An Ingenious Invention.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 270, 3 August 1906, Page 2

An Ingenious Invention.

I The following paragraph appeared in the Wellington Post on Wednesday :—lnventors the world over have been devoting themselves to the task of preventing the great loss of life which happens annually upon the great railway systems through collisions and other accidents. Even in New Zealand tbe problem has received some attention, and, judging from experiments which were witnessed in Wellington yesterday afternoon by a member of tne Post staff, it would appear as if a very simple and satisfactory solution has been arrived at. Those who have undertaken to solve the problem of railway safety are Messrs E. W. and G. H. Buckridge, of Auckland, both of whom are wellknown in Kawbia. For eight years these brothers have been testing their ideas and putting them into practical form, and now they have automatic means of preventing railway accidents. By means of wires placed between tbe rails on the permanent way and an equipment in the cab of each engine, automatic warnings can be conveyed to engine-drivers, either by tbe ringing of a bell, the blowing ot a whistle by steam, or other signals. The system is electrical, and the warning is conveyed by means of direct continuous currents. A danger zone can be arranged within which it would be im passible for two engines to come into collision and the giving way of a girder on a bridge, tbe collapse of any portion of a tunnel, the washing away of part of the permanent way, and the displacing of points would all be automatically intimated on an approaching engine. These phases of the invention we*e practically demonstrated by means of a rough model, which Messrs Buokeridge operated from a miniature set of rails, with a siding. Tbe experiments went to show that it would be impossible, under the new system, for engine drivers to make mistakes, or for pointsmen to cause trouble by carelessness without warning being mada on the engines, and semaphores could be dispensed with. If wires for th« system were laid between the rails—and that would be the effective and economical place for the wires—the Buokeridge device for preventing disasters could be installed upon our railways at a cost of about £5O per mile. The invention, which has been investigate! by officers of the Railway Department, is under offer to the New Zealand and Australian Governments.