PROBLEM OF PERPETUAL MOTION

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16583, 24 July 1919, Page 3

PROBLEM OF PERPETUAL MOTION

AUSTRALIAN NATIVE'S INVENTION.

Among Australian aborigines ho man stands higher intellectually and in every other way than . David Unaipon, who was born at the Point Macleay (South Australia) Mission Station, and still regards it as home (says the "South Australian Register").' He has always been a keen student, and a voraeioua reader of good literature, which no doubt accounts for his excellent command of English, his fluency as a speaker, and his happy style both on the public platform and in ordinary conversation. Mechanics have appealed most strongly to David, who many years ago set out to investigate the j problem of perpetual motion. Disappointments innumerable came hiß way, but he persevered, and now claims that he has evolved an appliance for harnessing gravitation and utilising tho power for the driving of stationary machinery. What he requires are funds to enable him to take out a patent, and with the object of raising these he has ■ begun a lecturing campaign, which, he hopes, will enable him to address audiI ences practically throughout the State. In the course of his chats, David doals i most entertainingly and interestingly i with the legends, customs, and methods ! of the aborigines in the days gone by, and seeks to impress upon the people tlie need for "bringing light," through Christianity, to those who are left, and safeguarding their general welfare in ' the fullest possible degree. _ In con- ' nexion with his gravitation invention, . David was asked whether he had de- ' monstrated it in the presence of anybody . He instantly acknowledged that he had not done so. ''I know, however, that it is all right," he said, "because I have used it, but the uwention is so extraordinarily simple that if it were demonstrated publicly it would be immediately available to everybody, and the opportunity would be past for patenting it." A few years ago David invented and patented a device for an improvement .to the handpiece of the ordinary sheep-shearing machine—converting the radial into a lateral movement." "At present," he explained, "the tendency of the radial movement of th. j blade is to curl the wool and blow it about. With the straight action, which my patent secures, these disabilities arc eliminated, and the wool is cut as the blade of a binder cuts the hay Experts have spoken most highly of the invention, and have expressed the opinion that when the effects of the "war diminish it will win widespread recognition.