TRAGEDY OF GENIUS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2443, 6 March 1909, Page 9 (Supplement)

TRAGEDY OF GENIUS.

Mr B. H. Tliwaite, a man of marvellous inventive genius, who —like so many other geniuses—had but little business capacity, died at the ago- ol 54, leaving two young children and a wife who is the victim o a paiutm disease. Mr Thwaite’s many years of experiment resulted in the saving of hundreds of thousands of pounds to others, and in poverty for himself. Now many friends of the deceased inventor are trying to mark then appreciation of his epocli-inaking work, and are endeavoring to obtain £-5tU. a sum, which, if subscribed, Mr Carnegie has promised to double. Mi Titwaite was the first to discover tiit possibilities of blast-furnace gas. Reproved that a vast amount of this product which was running to watU eould be used in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, and it is calculated that, by the utilisation oi j a hitherto waste product, many miiI Lions of pounds annually have been [ saved. The honorary secretary of the movement for assisting the inventor s family is Mr W. H. Booth, of Queen Anng/s-gate, and this gentleman, who was personally acquainted with Mr Thwaate, gave to a press representative some particulars of. liis career. Born at Brighouse, Yorkshire, Mr Tliwaite was a pupil of the late Sir William Siemens. From him he acquired that interest in, and knowledge of, gas production and gas analysis which leu him to devote his entire attention to this branch of the study. For 14 years he attempted to discover the usefulness of blast furnace gas lor power furnaces, and, being ultimately successful, lie published the results of his discovery. “Although undoubtedly a genius,” said Mr Booth, “lie was no business man. I am afraid that tlie ironmasters of this country were far too conservative where Mr Tliwaite was concerned ; he could make no impression on them, and they have, iu fact, only just begun t-o move and to appreciate tlie possibilities of bis discovery.” Mr Booth pointed out, however, that neither Germany nor the United Stales had been slow to adopt Mr Thwaite’s discovery, and there were 30 large builders of gas engines in Germany alone whose establishments could be traced to tlie publications of this inventor’s conclusions. Prior- to this discovery, said Mr Booth, there was a little inducement to build gas engines) but the technical-minded Germans soon grasped tho idea, and they began to experiment after the article had appeared in 1895. They had gone on steadily ever since. Mr Tliwaite patented 200 odd inventions—ranging from the most complicated to the simplest articles—including a road-tarring and dust-preventing apparatus, a patent to draw dust from mint! rock drills, gas producers, gas purifiers, and fire damp indicators. Tho late inventor was "onerous to a fault, and a good musician. "Whatever funds he. had at bis disposal.i from time to time, were expended his blast lurnacc gas experiments.