MR. H. G. WELLS DEAD

Chronicle (Levin), 14 August 1946, Page 5

MR. H. G. WELLS DEAD

Press Assn.-

Eminent Writer Passes

Bv Telearavh

Covvriaht

Received Wednesday, 11 a.m. LONDON, Aug. 13. The death has occurred of Mr. H. G. Welis, the famous author and philosopher. He had been suffering from a heart ailment for some tirne, and at the time of his death was 79 years of age. Mr. Wells began life as an apprentice to a London draper, but soon found that his life's interest was not in shop-keeping, but in science, and he became a student \'-t the Royal College of Science, ti'om which he graduated a B.Sc. with first class honours. A discovery of a talent for writing, combined with his scientific education, resulted in his first novel, "The Time Machine," in 1895. This book revealed his gift for imaginative fiction, although he followed this early success with work of a different type — books such as "Kipps," and "Tono Bungay." Considerable sensation was caused by "The New Machiavelli," published in 1910. At about this time he applied his great imagination and philosophic powers to the investigation of social problems, and produced "Marriage," "The World Set Free," "Bcon" and "Beal^-" in 1912. Before this he had been one of the fir§t members of the Fabian Society, togethcr with George Bernard Shaw, and Sydney and Beatrice Webb. During this perioa he and Shaw were continually in disagreement, and the epithets the two geniuses hurled at each other across the debating table and elsewhere are still quoted as masterpieces of intellectual invective. It was partly because of this disagreement with the majority of the society that he left it. During the war he wrote a novel, "Mr. Britling Sees it Though," and was defeated at the general elections in 1922 and 1923 for the London University seat. Mr. Wells' tremendous knowledge was shown in his "Outline of History of the World," and possibly his greatest work of imagination was "The Shape of Things to Come," which appeared in 1933. Other books published at this time were "Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind" and "Bulpington of Bulp." During the last war he produced "Babes in a Darkling Wood," "All Aboard for Ararat" and other works. His last book, written only last year, was "Mind at the End of its Tether," a final summing up of world trends in thought, although many consider that the theme of the book really applied to Wells himself.