Evening star., 1934-09-09
BY FRANK G.. CARPENTER.
CHAPTER XIX.

peen mere Tor some days,
illustrating them TO the leading men
of the War Department He has
shown that the gun can now fire on
an average 1900 shots per minute
continuously and the latest inventions
enable it to be fired at any angle.
Before this the force of gravity pre-
vented the firing upward or downward
beyond certain degree but this has
been entirely overcome and shot can
now be sent perpendicularly into the
air, and the guns can be so aimed as
to throw bullets inside of fort or
any besieged fortif1cation.
DR.. Richard Jordan Gatling is now
SO years old. He is a tall broad
shouldered, white whiskered man with
a friendly face. bright blue eyes, and
pleasant tongue. I talked with him
at the Ebbitt House last evening about
his gun and he told me how he came
to invent it. He said:
Il had made several inventions be-
fore this, one of which was the
wheat drill which is now in use all
over the country, and 1 think it was
my study on it that prepared me for
the Gatling gun. In 1851 was liv-
ing at indianapolis. The war had
broken out and the country was all
excitement. My house was within a
few blocks of the depot and I was
often present here when volunteers
were departing for the field, and also
when their dead bodies were at
times shipped back home in boxes for
burial. One surprise to me was that
the number of men killed by sickness
and disease was more than those
killed by ball or actual battle. One
day remember 19 corpSes were
landed at the depot; only three had
been killed in battle. The thought
then struck me, if a gun could be
invented that would do the work of
a hundred men, and would require
but few men to operate it, that the
horrors of war would be greatly
diminished, and an end of every
More men could stay at home, and
lives would be saved. The thought
took such hold of me that I COM
menced to work on it at once. The
result was the Gatling gun.
MY first guns were made in Gin
cinnati, and they would fire from $50
to $50 shots per minute"
will there ever come a time
doctor. when wars will end for good?"
II do not think So Human nature
is the same in all ages, and the strong
will continue to oppress and rule over
the weak as long as time shall last
It is so in nations and individuals
The mother, when the child is born,
rules 1t until it becomes a man. Then
1t, growing stronger, rules the mother
In this world the weakest must al
ways go to the wall. The strong
survive. Improved warfare and better
arms may give the war a greater
power But doubt whether any
invention will make war so ter
rible that men will refuse to engage
in it. And just here, would say that
Congress should do something for our
Navy. Our Seacoast is entirely un-
protected and we have not a ship
af1oat that is good for anything An
iron-clad of the foreign make would
tear them to pieces in the first en-
gagement, while their balls would rat
tie from their sides. Our whole sea-
coast with all its fine cities is de-
fenseless: in cases of war they would
be destroyed or captured before any,
think could be done"
Judge Stephen Field.
Justice Stephen j. Field, whom
called upon last night at his house
opposite the Capitol, refuses to be
interviewed, but says he does not OBJ
ject to being reported as saying that
he ie an aci
dency or any other position. Judge
Field is perhaps as strong a man as
the Democratic party has, and he is
certainly broader in his views than
any of the candidates talked Of For
27 years he has been a judge on the
bench; years justice of the Supreme
Court of California, and for the past
81 years justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States. He is a noble
looking judge, too. Over feet tall,
his great frame is well rounded and
his large intellectual head is SYM
metrically joined to a pair of broad
shoulders He has broad, full face,
a high forehead and patriarchal beard
of silvery gray. His eyes are, think,
of light blue, and his mouth is grave
as becomes his judicial position. Judge
Field is now 81 years old, but he comes
Of a long-lived family, and he may
reach the age of Peter Cooper, who
died not long ago at 90.
Judge Stephen j. Field is popular
at Washington. He entertainS a great
deal and his wife, a fine looking lady,
by no means old, generally has some
guests spending the Winter with her.
The Other Congress.
There are two Congresses at Wash
ington. One sits on the floor of the
House and Senate-the other has its
seats in the galleries. One makes its
speeches to the members of the body
who are present-the other talks to
the Nation. One sits but a few months
in the year-the other is in session all
the time. week day and Sunday. year
In and year out. The latter criticizes
the former and praises or condemns
its actions. 1t has much to say of
the future of great men, it makes and
unmakes Presidents. cabinet officers
and Congressman. 1t has the eye of
q hawk, the energy of perpetual
motion, brain cultured by years of
discipline, the courage of being re-
sponslble to no ring OF men for re-
election. This second congress is
the congress of the press. There are
many men in it whose thoughts, when
they speak this morning through the
electric telegraph, will reach the souls
of more than a million readers in
different cities of the country miles
away this afternoon. There is not
one of them but has a daily audience
larger than any preacher, any lee
turer, or any political speaker has
ever had in the United States, or I
might say in the world.
The press galleries of Congress are
situated directly over the head of the
presiding officer, facing the body on
the floor below. That of the House
occupies nearly the whole of one side
of the wall above Mr.. Carlisle's stand.
and from 1t the correspondents can
look directly into the eyes of the
members who are speaking The gall