AN INVENTION WITH TERRIBLE POSSIBILITIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 179, 20 July 1908, Page 4

AN INVENTION WITH TERRIBLE POSSIBILITIES.

Till-; OCX THAT .MAKES -\0 XOISI-. A eal.lc appeared in Ihe Australasian I p;i[K r-i recently that Uirain J.'. Maxim, the >ou of the inventor of the muchinur ;u| . invented ,i noiseless •run. In I the Technical World Magazine, just to liauil, is given a description of tiie new weapon. That journal thinks tlmt u terrible responsibility rests upon his shoulders. The writer of the article says:— Armed with this silent weapon, u iinirilerer could shoot down his victim without attracting tlie least attention, and "illy on examination would the cause ui" death be revealed. On the other hand l a single policeman using 1 lie noiseless gun could disable every member of a gang u f burglars before tliey recovered from their surprise. It is an invention which may lead to tlie re-equipment of the armed forces of the world, aud tb.■ revolutionising of modern methods of warfare. The extended front of an army, eon-' cealed in the underbrush or behind rocks, could work terrible Jiavoc among the opposing forces before its position could be located. To the big-game huntc, too, the silent lireurin will open up new horizons. Its invention was the result of a inero accident, for Mr. Maxim gave up the invention of new ordnance missiles, an! the studying of aerial torpedoes several years ago, and devoted his genius to the peaceful pursuit of automobile construction. He, like many another inventor, has been racking his brain for a means of silencing the explosions in an automobile engine, and finally found that the seat of the trouble was in the piston. In perfecting a device for muffling the sound, it flashed across Maxim s mind that he could silence the reports of a gun in the same way, i.e., by preventing the noise of the discharge, which is due to the sudden release of gas at the muzzle, "through the action of a transverse acting piston valve, which would allow the gas to escape gradually. The silencing arrangement can be applied to the barrel of the ordinary firearm. and ordinary gunpowder and ordinary lead bullets may be used, or the new steel-cored bullets and smokeless powder. The new device does not, to the outward view, appear to dill'or from the ordinary rifle or revolver, except for a small erosspleee in the barrel a short distance from the muzzle. The escape of the gases following the discharge of the explosive is shut off just as the bullet emerges from the muzzle. This result is obtained by means of a piston valve sliding across the bore of the barrel immediately after the bullet passes. This valve is actuated entirely by the pressure of the gases themselves, and is not operated by any intricate mechanical arrangement. Instead of the gases escaping sudden- J ly. thus causing a loud report, this valve will allow them to escape gradually 1 I through a series of small holes, thus 0 I obviating all noise except a slight hissing 1 sound, inaudible a few yards away. The ' valve tlieu retinues an open position. I and a safely device prevents the Uring I of another cartridge until the valve is in its proper place. | lliram I'orcy Maxim is appalled at the possibilities for evil of bis new device, iif it should get into the hands (if the i-riminal ~cla->es. Prominent police oflieiaN arc already insisting that its manufacture and disposal shall be protected by law. Tor it only too well suited to the art of private assassination. "H only there was some way to prevent its u-e. except by the police or the military. f,.r whom it was intended, my con--eience would be much easier." said the j inventor. j