The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1918-07-19
WILL EDISON WIN THE WARP

to work for year without speaking
or writing to anyone except the other
employees of the establishment, ten
times as many men responded as the
thousand asked for, and in less than
week after. the call was issued the
mechanics had entered upon their
twelve months solitary CONTINENT
and labor. The time of these men
will soon be up, and again there is
much speculation as to what idea OF
the worlds most marvellous inventive
mind the men have been engaged in
working out and whether or not the
latest discovery of the genius will
end the war.
One man from Philadelphia states
that he saw Edison cross the street
the other day and he was surrounded
with soldiers and secret service men
to protect him from harm. The writ
er knows that the winter home and
laboratories at Fort Myers, Florida,
of the man who sleeps but five hours
in twenty-four, are heavily guarded
day and night to protect the secrets
that may be hidden there. So it is
evident that the United States gov
eminent believes there is something
in the head of Mr.. Edison worth pro-
tecting, at least until it is put into
practical use.
Already the Associated Press has
carried stories of the experiment
from a hill top on the plains of the
West of what is known as Edison's
chained lightning. This is operated
by wireless from two stations that
focus on the same spot, and like the
suns rays are concentrated by lens
till fire is created at a given spot, so
the electricity of Edisons chained
lightning is gathered and hurled
through space. The experiment re,
suited in the Staying of a whole flock
of sheep at single stroke, but the
scientists said then that the great in
ventor had not yet learped to control
his lightning sufficiently, and that
there was danger if used on the bat
tlefield of a general killing his own
army as we'll as that of his adversary.
There is another theory that Mr..
Edison is working on an explosive
so concentrated that enough to de.
stroy a division can be packed in a
small capsule. With this kind Of
hell-pill one aviator could carry up
enough of the capsules to send a
whole army to the bosom of Abraham
If the stuff were properly dropped,
The trouble with the explosives so
: far known to man is that a corps of
: aviators can carry up but limited
number Of TONS The Government is
said to have ordered a million air.
planes, and this would indicate that
maybe some kind of concentrated ex-
plosive is what the mind Of Edison Is
going to give the Allies with which
to end the world struggle and forever
wipe the Hun from the face of the
earth.
At any rate, it was published at
the beginning of the war that Mr..
Edison had stated that he had some-
thing in mind that would end the
struggle. but that 1t would produce
wholesale murder and he would not
release it. But the story goes, after
the atrocities of Germany increased
in number and horror and the United
, States entered the war, Mr.. Edison
consented to give his ideas to the
Government of his country.
We know the man who produced
, the electric light, the trolley car, the
monograph, the storage battery, etc,
, is laboring on something that he
hopes will end the war and end it in
t the only way that civilization will
permit it to end-in victory for the
Allies and for America. Certainly
the country that invented the subma-
, rine, the airplane, the telephone, the
, cotton gin, the steamboat, the limo
type machine, artificial ice and prac.
tically everything else wonderful ex.
cept the wireless, which came from
another Ally, Italy-certainly such a
country will be able to conceive
some device that will render the SUBJ
marine valueless and blow into atoms
! the hordes of the kaiser.
The Germans are not an inventive
people They steal ideas, like the
} submarine and the long-range gun.
and develop them to a high degree,