The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-04-27

reen Spain and the United States
Ill be decided not by courage or
4 N.,o, but the manipulation Of ma
,h;nerv. 1t will be in the main o. ma.
w., conflict, of course, and machinery
4 aoes the fighting on shipboard nova
Ssvs. Three years ago Mr.. Maxim,
No famous gun maker and inventor,
aid that the men who understood ma
! ,biuery best would win in q modern
-. dsht, and incidentally he remark
q "a that the Spaniards, if ever they
sbould be opposed to the Americans
s an The ocean, would have no chance at
II because of their vast inferiority to
j he Yankees in respect to the me-
q ebauical instinct
= This statement was made yesterday
hv a naval officer Of the, highest rank,
vbo then vent on to speak Of the en-
& t;reIy novel character OF the weapons
Il rhich are to be used on both sides in
81 ,he conflict with Spain. They are 80
new, he said, aud as yet untried in
v .rarc. that all the world will look
On in uonderment to see how they will
WORK aud what damage they will do.
In point Of destructivcness they ere as
far ahead Of the instruments Of killing
Employed twenty-five years ago as
&fthe latter were superior TO the pixies
3 land battle axes Of tie Middle Ages.
And this is one reason for believing
sAhat the Hispano-American struggle
will be a short one, a great number OF
and an enormous amount of prop
tr,y being wiped out in "a brief pc
5}iod.
Probably it may be said chat the
Eapid-frc guns is the most wonderful
achievement Of military science up 60
ate. SO far as ordnance is concerned.
This type Of weapon is destined to
blsy a very conspicuous part in the
eoming war, being capable of destroy
ug life and property at an enormously
Is kreater rate than any instrument
hitherto invented. Adapted to great
tariety Of calibres, so as to be able to
Throw projectiles weighing from ,
pound to 100 pounds, the continuance
specially adapted to the purposes Of
% avail warfare. 1t throws explosive
bells, which will pierce anything ex-
249sp: heavy armor, and these missiles
~ ire discharged in q continuous stream,
6-pound delivering ten shells a min
Die with the utmost precision. The
|lgest kind Of rapid-ire gun, of g.
neh calibre, throws six 10O-pound
|hells a minute, with a range Of over
miles the 3-ineh gue throws 6 &c.
J 3oand projectile every 6 seconds, with
range OF 1 miles. When it is con-
idered that q irstsclass battle ship
s3anies at least thirty rapid-fre guns
4aat viii be realized what q storm OF
! bursting missiles can sbs hurled upon
- adversary.
# the rapid-ire guns carried by our
asr ships will be sheir chief reliance
sainst the formidable Spanish torpedo
aots and torpedo boat destroyers.
Fholly unprotected as these danger
7as iittie vessels are. not one Of them
@i'nld stand up against q we'll directed
FOLEY from the quick-iring rifles car
PEI by a battle ship or a cruiser. For
88lt'pons Of this type, as we'll as for
= guns, fixed ammunition is
S3aployed. This means that projectile
70 powder are made up together into
cartridge, like g revolver cartridge,
,1 facilitate loading. The elongated
SZPaical shell, which forms the front
5SVsas OF the cartridge, is of brass and
70 constructed as to explode upon
pact. G., when it strikes tie ship
laed at. The shock of striking
!l?''es forward 9 email Tp.urgcr, which
a OFT a ni~tro-gelatine cap. The
e.oc made by rapid-ire guns was
lne'ently we'll illustrated in the var.
"a s.ssen China AMI Japan, when the
FPS Of the opposing fleets, par.icu-
5ls In the fight OFF the mouth of the
3ao River, were literally cut to
@a'ees' the bursting p~rojectiles killing
4a5 exposed man and setting Ere to
/ vessels in a dozen places at once.
"nen 1T comes to rapidity Of FIRE,
8('sSer, the so-called rapid-ire guns
not by any means approach the
a'solne guns. OF these latter there
s several kinds, bu. the improved
3sAlng may be taken as representing
spe. 1t is a bundle Of rifle bar
into which cartridges are fed
S0sl a hopper, the bullets being
i*aarged at tho rate Of ZOO a minute.
var ship commonly carries three or
machine guns, Bit this type Of
1al.pon is not intended to be used on
I<S<4lp0Uard 81 FssS 49, 80,