THE BESOM ANNIHILATOR.
The Philadelphia ‘ Public Ledger’ says an inventor of improved firearms has just given an exhibition in New Haven of the ‘ Besom Annihilator' and other promoters of peace which he has designed with a view of making wars impossible. He will doubtless fail of his purpose, though war will certainly lose many of its fascinations for those who seek the bubble reputation if ‘ annihilators’ are to be used. ’ This instrument is a magazine gun, with two-inch bore, capable, according to the inventor, of firing I*2oo shots per minute. The new system is adapted to all sizes of firearms, from the common rifle size up, comprising small arms and field cannon, batteries firing broadsides of from 20 to 40 shots at a single pull of the trigger, and effective at ranges of from two to six miles, 40 broadsides being fired per minute. Even with such destructive weapons there will still be the chance in war that is taken by desperadoes in the West. Whoever pulls the trigger first annihilates his antagonist. War under such conditions would not prove very attractive to the bravest and most ardent soldiers, and, in that view of the case, ‘annihilators’ might prove peacemakers.
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Bibliographic details
Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 138, 16 July 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)
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200THE BESOM ANNIHILATOR. Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 138, 16 July 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)
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