M'GUIRK'S INVENTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11757, 22 July 1916, Page 2

M'GUIRK'S INVENTION.

g- A GREAT TORPEDO. J-** 3 __ It was Admiral Fiske who first ina torpedo that carried a solenoid which controlled motion to tho * ! -right and a low pitch to the left. A still further development of this _ . idea was perfected a few years ago by j;.* Ignatius Aloysius M'Guirk, tho Irish *' patriot, who was expelled from his '.'bcountry for suspected complicity in tho Phcenix Park murders, and lived' for many years on Staten Island. M'Guirk *' had served in the Russian navy, in the v war of 1877-78, and had learned much cf torpedo warfare as it was then known. Ho continued his studies after coming to this country, and in his retired home and laboratory built on the shores of a desolate inlet near Great Kills he pursued for many years his studies in explosive chemistry, electric science and other topics with a view to •developing a torpefdo system which • should bo eventually adequate to the destruction of the British Navy -when the hour came for Ireland to strike a blow for freedom. M'Guirk was an "avid reader of all technical periodicals and kept in close touch with the improvements made in his line. .So .when Admiral Fiske got bis patents for wireless steering of a torpedo in 1900 M'Guirk learned of it it once snd- promptly began to experiment along similar lines. That his activities never, came to the attention of the Patent Office is, of course, not surprising, for his object was to avoid attention. His private means were ■ sufficient for him to prosecute his experiments without outside assistance, jmd ho had soon developed tho dirigible iorpedo to a point not yet attained by Mr'Hammond or other inventors. He had a small concrete senlcling-station juear the beach, and from it he used to steer torpedoes up and down the inlet.' where not even a motor boat ivas likely to penetrate. It was about 1905, as I remem- ; ber, that M'Guirk first hit upon the discovery that sound waves were capable of influencing tho solenoids. By that time he had five or six torpedoes with which he was experimenting. As, of course, ho knew all that there was to know at that time about the! action of explosives, and as he did not trish to arouso the curiosity of the countryside, his torpedoes were all blanks. There were no explosives m them, this detail* having been left until the torpedoes were required for actual use. So the same torpedoes •with slight changes, were, constantly used for experiments, and M'Guirk had como to have a sort of personal affection for them all. He was a strange, sombre character. Ho had never married, having vowad in youth to devote - all his energies to righting the wrongs of Ireland,' and he had no companion in studies, no sharer of his home. He lived alone on' the desolate shore with his flock of torpedoes. Early in 1906 he perceived that /there was no reason why. torpedoes should ho steered only to the right or left. Suppose that it were desired to attack a battleship equipped with tor»pedo nets*, what better plan than to have a dirigible torpedo, operated irom the shore or from a boat, which would dive diown. under the unprotected bottom of the vessel? Or, in the case of booms stretched acrcss the mouth of -a river or harbour to protect, the shipping inside, surely the most efficient methdd of . neutralising such a protection would bo to equip the dirigible torpedo with an apparatus enabling it to leap gracefully over the obstruction, dive under on the further side, and then continue its underwater coarse to th© sliip at which it is aimed. tte M'Guirk toro out tne sterns ot iutf- torpedoes and fitted each ot them with seven or eight solenoids, each responsive to a different wave length an -ach controlling the action ot the torpedo in » different direction. !To save wear and tear m his wireless plant, he used to direct tliem in practice manoeuvres principally by sound •wares. Experiment speedily taught him that at short distances a shrill note, such as that of a whistle, was best calculated to. affect the apparatus in the stern of the torpedo, and so h* bought a flute and began to practice on it. Each note of the scale would turn the torpedo in a different direction*. and presently M'Guirk had so perfected himself in tho playing of tho flute and the management ot Ins torpedoes that a trill, a quaver or the delicate execution of a few bars from some composer would turn the torpedoes over, around or under any obstacle. Eventually, and as a crowning ex- ' ploit, M'Guirk got his torpedoes in such perfect working order that at the sound of the melody "The 'Wearing of tho Green" they would describe several evolutions, leap gracefully in the air like flying fish, turn about immediately after falling back into the water, and finally speed back toward shore, shoot up on to the beach, _a,nd come skidding obediently to M'Guirk's feet, much like a do£ when his master • . ntjfif The old man's one or two acquaintHi,- ances—lie had no intimates—have told what a touching sight it was to see him seated alono on the grey sea shore, liia white hair blowing about his shoulders as he played the flute, and his squadron of torpedoes describing graceful evolutions- in tho water and finally fe running back to gather round tho camp 'Si gtool where ho sat. They were his .only friends, liis dumb companions, and l/; there was something touching about the • devotion with which the old man reforded them. Little did ho dream that they wero destined to betray him. Early in 1907 M'Guirk was ready to strike his blow to free Ireland. Ho liad long maintained bis connection with various secret revolutionary committees. and while they were not altogether appreciative of the true intellectual stature of the old inventor, they finally agreed to his plan of action. The English Channel Fleet, commanded .by Admiral Lord Charles Beresionl, " was manoeuvring that year off the k[-\ r west coast of Ireland, and in a part V ticularly wild and desolate region where thero'were no inhabitants but a few ' half-savage fishermen. M'Guirk had the imagination to see what a tremendous effect it would have on English popular opinion if an Irish revolution were to be inaugurated by the sudden destruction of the entire Channel Fleet • j, while it was peacefully manoeuvring. Before England could recover from tho -shock the oppressed and downtrodden . Emerald Isle would have risen against the tvrant and massncrcd Ins tropps, . and with tho Fleet out of no more could be rushed in from England. , - "So M'Guirk fitted up at his own expense a laboratory hidden away among the wild ravines on the shores /• of a bay in Galway, where he had ' . learned the Fleet war; to hold its last grand review, and there he installed a / wireless station, by which the news of the destruction of tho Fleet was to . _ he Hashed to conspirators in Dublin and "v" Cork, and give the signal for a popular beforo tho English had recov- " ; '.ei(.d from their stupefaction. He had ' increased his stock of torpedoes to thirty-six, and they were charged with - largo amounts of high explosive, obtain*'s ;d by some method which has never been satisfactorily cleared up. There war, one torpedo for each battleship. lie needed no more. With his steering apparatus ho could not miss.

