CURRENT TOPICS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 1133, 5 November 1918, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

If the dreams of numerous British amateur inventors who have War been besieging the -Ministry Freak of Munitions could be reaIdeas. lised the war would have

been over long since, and little would be left of tiie German army. Recent proposals include the following: "Freeze the clouds and mount artillery thereon; train cormorants to ily to Essen to pick the mortar from Krupp's walls so that they will crumble; trail from balloons monster magnets that would snatch rilles from the hands of the German soldiers; perch men on shells to steer them." A suggestion often submitted is to attach a searchlight to an anti-aircraft gun, project the light on a Gotha and shoot along the beam. Unfortunately, shells will not follow a path of light. Other schemes for dealing with hostile aircraft are to suspend navy guns from captive balloons; to arm defence airplanes with scythes; to provide heat rays for solting Zeppelins on lire, and to cover, the moon with a big black balloon. To prevent.polished rails shining at night and acting as a guide lo enemy aircraft the last coach of the last train is lo drop blacking on them. A shell containing gravel is to lay a pathway over mud, and another, containing an irritant powder or a sticky substance, is lo hamper machine-guns. The 'relay shell" is a favourite proposal, the plan being for a shell at the height of its flight to expel a smaller inner shell. As a shell does not-point directly along its trajectory, it would be impossible to have accuracy of aim for the second shell. Among the more miscellaneous projects are: "To petrify German soldiers by squirting cement over them; to throw snakes by pneumatic propulsion into the*enemy trenches; to penetrate and attack Germany itself by a 'tube' built 'all the way' from England." It is 6aid that about one suggestion in ten that reach the Ministry of Munitions is novel and possible. The Air Ministry announces that its Air Inventions Committee, formed about nine months ago, has, examined more than 5000 inventions and suggestions.