Lieutenant Osborne of Plymouth came up last night to instruct the Williamston platoon of the National Guard. His principal mission was to give instruction on the operation of automatic rifles. He had one of the new Browning light automatic rifles and took the member of the company to the river this morning and gave an actual test of the gun. The gun looks very much like an ordinary automatic shot gun except for a little more machinery around the breech. The lieutenant held the gun in a belt socket and fired at about the rate of 600 per minute. He also fired it from his shoulder. Those witnessing the firing wonder how men escape when they charge a machine gun battery. It would seem that a whole army could be mowed down in a single charge.
The Williamston platoon will be furnished with two and possibly three of these automatic guns and will be given full instruction at drills during the Spring.
From the front page of The Enterprise, Williamston, N.C., Feb. 21, 1922
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