The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-06-06
snAL1 TINE ARMY HAVE NEW RrFLh'
The Delays In Introducing tho Margarine
Gun IutO Our Service

| The Delays In Introducing tho magazine
Gun IutO Our Service
WAsHISoToS, June 5.-One OF the most In
teresting OF the amendments made by the SEN
ate to the Fortifcatons bill IL an APPROXIMATION
for purchasing and testing neutrality-suspicious..
fantry small arm OF 80 calibre. Inc supIeo' Va
small arms properly belongs. not to tortiilca-
tions but to tho ormy as n whole. The OBJ
stacles, however. with which the ordnance Do
partme emit has for half a dozen years prevented
the introduction OF any improvement on the
present Springfield rife. have created some I'M
patience which appears in Mr.. Tellor's adVo-
cRey Of the amendment just spoken Oh
Gen. 3. v, Benet, who will soon retire, after
service OF more than sixteen years as Ohlel o'
Ordnance. has always pursued an eAttemen
conservative policy In regard to tho infantry
rife. On Dec. is, 1885, he transmitted 10 the
Secretary OF War statement OF the results
roach ed In competitive trials OF the Springfield
gun against the Lee the Hotchkiss. and the
ChafHee- Reece magazine guns. The preferences
indicated In the reports from many COM
panos were II against Tor the spring
field ms q single loader ana AZ against
II for the Springfield for all uses the " prefer
ences being the aggregate for all three maya
zine guns. Gen. Ben6t then declared hlmsell
to be =" an advocate for magazine gun out IL
would seem the part OF wisdom to postpone
adoption OF a suitable magazine arm for the
service. The Springfield rifle gives such gem
eral satisfaction to the army that we can
safely wait a reasonable time for further de-
velopments of magazine systems- Two years
later in 1887, Gen, Ben6t announced this con"
clusion In his annual report;
An effective and simple magazine gun mas become .
asSSoTsa 1nH ugh BOARDS trials tne fed 70 ;s
t,e on one That would ne f4 snSrymspt H. no yeyer
'q ,ho Isss enS tenn said 90 ave-
sJP ,sy, sa III Ss ma
s army SRE enough an S spS M Do
credit CT %H 70 the inVenIive genius OF our people.
The following year. 1888. Gen. Benet content
ed himself with saying that experiments were
with compressed and perforated cartridges,
although no satisfactory powder had yet peen
offered FINALLY Inst year 10 s rroSuee
ca6re rife for compr t. o, car
using smoke ess powders But he ANNOUNCED
that a 9Ocalibre; single. loading Springfield
Of tho same cali pre- was In process OF construc-
ton, SO as to be all ready for an American
,En9 @e he sa bsen
not YET awakened 70 the lucrative opportunity
Such Is the progress, II 1t can be called so,
made toward repeating rifle for our army.
tent at the caution manifested that lie advised
adopt Ing the best foreign arm available II an
American invention could not soon be OBJ
tained AS matter OF fact, one OF the very
hest magazine guns in the European service,
the Lee, adopted by England after most
American weapon while Gen. Dentt's own re-:
port shows that smokeless powders are OF
American origin. The real trouble probably is
that. while in Europe any approach to n new
improvement in war appliances il. welcomed
and stimulated. in our country the official
temperament is usually directed toward point
Ing out shortcomings. sometimes discouraging
the whole attempt because perfection has not
yet been reached.
1t is true that our position is different from
that OF European nations. We have no neigh
bors whom we fear, and naval attack OF for
urgent necessity of guarding against. Hence
our author tiles have been relieved from that
tions to re;arm themselves in haste with re-
neatln ny rifles, sometimes paying n great price
for their hurry. Germany. for example, after
zine guns: was compelled 10 abandon 1t for q
better. and the same TO certain extent has
countries. No less marked have been the adj
all the noticeable fact is that he will go out Of
office wit bout the credit of having supplied the
army with q repeating rifle. whereas his sue
cessor as Chief OF Ordnance viii. probably be-
weapon: So That presumably Gen. nenit has
not acted from self interest In postponing
result winch sooner or later must come.
But now there Is general opinion that post
ponements have gone on a. long as they ought.
All other nations are far advanced in the use
OF magazine arms Germany practically has
her whole army supplied with them. The
English regiments. at Adershot have them.
and those in India are to he furnished with
them at once; Russia only recently Is said 10
have ordered an enormous supDlv Of smoke
less powder cartridges from French factory.
Even tho smaller powers are arming with
magazine guns. Bulgaria. Chill. and the Argeu-
tine Republ lc, for example adopting the Mann
licher, AS for smokeless powders. 1t IL difficult
70 keep the run OF them, SO constantly is their
bearing their full share in the devices OF this
sort adopted by European powers. tho time is
plainly at hand for the 10 armng OF the Iegu lar
forces OF the United States with a magazine
gun. That will be simultaneously folio by
q like re- farming OF the National Guard.