Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-04
THE ELECTRICAL OUTLOOK
Problem Of Transmitting Power for Long
Distances
influence Of the Discovery of the
Utilization of the Alternating Cur
rent by Nfkola Tesla.

of electricity, the predictions which he ven
tured as to the possibilities Of his discover
les were skeptically received. That was
two years ego, in lecture which he deliv-
cred before the electrical congress in ses-
sion at the worlds fair. His work Is brill
liant, but of what use is it?" said one of
Europes reading savants when Mr.. Tesla
had finished; and in this explanatory in
terrogation the learned scientist voiced the
general opinion of the whole congress. Mr.
Tesla was regarded as a theorist and his
inventions as impracticable.
A few weeks ago we witnessed one Of the
triumphs of this Industrial age, the yoking
into service of old Niagara herself. While
this event is yet news, there comes the an
nounccment that one of our great electrical
companies has formed a business alliance
with the IL rgest locomotive works in the
country, with the view of substituting cleo
tricity for steam on our railroads. These
two proje,.ts are themselves an answer to
the question asked by the incredulous sa-
want: OF what use is Mr. Tesla's brilliant
work? for neither of them would at this
time have been practically possible but for
his discovery known as the rotating mag
netic field" which opened the way to the
CONVEX sion (by means Of the alternating as
against the direct currenD of electrical into
mechanical energy and the economical
tanceS.
This discovery forms the basis of the Nj
agara Companys attempt to utilize on
large scale that enormous power which for
centuries has been running to waste. and
thus to turn machinery in towns and cities
so far away as Buffalo, twenty miles dis
tant, and perhaps New York and Chicago.
And it underlies the hardly less bold VEN
ture of the Westinghouse and Baldwin
companies to drive a through railway ex-
press by electricity. 1t is not too much to
say that the Tesla motor is behind all the
large attempts at power transmission by
,-dit,- !, ITh hnt n0 q
out the country not only in the fields of
manufacture and transportation, but also
in mining, irrigation and farming.
The Alternating Current.
The rotating magnetic field was discov-
cred by Mr. Tesla over ten years ago, when
the problems engaging the attention of the
electrical world were the furnishing OF
light and the transmission Of sound. The
advantages of the alternating current as
applied to lighting were already recognized,
but no attempt had been made TO adapt II
to motor work, If, indeed it had been seri-
ously thought of. The direct current tfen
in use was difficult to transform and not
practicable for long distances. Mr.. Tesla
was at least the first to conceive an effect
i've method of utilizing the undulating cur
rent AS every one knows, small piece OF
soft iron, when placed close to an ordinary
magnet (or bar of iron around winch is
passing an electric currenD, Will be ''rawn
1t occurred to Mr. Tesla that if instead of
a bar of iron he should take an iron ling
and use two alternating currents, so regi-
lated that one would be positive in value
when the other was negative, he could, by
means of wires wrapped alternately about
the ring produce a magnetic current which
would travel around the ring in accordance
with the frequency of the alterations In
the electric currents.
His theory worked in practice. and he
thus had a magnet the north and south
poles of which revolved while the magnet
itself remained stationary. A piece of iron
pivcted at its center and placed within the
magnetic field of this ring and concentric
to it, would. therefore, be revolYed by the
changing poles of the magnetized ring. In
this way Mr. Tesla was able to convert
electrical into mechanical energy much
more simply, economically and effectively
than it had been possible to do it by the
direct current. 1t was now only necessary
to pass alternating currents around the
axle of wheel in order to set in motion
the machinery of a mill or drive a railway
engine.
For transmission purposes, as well rs in
Transforming electrical into mechanical
energy, Mr.. Tesla was soon able to demon
strate the superiority of the undulating
over the direct current. It will be stiff
cient here to say that by means of his
motor, which is only development of his
ring magLet power may be sent long dis
tances with but small loss. The ma gnitude
of the field opened up by the Tesla motor
will be apparent when it is considered that
ten years go it was not economically pos
sible to transmit power more than few
hundred feet away from the source of pro-
duction. while today its transmission is no
longer question of state of the art but
one of capital only.
Power Sent Long Distances.
As early as 1891 Mr.. Tesla's method was
successfully employed in the experiment of
sending 100 horsepower 100 miles, from
Lauffen to the Frankfort exposition
grounds. In southern California there has
been in operation for two three years a
plant which transmits power equivalent to
1o,000 volts from waterfall to a substa-
ton at Pomona, 13 "a miles distant, and
San Bernardino, Is miles away and there
is now being projected also in California
enterprise which will involve an out
lay of from s2G0o,o0o to S, COCO for sun
plying motors in San Francisco and ada
cent cities with 10000 horsepower from the
outlet of Clear lake, T5 miles to the north
Mr.. Tesla believes that it is easily possible
al the present time to place 100000 horse
power a line at Niagara and deliver it
to New York or Chicago, with a loss in
energy of less than p per cent and it
would seem that the Cataract Construction
Company is also persuaded that this is
within the limits of practical achievement
The alliance of the Westinghouse and
Baldwin companies is in line with the policy
recommended by DR.. Lewis Duncan in his
address on the substitution of electricity
for steam in railway practice, delivered
last June at the Niagara meeting of the
American Institute of Electrical Engineers
that of making electricity an ally instead
of an enemy Of steam. This union of large
railway and electric interests would seem
to mark the beginning of a new era IN
traction, coming as it does along with the
substitution of electricity for steam by the
Old Colony road on its Nantucket division
out of Boston; the adoption of an electric
instead of a steam engine by the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad. for use in hauling heavy
express and freight trains through the long
tunnel underneath the city of Baltimore
and the installation of electric line by
the Pennsylvania road from Mt. Holly to
Burlington. The purpose of the Westfng-
house-Baldwin combination, as officially an
nouneed, is TO develop the possibilities of
the Tesla motor as applied to railroad serv-
ice. 1t is declared that with this motor
power is assured sufficient to draw cars at
the rate of $50 miles an hour. This is per
haps the possible speed under favorable
conditions of road and equipment rather
than the rate likely to be attained in every
day travel.
The System Used.
The method of electric traction in use on
the three roads named is the trolley, the
power being supplied to the motor or motor
cars from the central station by means of