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Post by woodsy on Jul 30, 2010 8:27:13 GMT 1
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Post by Peter Wells on Jul 30, 2010 11:07:45 GMT 1
Lovely - thanks for sharing Rod.
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Post by woodsy on Aug 1, 2010 9:06:27 GMT 1
Why, I hear you thinking, did a small and far away country like New Zealand have a demonstration of the Maxim gun in early 1889 at a time when the first guns ordered by the British Government had not even been delivered? The answer was the New Zealand & South Seas International Exhibition held in Dunedin from May 1889 to March 1890. The Maxim Nordenfelt Guns & Ammunition Company was actively seeking orders for its 'perfected gun' and, in conjunction with other British armament companies like Armstrongs, had their products on display in a large 'armaments court' for the duration of the show. The public demonstration was held before the show commenced, almost directly after the gun arrived by ship. Marketing was a well-established business tool in those days! I have a photo of the Armaments Court which I will dig out and post.
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Post by chuckm on Aug 2, 2010 4:18:39 GMT 1
Interesting to read the other articles in the paper. History at a glance !!
Chuckm
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Post by woodsy on Aug 2, 2010 9:03:08 GMT 1
The photo below shows the display area under construction. The large gun inside the circular steel frame is an Armstrong Disappearing gun. Several of these were put in our coastal forts because of the 'Russian scare' in the 1890's and two examples still exist, a nicely restored one at Tairoa Head in the Otago Harbour, and another at Fort Jervois on Ripapa Island in Lyttelton Harbour. The Maxim on it's wheeled carriage is clearly visible in all images. The second photo shows the completed display and is from a stereoscopic viewer.  |
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