Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-04-01
CURIOUS WEAPONS.
Comreabcd Arms Used Hee0we tx,e -.
PRODUCTION Of Firearms.

1AAs&m Nsem BeaDKc AARc Kws
production 81 Firearms.
Before the introduction 81 t;rc-arns
concealed weapons for proiecting mis-.
sizes were very rare, though cross-boWs
evidently meant for that purpose have
Deen preserved. With the use Of fire.
arms, however, concealed weapons be-
came more numerous. the sudden dis
charge OF a yollev Of unknown weanons
causing more fright and confusion than
damage. When the cayaIry-p pistol was
frst introduced it was regarded AZ 4
marvel OF ingenuity, and won many
battles for the troops that employed
It. In the early days of firearms
we lind them combined with battle
axes, pixies, swords, daggers and
even shields, though whether these
may DC considered concealed weapons
may DC matter Of doubt. In the Mu-
scum OF Edinburgh there is purse Of
peculiar construction. Beneath the catch
there is a small, fiint-lock pistol, and by
turning certain buttons the pistol is pre-
pared for instant use, so that any one &C.
qualnted with the secret can open the
purse without danger, but an explosion
IS sure to follow an attempt in the ordi-
nary way. This purse is alluded to bv
Slr Walter Scott in Rob Roy and de-
scrlption of it given in full. The Tower
OF London has twenty-one specimens of
shields with a pistol attachment in the
center, the pistol being brecch- loader
and slightly projecting from the center
of the shield so that ii would
hardly be noticed by an enemy until
the discharge took place. Al small hole
In the shielu gave an opportunity for
taking aim, and while the weapon could
not have been very dangerous it must
have been terrifying to knight to see
his antagonists shield go off in this I'M
expected manner. The Paris museum
has sword arquebus, the sword being
straight and the pistol being alongside
of it and fired with a wheel-lock. The
tower collection has also a pike gun,
double barreied, with a flint lock, to-
gether with dagger pistol. the two
weapons being combined in one in a
remarkably ingenious manner, the pistol
being in the center of the dagger blade.
TIE Birmingham museum has a whip
pistol, the barrel being concealed in the
stock of the whip, flint lock having a
concealed trigger. 1t was used by
outlaws and also by postillions, many
specimens being preserved in the Paris
museums. The Germans had peculiar
battle-axe with pistol cunningly con-
cealed in the head of the axe, SO that
the owner could shoot down his OPP
ponent before the latter knew what
allied him. Among these early weapons,
so large q number were brccch- leaders
that it is quite remarkable that the fact
is not more generally known. Almost
the earliest cannon were breech- load
ers. Many of the earliest portable fire.
arms were Of this pattern. and so
large u number of the pistols that the
notion ceases to be novel. Nor were
hammerless guns unknown even before
the days of percussion locks. The
Tower of London contains a specimen
of a hammerless gun made in the seven
teenth century, which was far more Of
an achievement for that day than the
most complex specimen of the kind can
be for u.s. In fact, among the early
long and heavy guns, the breech-lOader
is tho rule and not the exception, so
that even here there is nothing new, and
it may be safely affirmed that, in the
matter of firearms, so far as the pin
ciples 90, there is not one principle
known to the present generation that has
not been applied at least hundred
times two centuries ago. London Iete-
graph.