A LUCKY NEW ZEALANDER AND HIS INVENTION.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 166, 12 July 1912, Page 8

A LUCKY NEW ZEALANDER AND HIS INVENTION.

If the average Auckland citizen were told that American scientists seriously described an invention, recently made and perfectcti in this city, as the greatest i advance in the electrical deposition of 1 metals the modern world has seen, he 1 would rub his eyes and begin to wonder i what it was. Yet this is the well con- i sidcrcd verdict seriously recorded by ' leading American men of science regard- < ing the discovery known as "Voltitc." { And not only have they stated their i opinion in words, but they have backed i it in cash, having paid for the. American J rights of this invention a sum of ; IOU.OOOdoI (£20.000) in cash and i •IOO.OOOdn] (£BO.OOO in shares. This the : .New Zealand shareholders in the Voltite i Company. Limited, will receive from the i American Voltitc Company, which is < capitalised at 2.000.000001* (£400.000). « and was registered in New York by the I nited States and Mexican Trust Com- < pany. Thousands of shares in this company were subscribed in a few days, and i this principally among the men who had witnessed the d-amonstrations given . by Mr. Arthur Temple Firth, the inventor, before different metallurgical socie- . ties, electro-platers' associations, chemical societies, and the scientific staff and , ! students of Columbia I'niversty. If detailed description were written of the exuberant reception given to Mr. Firth (who is well known in this city) by his fellow scientists it would seem needlessly exaggerated. On all hands the invention is described a.i epoch making. Hitherto the deposition of metals on metallic surfaces has been costly and laborious, and a simpler method 'seemed incapable of attainment. It has remained for a New Zealander to solve a problem that has puzzled scientists the world over. Mr. Firth's invention must not be confused with ordinary methods of depositing superficial layers of substances by friction or adhesion, nor must it be confounded with the many cleaning preparations placed on the market: on the contrary, it is far more than this, and pi.ssesei a true chemical and Metrical action. It may be here added that none of the Voltite powders contain any mercury the deposition in each case being the" pure metal claimed for it. Front. a scientific point Of view not only the results obtained, but aljso the actual process of deposition, is the same as has hitherto required an elaborate plant and ! equipment tor the method commonly known as electro-plating. To the lav-man. it may occur that it the method "is so good, it should be an easy matter to ascertain by analysis ot •the" powder what it contains, and inu- ' tate the invention successfully. In this ho would be in error, for before a chemical analysts can be made it is necessary to add certain ingredients to the ' subject for examination. But owing to the peculiar nature of this preparation, such mixture immediately sets into effect the chemical action which has been al- : hided to, thereby rendering the process .of analysis an impossible one On i realising' this, and having tested the 'matter to their own satisfaction, the - ! leading American scientists have ac--1: corded the inventor a magnificent recep--I t ion the opinion being expressed by -'men of the highest, repute, such as t , Professors Richards, Tucker and - Proctor, and Dr. Grosvenor, to name ■ I or.lv a few of the leading American ' I scientists, who have pronounced in 1 favour of the new invention, that it is the greatest discovery made in the history of this particular branch of industry, that its earning powers are 1 i enormous, and that its utility is un- - ending. . . . : Mr. Firth has been inundated with invitations to demonstrate this invention 1 before various scientific bodies and the 1 universities of several States, and a 1 warm reception has been accorded him - whenever he has lectured. Public curiosity has been aroused to an extra--9 ordinary extent by the many news- - paper 'articles that have appeared r j giving particulars of tbe discovery, and 1 the directors of the new company are " already flooded with applications from ' all parts of the States, from firms de- '■ sirous of testing the merits of the novel r preparation. Such enthusiasm is rarely '■' accorded a new discovery. s The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Company 1 states that "Voltite" will same them 50,000 dollars ( £10,000) per annum, and. further, that it is in-tended to x "scrap" the present electro-plating plant j. used by the hotel, when the American company is ready to supply them with t "Voltite.'' This statement will be the c more readily credited when it is under- ,. stood that only silver-plated knives are 3 used in these palatial hotels, and their life in the ordinary course of events is not more than twelve months; the knives themselves being very expensive, it will be seen that if by the aid of Voltite „ their life can be indefinitely prolonged, "J the saving to such an hotel as the Waldorf-Astoria would be enormous. . Many other firms have) expressed similar . intentions. t " What has tickled the American is '.' that a ''savage" from a little island "away beyond the earth" has come to America, the land of invention, and has produced a. perfected process hitherto believed impossible. One metallurgist & in New York lost 1.000 dollars ( £250) a through being too sceptical. He bet s this amount that Mr. Firth could not c electro-plate gold direct on to steel— 8 knows now, and is 1.000 dollars poorer. s But. apart from the sale of the t American rights, it must be remembered 1 that the New Zealand company lias foi t disposal the rights of the remainder of a the world. Mr. Stilwcll, the president n of the United States and Mexican ; . Trust Company, has already acquired . the option to float, on similar terms to 1 that paid by the American company, t other companies in England, France. t, Germany, Austria, and South America. -. Should these options be exercised, which I doubtless they will be. the shares of the f Voltite Company of New Zealand should T prove a gold mine to those fortunate Ii investors who originally financed the l parent company. a Meanwhile, according to advices re- [. ceived, the American directors have not been idle, for it was expected that the New York factory would be in full ■- swing at the end of this month, when 'i tlie plant will be capable of turning r out :!G,OOO tins per diem. This output c will be increased in the near future, for c, it. is estimated that 20.000.000 tins will c be sold in the United States the first >f year. and. needless to say. if this exb i ]K--.-tation is only approximately realised. ,r j the prospects of the company are of the is brightest. 3: In conclusion, it may be confidently ■'c stated that this is the biggest N«"w Zea>h land deal ever brought off in America. *- and that '.he invention has caused keen ''" interest in scientific circles the world ?- over. in __«—____, us ~