Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1900-11-01
THE BOER POM-POM.
Is an Automatic Maxim Firing Three
Hundred One-Pound shells In
Minute.

During the Boer war good deal has
been heard about the "Pom-Pom" gun,
and yet no one seems TO know what il
really is.
The explanation is very simple, says
the New York journal. 1t is an auto
matte Maxim gun firing a one-pound
shell at the rate of over 300 a minute,
or more than five every second. The
difference between the ordinary rife
caliber Maxim and the Pom-Pom is that
the latter is larger and has a hydraulic
cylinder TO control the energy of recoil
1t also has two springs instead of one
for the purpose Of returning the recoil-
ing portions Of the gun to their places.
The barreleasing is kept full Of wa.
ter in order to keep the barrel cool. The
breeeh-easing contains the feed-block
through which the cartridges, which
are held erossways on belt, are fed
singly into the gun. By an ingenious ar.
rangement the reeoil acts as the force
which does all the work. driving the
barrel back and forcing the lock to the
rear.
All the spare energy of the recoil is
used in doing this work and in helping
to cool the gun. The cartridges are
simply large rife cartridges. six inches
long, but instead Of having bullets they
each have an iron shell loaded with
powder provided with a percussion
fuse, which explodes the missile when
il strikes anything.
Each shell breaks up into 20 pieces,
so that a minutes continuous firing
causes at least 5000 whizzing jagged
bits of iron TO fly about the enemy's
position.
Experience has proved that at mod
crate ranges of even 5000 yards the
moral effect of this gun is immense,
and the material damage done is con-
siderable. The Beers seem to have a
good many of these guns. and the Brit
ish army has been quite recently pro |
vided with a small number But no in |
formation is as yet to hand as TO the |
way they have worked
The Beers have made very good use |
of their Pom-Poms. and have demon |
strated their practical utility in active
service. They are handy, accurate and
mobile, and, moreover. il seems that |
they will stand considerably more |
knocking about than any other gun Of
like caliber. Their use was at first |
something in the way of an experiment,
and many artillery authorities doubted |
their efficacy, but it has been admitted
on all sides that the so-called Pom-Pom
is probably the most efficient of latter
day cannon, and it will not be surpris-
ing If within few years they come into
very general use in every army Of the
civilized world.
An automatic Maxim gun. firing a
she'll at this enormous rate
Of speed, is necessarily a very deadly
weapon, and demands quite peculiar
defenses adapted to the rapid manner
in which its proiectiles are delivered.
II would appear that no special qualif-
cations are required 10 work il with ef-
feet, beyond ordinarily reliable artil-
lery craftsmanship, and the story that
the Boer guns were exclusively worked
by Frenchmen is not borne out by any
information. The Boer gun
ners are becoming very proficient, and
are capable Of expert handling Of an
save the very heaviest pieces Of ord
nance. The Pom-Pom has evidently
come 10 stay.