The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-10-08

the United States army in the wal
with Spain.
His name was u%nneralded in ION.
nection with all these inventions, be-
cause in every case Browning sold
his patents. 1t raj the name of the
maker. not that Of the inventor which
became famous.
How He Used "kick."
Browning's friends tell an interest
ing story in connection with the dis.
covery. The inventor, they say. en-
tered his shop one morning carry.
ing a rife and q block Of wood
through which he had bored q hole
the size of a .45 bullet. Fastening
the block to the floor, he set up the
rifle so that the muzzle just touched
the hole in the wood.
He explained that If the idea he had
vas correct, the gases, ON the rife
being fred, would be stopped by the
block of wood and would hurl the
weapon backward. The rife was fred
and, as expected, It was flung back
ward against the wall Of the shop.
Browning's principle was established.
Very quickly the inventor had this
kick" harnessed in such q way that
the gas pressure was transferred to
the breech mechanism and made to
operate all the movements of the gun.
It did so with such speed, after the
first pulling Of the trigger. that no
fewer than 600 bullets could be fred
in a minute.
When applied in the automatic pis'
toll it was found that eight shells could
be discharged in the brief space Of
n and three-lfths seconds. The re.
suit was that these weapons were
quickly adopted by half a dozen gov.
ernments for use in their armies and
navies.
Germans Use His Patents.
Since their capture Of the city Of
Liege the Germans, it is understood,
have been turning out weapons on the
Browning patents by the thousands at
the works of the Belgian Fabrique
National. Whether they have kept &C.
curate count Of what they W him
In the way Of royalties, Browning does
not know and will not hazard an
opinion.
Browning can be induced to
say anything definite as to the sum he
receives in royalties. To form an
estimate his friends find az difficult
as to gain an admission from the in.
ventor himself. Some Of his hundred
or more successful patents he has
sold outright. From those which he
has placed on royalties his income
has been estimated at from $780, DOC
all the way up to 100000 a year.
On n occasion the experts of q
w~ell-known arms firm labored fol
more than a year, it is said, in ef'
forts to copy In smaller caliber, q
Browning gun the concern had pur
chased from the inventor. Eventually
the president Of the company sent fol
Browning and offered him 100000 tc
accomplish the task. Browning, his
friends say, did it while on the train
on his way home from New York.
Mr.. Browning is sixty years old ant
has eight children, whose ages range
from twelve to thirty-four. Some Of
the sons are following their fathers
footsteps. Others are devoting them
selves to music and literature. The
inventor is 6 feet 3 inches tall ant
straight as a young Indian. Wher
not fishing he Is fond Of a hunting
expedition, and with his brother ant
co-worker, Matthew s. Browning, has
won many trophies as a trap shooter
In his home at Ogden his principle
diversion is his banjo. MI. Browning
says he thinks he plays 'tol'robly vel
for an old 'un." His favorite mel0
dies are 1.-THE Blue Bells of Scotland
and 1.-THE Beautiful Blue Danube"