A SUCCESSFUL INVENTOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 January 1920, Page 8

A SUCCESSFUL INVENTOR.

NEW PLYMOUTH BOY WHO MADE GOOD. IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND AND AMERICA.Mr. Clarence DaVy, who left with the machine-gun section of the 24th Reinforcements, served with the New Zeaianders in the hard fighting in 1918 up to the armistice, is on a visit to his old home in New Plymouth. Mr Davy married a Liverpool lady whom he had met in 1014 when he was on a visit to England before leaving for France, and after the armistice he settled down in Liverpool and proposes to stay there for Some years.

It will be recollected that Mr. Davy invented among other articles, a nonrefillable bottle, which a local syndicate exploited until the war came and prevented its marketing.

When he arrived Home with the troops he inspected the various hand grenades in use by the British forces, and set himself the task of improving upon them. He was fairly successful. The authorities provided him with the necessary facilities and gave him temporary leave to prosecute his work, but on completion of his model, ha had the greatest difficulty in getting a hearing from the Inventions Department of the War Office. Disappointed at the treatment he received, he went to Paris, and submitted to. the military authorities there his model- Later, he was informed that the invention was accepted, and that a sum representing several thousand pounds was being paid to him bv the French Government.

ENGLISH CONDITIONS BETTER. Mr. Davy did not confine himself to grenades. He worked at some ideas in connection with the mechanism of the aeroplane, but his patents were not taken up by the British military authorities.

Since the armistice, Mr. Davy has been living in England. "Under war Conditions," he said to a News man, "England is a place to live away from, but things have greatly improved during the last year, especially in the provinces. Industrial troubles there have been in plenty, and Liverpool has had its share, but the workmen are settling down, and it won't be long before England wijl be back again in the position she enjoyed in the world's markets before the war."

Prices are very high at Home, are they not? queried the reporter. "Yes, they are. But they are gradually coming down as the foodstuffs increase in quantity. Of course, things will never be as cheap again as they wei'e before the war. as the standard of living amongst industrialists lias been lifted permanently, which is rot a bad thing considering the plight in which a large proportion of the community were before the war. Quite .ten millions, according to competent observers, were always at starvation point," The rates iiv some parts of England Wete very heavy. liv Liverpool, they were 14s 7d in (he £ ->f the annual value, and, as if this were not enough, an extra rate was struck to make good the damage done by the mob on the occasion of the recent police strike. The irresponsibles—-the lowest elements in the town—did the damage and stole the goods from the shops, whilst the ratepayers, who had nothing (o do with it, were compelled to make good the damage. The in-ome tax. too, was very stiff. On £10(10 a year income, the rate was from :ls to 3s fld in the £; on £2OOO, 4s (id to os 3d, and on £2500, fis. Over £l3O income taxwas payable. In New Zealand, of course, the exemption is £.300, and the taxation on the larger amounts very much lower. But it is expected, said Mr. Davy, that a considerable reduction will soon be made in the ii ,ome taxation, which is now on a war basis.

HIGH PRICES IN AMERICA. Mr. Davy went on to say that for dearness of living one had to go to the United States and Canada, in which countries he spent a few months before coming to New Zealand. There prices of living were terrific. For a bedroom, in a modest place, the cost was anything between 14s and 16s, of our money, plus tips; then there wore the meals,* which were not less than a dollar. Also the tips. One had to eednomise to get through on less thai* 30s or 35s a day. New Zealand, he said, was the cheapest place in the world to-day in which to live. We in this country did not know liow well we were off in this respect. Then there were the amusements. In America one expected to see something good in the way of theatres and programmes, but, as a rule, they were disappointing, patrons receiving absolutely no attention after they had paid for their tickets, the interiors of the theatres were unattractive, and the music.—well, that was generally supplied by a broken down piano or organ. The programme consisted of a gazette and one subject, and the lowest price was a quarter of a dollar In England, one had to pay 2s fid for a good seat in a decent picture theatre. He contrasted ilie shows with those he luid seen in '-"iralford and New Plymouth, which did not suffer by comparison. Indeed, lie (i"heved that the public in New Zea land provincial towns were better catered for bv the pictures than in any part of America or England.

| NEW ZEALAND AT HOME. I Mr. Davy said that New Zealand stood in very high estimation at Home. The boys had advertised this country aa nothing else could have done. They played the game, and the English people did not forget it. The fact that he was a. New Zeulander waa sufficient to gain liini entry anywhere "But." Mr. Davy said, •'we should follow up this favorable impression by effective advertising. Livepool is one of the most important places in Great Britain, indeed in the world, am! the fact is recognised, by the Canadian and Australian Governments, which conduet vigorous advertising propaganda there. Not a word, however, is heard of New Zealand. This is a loss to us,.for hundreds of men and women of the right type are going across to Canada, wiio, I ain sure, could be induced to come to New Zealand, which can oli'er better advantages. What we want io do is to boost New Zealand, and it could be d 0,,,, without undue cost if it were gone about, in the right, way." in England there were some fine men and wo lieii anxious to try their lot in other parts of the Empire. They had to be careful, however, and not attract the lower classes 1 " in the cities, who wouid not. make successful colonists. The condition of the inhabitants of the slums was deplorable. They were as ignorant as the Russian peasant. To raise their intellectual. moral and physical standards W*s one o£ the problems before the coun-

try. It was not an caay one to solve, as both men and women had seemingly 110 other ambition but to drink beer and have a "good time."

POWER OF INDUSTRY. The real industrialists, however, were quite different. They were the real backbone o£ British industry, and were going to make Britain move powerful industrially than it ever was. "Make no mistake about it," continued Mr. Davy, "Britain is a wonderful country, with powers and talent that no other country can excel. She turns out only one quality—the best. It does not matter what it is. The war revealed her latent strength. Sh« is now gathering it for the commercial war, and will get there. Yes, even beat America, with all her brag." Mr. Davy was not particularly enamored of America. ,: Go there for a fortnight and you'll like it. Stay there for a couple of months and you'll be disgusted." Asked to explain, Mr. Davy instanced what he saw himself. An American battalion was returning home from the war, and so the town lie was in turned out en fete. On one banner in the procession were inscribed'the words: "The boys that won the war —after all the others had failed." This egotism, exaggeration and boastfulness were national characteristics, and to those like himself, who was jn the fighting, and knew the comparatively insignificant part America played in it, soon became nauseated. The Americans had 110 time for anyone but themselves. They were self-infatuated, and he was not particularly sorry to see the last of the States. WAR ON PROFITEERS.

Mr. Davy mentioned that clothing and other things had become substantially cheaper in England since the Government had got on the track of the profiteers. Take clothing. A good made-to-order serge suit cost now £B, a tweed £7, and a further decrease in price was expected. The same applied to other tilings. In regard to houses, six and seven-roomed houses could be rented in Liverpool for from 8s fid to 12s (id. To build a sixroomed house would cost to-day about £(iOO. He was surprised to hear of the hig increase in building in New Zealand. In this respect the Dominion was far behind England. Mr. Davy liked Kngland a great deal., but lie was free to confess the people there did not exhibit the same pushfulness as in the colonies. ■ New Zealanders, as a whole, were far more susceptible to new ideas and were more progressive generally, hut there were signs of a disposition on the part of the people cf the Old Country to get out of their old ruts and move forward.

Mr. Davy hopes to spend a few months in New Zealand before returning to Liverpool, which he expects to make liia honie for the next ten years.