Science: Diabolical Rays

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Harry Grindell Matthews (TIME, June 2) plunged deeper into an orgy of mysterious dickering with prospective purchasers of his invisible "death ray." Refusing an offer of £1,000 from the British Air Ministry for a two-weeks option, provided he would test his machine on a government motor instead of on a motorcycle engine in his own laboratory, Matthews melodramatically seized an airplane and hopped off for Paris just as process servers reached the field to serve a writ of injunction on him from Edgar Grubbins, A. H. Daley, and J. S. P. Sanborne, English capitalists who claim to hold the majority rights in Matthews' invention. According to Grubbins, Matthews was penniless when he met him, and the entire expenses of the experiments were paid by the business men.