MYSTERY RAY

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12573, 7 June 1935, Page 6

MYSTERY RAY

GERMANY PERFECTS NEW HORRORS OF WAR. ROCKET THAT CAN TRAVEL 200 MILES. RAY WILL MELT TANKS AND GUNS! After 15 years of patient work am experiment, German scientists aiu technicians are reputed to have per fected five new instruments of war including the ‘Stratosphere Rocket considered the most terrible wcapor ever conceived, and the Z ray, ar “invisible wall” against France. The head of the German Reiclis wolir Department claims that the roe ket, which could ho charged witl: high explosive, poison gas or germs can he guided over a range of 20( miles. It can be so controlled that it can he stopped over a city or other target and then exploded. Another weapon is the “Halgai Ultra,” or all-piercing bullet, invented by the Kiel engineer, Dr. Max Cehrlieh. It will pierce armour six inches thick. Production is known to he about 500,000 bullets a day. The Rotative Gun is a Krupp production, bought from the Dutch, and has five rotating barrels. It fires 1000 rounds a minute. It is intended to pour a sudden and devastating fire upon an advancing enemy and to fight aircraft. Two thousand of these guns are now in construction in Germany, THE Z RAY. Then there is the Stange machinegun, which weighs only 181 b and can be carried and handled by one man. It fires 600 rounds a minute. An overheated barrel can be unscrewed in a few seconds and replaced with a spare. Finally—and this verges on the fantastic—there is the “Z” ray, which is to provide an “invisible wall” against France. It is .said to be able to destroy bridges, to molt, gun-muzzles and tanks, aeroplane motors in mid-air, radio stations, railway trucks and sheet armour! Strange stories are being told of mysterious happenings on the Ger-man-Austrian ’border, which may be the result of experiments with this ray. One of them is told by an Austrian business man who was driving from Linz to Munich. Twenty miles beyond the German frontier his motor suddenly stopped. Investigation revealed nothing wrong with the engine and no shortage of petrol. While puzzling over the happening, another car came up and also stopped suddenly alongside. In this case, too, there proved to he nothing wrong with the car. MAGNETO INTERFERENCE, The attitude of a German soldier who arrived soon after was strange. Looking at his watch, he told them their cars would be running again in a. few minutes. Sure ’ enough, in about five minutes, the motors resumed running. Inquiries in Munich revealed that several other cases of the kind had occurred near the frontier recently, and that they were in some way connected with military tests. The drivers of the ears came to the conclusion that the only feasible explanation was some radio-electric interference with the magneto. Some time ago, there was talk in England of a ray which could interfere with magnetos and he used particularly against aircraft. It was then said that the covering of magnetos with aluminium would make the ray harmless. However, it is a fact that Germany’s new war ’planes are being fitted with Junker-Diesel motors, which have no magnetos. Whether or not this is to guard against tho use of the fabulous Z ray, or Fernschweiss-apparatur, as it is known in German official language, or some similar device in the hands of an enemy, it is impossible to say. Remembering the romantic fictionwriter’s affection for mysterious and all-powerful rays, perhaps the tales of the Z ray should he treated with caution.