Evening star., 1929-12-12
DR.. !. H. ROGERS,
INVENTOR, EXPIRES
Heart Attack Fatal to Inter-
nationally Known Scientist
as He Slept.

DR.. ]. Harris Rogers, internationally
known inventor, died about 1:40 o'clock
this morning at his home in Hyattsville,
Md, where he had worked assiduously
for years in solving some of the most
perplexing mysteries of the radio sci
ence.
The death of DR.. Rogers came as a
profound shock to Washington's scien-
tific circles. He showed no visible signs
of illness last night when he entertained
a party of friends at his home, but was
stricken by heart attack in his sleep
and died shortly afterward. Death was
attributed to angina pectorias.
DR.. Rogers, however. had not enjoyed
good health since 1917 when he was
overcome by monoxide gas in cave in
East Hyattsville, where he was expert
menting with one of his inventions.
1t is believed that this accident weak
ened his heart.
Contributed Many Inventions.
More than SO important inventions
were contributed to the world of science
by Dr.. Rogers, the most notable per-
haps being the underground wireless
antenna with which the faint radio i'm
pulses are trapped either under the
earth or under the sea- This inven-
ton alone was invaluable during the
World War, since it permitted conceal
ment from the enemy in trenches and
dugoutS and could be carried on sub
marines.
DR.. Rogers was born in Franklin,
Tenn, July 13, 1850, the son of
James Webb and Cornelia Ann Rogers.
He received his early education under
private tutors and at st. Charles College
in London.
In early boyhood Dr. Rogers dis
played exceptional inventive ingenuity,
and while his parents were living in
Bologne. France, conceived a plan for
utilizing the waves of the sea to gen.
crate power for propelling ships. He
never relaxed in his experiments, and
up to the time of his death he was
working on what he hoped to be the
crowning invention of his career-a de-
wee which would permit radio trans
mission to reach its fullest development
and make round-the-wor transmission
simple.
Invents Embossed TeIegraphy.
While living in Peekskill, N. Y, some
years later, DR.. Rogers collaborated
with his brother, John Whitson Rogers,
In 1nVenting' system of embossed
telegraphy, which was patented in 1872.
This consisted of the transmission Of
messages by telegraph by means of
raised characters, printed on a soft
metal tape, which was made to pass
over roller, the raised characters
being thus brought into contact with
the tranSmitter and the circuit auto
matically closed and broken, enabling
the receiver to read the sounds repre-
senting the characters. Various other
inventions of a telegraphic or tele-
phonic character followed in rapid sue
ceSSion.
DR.. Rogers was chief electrician at
the Capitol from 1877 to 1888, during
which time his work attracted the at
tention of a number of scientists and
Government officials. 1t was about this
time that some of his earliest inven-
tions, including a telephone repeater,
were sold to a syndicate composed of
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Senators
A. H. Garland and Isham G. Harris
and others who formed $l5,000,000
corporation to produce and market
| them.
Devises AirpIane.
In 1893 DR.. Rogers perfected his
method of telegraphic printing or
visual synchroniSm, and on March IA,
1895. the first printed telegraph letters
were transmitted between Washington
and Baltimore by this method. In 1909
he devised an airplane along lines de-
signed to impart greater stability than
the machines then in use possessed.
(Continued on PAGE D Column II