The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-12
THE AMERICAN MITRAILLEUR.

Description of the Famous "CofTee MII.'
So much has been said about the French
Mitrailleur that its construction is now fairly
understood but its form and appearance are
still unknown to the ordinary reader. The
American Mitrailleur, which it resembles, is
constructed and worked on the same princi-
ple Up to the present the value of the
Mitrailleur in the Franco-Prussian war does
not seem to have been very great, but doubt
less its effectiveness will be more fully de-
monstrated.
This gun, in It's fundamental principles
that is to say, in its mechanical construction
and operation-is essentially different from
all others, and not single part of it, except
the barrels, is like that of any other gun. 1t
is, therefore, not an improvement upon an
old system, but is an original invention. To
give the reader an idea of it's character, it
may be said that it can be fired, when we'll
manned from four to five hundred times per
minute.
THE MAIN FEATURES
of the gun may be summed up as follows
l. It has as many locks as there are barrels.
The looks also have, when the gun is In ope-
ration, q reciprocating motion. The forward
motion of the locks places the cartridges in
the rear ends of the barrels, and closes the
breech at the time of each discharge, while
the return movement extracts the cartridge
shells after they have been fired. When the
ten-barrel gun is being fired, there are five
cartridges at all times in the process of load
ing and firing and at the same time five of
the shells, after they have been fired, are in
different stages of being extracted. These
several operations are continuous when
the gun is in operation. In other words,
as long as the gun is supplied with
cartridges (Which is done by means of
s'feed- cases." in which they are transported),
the several operations of loading, firing, and
extracting the cartridge shells are carried
on automatically, uniformly, and continu-
ously. The locks operate on line with the
axes Of the barrels, and are not attached to
any part of the gun, but as the gun is made
to revolve they play back and forth in the
cavities in which they work, like weavers
shuttle, performing their functions of loading
and firing by their impineement on stationary
inclined planes or spiral projecting surfaces.
1t can be loaded and fred only when the bar
rels are in motion, that is to say, when the
barrels, inner breech, locks, etc., are being
revolved. 1t may be justly termed
A COMPOUND MACHINE GUN,
since the ten barrels, each being furnished
with its own loading and firing apparatus,
form, as it were, ten guns in one This is
valuable feature, for in the event of one of
the locks or barrels becoming impaired, the
remaining ones can still be used effectively
The gun bears the same relation to ordinary
firearms that the printing press does to the
pen, or the railway to the stage-coach. 1t is
no exaggeration to say that this system marks
the commencement of a new era in the his
tory of imple ments of war; 1t will, no doubt,
be the means of revolutionizing, in a
great degree, the present modes
of warfere A few men fur
nished with these death-dealing engines
will be able to defeat thousands armed with
ordinary weapons. 1t may safely be said that
no guns which can be rapidly fired have so
great range and accuracy as the larger sized
Gatling guns, which have an effective range
of from two thousand to three thousand
yards. The gun is regarded by master ar
morers and skillful mechanics as one of the
most beautiful and perfect specimens of me-
chanism ever invented Officers of the
highest intelligence admit and recognize its
effectiveness and value as an implement OF
warfare. The gun and its ammunition have
recently been
GREATLY IMPROVED
in the following particulars: locks are
now made with improved extractors, which
never fail to remove the cartridge shells from
the chambers of the barrels after they have
been discharged. The locks can be put in OF
taken out without taking the gun apart. The
method OF supplying the gun with cartridges
has also been greatly improved, so that they
can now be continuously fed to the gun with
regularity ana certainty from 'feed-cases,
through the hopper, even when the gun is
operated by inexperienced men. The car
tridges are now made of much stouter mate
rial than formerly, and with solid heads, an6
they can be reloaded and fred great number
of times, thus greatly lessening the cost o.
this kind of ammunition. The shells of thes,
improved cartridges are so strong as to max,
it impossible for the heads to burst ever
when double charges are used. new cock
ing device is now added, which can be so ad
justed as to allow the gun to be revolveC
without swapping when not in service.
THE PRINCIPAL SIZES
manufactured are as follows: The smalles
size has ten steel rifed barrels, and is mad
of any proper calibre to suit the muske
cartridges used by different governments
The second-sized gun has ten steel rihed bar
rels, is 75-100 inch calibre, and discharge
solid lead balls of a OF. in weighs
The third, or largest sized gun,
of one-inch calibre, is made will
six (sometimes with ten) barrels, and dis
charges solid lead balls } 10. in weight Thi
gun also uses canister cartridge which con
tains sixteen balls. 1t also discharges OK
plosive balls with great effect. This gun Ga
well as the 75-100 calibre) has an effectiv
range far greater than that of musketry, an
the great precision of its fire gives it an ad
vantage over most field artillery. To Civ
ihe reader