FORTUNES FROM WAR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11671, 11 April 1916, Page 4

FORTUNES FROM WAR.

GRENADE INVENTOR MAKES £150,000. Although the number of patents filed in Britain during tho N war has been far below th-2 average in normal times, it is stated that the inventor had made more money than at any period since the great cycle boom. A rich financial harvest has been reaped- by a number of inventors of armament devices. It is computed that one of the many inventions connected with hand grenades has already brought the fortunate inventor upwards oi : £150,000 in royalties. Tho inventor of the. Gardwell .machine gun is reported to have received £65,000 and a royalty of £3 per gun manufactured. Tho deviser of the " Bors" periscope trench rifle, with which the Australians are equipped, has received a large sum for his patent rights. The inventors of a life-saving appliance re* received' orders valued at over £30,000. Hundreds of other inventors have made money by using their brains during the war, "and producing devices for simplifying existing machinery, thereby enabling manufacturers to reduce tho cost of working. Most of the successful war inventors are those who put their inventions to commercial use before submitting them to the Government. The man; who invented a special box for carrying band grenades submitted samples, quoted prices, and received a large order, which has laid the foundation of, an extensive business. . . Thrse remunerative inventions patented during th© war have been a non-inflammable substitute for celluloid, possessing all its advantages without any of its drawbacks; a- substitute for glass; and a process for removing the solder, tin and"chemicals from scrap and galvanised articles, and for utilising the base metal. A fortune awaits the inventor of a machine that will automatically type letters from dictation.