WAR & PEACE: Why Inventors Go Nuts

President Roosevelt last fortnight signed a bill awarding $592,719 to Inventor Lester Pence Barlow. A nice piece of money. But Mr. Barlow, at home in Baltimore, was still far from happy. He had won his 21-year fight to make the Government pay for an aerial bomb which he invented in 1914, and which the Army used during World War I. But he calculated that taxes would eat up 80% of his reward, lawyers’ fees and other expenses would take most of the rest. Said Mr. Barlow: “This case is a perfect explanation of why inventors go nuts.”

Last week Mr. Barlow got a further explanation. A Los Angeles lawyer named John F. Clark sued for half of the $592,719. Commenting on his suit, Lawyer Clark explained that he took a “fatherly interest” in young Lester Barlow years ago. One result, said Mr. Clark, was a half interest in the Barlow bomb. He averred that he had a copy of a contract to this effect, explained that the original had been lost or destroyed. Inventor Barlow replied that Mr. Clark “never put one red cent into the work,” nevertheless received $12,000 in 1924. Another of Mr. Barlow’s woes was a divorce suit, which his wife filed last month. Congress and the President had not then awarded Mr. Barlow his $592,719. Mrs. Barlow nevertheless asked the court (at Bridgeport, Conn.) to reserve a share for her.