The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1890-12-18
TIE srw CAS- euN.


A Description of the New French Yves
pom for Infantry.
At headquarters OF tie Lon Ion Scottish
Rifles yesterday afternoon some interes<
ing experiments were conducted with
NJ Paul Giffard's appliance for the EN-
ployment OF liquefied gas as an explosive
o., 10 be more strictly accurate, ore
should say as a means of prope,liag pro
jec.iics-in place OF gunpowder. ii.
| Parl g fard's scientific reputation IS in
,el.tor of the pneumatic ts,be aad OF The
. g ffard injector" so largely used In C N
nec;ion with sies Ia power. stands so IigL
| til .ny invention TO 81 ich his raile wa
attached would be worthy of attentive
consideration.
The weapon now introduced by him,
h." ever, Is something more t':an M in
gei.is.us appliance; it is a discovery which
no. only promises to revoiatio:.ize the
gunmaker's art. but Is applicable also c
many other purposes as motive pow1r.
Those who are inty' .sted In the Giff.srd
| gun claim that it is he military weapon
of the future The idea of u ing ligu,'-
fed carbonic acid IS as a prolulsiVe
power is not new, t NJ Giffisl is tie
first who has turned l. to practical ac-
count
The gas gun is model of simplicity.
50 far as one can js.l2e with 'xa .'lin.s-
ton OF the discharging mechanism. I'D
which much of the merit u. Giffard's
invention lies. 4 small cylinder, Gale |
a carsouche, is attach d To tie barre! II
rifle or slnooti:Lo gun. This cylinder
contains llquefiel gas eboug!i 10 d: :
charge go shots, eGua to airpu; % tH.-
lets Of an ordinary .e:yicc rife, mi.n Il
velocit- to kill at 600 yards. There i
no other explosive. The ell, is sim *
dropped into All aperture OF the i...r '.,
which is her,netic.i iy closed by pr, H.;
a small lever, and the loading b Cub
lplete.
When the trigger is pressed a small
lquantity Of liquefiti gas becomes lea ed
and expands in tie lrcech ci.a . eli.
There is no lou Ter report han tie raw
ing OF cliampa re CORK mdfes; 10
lsmoke and no fouii;t., OF The ARE ii
all these respects II. G.ifaf,f- "a, ii
seeiss to fulfil the iefui.cm Is o n
ideal wtapoI FIR war::a I. ba- VII her
Il
vant.lges over oriiiIirt cx. hiycJ for
military purposes remains o. proved.
The inventor says til, r woa.@ q 10
difficulty i'll relillin; the cyl; dcrs sit
gas on the La :tlci,r.d but it i c: vip;iS,
even il that be the cI|.. t.a' s go
cylinders would lave to lie Sup ti..l %
each nan in order to MAZE Up t .e nun
Der of rounds now thought 10 lie ncca5
sary, and, as the bullets would of niece :
sity G carried in addition, lie ANN mi
ton for gas gun woal wei l just AZ
much as ordinary cart g4s, weight for
weight
The charge of liquid liberated for
each round is regulated by "a milled
screw, and each charge, as liberated, is
contained in a sp cial chamber, from
which it is released by the pulling Of a
trigger. The bu...t is droi p d sep
arately into an orifice in the breach lock.
In the rifles Shown the bullets were
round, burt elongated bullets can be used.
When the guns were discharged rush
of vapor was seen issuing from the muz.
z.es. But it instantly faded away, and
the bullets few with strict precision to
the targets. Barrels which had been re-
pea eddy discharged in the past two
months were shown to have suffered no
! corrosion. The pressure of the gas and
fluid in the above magazines was SOC
pounds op the square inch, and this
ipressure Is maintained up to the last drop
of fluid Tile preparation of the liquefied
gas involves no mechanical power, but
the needful pressure is got entirely by
the chemical manipulation of ordinary
substances, such as carbonate of soda. -
[St james Gazette.