Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1893-05-06
4 CURIOUS OLD WEAPON.
OLDEST TYPE OF THE MAGAZINE
ARM IN THE WORLD.
Made IN London in 1888 n u
al Baltimore After the War-Its
Romantic History.

TYHE oldest type OF magazine gun
in the world is the Joan Clck-
son, which was made in London
during the last part of the, Six
!ecu,n Century. The only arm OF this
tinl in the United States now known 10
,e ii the possession Of collectors IS he'd
a ITarts6rd, Conn, By the connoisseur,
4. +. Brooks, and can only be seen By
:ne collectors favorites.
4 number OF inventors, including
Iieutenanr ii. *. White, OF the United
states Navy, nave been atorde1 access
, the arm, which is one Of romantic
n.ere... The story OF its loss and re-
:ov.rv in the CITY Of Baltimore during
j he var is in itself a fascinating one, not
o SPEAK OF the mystery that surrounded
for years prior TO toe attack on tae
/ e. ,c.ai 'rooos in 1861 in the City
.oln leI il honor Of Lord Baltlnore.
This ancient gun bears the name and
lac .'Jrhn ClcAson, feet, London
l5s5," The magazine was calculated
! o.t4u slot5 a1i rested st the left OF the
3reecl mechanism. Tae bullets were
.oIa and were elected into place stimuli
.uae0usly with tie powder. The use Of
, Il at !ocl neccssitate1 a device that
void carry the powder into the pan,
Enc-e it could be ignitei By the spark
rosa us steel. This was accomplished
~ j peculiar mechanism that carried
.uolLn powder from the magazine 70 the
! -i.ht Of the gunstoca, from which point
Ae distribution supplying tho basin took
Jiaee.
The magazine was operated by a lever
u tie let side of tle stock, which
moved in a semicircle at rlght angles
VIII the ma a &c Itself. The motion
.asev the left hand out and away from
ne sln until the quadrant was COM
oIeted, when the hand IN operation was
irlvn back to the butt or stock.
It "a Al interesting fact taat the ball
aljoiucd tna powder wien loa1e1, the
paper vaaIing that was regarded as in.
lisycnsible il the cartridge that was
usci for 100 years before the war being
conspicuous by It's absence. The car
tr.i5e Of the present date is Identical in
principle, wish the exception that it IS
elongated and attached to the shell con-
tanning the pewder.
The sight, which is perhap7 six inches
from tie muzzle, is a crescent III form.
The muzz,e shows a plain bore half au
inca in diameter. The stock, which is
ii lely preserved, shows rare and curious
carvings. The heads Of the screws even
are embellished with figures Of dragons
and wild animals.
The cost of this old arm must have
connected with it must have been exc.
catei by hand. The gun was SO expen-
sive in design and workmanship that it
could have been owned at first only by
the rich and powerful land owner or
military leader of the time Of it's manu-
t~acture. 1t is a plausible theory, at
least, that it was brought to America by
one OF the wealthy coloaists under
Lord Baltimore. While there are no ex-
act data at hand at present sustaining
this notion as fully as could be desised,
there is unmistakable reason for ad-
herring to it as the only tenable one.
The history Of the gun during the last
thirty years is not destitute OF exciting
features. After the attack on the Union
forces shat were marched through Raiti-
more in April, 1861, the city was ordered
to be searched by the Government
forces, and arms of every nature were
contiscated by the Provost Guard. These
arms were rendezvoused at a central
point, where they were kept under guard
/ tnri nnr Vp1rS A. tho onncl,c,o, ~ h~,
%tilltieS, the residents of Baltimore, from
whom the arms in question had been
taken IN 1861, were allowed to recover
them. T2ey were rusty, and the selec-
tions were generally OF small value.
Strange as it may seem, the old mag
azice gun Of the Sixteenth Century, was
s. unpreoossessiny in the Just and de-
Element Of It's Long servltude that ne one
cared Tor 1t enou RI to take it home. In
tac cad It was actually thrown away azi
LETT T. D. carried Off by a ragplcker al
OIL llna. 1t was purchased from the
rarplc>er for half a dollar and taken to
n Old German cunsnith in the city, Ia
be tg.a,>osnel, If possible from toe,
hiat.ocl 70 . m%olern piece. Weeks az
tervari the ierman Suanakevdeciiei
that the JOB could not b. done and that
the oil gun should have 40 better late
than the junk heap. \ secoad ira ie
was effected, and the repairer Of old
mcs.1ct1 became himself the owner. pay
ny si.5p Tor the privilege.
L occurred to him che day. after
a>>dn'a- the prooriee,-shtp, tn. he
Fl ,r.,t ; -4