and yet it will go on unless the vital machinery be broken.

The adoption of the horseless vehicle, as is contemplated, for the simple army train, may lead to the adoption of these armored land vessels some day. At each of its forty-one military posts our army employs two or more wagons. There are two styles of army wagons prescribed by the Quartermaster-General. The larger, the six-mile wagon, is for transporting army supplies to and from railroad stations on the frontier posts. The other, known as the escort wagon, is pulled by two or four mules. It is used in the more thickly settled regions for the same purpose, as well as for official errands.

These wagons have been used in the army since the war, with but little alteration. Both would be important factors of the army train in the event of war with a foreign Power. They are slow, but sure, as are the Government mules which draw them. But the Government mule will not long be use in these advanced days, when all the armies of the world are striving to solve the problem of rapid transit.

The movement is fast on foot to mount our regular soldiers, as well as militiamen, on bicycles. When these are in use marches of a hundred miles or more will be made in the light of one day. Forced ones of double length will easily be made in twenty-four hours. The bicycle needs but a little oil and is always ready. It is, therefore, apparent to progressive military men that with the advent of the bicycle must come the advent of the horseless carriage in the army provision train.

Another important bearing of the compact road motor upon modern warfare will be the possibility of hauling field cannon without the aid of horses. The field piece is the clumsiest of all instruments of warfare to manage during a retreat. For this reason alone cannon are so often deserted in the field to fall into the hands of the enemy.

When good roads make the horseless conveyance popular we will have to propel our cannon at a rapid rate, on the march, to keep up with the rapid pace of the bicycle cavalry and infantry, and the provision wagons propelled by the storage battery, naphtha, gasoline, petroleum and other motors.

It is said that a New Jersey inventor has prepared plans for an acetyline automobile carriage, soon to be built and run in Washington this winter. This promises to be a very cheap motor, employing the new gas renowned for its low rate of cost.

Developments in the lightness, compactness and power of motors will also probably permit air-ships to be made and utilized in war.

A striking vista of a great military engagement a century hence now begins to appear to the mind's eye. Imagine that a great foreign host is falling in upon us. Myriads of floating fortresses are guarding our shores from far out to sea. Our seacoasts are scattered with impenetrable fortifications built at every point which might prove tempting and beneficial to an enemy.

Our armor covered cavalry fly about the country upon their two-wheeled war horses of steel, propelled by powerful light motors. Rapid monitors patrol the continent, now netted with glazed highways, and flocks of warrior birds, driven by compact engines, soar above the enemy's fleets or forces, dropping death upon them, as did the fabulous rocs, the giant birds told of in the "Arabian Nights." — New York Herald.

Armored Car In Warfare

1915

European Armies Have Found It of the Greatest Value in Their Operations

Although an engine new to warfare, the armored motor car has proved extremely useful, especially for outpost and scouting duty. Fast, silent, and mobile, it covers a vast amount of ground on the splendid roads that crisscross the field of war in western Europe.

Most of the cars are encased in a light frame of tough steel plate that ranges in thickness from three-sixteenths of an inch to a quarter of an inch, and that is impervious to rifle and machine-gun fire. All the vulnerable parts of the motor, such as the radiator and steering gear, and in some of the newest cars the wheels, are protected by the steel covering.

The wheels, both wood and wire, are said to withstand the roughest sort of usage. Accidents to the tires are much less common than anyone would expect.

The cars carry a light armament — one or two machine guns so mounted that they can be swung through a complete circle — and a large supply of ammunition. The crew, which may number from four to eight or more men, are armed with rifles and revolvers. Some of the cars have a steel superstructure that rises from the chassis frame high enough to enable the crew to stand upright, and that is capped with a domed roof, from which bullets and shrapnel usually fly off at a sharp angle without even denting the steel. — Youth's Companion.