San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-02
GATLING AND HIS GUN.
4 REPORTER DISCOVERS THE Sc
cRET OF THE DOCTORS SUCCESS.

CRET OF THE OOCTOR'S SUCCESS.
Thu story of the First Sale of His Famous
Guns-Gen. Ripley Did Not Want Them,
but Butler Did-Test in Competition
with the Howitzers.
The man who chats with Dr. r. J. Cat
ling, of Hartford, for an hour or even half
an hour comes to know the secret of the
success which the famous Gatling gun has
achieved. The gun is, of course, a good
one, but its excellence alone is not the
thing that has created demand for it in
every civilized country in the world. 10
may rather be said that the irresistibleness
OF its inventor has forced the sale of this
great eXterminatOr. y person cannot talk
with Dr.. eating five minutes without &C
4uiring all inclination to draw his wallet
and buy as many of the Gatling guns as he
can pay for. and if the doctor affects people
II this way whom he talks at with no other
wish than 20 entertain them what cannot
he do when he means business when he
goes a-gunning?
The doctor is y years old, with snow
white hair and whiskers, but he an talk
persuasively as ever. and he ls-tJ use
good old Connecticut phrase-"as keen as
a orier" Tall straight, gracefully pro-
portioned and OF easy carriage, he is also
an interesting and pleasing person to look
upon.
Good evening, Doctor" said reporter,
who a few evenings ago encountered the
gun man in the office of the Hotel Nor
uandie. The doctor responded with warm
grasp OF the hand and well, well; l am
very glad to see YOU. Come in here and sit
down. he said, and he led the way TO the
reading room.
"OuCe | read in paper what purported
to be a report of an interview with DR..
Calling. The newspaper said that the doc
TOT was tall, thin, beardless man, with
snow white hair, aged So. Now, as l am
but - years old and haven't shaved for
storty years, would have been justified in
branding that newspaper story as false,
but didn't just let it go. No, | dou't
believe in flying machines, and have never
had anything to do with experimentation
undertaken in the hope of gettin- one up.
BUTLER BOUGHT THEM.
1--WE devoted myself almost exclusively
to the Gatling gun. The first Calling guns
made built in Cincinnati There were
six of them, and they were no sooner nicely
made than they were nearly destroyed bya
FIRE, along with all my patterns. Then l
went to the Indianapolis Type Foundry
and placed an order for thirteen guns, and
these. as soon as they were done, put in
the charge of a man named McQueeney
and sent him off to Washington to sell
them When he got to Baltimore he left
all the guns except one. That one he took
along as sample.
Gen. Ripley was at the head of the
bureau of ordnance. He refused absolutely
to look at the gun. We don't want any
new tangled guns, he said. The old muz-
zle loading musket is good enough. That's
what Gen. Scott won the battle of Lundy's
Lane with and we don't need anything bet
ter now. There's nothing like handling a
ramrod in the face of the enemy to give
men courage and nerve. No, sir, we don't
want anything better than we've got now
"McQueeney started for home in disgust
At Baltimore he met Gen. Butler who was
fastening to the front. He showed the
general the new gun and the general said,
What do you ask for the lot?'
ga thousand dollars apiece, answered
Mr.. MCQueeney.
81 will take them said the general,
the whole outfit, and give you a voucher
for them He did it, too. although he
hadn't any authority to make the pur-
chase.
We'll. Butler took the guns south with
him and used them in his next fight. The
Confederates didn't know what to make of
them. What kind of guns have you got
here one of the prisoners asked, that load
all night and fire all dayf'
when the war was over my friends
told me to drop the gun business but
wouldn't. ! went to Washington and
asked for another firing. Ripley wasn't
there any more. In his place there was
a wideawake man, Gen. Dyer, man who
wanted TO keep up with the times, and
he showed great interest in the Calling
gun. Through him, ultimately, l obtained
an order for the trial of the gun, with can
tster cartridges, in competition with how
tiers, at Fortress Monroe.
GAVE EACH MAN DOLLAR
when got down 20 the place of trial
found that some Of the officers had put up
q job on me. They didn't want my gun 70
dc hetter work than the howit7ers. which