The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-12
AN IDEA OF ITS EFFECTIVENESS,

1t may be SAID one hundreu pOuuuS Ol leau
can be discharged from the gun per minute;
that is to say, the gun can easily, when well
manned, discharge two hundred balls per
minute, each ball weighing half pound, and
having q range fully equal to that of the best
field artillery. It is confidently believed that
the effectiveness-the killing power-of two
hundred balls fired from this gun per minute
is greater than that of shells fired from an
ordinary field cannon. The half pound balls
fired from the one-inch-calibre Gatling gun
have greater penetrating force at one thou
sand yards than fragments of shells dis
charged from artillery at the same distance;
moreover, balls fired from the Gatling gun
have more ricochet than fragments of shells
These guns, after long series of trials con-
Quoted by army officers of high standing have
been adopted by the United States Govern
ment, and one hundred of them have been
purchased by that Government since the
close of the late war; One of the leading
powers of Europe has also adopted the Cat
ling gun, it is said, and has given two orders
for them which are now being executed by
the Colts Company. Many other Govern
ments have purchased these guns in smaller
quantities.
TRIALS OF THE GUN
were first made at the Government Arsenal,
at Washington, and afterwards at the Frank
ford Arsenal, Philadelphia. Another series
of trials was made at Fort Monroe Arsenal,
Va, in the months of June and July, 1866,
in comparison with the "twenty -four FOUNDER
flank defense howitzer;" and, lastly, tests of
the guns were made at the Navy-yard, Wash
ipgton, in May, 1868. These have demon
strated the great value and superiority of the
invention. The following extracts, taken
from the official reports of the various trials,
will give the reader some idea of the appreci-
alton in which the invention is held by govern
ment officials. In the first experiments made
in January, 1865, at Washington Arsenal, one
of the small guns was used. 1t was
TESTED FOR RAPIDITY AND ACCURACY
of discharge, by means of targets placed at
various distances and with excellent results.
The report says:-
Pounds.
Total weight of gun, exclusive of carriage. 22+
Total weight of carriage. age...................".20
Total weight of limber....
The gun certainly possesses the advantages
of rapidity and accuracy, and loads and fires
while the barrels are revolving. There is no
escape of gas at the breech; it has one lock
for each barrel, so that in the event of one
barrel or lock becoming disabled, the gun is
still efficient, as the rest of the barrels and
locks can be used without difficulty.
peculiar and valuable feature in this gun
consists in its not having sufficient recoil to
impair the accuracy of the shot The gun
TO OVERCOME THE REcoIL
of each discharge. This is very great ad-
vantage, inasmuch as bridges, fords, road
ways, &C., can be protected with the gun as
we'll at night as in the daytime. 1t is only
necessary in order to defend desired place
at night to aim the piece in daytime so as to
cover this particular point, and in case the
enemy, at night, should attempt to approach
it, torrent of balls can be discharged in the
direction with unerring precision and with
deadly effect. With this arm, no time is lost
in sighting after the first discharge. If de-
sirable, lateral motion may be given to the
gun while it is being discharged, SO that
PERFECT SHEET OF BALLS
can be made to sweep the sector of a circle
within its range. The use of this kind of fire.
arms will, no doubt, in a great degree, su-
persede the necessity of large armies, for
with it few men can be made to do the work
of many, and hundreds of the guns can be
put in the field for what it would cost to
equip few regiments. In this gun the ope-
ration of loading is greatly simpliied. There
is no need of sponging, Gaping, priming,
adjusting of fuses, cooking, etc., All that is
required is to supply the hopper with the
cartridges and turn the crank, when a con-
tinuous stream of balls can be discharged.
NEW RECRUITS
may be taught the use of this gun in camp,
without any waste Of ammunition. When
the knob is so turned as to prevent swapping
OF firing, cartridges can be fed to the guns
from the 'feed-case," and the operations of
loading and extracting them can be carried
on without firing. In this way soldiers can
easily become familiar with its workings.
AS stated heretofore, the cartridges used
with this and one-inch calibre guns have been
greatly improved The cartridge shells are
now manufactured from much stouter mate.
rial than formerly, and are made with solid
heads, solder being placed in their bases,
thus enabling them to withstand the
heaviest charges without the possibility
of their being buast. The shells can
be reloaded and fired again for fifty
or more times These shells being thus util
lied, the cost for ammunition will be but
little more than that of the lead and powder
used in reloading. The fanges of the car
tridges have square faces in front, which
enable the shells to be easily extracted from
the chambers of the barrels, after they have
been fired. The carriage upon which the
gun is mounted has also been much improved
1t has an adjustment which enables one t.
give to the gun, when it is fired, latera
motion, so as to sweep the sector of a circle
of more than twelve degrees, without moving
the wheels or the trail of the carriage. BY
this arrangement the stream of balls can bt
directed in the same way as water from
hose pipe, and made to cover five hundred
yards or more of the enemys front withou
interrupting its own continuous fire.
This gun can be discharged with grea
rapidity, but always by means of single shots
in rapid succession, so that the tendency tC
recoil is only that produced by one shot, snC
this is entirely overcome, as above stated, b!
Ah1x ~ e a