The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-07
RAPID-FIRE GUNS EXECUTION.
Some Kinds Capable of 1000 Shots a
Minute.
From the Boston Herald.


From the Boston Herald.
American ingenuity. which has so eff
GENTLY assisted the material progress of
the world by devising labor-savin ma
chinery, has also done much in develop
ing the possibilities of engines of destruc-
ton. In this direction it has worked Won
ders and no civilized or semi-civilized ma
ton now goes to war without employing
arms of Yankee invention. In machine
guns the Americans have led the world,
though our government was slower than
those of Europe in recognizing their eff
fectiveness and adopting them.
This arm first became known to people
not directly interested in weapons of war
fare during the Franco German war,
when the correspondents sent to their
papers descriptions of the terrible mi
trailleuse' employed by the French to
''mow down whole ranks of their an
tagonists. On this account there is a
general impression that the mitraileuse
was the first machine gun. This, how
ever, is an error, as a decade before EN-
peror and Kaiser decided TO settle their
differences in the field DR.. Robert Cat
ling of Indiana had invented the arm
that bears his name.
The Calling gun was brought to the at
but the eminent military authorities who
were urged TO adopt it for the Northern
armies saw in it nothing practical, and
it was not even given an official test un-
til several years after the close of the
civil war. While the United States held
back, foreign nations quickly saw the adj
vantages of Gatling's invention, and
adopted it. On this continent it was first
employed in warfare in the Riel rebellion,
Canada, where great execution was done
by a single gun, and the arm has since
occasionally been used by our troops
against the Indians In the West.
The Calling gun consists of from six to
ten rif1ed barrels arranged around a CEN
trail spindle and firmly screwed into disks
at breech and muZzle. The barrels re-
volYe around the shaft, and mechanism at
the breech engages each in turn, ex-
tracing the empty she'll replacing it with
a loaded cartridge, closing the breech and
then firing the charge. The gun is oper-
ated by simply turning a crank, and the
firing can be made continuous, the car
trldges being supplied from hopper On
the top and dropping one by one as fast
as needed. The rapidity of firing depends
solely upon the action of the man at the
crank. A we'll trained gunner can Ere
as many as 1900 shots in one minute.
One of the latest improvements in this
weapon is the substitution of an electric
moter for manual power.
The Gardner gun, another American In
vention, with all it's appurtenances, weighs
only about 40 pounds and can be car
ried on the back of a horse or mule. It's
firing rate is 500 shots a minute, and it's
breech is encircled in a water jacket,
which permits the fire TO be kept up much
longer than if there was no provision for
cooling the barrels. The arm is composed
of two breech loading rifles, placed side
by side, but separated about a quarter
inch The mechanism for loading firing
and extracting empty cartridges resembles
that of the Calling gun, and is also oper-
ated by crank.
Two men are needed to work it, one in
serting the cartridges from the feeding
case into the feeding guide. while the
other turns the handle, which places the
cartridges in the breech alternately,
draws back and releases the firing ham
mers, and extracts the empty shells. The
Gardner has been introduced into the ger
vice 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 10 Ii
Hung Chang, then VicerOy of China, as
evidences of his apprecia ton Of the extra
ordinary courGesies they had shown him.
Another machine gun Of American ORR
gin that enjoys high favor is the inVen-
ton of Hiram s. Maxim, native of San
gerVile, Me. IhIs gentleman, as usual IN
such cases. found il necessary 10 20
abroad for recognition for his device, and
first entered upon it's manufacture In
England. His gun, which was invented N
1888, and has since been greatly improved,
is automatic, and all that is requisite 60
put il IN action is to press the trigger 10
explode the first cartridge. After that has
been done the gun loads and fires itself
as long as cartridges are fed to Il, unless
a cartridge fails 20 explode, in which case
il ceases work unfil It receives the neces- \
sary attention.
thirds is incioged in a metal water Jacket
and the remaining third in a steel case Of
rectangular form. II the latter Is placed
tie operating mechanism, which chiefly
consists Of a handspring and tumDier.
a firing pin and a lever When the first
cartridge is discharged the recoil (of only
one-eighth Of an inelO puts the lever Sn