Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1915 — Why Darts Penetrate. [ARTICLE]

Why Darts Penetrate.

The steel darts which are being dropped from hostile aeroplanes are, capable, it is said, of penetrating a piece of teak one ibch thick, the Pall Mall Gazette remarks. In all probability this is understating their effectiveness, for the acceleration due solqly to the action of the earth’s gravity would cause the dart to arrive on the ground 1 at a high rate of speed. Assuming It to be released 5,000 feet | above the earth —lower than which the aviator runs the risk of being brought down —it would be traveling at nearly six hundred feet a second at the earth’s surfach, or at more than a quarter of the speed at which a bullet leaves the British service rifle.