, 1870-08-04

from EA4 LoMaoR Gt4bk-
To destroy your enemy tn the shortest time,
in the easiest manner, and 1t the least possible
expense, is the first maxim Of war. The sroae
that whistled from Dayid's sling, tho bullet OF
the acknowledgement" and the sol1ey OF the
'.m.ehine-gun had I'll the same object. Since
proyetnents in firearms has been to carry the
greatest possible numbct Of deaths to the
greatest possible distance. Grape, canister,
o1 case. and shsapnel, all contain bullets and
are III means for mnft'pfJing deaths.
The ae1d-gun n,ows down lts hundreds
longer distances rains bullets from the
bursting ehrapnel- The -N;traitleuto or machine-
gun, on tie contrary, sends large humber Of
small p1ojeetl1es INDEPENDENTLY, and with pre-
cistuu, to a considerable distance. We may
u,vlau alma Oh the latter principle into two
let's from tibgle tstrel, fed by snany chaxn-
he1ed breech; aud, secondly, those in whicl,
each cartridge h4a its corresponding barrel,
the charging and dscharging Of which Ia di-
rect. and more or lcas simple. 1t = obsiors
that, for rough usage and continuous firing, it
is better that a large number OF rounds should
be fired from a considefable number Of lag.
reis 70 placed ao to support each other and ni1a
strength to the whole machine. Tho French
Aitrai,lense, AZ we'll ~ the belgian Montigny,
belongs to the second class, and the following
briet description il equally applicable 10 both
Ams: The inachine-gan consists Of . cluster
Of barrels, either bound together or bored out
Of the solid, and mounted ca the same prinei.
pie Is an ordinary field gun- At. = few
hundred yards, indeed, it Nould be dif-
drult to Distinguish between these weap.
ous, az far a. outward appearance goes. To
tho barrel IL attached i invasive breech action,
capable Of being opened and closed by Lever.
In The Moutlguy a-m the cartridges ire car
ried in steel plates perforated With holes cor
responding III number and position to the
-, 1-&-
s' vent piece" Of the B5steu1- The central fire
cartridges being dropped into the holes il the
steel plate, stand out at right angles from it,
and the p!ates. thus ready charged. are SO ca-
lied in limbeE and ax1et1ce boxes specially
fitted fer their reception. When the gun
steel plhte full Of cartridges is dropped inte
its corresponding Bfot, and the treech b.ocl
! tl1nBt forward and secured. The gua ia nou
on full cock. and contalns from thirty to forty
| cartridges, which arc tired By 4 barrel OF
gan" handle, either one ly one Is the handle
rapld turn Of the wrist. When the gun ii
empty, tho breech block is again u..h
drawn the ttecl plate, earring the empty
cartridge casea- lifted ont, and fresh plats
| dropped il, il necessary. Tho advantage
Possessed By the machine gun over infant.
n.e il that it is neyez ID u Iank- HaI'ets uaa,
rain around, bursting shells uar fill the air
es,u the thirty-seven barrels Of the Nitrail
leure shoot like one man, and at sou or !, ,00i
| yar1a viii pour vol1eT after vo1lev Of deadl,
concentrated fire into circle Of from ten Il
Twelve feet IN diameter. No bosirg VI d1in5
Of fuses Is nece cessaU, End the uhole opera
ton Is performed 10 rspidly that two steady
cool men could maintain fro Of ten dis
charges per minute. On the other hand, th
MitrAii1euse could not we'll compete With th,
| field gun, and 1t Is with this weapon it wil
4esuledly 10 met. It's bullets would have com
paratively ,hgh& eject 1t the ranges at whicl
field artillery pfujectilea are perhaps tnos
effective, while its size would offer very FIJI
marx to tne gunner. The foreign pzes
are velcone TO write tdaJdronnades abuu
The sudden death Of :wretched ho1see
peace practice The horses cama from th
hackers yard. and not from the banks Of the
Elbe. and there weEe 10 Uhl1ns sitting o.
them. We arc slso tempted on nuch occasion
to tzke the square root Of tho reported dia
tance rs the actual range. The future Of th
n,tsaileuse, however, depends on comm
factd- The dsy'a experiments ste over thes
arc hundreds Of machine guns tfundfing to
wards the Rhine The druua-like roll OF thei
J Of Huaeeheicn, Of On the edge Of th4 Mac
Eoreet and the "thud" of The bullet M
etsika something eofter th1n wooden target
les, the nachine-gun ia en- route for ii
! Rh1ns tbs experiments ~M now be on
| gigantic seals and Ar. Cardweu NAV adiour
his special committee until after Chx1stn1as i
aEg rate. Dy that tina the voice Of war, II
have giTen the verdict by that time tho Cbsl
| eepot, The acknowledgement, the ahsaune
| md voleJ gun will each be credited With
ghAsty account and va shall know wh;e
engine dest1uys human ufe tn he 1horte:
time, the easiest tcauner, md At the leat
| pQesible e1peuse