The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-01-21
NICOLA TESLA.


parafus he calls an oscillator. He said that
he had not yet tested the apparatus upon
consumptive and therefore did not wish
60 give public expression TO his conviction
that 1t would infallibly cure that disease.
What made him believe, however, that 1t
would be productive Of such result was
that he had received the assurance OF an
Austrian professor who had tried It, he
said, successfully upon several consump-
tive patients.
The principle upon which the apparatus
Is based had been enunciated by Mr. Tesla
several years. ago and was Immediately
taken up and put into practice In crude
sort OF way by the professor In question.
Even though he had not been able to de-
velop the principle TO the Same point of
perfection which Mr.. Tesla has now at
tanned In his apparatus, the professor did
not hesitate to assert that the "vibra-
tions'' had the inevitable effect OF killing
the bacteria which prey upon the lungs
and constitute consumption.
A typewritten pamphlet, in which tho
Austrian professor acknowledged the debt
which no said humanity owed 60 Mr.. Tesla,
perished in the flames with many valuable
papers and instruments when Mr.. Tesla's
laboratory, on South Fifth avenue, New
York, was burned last year. Mr.. Tesla
can no longer recall the name Of the
writer, nor has he learned what progress
Che latter has made since then.
But although Mr.. Tesla is able to speak
of the efficiency of his apparatus In cases
of consumption only on the authority OF
another he says that he knows of his own
knowledge and from personal observation
and experiments that it cures all other or
.. al
for instance is caused by torpidity Of the
liver, Mr.. Tesla says the physicians order
the patient TO take much and violent exer
else, such as riding Now, according to
Mr.. Tesla, II the patient will just take n
seat ON his apparatus, he will get in half
minute the equivalent Of whole days
ride, and, best of all, he will not be sub
5ected to any jolting such as he gets on
horseback, nor does he experience any Of
the fatigue incident to riding. But not
withstanding the absence Of these charao
feristics the patient will have received as
thorough a shaking up as IL he had been
trotting for dear life all day long.
The apparatus aocomplishes this by
means of tiny but none the less powerful
electric shocks at the rate Of 100 per second
and distributed so evenly through the sys-
TEN that one scarcely perceives any altera-
tion Of his condition.
Ex-Mayor Abram S. Hewitt of New
York visited Tesla's new laboratory, In
Fast Houston street, and complained that
he was troubled with his liver.
II have been taking something for it
for some time" said Mr.. Hewitt, "but 1
don't seem 10 be getting any better"
Il think can fix that. just sit down
here and excuse me a minute, 4" replied
Mr.. Tesla, pointing 20 chair and hand
= ing Mr.. Hewitt a newspaper.
Then Tesla went out, ostensibly In
search Of prescription blank, but In
reality 10 turn on the electric current.
When be returned, In minute or so, Mr..
Hewitt seemed an entirely changed man.
He said, after Tesla had explained that
the chair whereon Mr. Hewitt had been
sitting was loaded with electricity, that
he had felt sort Of creeping sensation,
but Of rather pleasant nature, and not
at all associated with the ordinary ngtion
Of the way in which electricity manifests
itself. And a. TO his illness, Mr.. Hewitt
acknowledged that it seemed % have en-
tircly vanished
Unloss Mr.. Tesla's hopes arc visionary
--and there seems to be no reason why
they should bo considered so--pers0ns who
need exercise and have no time % take ID
need only step upon the new apparatus
and take a hundred mile spin 80 % speak.
in minute or two. Should anybody suf.
fer from sleeplsssness on account Of lock OF
exercise, he can sit down, light a pipe and
read paper uDsil be has taken the equiv
alept OF o run around the globe, and then
60 60 sleep as soundly as II be had actually
performed thas feat. New York journal