"RAY OF DEATH."

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1038, 10 June 1924, Page 11

"RAY OF DEATH."

MATTHEWS AND AIR MINISTRY. STORY OF NEGOTIATIONS, EXCITING INCIDENT MARKS INVENTOR'S DEPARTURE. LONDON, May 27. Dramatic developments swiftly followed the rejection by Mr Grindell Matthews of the offer of the Air Ministry for his so-cailed "ray of death," an electrical invention for stopping the engines of motor cars and aeroplanes. Three minutes after he left the laboratory, Wing-Cbmmander Bowen, one of the Air Ministry's experts, arrived unexpectedly, and held a conference with Captain Edwards. A little later he left for Paris in pursuit of Mr Grindell Matthews, who had taken an aeroplane at Croydon. Just as the machine containing Mr Grindell Matthews rose from the aerodrome a motor car dashed up, two men leapt out, ran after the aeroplane, and shouted; but they were unable to stop it. They were a Brighton solicitor, Mr Gubbins, and another man, who stated afterwards that they were issuing a writ claiming to be entitled to 52 per cent, of the proceeds of the ownership of the invention. They are seeking an injunction to prevent Mr Grindell Matthews disposing of the ray. Mr Justice Greer today granted an interim injunction. "I am leaving in a fit of pique," said Mr Grindell Matthews, interviewed in the cabin of his aeroplane at Croydon, just before he left for Paris. "It is simply that I realise that if I do not complete my agreement with the French Government I may find myself without an adequate offer. I have definitely decided to sign the French contract on Friday morning. I have held my invention at the disposal of the British Government, and their offer, crystallised, is £IOOO down, if new tests of the engine by experts proved satisfactory. "As the former tests apparently satisfied the experts, that offer is too absurd for anything. It does not compare with that which the French Government has made to me. I have already spent much money on research, and am now faced with bankruptcy. The British Government knows the position, and cannot expect me to accept their miserably inadequate proposals when a genuine offer is ing"l am naturally anxious that the invention should not be lost to Britain. For a long time I have tried to interest the Government, and I am ready to commence work in the Government's laboratory, if I am offered a satisfactory figure." ANOTHER INVENTION. "I am experiencing the same difficulties that befell my submarine director during the war, for which Britain exentually paid £25,000 after the experts had first turned it down. "I obtained British recognition only after the French Government had given mo opportunities for demonstrations. I am so convinced that the ray can do all that I have claimed that I have refused a Parisian music hall proprietor's offer of £IOOO weekly to demonstrate the ray." The Star states that the Air Ministry for some time has.been conducting its own experiments with a ray similar to Matthews, and is also investigating another ray invented by William Pryor.

An Air Ministry official states that many people in the last three years have claimed to have invented a destructive ray which would render useless aei-oplne magneto ignition.

The Government's secret experimental staff has discovered a ray capable of stopping the rotation of an engine, but an antidote in the shape of a screen insulating the magneto dynamo has been discovered, also. 'The success of the Matthews ray depends on whether it can pierce the protective device. According to the Air Ministry, the demonstration consisted of lighting an Osram lamp and stopping at will a small motor cycle engine, both from a distance of 15 yards. The experts were shown nothing to lead them to credit the statements appearing in the press as to the invention's possibilities, and they found it impossible to form a definite opinion of its value. LORD BIRKENHEAD SCEPTICAL. ■ Lord Birkenhead is frankly sceptical regarding the possibilities claimed for the Grindell-Matthews "Death ray." In the course of a letter to The Times, he says: "That an unknown amateur should stumble on an epochmaking discovery is about as likely as that a child of five should defeat a chess champion or Mile. Lenglen." Without proof of the most rigid character it was too absurb, he declares, even to consider the contingency seriously. "I myself most strongly support those who insist on the fullest scientific investigation before handing over public money to a scheme so fanastic. SOVIET "RAY" TOO. A Soviet "death ray" is reported. The news has leaked out, says the correspondent of the Times at Riga, that Russian engineers have invented an electro-magnetic apparatus for destroying aeroplanes. The experiments, it is stated, began last August, and the apparatus has since been improved with the aid of German technical experts. It was recently tested at an aerodrome near Moscow, and the results were so satisfactory that the revolutionary military council decided to place credits in the hands of a special committee for the rapid construction of enough anti-craft stations to protect the most vulnerable of the vital centres of Russia. Similar, but more powerful, stations are, it is stated, being constructed for the purpose of putting out of action electrical mechanisms aboard hostile warships. AIR MINISTRY TELLS ITS STORY INADEQUATE TESTS. ! LONDON, May 28. Sympathy is evaporating for Mr Grindell Matthews, because the Air Ministry has disclosed that for three months past it repeatedly invited him to, demonstrate the effectiveness of his so-called "ray of death" on a magneto engine, which the Ministry itself proposed to supply, and Mr Matthews refused. The- Ministry has issued a state-

ment reciting these facts, and tersely concluding, "It is understood that Mr Grindell Matthews has left the country." In the House of. Commons Mr Leach (Under-Secretary for the Air) said ho was unable to accept Mr Grindell Matthews's claim without such scrutiny as Mr Matthews was apparently unprepared to face. ,Mr Leach added: "The Air Ministry experts can readily produce every phenomenon that Matthews showed.,. It isn't proved that these phenomena are of any value." A message from Paris says that Matthews declares that a French company has been organised to exploit five of his inventions, including talking "movies," but excluding the ray, which is still open for sale. He has received eight bids already, and is returning to London to ship his apparatus to France. In an interview Mr Matthews denies that there is any claim against him by Mr Gubbins, a Brighton solicitor, and Mr Caley Sanborne. He admits that they had an option on the invention, but that it expired six weeks ago. Mr Matthews is still willing tor his invention to be taken over by the Air Ministry, provided that lie receives an offer. If not, he will sign the •contract with the French Government, which he-says offers him thousands of pounds and a share of the profits. On the other hand, it is stated in Paris that Matthews is not a free agent, and that the French Government has actually secured already the right to the "diabolical ray." An Australian, Mr A. J. Roberts, and a Londoner, Mr Robert Raffle, have joined the growing list of claimants for recognition as inventors of "death rays," Mr Roberts was formerly employed in Matthews' laboratory, and he is at present in Copenhagen. According to his version, Mr Grindell Matthews is employing only the ordinary ultra-violet light ray, which under direction will explode a balloon filled with inflammable gas. It also provides an excellent conductor for freak wireless demonstrations.

"I am performing these tricks myself every night in a circus at Copenhagen," says Mr Roberts. A solicitor's clerk has gone to Paris to serve Matthews with a writ of injunction prohibiting him from selling the ray outside Great Britain. The decision of the Air Ministry regarding Mr Grindell Matthews' "death ray" should not rest with a subordinate, but with the responsible Ministers, says the Daily Mail editorially. "If understrappers and technical experts had had their way during the war the 'tank' would never have been adopted. The nation does not want to make such a mistake with tho "death ray."

Mr A. J. Roberts is well known in Australia, where years ago he used to perform remarkable tricks with wireless apparatus. He gave performances in music halls with miniature aeroplanes; which he controlled at will, and while in Melbourne he invented a wireless device for directing torpedoes.

A cablegram published the other day stated that Mr Matthews had returned to London, and that a British company, with a capital of £350,000, had been formed to develop his invention.