A BOY INVENTOR.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2278, 15 September 1899, Page 5

A BOY INVENTOR.

A boy, hardly sixteen years of age, wifcn a marked foreign accent, called at the office of the United States Secretary of the Navy the other day, and said he came is re9poms to a letter from the Department. This letter dated .some months ago, was in reply to one sent apparently by thebov, who claimed io have disco v» red a substance by which vessels could be rendered unsinkable. He refused in his original letter to disclose the nature of his discovery. The Department had written the usual stereotyped answer, saying nothing cou'd be done until more was known of the ilevice. The boy, wittout means had walked all t'ue way from Arkansas toWashlngton, for the purpose of showing to the officials what he believed would make his fortune.

As soon as the nature of hiserrand was kuown he was treated with all consideration. He wis sent to Chief Constructor Hickborn, who listened kindly to the boy's story. The constructor has beea himsrlf a poor boy, and realised the privations through which the boy before him must have gone to reach Washington, only to meet with disappointment. He explained as well as he could the usslessnes* of the boy's supposed invention, and finally had Naval Constructor Taylor show the boy the plans for a ship. The lad was slow to accept the view taken by the officials, and left eventually with the notion thatitwashis owninability to explain bis device and his desire to keep it secret that prevented the naval experts from pui chasing it at once. He said he had walked all the way fiom Arkansas, goiug first to New York, where he saw Edison, wbo bad, presumably out of kindness of his heart, offered bim a couple of sovereigns for the secret invi ntion. He had refusi d this offer, and kept ou his toilsome way until he found the Washington authorities. There was a pathetic side to the incident, which was not lost on the officials,as the boy said with a sigh : " Well, I guess I'll have to take my invention to Englaud