714 



EHODE ISLAND. 



EIFLES, REPEATING. 



The Republican Convention, held on March 

 16, at Providence, renorainated the State of- 

 ficers. Its platform declarations favor pro- 

 tection, civil-service reform, and a national 

 bankrupt act, and contain the following upon 

 State issues: 



We recognize the fact that the adoption of the fifth 

 amendment to our State Constitution was not a parti- 

 san measure, and that such amendment has become a 

 part of our fundamental law in obedience to the will 

 of the constitutional majority. We demand the enact- 

 ment of laws adequate to carry this amendment into 

 effect, and that such laws shall be rigidly enforced, 

 recognizing at the same time the right of the people 

 to agitate for the repeal of this or any other constitu- 

 tional provision which time may prove to be unwise 

 or ineffectual. 



We believe that the General Assembly should sub- 

 mit to the people a proposition for a constitutional 

 amendment providing for the abolition of the registry- 

 tax as a prerequisite for voting, and that the adoption 

 of such amendment would conduce to the welfare of 

 the State. We also favor the enactment of strict laws 

 to prevent and punish fraudulent voting and bribery 

 at elections. 



The canvass developed a wide-spread feel- 

 ing of discontent among Republicans with the 

 character and purposes of their party leaders, 

 and at the polls on April 6 the number of dis- 

 affected ones proved sufficient to give the vic- 

 tory to the Democrats. 

 For Governor, Davis re- 

 ceived 18,095 votes, Wet- 

 more 15,111, and Peabody 

 1,895. No one having re- 

 ceived a majority of votes 

 for Secretary of State or 

 for Lieutenant- Governor, 

 the choice of these officers 

 devolved upon the Legis- 

 lature, which elected the 

 Democratic candidates. 

 The political character of 

 the Legislature chosen at 

 the same election is as fol- 

 lows: Senate, 20 Republi- 

 cans, 16 Democrats; House, 

 29 Republicans, 41 Demo- 

 crats, 1 Prohibitionist. A 

 constitutional amendment, giving women the 

 right to vote in the election of all civil officers, 

 and on all questions in town, district, and ward 

 meetings, subject to the same conditions as 

 men, was voted upon at this time, and was 

 defeated by a vote of 6,889 to 21,957. 



A special election was held February 21, in 

 the Second Congressional District, to fill a va- 

 cancy in the Forty-ninth Congress caused by the 

 House declaring William A. Pirce not entitled 

 to a seat. Pirce was again the Republican 

 candidate, but was defeated by Charles H. 

 Page, Democrat, the vote being Pirce, 5,495 ; 

 Page, 5,790; Chadsey, Prohibition, 466. A 

 second special election in the same district on 

 November 8, to fill a vacancy in the Fiftieth 

 Congress, caused by failure to hold an election 

 in 1886, resulted in the choice of Warren O. 

 Arnold, Republican, by a vote of 8,099, over 

 Charles S. Bradley, Democrat, who received 



7,252 votes, and Thomas H. Peabody, Problb- 

 tionist, who had 299 votes. 



RIFLES, REPEATING. The advantages pos- 

 sessed by a rifle that could be fired several 

 times without stopping to reload, over a single- 

 loader, have always been recognized by sports- 

 men, and latterly by soldiers, and many at- 

 tempts have been made to produce such a 

 weapon. When rifles were loaded with a ball 

 and loose powder, it was found practically im- 

 possible to produce a really good repeatiiiir- 

 rifle. The Colt, in which six charges were 

 contained in a revolving cylinder in the rear of 

 the barrel (as in a revolving pistol) was the 

 only one that was used to any extent. But 

 this admitted the escape of gas between the 

 cylinder and the barrel, which burned the left 

 arm when the hand was placed in front of it 

 in firing. 



Since the introduction of metallic cartridge- 

 cases, the number of rifles of this description 

 that have been invented has been great. The 

 first to come into general use in America was 

 the Henry, which has been improved into the 

 Winchester and the Bullard. These rifles have 

 been extensively used for sporting- arms. In 

 them the cartridges are contained in a cham- 



NKW WINCHESTER REPEATER. 



her, which is underneath the barrel and par- 

 allel with it. By throwing down a lever (A, 

 Fig. 1), which constitutes a part of the trigger- 

 guard, the cartridge in the barrel is ejected, 

 the gun is cocked, a carrier-block is thrown 

 down to the level of the cartridge-chamber, 

 and a cartridge from the latter is thrown into 

 it by the pressure of a spring. When the lever 

 is pulled back, the carrier-block raises the car- 

 tridge and pushes it into the barrel, which is 

 closed by the breech-block, and the gun ia 

 ready to fire. 



With the usual conservatism of army authori- 

 ties, the introduction of repeating-rifles for 

 military purposes has been very slow, great 

 apprehension being felt that troops armed with 

 them would waste their ammunition the same 

 objection that retarded the adoption of the 

 breech-loader. Although the use of the Henry 

 rifle was common among sportsmen, no attempt 



