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Show WAR INVENTIONS OFFERED DAILY Fifty New Ways Submitted Every Twenty-four Hours, to War Department. MANY. QUEER DEVICES Ninety-nine Out of Every Hundred Discarded All Are Investigated. WASHINGTON, Oct 30. Fifty new ways to end the far are proposed tlally to tho Avar department for that many military inventions arc submitted sub-mitted each 24 hours and nearly every inventor claims his devlco will revolutionize revo-lutionize warfare. Ninety-nine out of 100 are discarded as impracticable in the war emergency, but for the sake of the possibilities in the one all are welcomed wel-comed and investigated. Here are a few of the devices before the war department's board bf ordnance ord-nance and fortifications, which gives preliminary investigations to inventions inven-tions for consideraton today: Polished reflectors to throw sunlight in the eyes of the enemy and blind him; elaborated slingshots for throwing throw-ing bombs; land torpedoes rosoihbllng small tractor engines to run across No Man's Laud and explode in the enemy trench; aerial torpedoes to fly without with-out a pilot; double shot connected by chains to entangle airplanes in tho skies; self-propelling bombs resembling resem-bling skyrockets; sabers with pistol attached to the hilt to inflict double wounds; coats of mail like medieval armor to make soldiers shel bullets like rain drops; hand grenades with trailer strings, tho pulling of which causes explosion after the grenade lands in the enemy trench; centrifugal guns which whirl bullets until thoy i irnin .sufficient momentum and Ihon feed them out in a steady stream; parachutes to allow aviators to drop from disabled machines; modernized catapults for hurling trench bombs, and smoke bombs to be thrown by charging infantrymen a moment beforo be-foro the bayonet clash. Nearly ten thousand inventions have been offered tho war department since war was declared. They Include about fifty designs of centrifugal guns and hundreds each of hand grenades, now explosives, machine guns and poison gas. Many which have strong elements ele-ments of merit are rejected because they cannot be adapted to the war exigencies In short timo or because thoy need many refinements which war department experts have no time to give particularly, since testing and experimenting often require many months. Centrifugal gun inventions have been given careful attention but the objection to most is that they shoot only round bullets which do not travel as straight, or as far ns the olongatod shapo and that the bullets' momentum is not sufficient to peno-trate peno-trate at a distance. In most models of experiment of centrifugal guns, bullets are fed steadily into the axle of a rapidly revolving wheol driven by gasoline motor, pass through a spiral opening within tho wheel and omergc at the edgo traveling at a high rate of speed. The bullets are guided outward out-ward and the fire directed through an opening corresponding to an ordinary gun muzzle. The operation Is by a comparatively simple principle but the necessity of a gasoline motor renders most centrifugal guns of somewhat doubtful valuo for trench work. Regulations under which articles patented in this country by enemy aliens may be manufactured by American Ameri-can producers wero issued today by tho federal trade commission under authority conferred by tho trading with the enemy act. Licenses will be Issued for the life of tho patent and not merely for the duration of the Avar - but exclusive licenses will not be granted to individual indi-vidual firms. The new regulations affect approximately 20,000 patents including many of paramount valuo to American industries. It must bo shown that the licensing will be for the public welfare thut I there is a demand for the article not now being satisfied and that the applicant appli-cant is equipped to manufacture. The licenses will be required to file with the trade commission a semi-annual report of business done and within thirty days thereafter must make certain cer-tain payments to the custodian of all enemy property. Tho use of trademarks, copyrighted labels and similar devices will be granted in exceptional circumstances in connection with the patent. C. II. McDonald of Wisconsin, chairman chair-man of the board of review of the trade commission, will have charge of administering the regulations, assisted by Edward S. Rogers of Chicago and' Francis J. Phelp3 of Washington as advisers. Commissioner Fort is supervising the patent work. nn |