LOST FORTUNE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21473, 22 April 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

LOST FORTUNE

STORY OF THREE INVENTIONS r PIEMAKER'S UPS AND DOWNS PLAN TO PRESERVE ORANGES Here is the remarkable story of a lost fortune —a sum of £25,000 received from the War Office on account of a remarkable invention. The central figure is-Mr. J. Pomeroy, an ex-New Zealander, formerly an inventor of world fame, and now a pie-man in South Melbourne. He will leave for England shortly with a new invention —a scheme for preserving oranges. During the Great War Mr. Pomeroy received £25,000 from the British Government in exchange for his formula for an explosive bullet. Since then he has met with a great deal of misfortune and has become —the originator of " Pop's Pies." Ho said the other day that ho was still experimenting. Experiments cost a great deal of money, and he could not stop. After he received his big cheque ho invented a cotton-picking machine which he tried to market in America. Ho failed with it and was left with but £SOOO. It was then that he returned to Australia and ho invested all the money he had left in an hotel. Then came the depression. Business fell away, and so did the remains of his fortune. With the assistance of his three sons Mr. Pomeroy opened a number of pie stalls in Melbourne, and " Pop's Pics" soon became a feature of Melbourne's night life. Nevertheless, he was still dogged by the depression, and he found before very long that he was selling fewer and fewer pies. The unkindest cut of all came with the establishment of a number of safety zones. These crowded out the pie stalls during those hours when trade was at its best, and he was not permitted on the street until it was too late to do a satisfactory business. But Mr. Pomeroy has a new invention and in six weeks ho will be on his way to England with it. Why it is necessary to go to England he does not explain. Ho claims to have devised a plan to preserve oranges. He sqys that Californian companies have tried to do what he has done but they have failed. Oranges, he explains, are the most difficult fruit to preserve, as when they come into contact with the air, after they liavo been treated, they absorb the oxygen and become bitter and unpalatable. Ho claims to have overcome all this by removing the bitterness before the fruit is preserved. He is after another fortune. Mr. Pomeroy was formerly a farmer near Tnvercargill. The bullet that he invented was that with which Captain Robinson, V.C., brought down a Zeppelin over London during the war. Mr. Pomeroy has stated that he conceived the idea of the bullet in 1902 when he was in Now Zealand. He has been engaged in perfecting his latest invention for two years or more.