The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-03-31
Astonishing Experiments
YOUNG JC1ectricfnm<
the


With the air all around him luminous
with purple haze, through which daz-
zhng electric sparks leaped with light
ming rapidity, and with brushes of cleo
trio flame playing about his fingers and
shooting from his heels to the floor,
NikOla Tesla, the Hungarian electri-
clan, and the rival of Edison I'm the
almost magic power he exercises over
the subtle force, concluded his lecture
on the effects of alternating currents
amid the thunderOus applause of the
scientists who crowded the old Franklin
Institute last evening to hear him.. says
the Philadelphia Record
To make good his claim that he has
discovered means to harness electric
force, SO that it shall serve man without
injuring him, Tesla allowed a force Of
100000 volts to pass through him and
illuminate a bulb containing sulphate'
Of calcium which he held in his hand.
The bulb was made to glow with g.
light so intense as to fill the room with
brightness, and to disclose the great
electrician holding it aIoft unframed
and smiling, bowling in acknowledge
ment Of the wild applause of the audi
ence.
I'm getting some 100000 volts
through me now, at the rate of millions
Of vibrations a second, enough to sat
isfy the most obstinate criminal, If
travelling by the ordinary method.
Thank heaven, though, I'm not a con-
denser''
But, gentlemen, this is nothing en-
Enthusiastically continued the inventor,
and the audience fully agreed before
fha IpCf11ra that
lively speaking, the words were true.
The great effort of the evening was his
feat of producing an illumination in q
glass bulb, in which vacuum had been
procured by passing a powerful and
rapidly alternating current through it.
The bulb was hung from a wire
stretched across the operating desk
and connected with the terminals Of
the condenser. The current was turned
on and, taking a pair of forceps in his
hand. Tesla approached them to the
bulb. In an instant it was aglOw with
an intense yellow light and flashes Of
electricity leaped across from one side
of the bulb to the other and played all
over it's surface. The phosphoresence
of the bulb set the audience wild with
delight, and Tesla was obliged to ac-
knowledge the ovation again and
again.
j'he experiment, 'c'hartom Streams"
was one Of the most beautiful of the
many with which Tesla fairly bewitcll-
ed his audience Two heavily insulated
conductors were adjusted about eight
inches from one another and the alter
mating current turned on, when the in
terval was filled with a column of pur-
pie haze, and the scent of ozone and
nitric acid filled the air. Another won
derful exhibition was the incandescence
OF a rarefied gas in long glass tubes.
Making the connection with one Of the
terminals. and grasping it in one hand
ana the tube in the other, the latter
was IN an instant transferred into a
wand Of soft, opalescent light The
magician, for such he seemed to all
who witnessed his exploits, then began
to tWirl the tube rapidly, producing
startling effect not unlike that of
pin-wheel, but infinitely more beauti-
full
Mr.. Tesla stated, in introducing the
subject, that it was his intention to
amuse and entertain his audience, and
he would refrain from much scientific
explanation. He was true to his prom
Use, and almost the whole time was
devoted to experiments. all beautiful
beyond description, and many of them
illustrating principles that will solve
great practical questions. The lecturer
stated that he was sure the time would
come when Niagara Falls would supply
electric motive power for New York
and Philadelphia without the aid of .
connecting wire.