The sun., 1916-10-01

men; gratis. L.eN.> had become, how
ever. presin!neutly PERSONA non sraia
to the ordnance department because,
with Gen. Miles. he had not h.sitated
I {" expose the mechanical and military
! weaknesses OF the disappearing gun
! carriage. Whatever tho reason, from
/ the very start Lewis and his weapon
We're opposed hy the ordnance depart
men;. Yet the value of the gun has
! since been demonstrated abroad.
: The Royal Flying Corps q: the
= British army is. 10y reason of the se-
vcccst If practical cNi criencc. pur-
posely AMI exclusively equipped with
Lewis guns. II was with one Of these
lit.!c sritires that Flight Lieut.. Rob-
insoa recently brought down. single
handed. one = I'll" Ieppel!ns near
London. The British appreciate the
|, advantage of having the use of these
guns and only WITH reluctance have
they allowed any @! the weapons To-
so to their allies. They know how
much these machine guns mean 10 the
security and effective service Of their
own lighting men.
\ curious contrast j. supplied hy The
. history ~ the gun in the United
, states. \: tie time of tn" Joint mil
.:a!y inanruvreS held In COun.ctlcut
N the call Of 1872, the l'nltcd States
signal Corps hoaStcd two acroplunrs
and II was Cen. Leonard Wood's de-
ere III" wa5 then ch!cf o. Stllf-tp
make those mlnTJVr"s ITS instructive
and as MP 10 dat" aS y, Ssh'c. Know
ing rf the Lew. gun, u" expressed a
wish TO have two % the weapons for
field service aloft.
L!eut.-col. Lewis. then o.. .urlougA
and living in New York city. had hal.
several ~. the W.apols built Ht his
own expense and he Immediately wen.
- Washington with twp - them and
,'iic.cI them gratis for the miunuvrcS.
lie asked that the War Department
furnish the necessary ammun.tiua.
rh.s General Wood promptly vnluL-
;ccrrl 10 do. Now see what followed.
IN order 70" the ucc"s s,saTy lrnmun!-
ton was issued ana approved 10y the
chief Of staff. Th' chef Of ordnance.
, l,'arninG that the Lewis gun was thus
. tn hc singled out for distinction. inter
posed and through his action the ann
munItion Wis not supplied. Therefore
the Lewis gun took no part in the
! inanGuvrrs, although II had previously
at College Park. Md. been carried
aloft 10y one of the army alia;ors,
fired with success from the air au,.
highly praised by the officer ia ques-
tion, capt. Chandler, L. :. \. America $
chance to make a record in military
progress was thus nipped I'm tho bud
II s a fact that the Bureau nf ord
nance had ut that time the lirnct
II Il, II go,
that failed at Columbus. " NJ, at tho
time - the Villa raid But the Benct-
Mere. gun was ia no wise suited IL
aerial serVic" or susceptible Vt c!i
cient handling from an aeroplano.
As has been demonstrated down ct
the Mexican border. the l;cnct- -Mcrci,
gun ~ an uncertain quantity, cspc-
rla,ly after nightfall light being nee
,s-Iry in order tu enahl" IN" opera
tor to see how tu slide the rartvldg,
clips into It notch n""dtui to cili".ent
tunctipniup. Now the faintcsi rlim-
mer on the firing line is an Invitation
10 an enemy sharpshooter II IS for
that reason that the glow of Il pipe
or the burning tip "t n cigar or cigar
.ttc Is strictly !ntcrdiCtcd. .\nI yc'
,ho ordGlnrr bureau has .--uvd n iiei.
order prescribing That operators ul
Eouct- -Mcr1ic Guns siGti, ho proyido,
with pocket 'as' lamps $50 that the!
may sec 10 .nal hos" Weapons
tupgrcssiuu;d I"HriuEs ar" = tru,'.
rui sourr" u' Information and a 50 ~,
iuGcS "f a"W information can u" VIII.
lcld. NutW,tlstiudiuy tho cstahliNhco
tac, that tn" War Department Was adj
Niscd of tn" LcNis Eun seven year,