The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-06-07
MACHINE GUNM
 ! EFFICIENT OF ALL
 MODERN WEAPONS
British Ordnance Expert Writes Interestingly of Deadly Instrument
 of Warfare

l London, May s.-fCorrespondence of weapons used in the present war, the
 machine gun has unquestionably proved itself the most efficient" says Brit ish expert in the Daily Mail. Prob ably a majority of the casualties in the war have been caused by this weapon; certainly the greater portion of the enormous losses during the fighting of the past few weeks have been so inflicted.
 Amy type of machine gun in the hands of a skilful operator has the same destructive effect upon men nov | ing in mass formation that keen edged scythe has in a field of ripened wheat It cuts broad swaths; nothing can stand against 1t.
 "A well-served machine gun Is the
 most formidable thing that attack ing battalions have to face. It is not merely the front ranks that suf- fer. At anything approaching close
 ranges, the bullets will go through the front rank men, often through the second rank as well, and kill or wound
 those immediately behind them' There are several types of machine gun now in use in the British army. such as the Lewis. the Maxim, the |Vickers, and the Hotchkiss. All are Ivery mobile. The can be moved quick fly from one place to another, advant- Iages being taken of any cover that offers. Each class of machine gun has with it a squad of about 10 men. Should they find themselves pressed too close fly, they pick up their weapon, fall back with it, and reopen fire upon the enemy from the next favorable posi- |tion.
 One authority has declared that in the field one machine gun is worth a whole battalion of men armed with jrifles. Few soldiers can keep up 15 rounds per minute rapid fire with |rifle but a machine gun can discharge 500 rounds per minute, and the Vick- |ers can discharge 1900 rounds with out stopping. Bullets pour from the
 muzzle in a rapid, devastating stream, and as these guns use the same kind of ammunition as rifle, there is lit- tie difficulty in keeping them fed
 The Lewis gun is described as the most mobile One man fires it, using
 AT rounds in succession. Beside him
 is another man who puts on fresh trays of ammunition as required, the
 change being made in two seconds.
 Meanwhile other men are hard at work filling trays and passing them on for
 use The gun has an effective range
 of about 1900 yards, and can be fired
 from a stand or a parapet, the gum ner placing the piece to his shoulder las he pulls sfe trigger.
 The Maxim and vickers guns are
 fired from a tripod, the gunners squat ting with legs astraddle and pressing Ia key. As long as he keeps his fin ger on the key, the gun continues streaming out bullets as the belts, each holding 25o cartridges. fly through it. Gripping the handles with both hands, the gunner moves his weapon back and forth, playing on the |advancing troops much as fire man plays a hose on a burning build ing Guns of this kind can also be used for putting by barrages, and it is possible to attack with them targets one cannot see.
 At the beginning of the war. the British army had two machine guns to each infantry battalion. The number now is much larger. Tn addition, a special machine gun corps has been formed.