AUTOMATIC 'WARDEN'

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 208, 4 September 1940, Page 2

AUTOMATIC 'WARDEN'

ANOTHER BRITISH INVENTION REPORTS INCENDIARY BOMBS One of the most remarkable instruments designed to protect Britr? ish homes and business from aitraid dangers is the automatic "watchman," which not only ini stantly reports the presence of an incendiary bomb but records the part of the premises in which it has fallen. This instrument, designed "by a well-known British firm, is the light ray detector, and is so installed that, should an incendiary bomb penetrate the roof of a house, it will immediately be electrically recorded on an indicator board and the fire-fighters can get to work without delay. Incendiary bombs do not explode, and the sound made by one that has cut through into an attic may be completely lost in the noise of an air raid. Hence the virtue of the light-ray detector. This, although the firm's latest use for light-ray apparatus, is only one of the many applications which are in operation. For example, this automatic light<Tay counts articles of various sizes and shapes, up to GOO a minute, passing on a conveyor, stops wire being wound on a spool when the required length has been obtained, indicates variations in turbidity arising in "water hardness" treatment, guards sleep walkers from harm and precious jewels from theft.