Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-04-26
rhg MAXIM auN.

uhVIuK ooou ~ yVoi tosS t1ouO SOus- |
from your admirable and
humane correspondent, tending TO dis
parsRe the character and motives Of the
inventor Of the Maxim gun, ! take this
opportunity to attempt to dispel some Of
the erroneous ideas regarding said gentle
man; having In the last two years spent
time at his house In London
as his guest, feel myself fairly equip
ped as regards material wherewith to
combat any unworthy sentiments people
may entertain from the fact Of his being
the inventor and manufacturer Of the
most marvellous, death-dealing instru-
ment In the world.
To see him 10 his own home would
convince the most skeptical that he 10
first, last, and always, man Of peace
and regarding this great invention, he
believes Il will ultimately be
the means of carrying the olive branch
of peace to all nations, for with Its DEATH
dealing properties every country will be
only too glad to srbltrate, or settle lite
grievances In some other way than kill
Ing of Its subjects. Heaven speed the
day!
To quote from your correspondent
"what kind Of an American would an
inventor be, who, when war was i'm
minent between his own native land and
another, would sell such destructive
weapon to his country's foes-if war
WAS imminent when sold" ! wish TO
say that Spain and every other country on
the globe except the United States adopt
ed his gun years ago, when it was first
put on the market, notwithstanding the |
fact that he gave the United States the
frat chance, and spent time and money |
10 vain. trying to convince them OF its
superiority over all others, but they |
would not listen, or have anything to do !
With it--one reason being the fact that |
some congressman In Office ut that time |
was interested In the Calling gun, so
that was adopted and the Maxim refused
recognition. or course there remained
no other course for the inventor than to
dispose of his wares elsewh here II not In
his own country--snd for thst reason hr
Is to-day n citizen of another country
than his own--and the opportunity for
ever lost for the United States To secure
exclusive right tn this wonderful instru-
meut of warfare, with which they could
eff-ctuslly scare of all hostile tribes.
The gun In question, however, which
fires 775 shots minute, Ia not the one
that IL likely to figure conspicuously In
the prospective war with Spain, IA IL IL
meat nj for land service rather than for
marine warfare, not being long range
shooter. However, when the war cloud
began TO loom up over the horizon OF
the United States, then they suddenly
discovered the supremacy Of the Maxim
gun, aud ordered y $500, 900 supply.
The inventor has more recently patent
ed one which exceeds any other In long
range shooting, hut Is OF course not so
rapid In firing, though Is far ahead oil
any other In that respect. This govern
ment has slso secured $4,000 worth OF
these, which was all they had made Mt
the time.
In other respects, also, the inventor
considers he has been upjustly and un-
fairly treated by his own country. In
an interview with him published In
Casters Magazine, he says OF one of
HE gun mountiugs patented 10 Engisnd
! In 1856 "This was one OF the greatest
hits ever made. II was broadly pat
ented In the United States, and the
1 n
their guns, for IL was found tn be very
much better than anything else known.
| In fact II was so good that member OF
the Bureau Of Naval Ordnance induced
a subordinate IN take out another patent
on IL so AS TO use and evsde my apps-
ratus without paving royalty. Then
nv patent OF July, 1889, was the first
apparatus ever used In the world for
training large guns by electrical means.
The United States government are using
IL extensively In the navy without COM
pensation TO the, notwithstanding the
fact that | vas the inventor"
In an article In the Strand Magazine
by an interviewer he also says: ~ have
! not been treated well by nv own coun-
try. and am now OF the opinion that
England offers fairer scope and open
ings for the inventor than America,
where opportunities and contracts are
not usually given on grounds OF merit.
but sold for the most advantageous
terms-for this reason nv gun IL not
adopted there, whilst my gun carriage
and smokcless powder have been misap-
propristed In America" Notwithstand-
ing all this he Is not vindictive, hut on
the contrary most deeply patriotic and
never fails TO take up the cudges for
his own country whenever opportunity
offers, and would have been ol'v too
glad to have taken up his gun In IT. de-
fence long ago had he beeu given the
| chance.
Sensational newspapers are und"uht-
eddy responsible for many misleading
opinions, and they should be- always
taken with a grain OF salt-indcei 10
most cases with good big lump.
| OF course II Is deplorable that there
should ever b. necessity for making or
selling such implements of carnage, hut
AS this country Ia rich enough 10 buv all
the guns that were ever made, Uncle
Sam should have seen TO IL long ago
that his domain was sufficiently protect
ed, so that no hostile tribe would dare
venture near with wsrlike intent, and
then we should have peace forever after
But evidently this government has been
paving more attention to the making OF
millionsires than to the making OF de-
fences for the safety Of It's people.
War always involves the slaughter Of
the innocent, but ever since the world
began Il has held sway continuously
some v here In the universe, and until the
world ends We fesr the brute element In
human nature will never be entirely SUBJ
dued; but we did hope that our own
loved country would never again enter
tain the horrible spectre In its breast for
an instant. II these people who are now
making such war with their mouths
could read that graphic and narrowing
description In your last issue OF the ex-
periences Of one day In our last cruel
war, they would never want this country
to see another, but we all know that II
the ones who are so fierce for bloodshed
fight, or their homes the ones to be
made desolate by the sacrifice OF their
own sons, then this inbuDan war cry
would never have rent the earth.
"Well," they say, "'uppose You who
cry for peace belonged to the famili g Of
some of the men who were blown up on
the Maine!' vengeance Ia NINE"
saith the Lord. To be sure some one
belongs 10 the families OF those brave
men. But will It bring them back to
life to kill ten thousand times IA many
more and thus make as many more
homes de.Olate? II that incident b.
made the basis Of war, then surely We
have substituted the methods OF bsr-
bsrism for those Of Christianity and civ
lization.
We might all learn lesson in Chris
tianity from the Chinese nation despite
the fact Of our sending missionaries