Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-07-09


, the age-which | need not say is tolel
ably sweeping assertion for an Englisl
) official to make. Although the invento
: is as yet under no contracts with tn
British Government, and has been patri
otto enough to insist all along that h,
will enter into no engagements whicl
will in any way preclude his giving tht
United States the full benefit of all hi
inventions when they are needed, yet it i
very well understood that Mr.. Maxim
can have it all his own way here in Eng
land when he is ready to market his gun
One of the most curious features of the
invention, or rather the series of inven
tons, for there are remarkable things t.
follow, is that the whole thing has beer
developed within the past two years. 81
suppose you have devoted a lifetime o.
thought to this?' said the Prince o.
Wales to the inventor, after he had ex.
amined the gun. NO" was the reply
''only about eighteen months" And
this is literally true. Mr.. Maxim had
been an inventor in gasoline machines
and electric light lines when he came to
this country, less than two years ago, on
business connected with the Maxim
light. The business took a turn which
made it necessary for him to stay mere
without much to do. He had often
thought OF an improved gun, but never
definitely. Something centered his at
tention now upon til think it was the
failure of some other machine gun to act
satisfactorily at some critical moment.
He developed his plans, interested some
capitalists in it, secured factory in Hat
ton Garden, and began the work. Ru-
I ! l. i
before the gun was in anything but
model form all the English authorities
and experts had seen it and were familiar
with its workings. 1t is scarcely finished
even now, for the inventors head is full
OF schemes for simplification and inn
/ prOvement, to be embodied in the near
future.
But Sir Andrew Clarke will testify that
this wonderful gun is among the least of
Hiram Stevens MaXim's achievements
during the less than two years that he
has given thought to military science. At
the Horse Guards and the Admiralty
they begin 10 believe that nothing is too
difficult for him. The other day he was
with an official party on board the Sultan,
watching the trial OF q new and eXcep-
tionally heavy cannon. 1t took seven
men to laboriously turn and train the
monster. 81 think there ought to be
way of doing that more easily" said
Maxim. The Admiralty gave him gun,
engines, etc. to experiment with, and
he has perfected and satisfactorily tested
an electrical apparatus, worked from the
ships engine and light dynamos, by
which child could turn the great gun as
easily as Il pea-blower.
SLOW BURNING POWDER.
That the English government shall buy
its slOw-burning powder for heavy ord
nance from Germany has long been
stock complaint in politics here. The
course was necessary, because the Ger
mans alone had the secret So import
ant was this secret deemed that it was
proposed to pay G25, 600 for it on the part
of the British government. The inventor
Piscataquis county, Me-, asked about it,
and was told that the best chemists OF
England were completely bailied by the
fact that the component part OF this mys-
FERROUS powder was precisely those OF all
other powder, neither more nor less. He
got some of the powder from the Horse
Guards and subjected it TO microscopic
examination instead of 4 chemical analy
sis. He discovered at once that the trick
lay in regulating the size OF the grains of
nitre, and he is prepared not only to
make that particular kind OF powder, but
Il hundred varieties each with q separate
and defined burning velocity. This i'll
turn suggested to him a revolution in the
making of shells, which has at present |
progressed only to the stage OF drawings, /
but OF which the world will hear more /
later.
In conclusion, there is something to say
which all Americans are concerned iii, /
and which cannot be given too great !
prominence by the Military Service insti- /
tuition and the United States authorities. /
Mr.. Maxim is at work upon comprehen- /
sive scheme of coast and naval defense, |
parts of which have already been sug |
gested to the authorities and enthusiast
tiCally approved, other parts OF which are /
not to be spoken of yet. One feature OF |
it is Il modification of the Maxim gun,
which will destroy torpedo boats as a
terrier destroys rats. Another-and how /
important this is may be seen at glance
is an invention by which cannon Of
the largest size can be worked on q lifting
platform by electricity. For example, on
the shore a. sandy Hook 100-ton gun
could be sunk below the earth level and
masked from view more completely by
bushes, etc at a signal it could be raised
above the ground, trained, fired and low
cred again, all in the twinkling of an eye.
f'Granite Notifications have been out of .
date for some time" said Mr.. Maxim,
"but when this invention is put into effect .
they will be worse than useless"
The astonishing success he has had .
here, and the high opinion the English |
authorities have OF him and his capabili |
ties, are guarantees that what he says, /
on a subject Us perpleXing and |
worrisome to Americans as this OF coast |
defense, is worth listening to. And he |
saws without reserve that he will soon |
have matured Il complete plan for the de- I
Tense of the American coast line on new !
lines which not only answer the require !
ments OF to-day, but anticipate the adj |
vancing demands of tomorrow, and which |
his country shall have the first and best /
chance to benefit observation-disclosures, !
Juiy 1St.