EDISON AND FUTURE WARS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 96, 15 October 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

EDISON AND FUTURE WARS.

The possibilities of chemistry and electricity have hardly yet been touched upon in modern warfare. This is the opinion of Mr. Edison, the electrical wizard. "Primitive man," he said, in a recent interview, "fought with clubs and stones. 'then it was swords and javelins, and later bullets and bayonets. When this war began, it was shot and shell and high explosives. Now they have only poisonous gases. The warfare of the future is going yo be more and more a matter of chemistry and electricity. There is no knowing where it will end." In Edison's opinion wars of the future will be far more terrible than the present conflict. Armies will fight with germs and kill off whole populations by disease. An entire country might be infected with bubonic plague, for instance Electricity will be used for destroying stores and ammunition, and setting off high explosives at a distance by wireless. "Neither should I be surprised," says Mr. Edison, "to see a great change come about in ship construction, and you may be sure some way will be found to offset the torpedo. A 6hip might be so constructed that it would not sink after being hit." Mr. Edison confesses that he could invent something more deadly than gas bombs. "But," he says, "I can't get myself to work on any such stuff as that. I don't want to destroy life; I want to make the world a better place to live in. But if the United States gets dragged into this war, and is attacked, I will help to make war worse." Mr. Edison has just been appointed chairman of a War Inventions Committee, and we may look for some startling ideas soon.