The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1861-06-19
From the y. Y. Tribune
THE MIME RIFLE.

vague idea has taken possession Of the pub
lic mind that the Southern rebel. are abundanty
supplied with better arms than ourselves. aid
that Floyd stole from Northern ar.ensls all the
best Mne rifles. leaving US nothing but the old
fashioned musket This idea is giving much un-
eas,ness TO timd minds with whom there ex SIS
a sort of indefinite foreboting that whichever
party may be armed with weapon which they
have been Taught 10 believe is - deadly. will be
certain 10 extermna;e the other. But the truth
in relation TO this matter viii dissipate world OF
error, and restore equanimIty 10 many dsorgan
!zed nerves. In the first place, though this rifle
| IL really the NEST effective arm in use IN this
country, of, in fact, any~h ~here else, vet Foyd Il
not steal all We had Oh hand, nor have the rebels
any machinery by which they are made, except
that portion which escaped destruction at liar
pers Ferry, by means of which they are now
cobbng up about 15 rifles daily according 10
their own story, which is likely to be much .x
ageiated. All other factories are in the north,
aid the embargo is now so perfect that there Is
lii lie probability ot their receiving further sup
plies from any quarter, with strong prospect OF
the chance OF coming battles resulting i'll a dim
mutton OF the quantity now in hand At the
same time, all our factories are producing them
in large number, while our ports open for a.
many may desire to import.
The process OF tltiing gun is extremely sim
pie Tut vast patience science, skill, aud exper-
imenta trial have been devoted To the business,
Of determining how many grooves are best, What
curves are most serviceabie how long the barrel
should be, how much lis diameter, with the shape
Ot the ball, together with the relative superior
~ OF loading at the muZz.e or bfeech. The IN
vention OF the percussion cap sprung from these
experiments. Tten followed the sabre ba, onet,
and finally the bullet now known as the Mimic.
These combined have converted the ordinary rife
of halt a Century ago into weapon Of unsur
passed efficiency.
Many attempts have been made To produce
breech loading rifles, all such can be loaded
aud fred more rapidly. The principal are those
of Colt, Hall, Sharps, and Burnside. But none
of these have been adopted ;ntO our army tho
favOlites III private hands. Military writers con-
tend that soldiers in action fire too fast already
and that is only adding to the evil to give them
the means Of firing four or five times fast by
placing beech loading guns in their hands
Even with the improved rifle this result is still
realized. At SOerino the Austi iaDs fred S, 400, =
coo times; yet they killed but 1000 OF the
envy, and wounded 10000, or 700 charges To
every man hit, and 300 to every man killed.
la reality il required 2.2 pounds Of lead to kill
a man, and this on the assumption that the Aus.
trian artillery did no damage. The arm which
il popularity, but most enormously called the
Mnie rifle, is almost identical with that u.anuac.
tured at Enfield, in England, for the British Gov
eminent, and With that made at Springfield, Mas
sachusetts, tor the American army. Capt. MIME
invented the bullet-nOt the rifle, and his bullet
can be used in any rifle which it may be made to
6t 1t is this Minie ball which is SO fearful a
missile. Ii is an elongated cone. having a fiat
base which is rammed down OH the powder. the
base being followed out like a thimble When
the charge is fred the explosion instantly
pands the lcaden shell, forcing the lead into the
grooves, and by preventing the escape through
them of any portion of the gas generated by the
explosion, concentrates the whole energy OF the
charge u,on the ball No wadiing is used in
loading The powder is poured into the muzzl.,
then the ball is inserted with the hollow part
downward, and when down is rammed gently on
the powder, sd as 10 force il up into the cavity
Of the ball. The latter is not rammed in hard al
the muzze like the spherical ball, but slides dosn
the barrel with the least possible effort. The
loading is therefore performed with greater quick
icSs, and with less expenditure OF labor by the
soldier.
The MIME ball is manufactured out Of cold
lead by IA michine Of American invention. now
in use at the Watervliet Arsenal where the great.
est activity in producing them now prevails
Many thousands are made daily by this machine
which produces balls of other shapes also, by
merely changing the dies or mOulds in which
they are compressed. The machine was purchas
ed from the Inventor by the Government, and
there are but two others like it in existence -
One of these was most foOlishly presented to the
Japanese, from whom it will be quite likely ia
pass into European hands. The other was made
by order Of the traitor Floyd "a a preparation
for the rebellion then Matching. 1t had been
/ aI han tb., H.,
Sumter walked up the North to arms. The citi
zens Of Troy, where it was being made, took
. possession of the uncomp,tcd machine, and i
passed bv purchase from the owner TO the State
ot New York This incident shows how delib
erately the slave rebellion had been planned
Ii has been satisfactorily demonstrated tha
the path of the Mimic ball is straight onward
more Ike All than ordinary sp 1ericsl Ili
and that II kills at twice the distance of the mus
ket. Wndage il destroyed there is an absenc,
: of all oscillation in the bore Of the gun and, ~
the old motion OF rotation is superseded by an
other around All axis lying in the vertical plan,
, Of FIRE, the same pointed portion Of the ball il
always kept in front. When thus moving from
> foremost 1t experiences less resistance from th,
air than spherical balls of the same caiber; and
though it may leave the gun with less velOclt,
vet at short distance its velocity will be great
er. Its pointed form also gives it greater powe'
OF penetration. The annals OF military surgcr,
are full Of evidence of the la which thes
balls make upon the human frame. practice
, MAJ ksman using the Mimic ball will hit rhe mar
hine times out Of ten at distance Of 900 yards
i that is, when firing del berately, and free frou
> the hurry and excitement attendant on Sa tie
On such occasions it is well ascertained that me
> load and fire too rapidly, !he mistake being mad
=, that victory is TO be secured 10y the number {
:, discharges, instead OF by the cool dchberatio
with which their fire is delivered. Schools 4,
' practice most important To teach our men
fire low. All our great naval victories du in th
war with Enela were the result OF firing low
L. Ii dismssted their frSates, swept their deck,
and hulled them 80 completely, to make the'
:, fit OILY to be burnel. The British fired high
and hence the rigging OF our ships was damage,
while men suffered but little. At Bunke
:, Hill, where the slaughter of the British te
d rbr the Americans were directed 10 aim a, the
4 Wristbands. There seems To be natural pr
,r peusity in all raw troops TO fire too high, whic
K can be cured only by thorough practice in cam
al or by more disastrous experience in actual Co
10 fret.
!. THE King OF DAHoNBY's AN ,zoS Guard
"A Attached TO t King of Dahomey's arm, the
;o is troop called "The Amazon Guards" II
IA West African Herald thus describes then
ID The Amazon Guards, as they have sometim
il. been styled are the most extraordinary troo
j. that We have ever heard or read Of They a
9. 5 900 in number, all females, and display such