FATAL FLAWS IN BIG IDEAS.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 February 1924, Page 4

FATAL FLAWS IN BIG IDEAS.

(I'urrespoiitloiu in "Daily Mail"). \Ye hear often enough ol modern mechanical liiumphs, and wonder)id in truth they are. I’m lew people see the gaunt, bidden skeletons ol "things which did not come of!" j ol "inspiration-." in metal which, through some undeteeed flaw in calculation-, or by reason of :,ome intricate problem not quite rigorously enough explored, ho--an, when in construction, to ilevidop troubles which b-d to their ahamlonnient. Enexpectcdlv. amid all tdie j.recision .if it great modern works, you may come upon one ol these "white elephants." In dim obscurity, derelict, you c-py sometlung strange—sotnetbing which -looks as though it hud a story connected with it. "What'- that:'" you risk. "Ah!” says the expert who is showing you round. There is a wealth of meaning in his tone; and then, amid the clangour of the shops, lie bends do-o to your car and tells you, in tersely worded sentences, a story that does not figure in advertisements, in reports, or in the chairman's speech to a hodv ol shareholders. In the corner of one huge factory stands a desolate-looking .structure which is referred to, when anybody finds heart to mention it, as "Sn-antl-s.i’a Waterloo" !

This great mechanism—it would not be discreet to go into details—was a

"brain-wave" as lirst t onctiivvd. Its originator was a lirillianl mail. But when its construction began one dillicjiltv after another was encountered.

Had the great mall's stall' been ns brilliant as lie was, tilings might, it is whispered, have crime all right: in the end. lint a- it was point was reached—the structure standing partly built—when the original glory nl the inspiration had departed; when nothing could he seen ahead but a growing maze of technical drawbacks. And so, reluctantly, at a word Iroin those in control of the organisation, the toiling men were withdrawn troin their arduous work. From a hive of industry that corner or the work- fell suddenly deserted ; and the partly finished wonder, which might under happier auspices have been a focus for admiring eyes, was leit to lie, growing more neglected-looking every day, until on demands for various other purposes for parts used in its construction, it was stripped by degrees till nothing but its metal ribs and "bones’ wore left.

These closely guarded stories ol great, unusual things projected, of marvellous altairs in metal which, through some little fatal fault—magnified as the structure grew—confounded all the hopes of their creators, linger far longer in one’s mind than matter-of-fact records of proved, tested, uniform success. There is so much more human interest about them—so much more pathos.