WEAPON THAT WILL PREVENT WARFARE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12145, 16 April 1908, Page 2

WEAPON THAT WILL PREVENT WARFARE.

GUN FIRES WITHOUT NOISE, SMOKE, OR SMELL. 2,000,000 SHOTS AN HOUR. DESIGNER DEMANDS £1,000,C00 OR SECKETJD.IES WITH HIM.' FoKowing on the invention of a roiseless nfle which Mr Hiram Percy Maxmi son of Sir Hiram Maxim, considers will revolutionise warfare, comes the announcement of the construction of 1 9nnon Um mAJ io,^ Un that<wm discharge 4000,000 bullets an hour," and thaD without noise, flash, smoke, or smell. Jtns terrible machine, which, because or its destructiveness, is expected to ! prevent war, is operated by only two 1 men. The gun never gets overheated, And it cannot explode, because powder is not usfed The cost of firing 1,000,000 bullets, Halt an inch m diameter, by the new gun would be about £2. The expense of firing 1,000,000 bullete requiring pow-ar™-"?!??!1^ 8 more tball £4,000. SIXTY-MILES-AN-HOUR CARRIAGE. me gun woi-ks automatically. If the operators were-to place 2,000,000 bails in the magiazine^ahd turn on the power, thie men could take a walk for an hour, confident, that in their absence the gun-*would continue to hurl bu m,ts so lon S as (me was left. j.l. an °^ the inventor is to mount , the new gun on a truck similar to a motor-car, to be run by ia 100-h,p.. motor, which would give the ■carriage''a speed of sixty miles an hour. The outThere are to be two clutches on the motor —one to start and stop the carriage, the other to operate" the gun. The same motor that runs the carriage furnishes the power to fire the gun ; which can ba worked while the car is m motion, as well as when it i 3 I standing still. As no shells, -powder, or other ammunition, apart from the balls are used all that the gun-truck is called upon to transport are the gun, the crew of ! two men, the bullets, and the petrol or storage batteries—which ever may be used in furnishing power. i The inventor claims that ten of his ™ I*i?** g"ns, firing in the aggregate 20,000,000 bullets an hour, would sweep away army of 200.(300 men within s.ixty minutes, if only 1 per cent, of the missiles found human targets. . SECRET WILL DIE WITH HIM. Mr. Fred Bangerter, the inventor of the so-called prevention of war, is a practical engineer, and has invented and built many automatic- machines, 'that are in use to-day in different parts of. tho world. H&is a native of Switzerland, and is thirty-nine years old. He says that he. will sell"the secret of his gun to any Government that will pay an adequate, price for it, but if catisfactrii\y arrangements ba iiQt made he will preserye the secret and not reveal at even in~ his will. When he is satisfied that he cannot make tte terms, he desire, ,he will -destcrciy the 'gun. The attention, of President Roosevelt having been called to the Bangerter gun, a correspondence has been opened with a. view to having a'demonstration made in-the presence of representatives of the Government. The French Government has also written to Mr Bangertsr requesting information regarding +he gun. A model of the gun is now in New York. When.asked how much money he expected for^his secret, Mr. Baiio-erter replied 'tliat he thought about £1,000,000 would bo a. reasonable sum for a Government to pay for what he had to offer.