Daily American organ., 1856-03-06
A Gl.aos a. sAe History Of Firs-srms.

East, amoug whom most oI 1no 49, ~ssr. l..,,,,
were probably acquainted with It's properties ,ons
heIore they were known in Europe. Barthoidus
Schwsrx Is generally thought TO nave discossrou
the secret of its manufacture, ana introouceo ~
throughout Europe in about the year 1920. The
honor Of the invention is also attributed Dy some
10 monk named Constantine Aneizen, and by
others to Roger Bacon, The explosive forces o.
this simple combination of inter- sulphur, and char
coal once being fully understood, IL was soon ap-
pIied 10 the purposes Of war, and we hear OF cam
non having been used by the Moors, as early AZ
the year 1912, at the siege of Algesiras, and also
by the English in l346, at the battle of Cressy.
The first experiments in the manufacture OF can
non naturally resulted In the production OF awk-
ward and unwicldy instruments. They were OF
enormous Size often throwing balls OF one hundred
pounds weight, and could only be dragged before
che walls of a besieged town at very great ex-
pense Of money and labor. After awhile some
fertile Imagination conceived the idea of lesseniDg
the bulk Of this wonderful engine, so as to apply
it as weapon for the hand aud in 1864 five hum
dred small barrels, Of span Only In length, were
manufactured in an Italian town. These were
found to inconvenicnt, however, and soon the bar
rels were heightened and the old fashioned argue
bus began to be used throughout Europe, and sub
sttuted for the crossbow, which, until then, had
maintained an unquestionable superiority. The
asquebus was ut first short thick, and very heavy,
carrying four ounce ball, and fred by match in
the hand. In the fifteenth century, cock or dra
gon was attached TO the right side Of the barrel,
between the lips Of which the burning match was
fxed, and by means Of trigger and spring, press
ed upon the printing. The operation OF loading
and firing with 80 heavy an instrument was neces-
sarily very slow, notwithstanding each arqucbuser
was attended by shield-bcarer, behind whose
shield he took shelter during battle.
Toward the latter part of the fifteenth century
the cavalry gradually provided with firearms,
the French being among the first to introduce
mounted marksmen armed with pieces two and a
half feet long. Firearms had by this time come
to be regarded as a most terrible weapon, and
much attention was devoted to the subject of inn
proving them. In 1917, the wheel-lock was in
vented by mechanic of Nuremburg This was
simple contrivance, consisting of small, sharply
notched wheel Of steel, projecting upward through
the centre Of the pan, and cooked by means Of a
strong spring. The pan being filed with priming
powder, and the cock, furnished with piece OF
birthstone, being let down upon the Wheel the pull
ing Of the trigger would cause the wheel to revove
rapidly several times, producing sparks from the
birthstone and exploding the weapon. The cavalry
alone made use of besc wheel-locks, and the in
antry of all the European powers remained with
matchlocks up to the middle of the seventeenth
century. Egsgf4
In the sixteenth century the bore of the argue
bus was diminished from that Of four-ounce ball
w uluS Va JWO-OuHCc jail, tDeu was lubrOuuC-
ed into use the double arquebus, whose barrel was
four feet long, and carried an eight-ouncc ball.
This OF course, was fired with rest. There was
also used by soldiers, musquetoon, with barrel
one foot and a half long, having caber of two
inches, and designed to carry twelve or fifteen
small bullets Target shooting was generally prac-
ticed in this century. At about this time Was also
introduced the musket proper, whose barrel was
considerably longer than that of the aruuebus and
thraW n hill 0f ftur xuaa Erod
from rest, and was first used with deadly effect
In the armies of Charles v Of Spain. s. IS
At the commencement Of tho seventeenth CEN
tury the arquebus had entirely disappeared, and
the troops of the various European companies were
divided into musketeers and pikemen. Carbines,
also, three and half feet long, were introduced
among the cavary, and each rider was provided
with two pistols. The carbinecr loaded his piece
with prepared wooden cartridges. 1890.
In the early part OF the seventeenth century, it
was found that the calbre of the pieces might be
reduced without diminishing their utility and the
French accordingly set the fashion of using mus-
kets carrying as many as fourteen bullets to the
pound. This century was noted for many great
improvements in firearms and other weapons of
war. The most important of these changes was
the substitution Of the hintlOck for the wheel and
match-ocks. BY the year 1910 the match-locks
were entirely out of use. About this time, too, the
lsayonet was introduced, consisting Of two edged
blade twelve inches long by one in width, fitted
like plug in the barrel Of the musket by means
of wooden handle. This method of fastening the
bsyonet to the gun was very inconvenient, mas
much as it was necessary to remove the blade at
each discharge of the piece The invention of the
screw to the bayonet, however, in 1878, by which
its advantages could be retained even while firing,
decided all minds In its favor but it was not gene
rally adopted until much later period of the CEN
tury. IL is said that the Swede5 the first who
fired with bayonets fixed.
I'm the commencement Of the eighteenth centu-
ry Gottfried Hansch of Nuremburg introduced the
method Of making the touch-holes funnel shaped,
so that tho powder upon being rammed into the
barrel would itself prime the piece, and thus in
crease the speed of loading AT this period also the
grooved, or rife barrel, began to come generally
into use.
In 1907 two explosive mediums we're discovered,
the one being chlorate of potash, and the other
detonating quicksilver. Forsyth took advantage
of these discoveries and obtained in England
patent for percussion frelocks by which he pro-
duced the ignition of little detonating balls com
posed of potash, birthstone, and lycopodium, by
means of smart stroke from a hammer. This
percussion lock, however, owing to Its somewhat
complicated structure and to the too great affinity
Of the chlorate to damp, proved incapable of APP
pliance to the arms of war until the invention Of
the percussion cap, in 1918, by Debboubert. The
cap, as first used, was a somewhat clumsy and
awkward instrument Many years elapsed before
it acquired its present neat and convenient shape
and 1t was not until after 1S40 that they we're in
troduced generally among the European troops. 4
OF late years much more attention has been de-
voted to the subject of firearms than ever before.
The result is visible in the compact aud elegant
fowlingpieces, rifles and revolving pistols, which
displayed in our shop windows, as well as in
the many marvellous engines of destruction which
have been brought into use since the commence
ment of the present European war 1t is to be
hoped that, as mans knowledge and skill in the
manufacture of deadly weapons becomes more per-
feet, our necessity for their use as an offensive
weapon will grow less and less.