The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-18
FORMER CHIEF
R. |. ARSENAL
BANDIT ENEMY


SOnu - lu@poOus ~ UAo Sss
acting commandant OF the Rock Is
land arsenal. has invented . weaD-
on which, It 10 said, renders the au-
tomobils practically useless to the
bandit - . means Of eRecttns q
hurried getaway from tho scene Of
crime.
1t Is . type of machine gun. cap
able OF firing bullets It the rate OF
loco q minute, and because Of it,
compactness can easily be mounted
ON the sidecar Of a policeman's mo-
torcycle. 1t is a gun that made .
motor car look like . Swiss
cheese, Is the vivid description
given in . report Of test recently
conducted. The July Is issue OF
the Literary Digest in describing
this gun, says:
The Thompson submachine-gun
intended to prevent getaways in
motor cars by gangs Of robbers. has
now shown its value ~ an effective
weapon for this purpose. we are
told by Eric A. Dinee, writing in
Popular Mechanics Chicago, JULY
This weapon, says Mr.. Dinee. is
the lightest automatic gun in ex.
istence, weighing only 81 pounds
and firing As caliber bullets at the
rate Of 1000 per minute. 1t car
also be used as single-shot rife
He tells US:
""The reason why bandits, aftel
committing q holdup or a robbery
are able to escape in automobiles
lies in the fact that a police Officer
equipped with only a regulation
pistol and in pursuit Of the crooks
finds 1t difficult to shoot straigh
and wing the bandits. During tn,
demonstration at Tenaly the sub
machine-gun showed its effective
ness. The weapon was mounted OF
q motorcycle side-car and operates
by a policeman. The motorcycle
pursued an automobile containin,
dummies representing thugs at
tempting to make getaway. Tn,
auto was towed by another ca
some twenty-five or thirty. fee
ahead. The submachine-gun oper
atOr opened fire on the bandits
car, and shot its tires full Of holes
SO that the machine had to come t
q halt. AS a matter of fact, tn
rapid fire would have killed an
one sitting in the automobile.
Making Tank Of Car.
Later it was demonstrate
what this anti-bandit gun can reall
do to motor car when the latte
becomes the target Of automati
firing. Three of these weapon
blazed away simultaneously on
7-passenger touring car, and
less than a minute reduced the ca
to a pile Of junk. The tonnea
was perforated till it looked lik
Swiss cheese, the radiator wa
torn to shreds, the gas-tank reseu
bed a nutmeg-grater, and Ii
steering gear was turned into a
indescribable mass Of kindlin
wood and twisted metal. An incer
diary bullet was finally fired int
the spilled gasoline, and Instant
the machine was = mass of fame
"'ln densely populated district
birdshot cartridges are used wi,
the gun. The birdshot afford 8,
we're punishment without causin
mortality. A 4x5-foot target
which automatic fire Of birdsh,
was directed for five or six seconS
was peppered so full of holes tn,
it looked like the face Of a ma
having suffered from a severe ca,
OF smallpox. The firing was dol
At a range of 30 feet and there ",
not a spot on the entire target b
enough for the smallest mouse
escape death or injury.
The gun will fire a magazine
70 cartridges containing 120 No.
birdshot in l 3-5 seconds, or "a
blrdshot in a burst of 20 shot
Not more than 20 birdshot car
ridges are placed in a magazin
SO 1t requires four minutes
shoot 1000 birdshot cartridges CO,
tanning 10000 birdshot There
no other gun in the world tn
shoots both ball and birdshot car
ridges.
(: Accurate at 1000 Feet.
with ball cartridges a polio
man can fire ~ shot at six bandi
armed with automatics containiY
seven shots each and, shot for she
have IS shots without reloadir
when the automatics are empt
The gun has an accurate range
1000 feet when military high-po,
er cartridges, such as are emplo
ed IN wars. are used, and with D
lice ammunition the accurate ran,
is 1900 feet"