All was ready on tho fateful morning. Less than a mile off shore the great battleships of tho Channel fleet wore drawn up in lino, ablaze with flags, waiting for the Admiral to pass along in his flagship, tho Dreadnought, and review them. There was a constant sputter of wireless irom ship to ship, and M'Quirk realised' that with waves ol ever v length sputtering through the ether his sensitive .solenoids might bo affected by a ■ spark which would deflect the torpedoes irom their courses. So ho resolved to direct them by sound, for the distance was short and the targets easy. As the Drcadnough .started down the line and the saluting guns began to thunder, M'Quirk started his thirty-six torpedoes on their way, and' then dragged his campstool to the beach and sat down, flute in hand, now and then blowing a sharp, shrill note as he saw ougi or another of tho torpedoes deviating from the course laid down for it. Two minutes more, and England's navy would have been annihilated. Then came the unforeseen catastrophe. For Lord Charles Beresford was born in Ireland, and his fleet was manoeuvring off his native land'. So \ ice-Ad-miral O'Callan, commanding the first division with his flag on the King Edward VII., thought at that moment that it would be a graceful compliment to the commander-in-chief, as well as an indication of returning good feeling between Saxon and Celt, to liavo the {feet's bands Admiral by playing "Tho Wearing of the Green." At a signal from King Edward VII. thirty-five bands struck up tho Irish air!

" Who can picture the feelings of Ignatius Aloysius M'Guirk as he sat on his camp stool and saw the work of a lifetime shattered? I do not think he gave a moment's thought to his own fate; it was the failure of the Irish revolution that broke his heart. For at the sound of the familiar music the sensitive solenoid's reacted as usual. The torpedoes leaped in air, whirled about, dived back into-the'water, and started in a bee line for the spot where Ignatius Aloysius M'Guirk was frantically blowing "tho flute whose music was drowned by the blare of thirty-five bands

In a moment the torpedoes were in shallow water. They had leaped out on dry land as'was'their wont, and without stopping to shake themselves they skidded', their propellers wagging amiably, to the camp stool. But this time they were not blank; in the head of each were hundreds of -pounds of high explosive. As the thirty-six war noses rubbed against each other around M'Guirk's feet there was a tremendous roar, a column of smoke and dust shot up hundreds of feet into the air, and nothing was left but a huge chasm on the snot where Ireland's greatest inventor had met his doom. That was the end of Ignatius Aloysius M'Guirk. If Lord' Charles Beresford had been a Scotchman, now, or if M'Guirk's torpedoes had not been so well trained—but I suppose the moral is that Ireland would have been free long ago if Irishmen could only think alike."