Dr. Maxim discovered that a machine gun could be made to act automatically. That is, that the recoil of the weapon could be used to repeat the fire indefinitely. Some Frenchmen then went to work and designed a device by means of which a carriage could be made to progress with speed and smoothness without horses. Maj. Royal P. Davidson of the Illinois national guard, commandant at Northwestern military academy, has put two and two together and decided that a cannon could be mounted on an automobile carriage and made to do effective service.
    Maj. Davidson has progressed so far with his idea, says the New York Journal, that he has mentally fashioned two armored gun carriages which may in time revolutionize methods in handling small machine guns and heavier field artillery. That the idea will work satisfactorily over smooth streets in cities and be a valuable adjunct in suppressing riots is beyond doubt; whether it will work as well across country and taking in all kinds of ground remains to be demonstrated.
    So many things must be thought of in designing such a carriage that Maj. Davidson frankly says he is by no means out of the woods. The carriage must be light, so that with the piece mounted and four men aboard the motive power can be generated in the machine. Electricity as a motor was abandoned by Maj. Davidson almost as soon as suggested. The motor to be used will be gasoline, compressed air or naphtha [flammable liquid mixture]. The success of the latter with water craft has recently inspired the young inventor with the belief that it is suitable to his purposes.
    The main difficulty will be to secure a power strong enough to move the heavy armored vehicle over all kinds of bad ground. The automobile carriages in use operated by electricity have power only sufficient to run the carriages with from four to eight persons as a load. Compressed air has almost no limit in power but is somewhat limited in speed. Speed is an essential in handling a battery.
    It is the purpose of Maj. Davidson to go overland to New York in case he receives a gun properly mounted in time. He expects to train a company of his cadets from the Northwestern military academy to handle the gun and carriage. He says he will need at least two such guns before he can give the matter a fair test. These he will take across the country to New York.

From—The Washington Bee. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 03 June 1899 Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.