New Britain herald., 1917-09-18
EDISON INVENTION
 MAY FOIL U-B0A7S
COntriYanCe Forces T0rpedoeS
 to Go Wide Of Mark

Washington, Sept. 1S.-Thomas A. Edison has contrived a mechanism to defect torpedoes from their courses, it is said here. According to report, the device has been tried with success on several destroyers and has been installed on some liners.
 It is beleived here that the extra ordinary gyrations of a torpedo which missed big Americans liner which arrived yesterday at an Atlantic port were due, not as the passengers and some of the ships officers seemed to believe, to some new wrinkle devel- oped in a German laboratory, but to the genius of MT. Edison.
 The futile missile was described Iby the passengers as a "corkscrew" of 'bOOmerang' torpedo. One of the ships officers was quoted as saying that it was a new model of torpedo. one he had heard pursued cork screw course toward it's mark, to make lodging difficult and, if by any chance was avoided by the vessel, would turn and strike it from the op- pisite side.
 The cratic course described by the observers is said to be characteristic of the effects obtained by MT. Edison s device in practice, and the final leap from the water or abrupt change in direction is seen as the final result when the approaching torpedo came within range of the full strength of the diverter.
 Avnarioon iv,or EuuivrcI It is asserted with confidence that the American liner was one of the vessels on which the instrument had been installed. The work of equip ping other vessels is going on at a rapid rate. The expense and time necessary to install the defense are said to be insignificant when the service rendered is taken into consid- eration.
 Secretary Daniels of the Navy De- partment refused to discuss the mat ter when asked about 1t.
 Merchantmen now are almost uni versally armed with guns for protec- | ton against submarines and this, 1t has been noticed, has caused a de- l cided falling off in the number which fall victims to shell fire from the l fected to the state indicated by the adventure of the American liner 1t Is freely prophesied that a means has been found to check the ravages of | the U-boats.
 New York, Sept. 1s.-Mr. Edisons interest in submarines became plain long before the United States entered the war. It was after an explosion on a submarine in the navy yard in | Brooklyn that he made the acquaint- ance of that sort of craft. He visited the scene of the accident, which was due to defective batteries, went 1 through submarine, asked numer- ous questions and impressed his of. ficer hosts with his intense interest in the subject.
 At that time his interest was cen. tered by the explosion on methods o1
 making submarines safer for theil crews. It was reported several times that MT. Edison was engaged ir evolving an improved battery whicf | would render the subsurface boats more secure. So far as MT. Edison himself was concerned his comments were limited to the suggestion tha' 1t would be a great improvement
 if the submarine could breathe like l fish.
 From that enthusiasts argued tha the inventor was thinking of com pleting device which would operate after the fashion of the gills of a fish
 When he became an industriou. hermit at Eagle Rock, however. i
 was generally believed that he hat abandoned his earlier plans and had turned his attention to protecting the United States from the undersea peril