Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1896 — Merciful Bullets. [ARTICLE]

Merciful Bullets.

English military men are endeavoring to determine whether the bullet for their new service rifle, the Lee Metford, which has taken the place of the Martini-Henry, is not actually too merciful in its action. The object of war is to disable the enemy, and not to kill him, but apparently the new rifle bullet fails to do either, says the St Louis Globe-Democrat The report on the use of the projectile in the Transvaal says that the injuries which were made by the Lee-Metford were much cleaner and healed much more quickly than those from the Martini-Henry. Both the entrance and exit orifices were exceedingly small, and so clean were the wounds internally that in one instance a burgher who had been shot clean through the lungs was convalescent a few days after admission to the hospital. It is true that where the bone is struck the effect is most violent, but there can be no doubt whatever that the perforation of the organs and fleshy part of the body by the new bullet more often than not absolutely fails instantly to disable the victim, unless, of course, a really vital ’ organ of the body is struck. The wounds, on the other hand, which were made by the Martini-Henry bullets, were, the report states, of a much more serious nature, namely, “larger, jagged} slow healing, with bad entrance and worse exit” Many instances were related of the merciful properties of the new English bullet during the Chitral campaign, and this latest report is likely to give greater emphasis to the question. Not only does the bullet fail to stop a man, but, judging by many accounts, it inflicts very little pain, presumably on the same principle as the popular scientific experiment whicl: shows a rabbit peacefully chewing its food while a rapidly revolving knife is cutting its ears into ribbons. The horrors of the next great war perhaps will not be »o great as some people imagine.