The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-14
THE MAXIM GUN.
A WEAPON WHICH DISCHARGES 600
ROUNDS A MINUTE.
An Idea as Simple as the Result Is Won
derful-HetaiIs OF the Mechanism
Wheels a. Shields for
the Gunner.
London letter.

Conceive weapon weighing only sixty
five pounds, mounted upon light tripod
which can be lowered. raised, moved
literally with one hand as easily as
garden hose, and which pours out auto
matically 600 shots a nlinutel There is
no crank to turn; there is no labor of feed
ing. One man simply sets the frightful
stream Of bullets going, and then directs
II at will, faking a whole regiment front
If he likes, or keeping the fire within
range of five feet or five inches. This is
a gun, too, which can not Jam, which can
not get overheated, and which could go
on firing Just the same if its operator was
shot down at the start.
The basis of it all is the utilization Of
the recoil force to fire the next shot
Zach time the recoil energy, instead of
being wasted in kicking the gun over, is
used to eject the empty cartridge, cock
the gun, place the next cartridge and fire
it, The idea is as simple as the result is
wonderful. The cartridges are taken in
from the bottom in chain, just as the
perfecting press takes paper from the roll
Zach of these chains has 1913 cartridges
packed in box which is set in q groove
under the gun. The operator has simply
to 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 to
Ihe NOOK at tAe eAu ana push
out the old box with new
full one. For the rest he can de-
vote his attention solely TO training the
weapon. This contemplates the POSSIBLE
ity of its being worked by one mana
thing entirely feasible. OF course with
two men, the one to point the gun around
at will the other to connect the chains and
shift the boxes at intervals of half a
minute or so, the maximum speed could
no kpTf for q n hour If with
out fatigue or intermission In a quarter
of that time, resisting a charge for ex-
ample. 5000 balls would be hurled out of
barrel which was sweeping the line as a
telescope sweeps the sky One need not
see the gun itself to be able to realize
what destruction such a capacity implies
Difficult as 1t is to portray mechanism
with words. some idea of the Maxim
guns peculiarities may be gained by i'm
agining a low-set Photographic camera.
with long tube in front, and instead of
bellows like arrangement, black. coffin
shaped box stretched out behind. The
tube is of brass, and contains not only
the 45-inch barrel, but a casting for
water, which prevents heating. The box
is made of hardened STEEL and its lids lift
up from two ends, disclosing the ma
chinery. On the right side of the box.
well in front, is an indicator running on
a half-guage which has number of fig
ures on it, from ten on the right to 600
on the left You push this indi
Gator to ten if you want that
number of shots q minute, or 10
200 or 60O Its position regulates the
speed precisely. Then, on the same
side, but at the back, there is a little crank
with a half-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 and puts one in position to
be fired. Then you put the Indicator
where you want it, and the firing begins
If it be at slow rate, the crank at the
side slams back and forth with each revo-
luton of the machinery. and report fol
lows each slam. If it be up to 200 or
more the crank works so fast that the eye
can with difficulty follow it. and the rattle
of the firing is like a thousand packs OF
frecrackers being set off at once.
On the left side of this coffin shaped box
is an aperture through which the empty
cartridge shells are tossed. AT its fastest
there are always six of these shells In the
air at once. At the end of the box is a
brass handle with which the operator can
move the gun about Underneath are
two simple systems of screws by which
the levels of the gun may be accurately
fixed and fine sighting done When this
is not needed, as in q charge or similar
movement, a turn of these screws releases
the gun so that it may be trained instan-
taneously to any point Another feature
is an arrangement by which limited
range between two given points can be
fixed. so as to sweep a bridge or ford or
section of road, and then the operator
could push the gun sidew;se between
these stops in utter darkness, if necessary,
and still be sure of his range.
The forty-five inch gun Of which have
spoken is for the field and Mr.. Maxim
has invented for it carriage which is al
most as remarkable in its simplicity and
novel value as the gun itself. With all
the other machine guns the trouble and
difficulty of transporting a shield has been
great Mr. Maxim makes his wheels two
solid steel disks, and has these fixed on
the axles that can be swung forward
when a shield Is needed, and by meeting
in front can completely mask all of the
gun except the muzZle. The prince of
Wales said this was an even more remark
able discovery. considering its entire sim
plicity, than the gun itself. and the au
thorities at the Horse Guards are enrap-
tllred with it.
How Trees Pump Water.
[Chicago News