Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 March 1916 — THE MACHINE GUN. [ARTICLE]

THE MACHINE GUN.

Earliest Type Was Used by Chinese in the Fourteenth Century. The ribaudequin Chinois captured from the Chinese by the French in 1860 is probably the earliest type of machine gun known. Those who have knowledge of the Chinese believe that the model was produced somewhere about the beginning of the fourteenth century. It consists of a very heavy, truck re-enforced with iron, on which are mounted four iron barrels, nine feet long. Since these barrels were practically stationary they must have been used for a volley of grape or case shot at very close range. They were fired simultaneously by a trail of powder leading to each fuse hole. The next weapon important in the development of machine guns was the Danish nine-barrel gun mounted in sets of three on a two-wheeled carriage. This proved of great value, and was effective in that one set of barrels could always be held in serve, while the other was loaded. It was about this time that America startled th© English with their bronze revolving cannon, capable of firing three charges in quick succession. This gun was very popular in the war of 1812, and doubtless was responsible for some of our sensational sea %’ictories. A satisfactory machine gun was not found until breech-loading had been discovered. In 1860 Richard Gatling produced a gun which proved most successful in both the Civil and the Spanish wars. It was distinctly an infantry type gun. The ten barrels wer£ set around an axis and fired in turn as the revolving mechanisni operated by a crank brought them into position. ( Cartridges were arranged In a drum, and as one drum emptied another was put in its place. Experimental Gatlings were constructed which could give a thousand shots per minute.. This gun had a long range and was used most effectively. But a grave disadvantage was the impossibility of avoiding frequent jams. Its weight and the necessity of operating the breech mechanism by hand were also serious objections.—Scientific American.