WILD IDEAS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26625, 22 November 1947, Page 8

WILD IDEAS

INVENTORS’ SCHEMES PROPOSITIONS TO AMERICAN MILLIONAIRE DOLLAR SOURCES SUGGESTED As might have been expected, the newspaper publicity given to the sponsorship of inventions by Mr Thomas Baker Slick, the young American millionaire, who is at present touring New Zealand, has resulted in his receiving some strange communications. "One man wrote wanting me to drill an oil well in a site where a spiritualist relative of his said there was oil,” said Mr Slick when interviewed by the Daily Times at the. City Hotel last evening. Another person, who had apparently mislaid his newspaper, addressed a letter to “An American Millionaire, Lake Taupo.” The Post Office sent the letter along to Mr Slick without delay. “ I have to respect the confidence of the people who have written in,” said Mr Slick when pressed for details of the odd requests he had received. There had been very few begging letters, but a lot of people had offered “strange odds and ends, such as a coin collection, which they wished to sell.” Mr Slick stated that, although the normal expectation was that about 90 per cent, of suggested inventions were frivolous or foolish, the percentage of good ideas which had been sent on to him in New Zealand was well above the average. Mr Slick, who is friendly and unassuming, is president of the Slick Oil Company, and with endowments totalling 1,000,000 dollars he created the Foundation of Applied Research at San Antonio, Texas, one department of which caters for the development and marketing of inventions. Mr Slick told the Daily Times that the foundation of such an institute, had been his lifelong ambition. “ I don’t know of any similar organisation,” he said. “As a matter of fact, there has been no new measure to help the inventor since the patent system was brought in about 300 years ago. The world goes ahead through inventions, yet inventors are generally left to their own devices and given no assistance.” Offer of Assistance Mr Slick’s brief stay in New Zealand has given would-be inventors little opportunity to meet him, and’ he said that he would be grateful if some publicity was given to the fact that his institute would be interested to consider any projects from New Zealand inventors. “If - they care to write to the Institute of Industrial Research, Milam Building, San Antonio, Texas, their suggestions will be received in confidence and, if practicable, we can work out some arrange.ment by mail,” he said. “It may not be generally realised that this could be a good source of dollar income. The markets here are so small that the inventor cannot be encouraged, and the whole idea of our institute is to give inventors a wider scope and some assistance.” Mr Slick’s arrival in Dunedin was delayed for some hours because of a motor accident, the car in which he was travelling from Te Anau skidding on loose gravel near Lumsden and turning over. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, and it was possible to continue the journey when the car was righted. “ I’m very fond of the South Island already, and I hope to come back and see more of it some day,” he said. Part of his reason for coming to New Zealand was that it is “ off the beaten track,” and his interest had been aroused by ' suggestions, reports, and ideas which former servicemen had brought back to America from both Australia and New Zealand. Lack of Publicity “ I can’t understand why more is not heard of New Zealand overseas,” said Mr Slick. “If the average American knew about the fishing and hunting which you have to offer, you would have far more tourists. As a tourist, I don’t like to criticise the country I am in, but I don’t think you have nearly realised the possibilities of your country from the tourist viewpoint.” Mr Slick said that when he had first become interested in a trip to New Zealand, he had tried to find out something about the country, but had been able to obtain little material in America. -He had found a lot out for himself during his trip, which he felt could well be made available to potential tourists before their departure from their home countries.

“ One big thing seems to be that there is little flexibility in the arrangements for tourists,” he said. “They have to fit into the ways of the country and to fit their schedules in with the strict hotel meal times and so on. It is difficult, too, to make reservations—one has to take whatever is going.” The other major institutes under the foundation of Applied Research deal with agriculture and'medicine, and industrial research. Mr Slick was disappointed that his delayed arrival made it impossible for him to see anything of the university while he was in Dunedin, but he expressed a hope that medical research men in Dunedin might establish a correspondence with men doing similar work in the San Antonio Institute. Farming Methods

Mr Slick has been interested to see something of the farming side of the country, and he has visited most of the research institutions in the country. “In pasture management, sheep breeding and wool treatment New Zealand can definitely show a lot to the United States,” he said. “ I think that you have more room for specialty farming, and that you could take advantage of the reversed seasons to build up a trade .with America.” He suggested that fruits such as cherries, honeydew melojas and good apples, together with fancy vegetables such as asparagus, would sell well on the American market in the off season.

“ Chile, which is almost as far away from the United States as your country, is already doing a trade of that' kind,” he said. “It would be essential, however, to study the American taste closely before starting to build up such a trade. It would have to be the very top quality produce, and fancy packing, which could be done in America, might be a help. But if it were tackled intelligently, I think such a trade could be a great source of dollar revenue to New Zealand.”

The undeveloped south-west corner of the South Island had intrigued Mr Slick considerably. “ I imagine that it would be a great location for building up stocks of fur-bearing animals, the skins of which are always in demand,” he said. He offered another potential source of revenue when he suggested that more extensive afforestation could be practised. “The whole world needs timber and pulpwood,” he said. “It is not necessary to limit production to the domestic market.” Mr Slick served with the United States Navy in the Pacific during the war, but was never as far south as New Zealand. His brother is the owner of the largest air freight company in the world—Slick Airways—which carries 2,000,000 ton-miles annually, mainly within the United Stales. Mrs Slick accompanied him to New Zealand, but has returned to America, and he will leave Auckland for San Francisco on Tuesday.