The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-10
NOTABLE AMERICAN WEAPONS.
Yankee Ingenuity as Forward in
War as In Industrial Invention.

Did you ever stop to think of the fact
that no civilized or semi-civillzed nation in
the world to-day goes TO war without en-
ploying arms of Yankee invention? 1t IS a
fact. and worth our consideration. As il
lustrious as The list of names of those
Americans who, by their ingenious devices
for labor saving have assisted intellectually
to the material progress of the world is the
list of Americans who. by their inventions
of engines of destruction, have assisted
UNNECESSARILY to the science OF warfare.
Here is the story of some OF them;
The revolving pistol, though invented
several hundred years ago, as SHOWN by
examples stln preserved in the Tower Of
London, the arsenal at Venice, and several
less noted collections, was hrst made prlc-
teal by Colt The range of the rifle was
materially extended by Sharpe whose
gums can shoot a mile were brought
prominently into public service 10y the
Eastern Free Sellers, who sent them an
considerable numbers to John Brown and
his compatriots for use against the "Bor-
der Ruffians" in Kansas. IN machine guns
the Americans have led The world, though
our government was slower than those of
Europe in recognizing their effectiveness
and adopting them.
This last named arm first became known
to people not directly interested an Wea-
pons of warfare during The Franco-Ger-
man war when the correspondents sent
to their papers descriptions of the ter
rible mitralleuse'' employed by the French
to "mow down whole ranks" of their an
tagonsts. On this account there IS a gen.
eral impression that the miiraineuse was
the first machine gun. This however, is
an error, as a decade before Emperor and
Kaiser decided TO settle their differences
In the field DR.. Robert Calling, of Indi-
ana, had invented the arm that bears ms
Ia OH
the attention of the federal government
in 1861, but the eminent military authori-
ties who were urged to adopt Il for the
Northern armies saw in IT nothing pracu-
cal, and il was not even given an official
test until several years after the close OF
the civil war. While the United States held
back, foreign nations quickly saw the adj
vantage of Cuttings invention, and adopt
ed it, On this continent ii was hrst en-
ployed In warfare in the Riel rebellion, Can
ada, where great execution was done by
single gun, and the arm has since occasion
ally been used by our troops against the
Indians in the West
The Calling gun consists of from six to
ten rined barrels arranged around a central
spindle and firmly screwed into disks a
breech and muzzle. The barrels revolve
around the shaft and mechanism at the
breech engages each in turn, extracting
the empty she'll replacing it with a load
firing it the charge. The gun is operated by
simply turning a crank, and the firing
can be made continuous, the cartridges be-
ing supplied from a hopper on the top and
dropping one by one as fast as needed. The
rapidity of firing depends only on The man
at the crank. A well trained gunner can
fire as many as 1900 shots in one minute
one of the latest Improvements in this wea-
pom is the substitution of an electric motor
for manual power.
The Gardner gun, another American in
vention with all its appurtenances, weighs
only about 10 pounds and can be carried
on the back of a horse or mule. It's firing
rate is 500 shots a minute, and its breech is
encrcled in a water jacket, which permits
the fire to be kept up much longer than
If there was no provision for cooling lhe
barrels. The arm is composed of two
breech-loading rifles, placed side by SIDE
but separated about a quarter of an inch,
The mechanism for loading, firing and ex-
tracing empty cartridges resembles that
of the Calling gun and is also operated
by a crank. Two men are needed TO work
it, one inserting the cartridges from the
feeding case into the feeding guides, while
the other turns the handle. which places
the cartridges in the breeches alternately,
draws back and releases the firing ham,
mers and extracts the empty shells. The
Gardner has been Introduced into the serV-
ice of all the European powers except
Austria, France, Germany and Russia.
After Gen. Grant returned from his trip
around the world he sent a Gardner gun
to the Mikado of Japan and another to
Ii Hung Chang, then viceroy of China,
as evidences of his appreciation of the
extraordinary courtesies they had shown
him.
Another machine gun of American ORR
gin that enjoys high favor Is the inven-
ton of Hiram S. Maxim, a native of San
ET.rv@ Il
in such cases, found il necessary to so
abroad to obtain recognition for his serv-
vice and first entered upon its manufac-
ture In England. His gun which was in
vented in 1885, and has since been greatly
improved, is automatic. and all that Is
requisite to put IL in action is to press
the trigger TO explode the first cartridge
After this has been done the gun loads
and fires itself as long as cartridges are
fed to it, unless a cartridge fails TO ex- |
p,ode in which case il ceases work until |
it receives the necessary attention. There
is but one barrel, of which tWo-thirds is
enclosed in a metal water jacket and the
remaining third in a steel case of rectang-
ular form. In the latter is placed the
operating mechanism, which chiefly con- |
sists of a handspring and a lumber, !
firing pin and a lever. When the first |
cartridge is discharged the recoil (of only |
one-eighth of an inch) puts the lever into |
aCtlOn, ana TINS at once SeAS the WIOte |
mechanism in motion. The empty shell is |
automatically Withdrawn a new cartridge |
is inserted the breech is closed and the |
gun is fired with incredible rapidly.
The cartridges are fed from a belt !
something like those worn by hunters, |
which holds in little separate pockets |
about 1893 of them, and is moved forward |
as cloth is in a sewing machine. Each |
discharge injects a certain quantity Of
water into the metal jacket so as 10 pre- |
vent the overheadng Of the barrel. and |
1000 cartridges can be fired before the wa |
ter begins 10 throw off steam. A gradual
ed quadrant permits the barrel 10 be train |
ed in any desired direction, and a steel ar |
NOR plate protects the operator, who sits
on the leather cushion fixed TO the rear leg |
of the tripid supporting the gun, or on the |
tongue OF the carriage 81 il is mounted on |
wheels. Six hundred and sxty-six shots /
can be fired in a minute The gun mount |
ed is only three feet high, and measures
four feet nine inches from breech to- muz-
zle; its weight without The carriage is |