Daily Yellowstone journal., 1885-08-07
THE MAXIM GUN.
A WEAPON WHICH DISCHARGES 600
ROUNDS A MINUTE.
An Idea as simple as the Result L. Won
deriuI- Details Of the Mechanism
wheels n, shields for
the Gunner
london letter.

London IftteT.I
Conceive weapon weighing only sixty.
five pounds. mounted upon light tripod.
which can be lowered, raised, moved
laterally with one hand as easily rs a
garden hose an which pours out auto.
matically 900 shots minute There is
no crank TO turn; there is no labor If feed.
ing. Iue man simply sets the frighiful
stream Of bullets goine, and then directs
II at will. raking whole regiment front
If he likes. or keeping the fire within q
range of five feet or five inches This Is
a gun. too. which can not am, which can
not get oyerheated. and which could go
on firing Just the same If its operator was
shot down at the start.
The basis Of II all is the utilization Of
the recol force TO fire the next shot
+ ach time the rtcoil energy. instead of
being wasted in kicking the gun over, is
used 10 ect the emptJ cartridge, cock
the gun, pace the next cartridge and fire
IL. The idea is as simple us the result is
wonderful The cartridges are taken in
from the bottom in chain. Just as the
perfeCting press takes paper from the roll.
Each Of these chains has 1913 cartridges
packed in box which is set in groove
under the gun. The operator has simply
10 start the gun "A matter OF seven turns
of the hammer crank-and then, when
the chain Of cartridges is nearly
exhausted, fasten new chain &c
the hook at the end. aud push
out the old box with u new
full one. For the rest he can de.
vote his attention solely TO training the
weapon. Tbs contemplates the possibil
fly of its Icing worked by one mans
thing entirely feasible of course With
two men, the one TO point the gun around
at will the other 10 connect the chains and
shift the boxes at intervals Of half 0
minute or 81 The maximum speed could
be kept up for AN hour il necessary with
out fatigue uT intermission. In a quarter
of that time, resisting charge for eX.
ample 1000 balls would be hurled out OF
a barrel which was sweeping the line as 0
telescope sweeps the sky. One need not
see The gun itself TO be able 10 realize
what destruction such capacity implies
Difficult as il Is 10 portray mechanism
with words. some idea Of the Maxim
guns peculiarities may be gained by i'm.
agining lows Photographic camera
with long tube in 'front.' ant. instead OF
bellows like arrangement, blnck. coffin
SHAPED box stretched out lehind. The
tube is of brass, and contains not only
the I5.inch barrel, but casting FOR
water. which prevents heating The box
is made Of hardened steel. and its lids lifi
up from two ends, disclosing the ma
chinery. N the right side of the box,
well in front, is an indicator running on
a lf.guage, which has a number OF fg'
ures on IL, from ten on the right to 80O
on the left You push this indi'
Gator to ten If you want thai
number of shots minute. or Ia
100 or GOO Its position regulates the
speed precisely. Then. on the same
side, but at the back, there is a little crank
with hall. motion. To start the gun the
the tape of cartridges Is attached under
meath. and with the hand the crank is
pushed backward and forward in seven
motions. That takes up six cartridges into
the magazine aud puts one In position TO
be fired Then you put the indicator
where on want it, and the firing begins
If IL be at a slow rate, the crank at the
side slams back and forth with each reyo
luton OF the machinery. and report fol.
lows each slam IL il be up 10 100 or
more the crank works so fast that the eye
can with difficulty follow Il. and the rattle
of the firing il like n thousand packs Of
tirecrackers beiug set of at once.
On The left SIDE al this coti.u shaped box
il an arerture through which the empty
cartridge shells are tossed AT is fastest
there are always six of these shells in the
air at once Al the end OF tho box is q
brass handle with which the operator caE
move the gun about Underneath are
two simple systems of screws by which
the levels Of the gun may Ie accurately
fixed aud tine sighting done. When this
- 49, g