The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1918-09-16
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WAR DEVELOPS 1
WEIRD SCHEMES
One Inventor Would Snatch En-
envy Rifles by Means of
- Magnets. .aass
FLEA SHELL IS OFFERED
Then There Is the Scissors Plane, the
TaIIy-Ho Cannon, and the Moon
VeiI-Aeronautics Favored
by Inventors.

latest popular hobby. It's a great
amusement. Perhaps you have tame
balloon to snatch the rifles from the
enemy's hands by means of suspended
magnets; or, maybe, a few spare
snakes to hurl into the trenches by
pneumatic propulsion; or, perhaps,
shell with man inside it to steer II
at the target. If so, pack in brown
paper and dispatch to Inventions De-
partment, British Ministry of NUM-
tons. Some months later you will
receive a polite notification informing
you that your invention is receiving
their collective and earnest atten-
ton"
Meanwhile your competitors have
supplied suggestions for:
A shell to contain f1eas or other YER
min inoculated with disease.
The spraying of cement over soldiers
so as to petrify them.
The throwing of live wire cables
carrying a high voltage among advanc-
ing bodies of infantry by means Of
rockets.
Germany should be attacked in one
case by making a "tube" all the way.
and in another by employing trained
cormorants to fly to Essen and
pick out the mortar from Krupp's
chinneys.
One inventor proposes machine of
the nature of lawn mower as large
as tank to make mincemeat of them.
The Scissors Plane New Idea.
The clouds are to be frozen artifi-
cially and guns mounted on them !;
heavy guns are to be suspended from
captive balloons; the moon is to be
covered with a big black balloon; air.
planes are to be armed with scissors or
scythes, like Boadicea's chariot, or to
trail bombs behind them on long
cord; heat rays are to be project
ed for the purpose of setting Zeppelins
on fire electric waves to paralyze tn.
magnetos.
One of the most popular suggestions
of all is to attach a searchlight to an
antiaircraft gun, get the light on the
object and shoot along the beam; but,
unfortunately, the path of she'll is
quite different from that of the ray
of light Most elaborate 'decoy"
schemes are sometimes worked out for
the confusion Of the enemy, compris-
ing in dit least one case sham factories
with .chimneys and hooters complete.
Not unnaturally aeronautics have
been favored by the inventors. Many
%o +hn17rlaf fhof tho 1iffinO
power of hydrogen is unlimited, for
they have suggested armor-plated ball
looms, the transport of artillery by
airplane and of troops by balloon.
Shells and projectiles have received
not little attention. Proposals include
a shell containing gravel TO lay path
way over mud; another containing irri-
tant powder or sticky substance to
hamper machine guns, and another for
holding many thousand feet Of wire,
weights and a clock motor.
Many inventors of a device requir-
ing a knowledge of ballistics be-
tray no knowledge that such sci
ence exists. BY one scheme two guns
are to be fred simultaneously, the
shot being connected by chain
to which bombs and 1ncendiary. de-
vices, etc, are to be attached. It is
clear that variations in powder or
differences in wear would make it i'm
possible to predict which direction the
device would take.
Then There Is the Relay Shell.
Another favorite subject, mechan-
ically unsound, is the ''relay she'll" a
shell acting as a small gun discharged
in mid-air and expelling a small in
ner shell, the object being to obtain
an increased range. The fact is that
a shell in flight does not point direct
~ along its trajectory, but makes an
uncertain angle with it, so that ac-
curacy of aim would be impossible.
In the group of inventions coming
under the head Of motive power the
ajority are of the "overbalancing
wheel type, which dates from the
thirteenth century. Power IS to be OBJ
tanned from other schemes of people
walking about floors and up and down
stairs; passenger lifts are to be used
Las power hammers, and power is to be
generated from the flow Of rain water
from the roonM of houses.
Suggestions IRE also frequently re-
|4eeiyed in connection with colored
searchlights. The most remarkable
proposition of all in connection with
searchlights is perhaps that of f'black
BEAM" whatever that may mean, for
Obscuring the moon.
Many inventors are absolutely i'm
pervious to argument or explanation
and are always dissatisfied with the
| treatment they receive. In this re-
spect they contrast unfavorably with
a foreigner who submitted an engine
which would not work, and concluded
the correspondence with thanks and
the admission that he was completely
-G