The Inventor.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 348, 24 February 1902, Page 1

The Inventor.

Marconi embarrassed in his experiments with wireless telography—threatening the commercial value of the cables —is simply history repeating itself. Papin, of France, saw his first steamboat destroyed by enraged boatmen. J aequard’s first loom was burned by the silk-weavers. Hargreave’s first spinning jenny was demolished by bis fellow-spinners. The London Times building had to be garrisoned with armed police in order to bring out the first steamprinted edition without a riot of handpress men. The stage-coach people fought tho first steam railroad, and the candlemakers the first gasometer, Stranger still, scholars and scientists have clasped hands with commercial selfishness to_ obstruct new inventions. Chancellor Livingston and Daniel Webster both labored to postpone the steam railroad. Sir Humpnry Cavy and Sir Walter Scott joined in ridiculing tho discovery of illuminating gas by Murdoch. New wav devices have fared no better. Breech-loading rifles and metallic cartridges were offered to our War Office in 1861, hut the civil war was fought until 1864 with muzzle-loaders, and metallic cartridges were not used till 1868. Fulton devised naval torpedoes in 1805, but was iaugbod at for his trouble, and the first use of the torpedo was in America’s conflict. Ericsson’s terrible struggle to get bis Monitor tried, and the adoption of the ironclad man-of-war years after its inventor had grown weary of urging it upon Governments, are well-known history. And though smokeless powder was invented years ago, the Spaniards surprised America with it in Cuba and the Boers surprised us with it in South Africa. What with the commercial interests always alert to save themselves from new things and the instinctive hostility of mankind to radical changes, the way of the inventor is almost as hard as the transgressor’s.