THE DIXON GAS BUBBLE.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2642, 8 September 1881, Page 3

THE DIXON GAS BUBBLE.

Mr Dixon, of New Zealand, who has come over to Melbourne for the purpose of introducing a new method of making gas, is .not meeting with much favor. At first be succeeded in securing a cor-" lain amount of support, and bad little difficulty in obtaining a patent, but the thing is now almost exploded. Mt Cosmo Newberry and the Royal Society have fallen foul"of the Dixon “ patent gas” with a vengeance! Mr 'Newberry last night delivered a paper dealing pretty minutely with the specification or the patent, and ridiculed the whole thing iiiost effectually. . Thereafter followed a discussion, during which very strong epithets were applied to. the tiling. The specification was called a “jumble of chemical, formu’a;, designed ’to hoodwink and deceive the unscientific public.” “ Simple nonscnce,” “rot,” “ ferrago of nonsence,” ■were amongst the choice terms used by the scientists towards Mr Dixon’s patent gas. The Solicitoi’-General (DrDobson), who was present at the meeting, and who had granted the patent, said in effect that the patent had beep issued in ignorance, aud added that if it was a swindle the inventor would gain nothing by the. patent, as the expression of opinion by the Royal Society would prick the bubble before much harm was done. It was Stated during the meeting that the gas had also been patented in Sydney and Adelaide, that a clergyman and a bank clerk had been admitted into the secret and a share of the business with Mr Dixon, and that the three had made a large sum of money. Some funny things were said at the meeting, the scientific gentleman present treating the. whole, affair with great levity. Mr Cosmo Newberry, by way of a funny conclusion to the meeting, related how he had been present at one of the experiments, which was carried out with great mystery,' everyone gathering round and staring into the mixture. One who was smoking spat very near the jug, and Dixon and the parson, lumping back, declared that if the spittle had gone into the jug they would all have been blown into eternity. When both these gentlemen had retired to prepare a small extra dose, Mr Newberry and another gentleman spat into the jug hut nothing dreadful occurred. This little anecdote, was greeted with boisterous laughter.— Melbourne correspondent of the “ Southland Times.”