Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1895 — A STREAM OF LEAD. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A STREAM OF LEAD.

Maxim’s New Quick Firing Gun Tested by Uncle Sam. Hiram 8. Maxim has invented a machine gun that can be carried around by a soldier, set up like a photograph camera and fired 600 times a minute. The muzzle can be moved like a garden hose and made to direct a stream of lead upon any point. It is claimed that the stand makes it much more accurate than any gun held to the shoulder. It has exactly the same principle as the Maxim quick firing gun used for naval and artillery purposes, but it is a smaller edition, making the gun practicable for infantry use. Its caliber is .303. It has a range of 3,200 yards and sends a bullet at a velocity of 1,850 feet a second. A bullet from it will go through forty inches of oak. At a recent trial at Sandy Hook the gun was set up at the end of a long row of heavy artillery, such as those 12-inch rifles which sent a goodly proportion of a ton of steel into the ranks of an enemy. It looked something like a brass telescope, with a pistol butt instead of a peephole, the whole set upon a tripod. Uncle Sam’s soldiers, used to handling enormous cannon, looked somewhat contemptuously at it as if it were only a toy.

James Huber, expert for the MaximNordenfelt (run Company, handled the gun. It is fed with cartridges from a sort of cartridge belt made of canvas, holding 100 shells. First of all Mr. Huber fired fifty shots. This little feat occupied five and four-fifths seconds. The bullets flew through the air 150 feet apart, and there was a continuous stream of empty shells from an aperture under the barrel. Seven empty shells were in the air constantly on their way to the ground. As the light gun is used by the infantry, it is important to ascertain how quickly it can be taken from the packing case and put into action. Expert Huber hung it over his shoulder in marching order. At a word from Captain Heath he was supposed to sight an enemy concealed in the bush ahead of him and immediately began to take out the gun. He put it together, unpacked his cartridges and fired his first shot fifty-eight seconds after the alarm was given.

MAXIM CAVALRY GUN.