The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-07-13
SIMS DYNAMITE BOMBS
Newark Inventors Machine
in Active Operation at
Santiago.
MORE WEAPONS ORDERED
How Sergeant Borrowers Gun
Got damned Weapon
Described.

are watching the operations at the seat
of war few save those whose relatives are
directly concerned in the struggle, are
| more deply interested than Inventor Win
field Scott Sims, of this city. whose dyna-
mite gun is now being put to actual test
for The first time in warfare by any of
the recognized powers of the earth, says
the Newark Sunday Call" The gun was
heard and felt in the first days fight be-
fore Santiago a week ago on Friday, and
again on Saturday, and from the various
press accounts it spoke with no uncertain
voice. Mr.. Sims regrets that he is un-
able to be with the gun to watch its work,
| and if the war should be drawn out to
| any considerable length it is hardly prob
| able that he will be able to restrain his
desire to see the child of his brain in ac-
ton. The inventor has smelt g~unpowder
as he is a veteran of the Civil War, but
just now he is kept exceedingly busy
| turning out guns for the Government, and
can scarcely find time enough to visit ms
| home. let alone go to the front.
There is but one Sims gun with the ar
| my before Santiago, and by an odd coin
| cidence the man in charge Of that gun is
Sergeant Hallett Alsopp Borrowe, Of the
| Rough Riders, who at one. time lived and
| worked in Newark. being in the employ of
| the Consolidated Traction Company. In
| the first days fight Sergeant Borrowe and
| his men got the gun into action early in
the day, but had to retire on account OF
| a projectiIe becoming jammed in the bar
rel. Later in the day the projectile was
| removed, but so far as can be learned
the piece was not used again until late on
| the second day. Sergeant Borrowe and
| his men trained their gun on a ~blockhouse
filed with Spaniards. presumably one Of
the line. They then sent word to the
Spaniards that If they did not surrender
| they would send some dynamite shells in
| to them. The Spaniards knew what that
| meant. for they had doubtless seen rne
| execution wrought by the same guns in
| the hands of the Cubans. So they sur
| rendered. These Spaniards were the ones
| reported to have been turned over to the
| cubans, who promptly cut off their
| heads. The report of the head looping
| has since been emphatically denied by
| General shafter himself. AT other times
the yankee Devil as the Spaniards call
| the gun, did great execution. Single shots
| destroyed whole buildings. and the Span
| iards could be seen running from the
! StGiiGS u tAC 6Apl9SloiS III AACfSH'
Mr.. Sims. in speaking of the jamming
| of the gun in the first days fight, says
| he believes he understands Just how it
| happened, although he has not received
| any information on the subject other than
that the newspapers furnished. The gun
| Sergeant Borrewe has is one of a lot of
| six furnished the Government at the out
| break of the war. These guns were turn
ed out in great haste and were shipped
to Tampa as fast as possible. There was
| no time to subject the guns TO the usual
| firing test of ten rounds or so, which is
| necessary very often before the gun IS
| working smoothly. 1t is impossible from
| the nature of the manufacture of the gun
barrels to tool the barrels out on the
| inside and the result is that the first few
shots cause a scaling off of fine particles
of steel, creating a slight ~roughness.. This
r%oughness often occurs near what is CALI
| ed the gas check in the projeetile barrel
| of the gun, that is, not far from the
| breech. It sometimes happens that a
| projectile will become jammed just at the
| entrance of the barrel in the vicinity or
| the gas check, by reason of the rough
ness. Sergeant Borrowe had no one in
| his detachment experienced in the hand
| ling of the gun, and very likely, Mr.. Sims
80 ~ a;5 ~ rnou, inst what 10 do.
arsroovar as haste il an imnortant ele-
eSa4 n,orkina a gun under fire. the
sa hsva hecona a hit unsteady
thro,ah +ba fa{l,,re Of the proiectile to
| respond to their first efforts to release 1t.
At the far end of the projeetile Is a rod
tarmina+;ne in 4 snrt Of rudder. which
,ui4as tha nroiectile in IFS fight. The
nranar +bing 10 have done If the pro-
iaat;1. III. iammod naar the breech would
Sas.a haa, ~ fastan . rome 10 the rod
- n,loa tha rraiaoti1a o,t tbo,,eh tbe
IN. 70 az nroiaotila was TANNED foo far
:. - hanna, - narr,;+ If tba fastening of
49, ~ az raa ono of the hammers
III ha,a baan ,,sad The mmer sho3ld
80 Laaa ,.nar.aa a. tba n,nzzIe and nv
s+aaav nressnra apainst the point of the
rna5aa+,la Il mioht nave baen nrshed hack
80 =. of +ho ~ Tbe man NAV have
$3.50 A. +his las+ +bintino that as
- 49, 80 Il ~ ..hnsinass andv Of
49, aro5aot;1o thew miebt he in danger Of
s1sm,ar +hair s,,n ana themselves 10
49,. h,,t .Tr Sine save tbav Womb NOT
,s,a 800 s, +he slightest danqer-and
$50 hana oor,as i, ona If the nrattiest
$500. 80 ~ an+ira gnn If ANYTHING
.ta,,4 s,,cb !, niaoa az mechanism NAV he
ssssa;had Mn s,,eb an adiectiva
~ ss,u \ ~ nrniaoti1a i ont afr
r,nostad cona n tbis hl,,nt
ana - st+ea q small winamiu Rebind