The San Francisco call., 1909-04-23
TEST MADE HERE OF
"MAKIM SILENCER"
Representatives of Inventor on
\ Way TO Show Device to
- Japan and China

The terrors Of the next, great war,
the greatest Of which is the terror of
silence" was brought home with tre-
mendous force by a public demonstra-
tion Of a device invented by Hiram
Percy Maxim. given at the range of
Baker & Hamilton. Fourth and Bran
nan streets. yesterday afternoon.
This device. which is called the
Maxim silencer" is about TO be dem
onstrated to the governments of China
and Japan by Joseph Keegan and Hill
Hard Rosencranz. special representa-
tives of the inventor. who will sail for
the orient on the steamer Mongolia. A
private test before rife experts and
representatives Of The Call was made
by special arrangement A public dem
onstration viii be given in few days.
MUFFLES THE SOUND
The value OF the invention of smoke
less powder in war time is now in
creased a hundred fold by its use in
connection with this device. which re-
duces the sound of an exploding car
fridge 10 g mere puff which can not be
heard "a dozen yards away IN the open.
ia determining the position OF the
enemy and the strength of the attack
inc force the leader of a body OF
troops is dependent almost entirely
. uDon the sound or sight of the enemy
rides The factor Of concealment is
one Of the most important in modern
strategy and the moving down OF
troops by an enemy. the strength and
location Of which are unknown, may
~- calculated TO upset the plans of
gfaerals and strike fear into the hearts
of soldiers.
TEST OF MAXIM DEVICE
The test Of the Maxim device dem
onstrated that even in an inclosed
range the sound Of the discharge of a
frearm is reduced by 95 per cent and
the recoI - per cent. 32 caliber
and a $3.50 Winchester rife were used
with and without the silencer and II
was shown that although the velocity
Of the bullet was not decreased the
volume Of SOUND at the discharge or
tbe $3.50 with the silencer attached
was not equal TO that Of the 32 without
the device Also there was an entire
absence of flash so that even at night
n would he impossible to locate the
msrksman.
The silencer is a small sheet metal
tube l-e inches in diameter and from
10 8 inches in length. according TO
the gun 10 which il is attached
3 =
inches long and for a 3O-3O six inches.
The weight varies from to ounces.
II is attached by pushing it home on
-be barrel and giving ii a quick three
,r,,arter turn to engage the thread. 1t
can be attached TO any gun by cutting
= short screw thread in the muzzle
PRINCIPLE on WHICH 1T WORKS
The principle upon which it acts is
the changing Of the direction of the
exploding gases from forward TO
rotary one. allowing them 10 reach
the air gradually.
At the test yesterday a steel plate
ore-ouarter of an inch in thickness
was pierced with q clean round hole
Al distance Of 100 feet by 30-3o
rife carrying 10 grain hard nosed
ball. and the only sound to be heard
was the impact Of the bullet with the
steel With the same rife az boards
seven -eighths Of an inch thick were
penetrated
BIG GAME HUNTING
Alexander Hamilton. who personally
tested the device. stated that all the
claims OF the inventor had been sub
stantiated. and J. B. Kenniff. a well
known rife expert and manager OF
the gun and ammunition department Of
the firm Of Baker & Hamilton, asserts
that the silencer will be used eN-
tensively in big game hunting. for il
will be possible to bring down bear
or deer before the animal discovers
the source Of the shot
President Roosevelt witnessed a
demonstration Of the attachment given
by Ma kim with the result that he has
ordered a number Of them. to be used
IN his African expedition. and the king
Of Spain has had the device attached
TO an his hunting rifles. The inventor
is at present engaged in perfecting
the device for large bore guns and
heavy artillery.