The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-07-16
= Olson Can Invent
IL New Death Machine

Thomas A. Edison, SIXTY elght years
old, but still mentally in the zenith Of
his powers, recently told in New York
the work of science in the present war
Ho deplored greatly the awful sacri,
fee of human life that is taking pa e
in Europe and was loath to express an
opinion on the probable duration OF
the war or its results.
, But Mr.. Edison was quite willing t.
talk about science as applied to war,
fare. The almost boundless possible,
ties appeal to his wonderful imaginA,
ton and his breadth of vision show ID
in his answer to the first question. lie
said;sr
"Of course, science can find much
more effective ways of destroying lite
than by artillery and rife fire, or the
use of high explosives, The possiblli-
ties of chemistry and electricity have
hardly yet been touched upon in mod
ern warfare. They can do a lot bet
| ter.
Can Invent New Death Machine
'Howf" he was asked.
| 81 don I want to say. | won t tell -
"But do you know of anything bet.
teri" insisted. "CouId you invent
something more deadly than the gas
] bombsf"
eyes, l could, but l can't get my.
self to work ON any such staff as that |
don t want to destroy life; ! want to
make the world better place to live
| in.
And then laying a kindly hand upon
my arm, the great inventor explained:
" You see, my boy, the dove is my
emblem"
In quiet, even tones, Mr.. Edison went
on to state these facts:
| "Primitive man fought with clubs
and stones; then it was swords and
lavelins, and later bullets and bayonets.
When the war began it was shot and
shell and high explosives. Now they
have only just made a beginning with
burning liquids and poisonous gases.
The warfare of the future is going to be
more and more a matter of chemistry
and electricity. There is no knowing
where it will end.
Chemistry outplaying Electricity
'Could they not fight with germs
and XIII of whole populations by dis,
easel it was ventured. "They might
infect an entire country with bubonlc
plague, for instance.
Mr. Edison, as is his habit, had
brought his right hand up to his ear to
catch my question and he bent forward
eagerly. He saw all the possibilities of
the idea, and with a fOrceful motion of
his hand he swept it aside.
"Thry haven t got to that yet, thank
| God. There must be some relics of
civilization still left in the very worst
of them. Yet the rules of the game
don t count for much these days. It's
getting tosbc just a reversiOn to an
animal state Things are bad enough
as it is. The use of gases will be car
ried out to much greater extent.
| Every time new thing comes along
the inventors take hold of it and i'm
' prove it, but chemistry is playing a
greater part in the game then clectri,
city"
Some Things Electricity Could Do
"CouId electricity be used," he was
asked, "for destroying stores. of am
munition and setting off high explosives
at a distance by wirelcssf"
eyes, was the brief reply.
"Thcn, why don I they do it,"
''That is their business, not mineF'
"Well, thel., could electricity he
used to explode a torpedo before It
reached its mark"
81 think not, because the tOrnedO
moves in the water and it would have
to be specially constructed, anyway.
The enemy would not make to suit
| what YOU want.
"But could aRtOrpedO be DETECTED
from it's course bv wirelessI"
"Not bv the ship it was fired at. "
! Mr.. Edison Sail. "Of course It rouid
! be controlled nv the shin It was fro'
from. Young Hammond showed that TO
be possible. "
Will Offset the Torpedo
"Bnt is there no wav a shin can be
protected from the effects Of tOrp-.
dot"
Mr.. Edison's eyes twinklOd as he
answered.
eyes, a ship might be so fitted that
it would not sink after being hit.
should not be surprised II big change