Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-05-26
GOVERNOR FIRES
new MACHINE GUN
He Attends the Demonstration at
Saunders Range.
SCORES NUMBER OF HITS.
Savage-Lewis Rifle Proves Powerful
Weapon---Executive, An Ardent
Advocate of Preparedness.

huNoCdtc Oh Preparedness.
Among those from Annapolis who
visited Saunders Range yesterday af-
ternoon were Governor and Mrs. Har4
rinston. Miss Mary and Master Billy
Harrington, Secretary of State Sim
mons, Mrs. j. dep Douw, wife of Major
Douw, in charge of the rifle range and
Miss Julia Douw.
Governor Harrington was seen to
advantage yesterday afternoon at the
Saunders Range, the camp for the field.
staff and line officers OF the Maryland
National Guard, as the soldier. a rife
shot, and an ardent advocate of pre-
paredness.
The Governor demonstrated to those
gathered at the range to- witness the
exhibition OF the powerful and deadly
Lewis machine gun, that even he. an
executive of the State, could. in tho
event of an invasion, take up arms in
defense of the country. With precis-
ion and deadly fire that would NOW
the ranks of an approaching enemy.
Governor Harrington sat at the ma
at the target
The Governor was greatly impressed
with the mechanism of the machine
gun, which in the war theatres of Eu-
rope the Belgian Rattlesnake and the
English Hose of Death.
That is deadly gun" lie remarked
to Col. John ID. Dooley, of the Savage
Lewis Machine Gun Company, of New
York city, who was in charge of the
demonstration. Il can understand now
why the 5000 Uhlans who entered Bel
gium bent on plundering the country.
never returned"
Governor Harrington was not the
only one to fire the gun. Little Miss
Mary Harrington, the daughter of the
Executive, and Miss Julia Douw, the
daughter of Major John dep. Douw. in
charge of the rifle range, were given
the opportunity to shoot az the target.
Secretary of State Simmons and Mas
ter Billie Harrington, refused to oper-
ate the gun. ever though ured to do
so by the many persons present
1t was the first demonstration of the
machine gun, manufactured by the Saw
age-Lewis Machine Gun Company, of
New York, and was arranged for by
Gen. Clinton Riggs, former United
States Commissioner in the Philippine
Islands.
The gun is fed by means of drum,
i'll which the cartridges are arranged
with their noses pointing inward. Two
layers of cartridges are tucked away
inside of the drum, which weighs
scarcely four pounds when filled. The
Lewis gun is cooled by an air blast
method, which is kept in operation by
the force of the explosions
In order to prove the positive feel of
the gun, the demonstrators fired it at
every angle imaginable. including up
side down. He also fired it off the
shoulder and made a remarkable score
at two hundred yards.
Whether or not the gun will be adopt
ed by the Maryland militia, neither the
Governor nor the militia officials could
say, though Brigadier- General Gather
declared he wished the State had about
eight of them. Besides their rapidity
of fire, their simplicity of mechanism
makes them more valuable than the
machine gun with which the Guards
are now equipped.
The present gun has 1872 parts where
rs the Lewis gun gets better results. il
is said, with only 62 parts Two thous-
and rounds of ammunition was fired in
the demonstration yesterday. The new
Colt gun also was given a tryout II
was brought TO the range by Lieut.
Com. Frederick Savage and Lieuts.
Horace McElderry and S. b. Ostend
The camp breaks UP tomorrow af-
ternoon at 4 O'Clock and the officers
will leave behind them something a
Maryland National Guard organization
has never before left in camp. 1t is
an army bridge. built with logs and
ropes by the officers ami the members
of the First Separate Company color
ed on Thursday.
The woods along Marley's creek look
ed like lumber camp that afternoon
| with the officers and colored soldiers
swinging axes and trees crashing 10
the ground to be pounced upon by
more officers and swung across the
stream. The bridge is so feet long
and it is the first engineering feat oi
| the kind ever carried through by the