St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-02-04
AMERICAN WEAPONS.
How Our Government Has Discouraged In
ventors of Rifles and Guns.

| ventors of Rifles and Guns.
A few days ago was talking with
an old gun merchant in New York. He
commenced as an ironmaker not far
| from the seat of war, and when the
commotion broke out he had on his
hands certain tools and furnaces and
ore-heds.
Our old ironmaker now turned into
an arms manufacturer. and he had a
large market as long as the Americans
were killing each other on the hair
splitting points of the forefathers. We
acquired during the war much OF our
superiority as inventors and makers OF
arms, and have since supplied the
world with weapons.
am told that Ames in Massachu-
sets makes better sabers and swords
than they do at Soligen, Germany, where
they have been making them for CEN
turtles. The Turkish army is supplied
with Winchester rifles, the Russian
army with Berdan rifles, the Spanish
army and the South American Repub-
lies with Remington rifles, and the
Italians with the Gardiner machine
guns, and Stanley's expedition to
Africa, with the Maxim machine-guns,
etc. But our old friend thus discoursed
concerning the American Government:
''This is the most bureaucratic Gov
eminent in the world You can not get
any invention adopted by it because of
the backwardness of its ordnance Off
GERS. There was Hotchkiss, who went
to Washington with his inventions, and
he was put off and disappointed until
he started for France with hardly
more than the clothes to his back. In
France he has made millions of money
and left behind him u great corpora
ton. 1t was the same way with Spen-
Ger when he invented the magazine
rifle, which carried its cartridges in the
stock. He was rejected everywhere,
and was leaving the War Department
one day broken-hearted, when mes
senger said to him: i can take you to
a man who will look at your gun, as
these army fellows will not So he
took him to Abraham Lincoln, whom
the messenger knew from having been
with him almost daily. Lincoln had
on a queer old Office suit, which he
apologized for as he took Spencer's
hand and went out somewhere near by,
and, taking up the gun, fired at
shinele, and made several excellent
shots, and put all the balls on the
single, for he had been a rifleman in
his youth. The inventor then took his
own gun and put all the balls within
circle on single. This single is
preserved in the Illinois Historic Socie-
ty, which has never acknowledged the
gift by any letter, though they an
nounce it among their trophies.
Lincoln told Spencer to go on and
make all the guns he could, as that arm
was needed, and hence magazine rifles
for the first time came into use. Now
the Government ordnance officers are
using the Springfield rifle, which is a
very inferior weapon. They are doing
it on the plea of economy, since they
possess certain arms 10 De altoiee dHu
certain machinery to be run. Look
here at this Springfield rifle. When
you put the cartridge in and bring
down the piece which holds it forward
you risk premature discharge every
time and an explosion, because this
lock part does not admit moisture any
where and gives no chance for the ex-
pansion of the gases when the powder
is blown off. But they have used this
defect in the gun to destroy almost
every other gun presented at Washing
ton. They have invented the rust test.
Their gun can not rust from this dam
gerous matter spoken of. Better guns,
when they are dipped in powerful
chemicals and put out in sea water all
night, will show little of the mois-
ture. Hence the rust test has driven
all American arms abroad, to be put
in the hands of foreigners. "S-GGth, IN
Cincinnati Enquirer.