Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-03-01
PATENT OFFICE
URGES LAD OF
1910 WORK ON
Harrisburg Boys Bomb Ex-
ploding Device Would Aid in
Nations Defense
BY ANNA II. WOOD

Great oaks from little acornS grow
How we wrote ana rewrote it in
those half-fofgotten days until childish
fingers cramped along with childish dis
positions and we lost sight of the truth
intended. But with maturity 1T comes
back to us and it was from little be-
ginning that a Harrisburg lad has
stumbled upon secrets, the following of
which may some day make him one of
the geniuses of his age
| Last spring the Telegraph started
crusade for the preservation of our
songDirds. 1T urged the building of
| birdhouses, Offering suggestions and
even prizes for the best. Prizes meant
money and money was scarce in the
! home of a red-haired little Russian
Jewish boy in Herr street. The income
of junk dealer is not very extensive
and there We're other children to be
clothed and fed. If little Abe" could
turn penny, so much the better. From
I somewhere he secured the few cents
for the lumber and set to work in
his spare time. However, things went
wrong. The birds would not care to
occupy such a home as Abraham's
crude, fingers turned out, so he grew
discouraged and gave up the hope of
prize money.
As the warm weather came on the
great American holiday drew near, with
its tirecrackers and rockets so dear to
boyish hearts. Abe got out the box
again and began to tinker with wires
and some old dry batteries just to see
| If he could make the things go off
by themselves" He grew absorbed in
the study of a great unseen force.
| Finally the day came when the touch
| of switch at the side of a box and
n n Rlynf nm, Lot
ploded apparently from an unknown
cause. Abraham Grant had made dis
coVery! He was in the gigantic world
war. Long and earnest were the talks
in the Herr street house against the rela-
tives and friends at home. The hearts
of his parents grieved for Dwinsk,
the town from which they had emigrat-
ed. Abraham's ears and mind were
filled with the power of militarism and
one day the dream came to make the
| toy he had fashioned into something
really big and important. This boy
of thirteen, slender. of medium height,
not overnight at his studies, deter
mined to find a way to explode hidden
bombs. He planned and worked until
the idea took concrete form. Then he
drew a careful diagram and submitted
| it to the Patent Office in Washington.
Before long an answer came which
said in part:
I'VE have had search made Of the
Patent Office records and wish to ad-
wise YOU that your device, as shown
by your diagram, is patentable. We
suggest that in view of the possibility
of this country engaging in hostilities
in the immediate future, that you pro-
ceed at once with AN application for
a patent"
Works on His Model
Now young Grant is making the
wooden model necessary to secure the
rights he wants. From a box contain
ing the batteries, carefully hidden
from inquisitive eyes, in a larger, more
innocent-looking box, run the wires.
Miles away they connect with the
bombs or mines hidden under the
| bed of roadways, but most important
| is the secret signal system attached
A scout, aeroplane or otherwise watch
es the movements of the enemy's regi-
ments He gauges the time for them to
reach the spot over the hidden mines
and signals accordingly. At the given
moment the mine eXplodes under the
very feet of the men on their way to
! deal out death to others. Or as a coast
defense the same principle can be car
ried out with submerged mines and a
small vessel of the coast patrol serv-
ice. From one base number of mines
can be operated. according to the size
and power of the batteries.
The one great stumbling block in
Abraham Grants way is the same which
stood in the path of genius since the
beginning of time-lack of money. 1t
takes $50 to secure patent rights, and
these absolutely must be secured be-
fore the United States Government or
anyone else will purchase the invention.
Here is the opportunity for the man
or woman philanthropically inclined; /;
here is the chance for someone to open
up the way not only to aid his country
in the great preparedness campaign
| but to help one of these little foreign
ers who have come to make their home
| in the great free-for-all America. These
children are our citizens of the future
and who knows what the little Russian
Jew may some day become If the help
| ing hand is extended to-day?
| Abraham Grant is a pupil of the
seventh grade in the Penn school build
/ ing, and is assistant secretary of the
| Boys Division of the new Penn Com
umnty Club. in which the city of Har-
risburg has shown such interest. Is
not someone willing to make that in
| terest personal and write to the lad at
his home, Gil Herr street?