The Washington times., 1915-07-13
WRIGHT AND EDISON
TO WORK FOR NAVY
NotabIes Will Serve on Invention
Bureau Being Organized by
Daniels.
Continued from First Page.)

(COntlnueu ITOTm flTSI tdSe.J
representative. NJ. r. Hutchison, called
on the Secretary today to tell him that
Mr.. Edison would give any service he
could to his country. and he regarded
this as call to patriotic duty. Mr..
Hutchison said that MIR. Edison would
write a letter of formal acceptance,
expressing something of his views, TO
the Secretary in a few days.
In a short time. it Is expected. Mr.
Edison will come on to Washington for
a conference.
Suggestions for membership include
the names Of Niliola Tesla, Henry
Fcrd, Cooper Hewitt, and Prof. Lewis
johnson.
Why he did not consider naval OFF,
GERS themselves equal to meeting the
navy's problems Secretary Daniels
made clear in his letter to Edison.
Officers Not Fitted.
Our naval officers. particularly those
at sea-" he said, ARE in position to
note where improvements are needed.
and to devise ways in which these i'm
provements can be made. They have.
however, neither the time nor the spe-
cal training, nor, in many cases. the
natural inventive turn OF mind, needed
to put these ideas into definite shape.
To a complaint common among IN
ventors who offer their devices to the
Government-official indifference to
what are sometimes really great ideas
the Secretary pleaded guilty.
I'VE receive many suggestions, SAID
his letter to Edison, but our only way
of handling them Is to leave them to
various bureaus already overcrowded
with routine work, and 1t Is not al
avs possible to give the necessary at
| tention to propositions that are not so
definitely worked out as to make them
Immediately available for the service
Ideas which contain the germs OF I'M
provement cannot always be given the
attention they deserve"
Glad To Serve.
Wright. in announcing recently that
| he would be glad to serve on the ad-
visory board. said:
Il believe that an advisory commits
sion would be Of great benefit II it
were so constituted as to cooperate
with and worked in harmony with the
regular departments Of the army and
navy.
The lack Of aeroplane equipment in
the nevv is not the fault OF the navy
itself, but is due to the lack Of inter.
est in Congress, In spite of the fact
the purpose, the navy has succeeded In
purchasing out Of other funds. a small
equipment Of aeroplanes. but. of course
this equipment is necessarily small and
Inadequate.
The European war so emphasized
| the importance Of the aeroplane In
warfare that Congress. this year made
a special appropriation of 81 .0O0,0 900 foI
aeronautics in the navy and 100000 fol-
That the plan set on foot by Secretary
| Daniels, but not yet fully worked out
promises to be the biggest thing that
has happened to the navy IN recent
years became plain today. In talking
Of it this morning. Secretary Daniels
| said:
II really think that we may have as
much of a revolution In naval me thods
as we had when we built the Monitor
This means that the United States
may take up the lessons of tho Eu'
ropean war as they relate to naval con
struction and naval war, and pus ltseli
abreast of the foremost nations of the
| world, II not ahead or them, in naVa
development.
| Secretary Daniels intends to ask tc
| serve with Edison a group of the fore
most inventive engineers of America
Plans Not Ready.
Secretary Daniels said today he die
not know just what detailed plan would
be adopted for utilizing the guidance oi
the civilian inventors. He does not in
I tend to form a new bureau of invention
but it may be he will form new boarc
composed of the heads of the principa
bureaus within the department to worl
in cooperation with the board o
civilians.
This morning. Secretary Daniels con
ferred with Admiral Griffin of the Blu
reau of Steam Engineering; Admira
Strauss. of the Buerau of Ordnance, anC
Admiral Taylor. chief of construction
on the question of the best way to ge
the benefit of the ideas which will b.
advanced by the civilian board headed
by Edison.
I'VE intend to appeal to the American
inventive public to work for the nav!
and give us every suggestion that the!
have" said Secretary Daniels.
Secretary Daniels proposes, amon
other things. to go to Congress and asl
for more liberal appropriations for in
Vcsigation and experimentation.
About a year ago, Secretary Daniel
saw Edison in New York. spent a da
with him, and from that conference o.
has been thinking over the problem o
how the Government can get use of tn
great ideas OF men Of the Edison type,