Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-27
NEW SMALL-ARMS EXHIBIT
AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM

| -fHE United States National Muse
UNI has> recently received and
placed On exhibition. In one OF
the principal halls near the main
door OF the building. the largest
| and most complete collection OF small arms
| in this country. This exhibit has been pert
| manentiy deposited in the museum by the
| United States Cartridge Company OF Low
| ell. Mass. OF which Col. Paul Butler, the
/ son ofsGen. B. F. Butler, Is president. The
museum exhibit. which numbers more than
| six hundred specimens, Is installed In thir-
! ty-eight mahogany cases furnished by the
donors. 1t embraces many rare specimens
| or ancient and modern arms, and clearly
| illustrates the history OF the development
| OF the gunmaking art from the earliest
| times TO the present. It is not tumble
OF curiosities, but is arranged according to
| the general plan OF the museum. under
which each installation Is made to tell
plain story, ineligible to every visitor to
the institution. Each case In this exhibit
! ton may be regarded as a distinct chapter
! in the history of arms. The arrangement
| Is as follows:
| Bows and Arrows.-The weapons in this
section of the ordinary type which
every boy knows how to make with strip
| of springy wood, a piece OF Irvine and an
arrow, and really mark the beginning Of
! mechanical devices for throwing projectiles.
Weapons OF this form have been used
| throughout the world. from the earliest
times. and still hold an important place in
actual use.
| Crossbows or Arbalsts.-This is the COM
mon bow fitted to stock Or handle. and
shows a decided step In advance of its fore
runner. 1t was brought to state of great
efficiency by the use of powerful steel bows.
| wlndlasses. and other mechanical devices
for drawing the bow into position, with in
genious mechanism for firing. The coilec-
ton contains some fine examples of Euro
| peaH cressbows of the fourteenth, fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries.
Matehlocks Soon --ter the invention OF
gunpowder. about 1900. the bow of the arba-
list was replaced by metal tube fitted
| to the stock and charged with powder and
| bullets. The origin of gunpowder Is OBJ
scured by many myths and has been the
subject of much idle speculation. The Oft
repeated story that 1t was invented by the
| Chinese at a very remote period is not sub
stantiated All that is known about the
matter is that the Chinese used some sort
! of fireworks, but there is nothing to show
| that they knew anything about guns that
/ would shoot projectiles until gunpoWder
was brought from Europe. In the mateh-
| lock as first made. powder was placed In
the Hashpan and ignited by a slow match.
/ or fuse, held In the hand of the gunner and
| lighted from pan of burning Goals. An
| Improvement in this form was made by
| placing the fuse IN device corresponding
| to the hammer of the modern gun, which
| was operated by trigger. The guns USED
! by Miles Standlsh and his soldiers were
of the early pattern. A sharp controversy
| has been going on among New England his
| torians to determine whether the improved
| matchlocks or fitntlocks were used in the
! Swamp fight. The matchlocks in the muse
| unls exhibit include many japanese, Chi
/ nese, Persian African and European arms,
| some of them decorated In artistic man
ner.
Wheellocks the matchbox,
| which had a long period of useful service,
| the wheellock was invented in Germany.
In the lock of this gun the simple mechan-
| ism Is wound up by means of a removable
| handle and, when the piece is fired, cir
| cular steel plate with notehed edge, re-
wolves rapidly in contact with piece OF
| iron pyrites held in the jaws of the ham
| mer and sparks are thrown into the prim-
| ing pan. Many interesting specimens of
wheellock muskets, pistols and carbines
+ are shown in the exhibit.
F1intlocks.-The display Of arms of this
| type is very extensive and important en-
! bracing specimens of muskets, rifles. car
| bines and pistols from neariy every coun-
try Persia India China. Japan, Turkey,
| England, france, treTDldIlV ana tIe Culltu
| States are represented One OF the pieces
| was picked up on the battlefield OF Gibral-
| tar about the year 1865, after battle
| which terminated the Moorish rule in
| Gibraltar In 1S45 1t was presented to Ad-
| niral Clary of the United States navy, from
whose family it was obtained. Flintlocks
were first introduced by the Spaniards In
| 1880 and they continued IN general use Tor
more than two hundred years In some
parts of the world they are still preferred
/ TO any other kind of gun All the guns
used by the United States army up to 1910
were hntlocks and thu adoption of the per
cussion cap lock was strongly opposed. For
/ a GOOD MANY years the government had
! standing order for the purchase, annually,
| of 100000 flints, which cost about 81 per
| thousand April 8, 1889. there were In the
ordnance depots 9.307 1913 musket flints and
| . 1eO343 rife and pistol fnts. Although
! the manufacture of fintlocks by the gov
| eminent was discontinued In 1914, their
| use in the army was continued for some
| time afterward. In 1S45 an urgent call for
| 1914 percussion muskets for use by regi-
| ment serving in Texas was refused by the
| War Department. with the remark: There
| is no percussion ammunition sent to Texas
| Flintlock ammunition can be found every
/ where, percussion nowhere
| X
Flintlock Blunderbusses.-Two cases con-
| tain an unusually fine array of the short,
| large csIiber. bell-muzzle arms which. two
| hundred years ago. were commonly carried
or stage coaches in England for the pro-
| lection of passengers and mails from high
| waymen who usually carried the same kind
! of weapon Within the last few years
| American manufacturers have been fur
| nishing riot gum embodying some of
! the features of the old blunderbuss. and
these are used by the express companies
/ for projecting their treasure cars from
| hold-up gangs
| FlintIock Muskets Used by the United
| States Army In the Revolutionary War
! or these there are three cases. Quite
number of the pieces, which did excellent
| service In the hands of men fighting to de-
| feud the colonies from the attacks of the