GATH 



3448 



GATdN 



Catling Gun of '3-in. calibre on 

 trail mounting 



Gath (Heb., wine-press). One of 

 the chief cities of the Philistines, 

 the site of which is uncertain. It 

 stood on the borders of Judah and 

 was famed as the birthplace of 

 Goliath. At one time it was under 

 the rule of the Egyptian kings, and 

 at another had kings of its own, 

 for it was with Achish, king of 

 Gath, that David took refuge. It 

 was conquered by Sargon, king 

 of Assyria. Still existing in the 

 Middle Ages, it was fortified by the 

 Crusaders, captured by Saladin in 

 1191, and retaken the next year. 



Gatineau. River of Quebec, 

 Canada. It rises in some lakes in 

 the northern part of the prov., and 

 flows almost due S. until it joins 

 the Ottawa near Ottawa. Its 

 length is 240 m. 



Gatling, RICHARD JORDAN (181 8- 

 1903). American inventor. Born 

 in N. Carolina, Sept. 12, 1818, he 

 became a 

 doctor, but 

 never prac- 

 tised. He in- 

 vented the re- 

 volving ma- 

 chine gun 

 known by his 

 name. He also 

 invented a 

 hemp-break- 

 ing machine 

 and a steam 

 plough. He died Feb. 26. 1903. 



Gatling Gun. Machine gun in- 

 vented by R. J. Gatling, of Chicago, 

 in 1862. It belongs to the class 

 known as non-automatic, since the 

 operations of feeding cartridges, 

 firing and ejecting shells are effected 

 by the operation of a crank by the 

 operator, and not by the force of 

 the explosion or recoil. It had six 

 barrels mounted round a central 

 axis, and behind these was the re- 

 loading mechanism, consisting of a 

 cylinder containing the machinery, 

 worked by a crank handle at the 

 side. The cartridges were placed 

 iu a feeding box on the top, and 

 fell by gravity into the gun as each 

 shot was fired. 



When the handle was turned the 

 six barrels and mechanism revolved 

 round the axis, and a cartridge, 

 dropping into the gun, was pushed 

 into the barrel which at that mo- 

 ment was at the top, being pushed 

 home as the barrel travelled to the 



Richard J. Gatling, 

 American inventor 



Gatton, Surrey. The House and a stretch of the 

 magnificent park 



lowest position, at which point the 

 shot was fired. Completing the 

 revolution, the cartridge case was 

 ejected as the barrel rose, the latter 

 being empty by the time it reached 

 the top and ready to receive 

 another cartridge. The weight of 

 the gun and mounting prevented 

 any recoil, and the barrels were 

 cooled by a water jacket extending 

 about half their lenerth. These arms 



were adopted by the British army 

 and navy in 1871, but soon after 

 the S. African War they were super- 

 seded by automatic machine guns 

 of the Maxim and other types, which 

 gave a quicker rate of fire and 

 were worked with less difficulty. 

 See Artillery ; Gun ; Machine Gun. 

 Gatshina. Town of Russia, in 

 the govt. of Petrograd. It is 30 m. 

 S.W. of Petrograd, on a lake 

 formed by the Izhora and on the 

 Petrograd-Warsaw-Riga rlys. The 

 imperial palace was the favourite 

 residence of the tsars Paul I and 

 Alexander III. Originally a farm, 

 it was presented by Catherine II to 

 Prince Orloff, who built the cha- 

 teau and laid out the park in 1776. 

 It is now a popular summer resort. 

 Pop. 14,740. 



Gatton. Parish and village of 

 Surrey, England. It is 2 m. N.E. 

 of Reigate. It was formerly a 

 rotten borough, returning two 

 members to Par- 

 1 liament. The small 

 I town hall still 

 1 stands. Gatton 

 > Park is well 

 wooded and is 

 crossed by the Pil- 

 grims' Way. Gat- 

 ton House was 

 built in magnifi- 

 cent fashion by 

 Lord Monson, a 

 great de al of 

 coloured marble 

 being used in its 

 construction. In 

 the church are 

 magnificent wood 

 carvings from 

 Belgium and 

 Nuremberg, fine stained glass from 

 Aerschot, and other beautiful Con- 

 tinental details. Pop. 236. 



Gatun. Town of Panama, in 

 the Panama Canal zone, belonging 

 to the U.S.A. It stands at the con- 

 fluence of the rivers Gatun and 

 Chagres, 7 m. by rly. S. of Colon on 

 the Atlantic coast. Here are locks 

 and a dam, part of the canal works. 

 The dam is about H m. lone bv 



Gatshina, 



The former imperial palace, built by 

 Prince Orloff, 1776-81 



Gatiin, Panama Canal. The lower and middle locks, looking 

 towards the Atlantic 



