NEW RAY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 9 April 1924, Page 5

NEW RAY

IT’S USE IN WARFARE

MARVELLOUS CLAIMS MADE

ENORMOUS INTEREST AROUSED

(By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (AHawaiian and N.Z. Cable Association.)

LON DON, April 8. Further experiments with Grinnell Matthews’ Ray, which is capable of stopping aeroplanes in (light, or exploding from a distance an ammunition dump, show that it. is even more powerful than at first supposed. A mouse 64 feet- away upon which the ray was directed was killed instantly..

Enormous interest is .aroused in the invention, and the newspaper Star reveals that preparations are being made secretly for large seale'tests on a barren part of tlie coast, in which it is expected the ray will' he found capable, of intercepting and exploding a shell at any point, in its trajectory and also he able to destroy distant ammunition dumps. Whereas poison gas and shrapnel are unable to penetrate every nook and cranny of a battlefield, Mr Matthews claims that the ray is controllable, and j- will he possible, to sweep every square inch of a desired space, lie proposes during war to generate destructive power at a central station, estimated to cost three millions, and distribute it through sub-stations maintaining an sella I‘Tiamige fifty miles around London, in which nothing could live. It is suggested that. portable sets might be employed in time of peace for the destruction of locusts. Mr Matthews claims that he could sweep the heavens clean in ten minutes.

(Sun Cable.)

LONDON, April 8. Mr (Matthews explains that- his new destructive electrical agency uses a controllable ray as a path just as lightning uses a conductor. He points out that the range and destructive power are only limited by the size of the generation plant. Zeppelin engines could be put out of action and the envelope fired in five minutes. The apparatus is compact enough to be carried in a battle plane or motor lorry. ‘ Recently one of Matthews’ assistants accidentally came in contact with the weakest possible ray and was rendered unconscious for 24 hours. Another had his face completely skinned in less than a second.