Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-03-27
PHOTOGRAPHIC BY MIGHT.
WONDERFUL LIGHT.PRODUCING
INVENTION OF THE WIZARD.
Powerful Rays Produced By III
Vacuum Tube That Reveal Every
Line of the Subject
Photographed.

Nikol8 Tesla the well known electr1clo1,
announces an important discovery In the
Electrical Review. He says he has par
fectsd tubes OF such light Hum
mating power that they may be used in
lighthouses. and that they viii enable the
photographer to work by night Is well
as by day. He even suggests that by means
OF his light the painter may be able to
distinguish colors as well az he can by the
clear. soft light Of day.
The result which Mr.. Tesla has attained.
says the New York Herald, represents
several years of patient experimenting.
His work was somewhat retarded. by the
burning of his laboratory in 1895. He is not
tail. He promises to 10 SO soon. He al
ways speaks in a conservative way Of his
discoveries; I called yesterday at his lab
oratory. His bearing was one Of great
1T is Of more Importance" he said. ito
discover new principles, to find out scien.
The results which MI. Tesla has attained
have been achieved by the use Of his vacu-
UNI tubes and his oscillator. The light
Is as bright as that Of the noopday sun.
BY its use every line Of the object photo
graphed may be made to stand out clearly
and distinctly.
Mr.. Tesla has taken several photographs
BY this light. which are reproduced In the
Electrical Review. I saw the original pho
tographs Yesterday at the once Of the pub
ncauon. Half tone engraving cannot begin
to do Justice to the extreme c~learness and
delcaey of these photographs. It il pos
sible TO give only q suggestion Of the clear
ness OF the original in q picture such as ID
used for tho purpose Of newspaper Illus
the light Of a single Vacuum tube at a dis
lance OF five feet. with an exposure Of i've
Every wrinkle in the face of the man il
clearly shown The hair ~ thu hoard onH
the eyelashes are distinct. The effect is al
most startling. The face seems to stand
out from the paper. This photograph was
light.
Photographs That Have Been Made.
The most remarkable photograph IL that
Of the hand Of Tesla. It was made by the
light Of a single improved vacuum tubs OF
one thousand candle power. At q distance
OF four feet, after an exposure Of two sec
onds. The lines Of the han stand forth
81 sit siei shs s sass ess e esr ! E %ay r desai then e
Tho veins Of the wrist and the fne fne.
texture Of the inventors coat IL shown in
several inches of the sleeve and the linen
threads Of the cuff are almost distinct.
k kRs t the impre seGge the tbst w yaI s and , t31Ek'HT.
at a hand Of flesh and blood.
Another photograph Is that of an open
book upon. electricity. supported by two
at q distance Of four feet. with Al exposure
of two seconds.
Mr.. Tesla makes this announcement In
a letter to the editor of tho Electrical
Review. In speaking of his experiments
In photographing he says:
The photographs shown are taken by Z
900 square inches. The frequency Of the
eseillations. which were obtained from an
Edison direct-current supply circuit, I esti-
mated to be about two million q second.
The illuminating power Of the tube approx
imated about 1000 candles. n the ex-
the distance Of the object being four to i've
feet from the tube. It might be asked
why, with 50 high an illuminating power.
the exposure should not be instantaneous
I would not undertake to satisfactorily an
swer this question which was put to me
to my laboratory I still wildly recoiiect.
Licensees can. Of course. be obtained
with instantaneous exposures, but It has
been found preferable to expose longer and
at a greater distance from the tube. The
results SO far obtained would make It ap-
pear that this kind of light will be of great
value in photography. not only because of
the fneness of the lines. but also because
the artist will be able to exactly adjust the
conditions In every experiment SO as to Sc
cure the best result, which Is impossible
with ordinary light. He will thus be made
entirely Independent Of daylight and will
night or day. 1t might also be Of value to
poses I still consider p~roblematical.
As Applied to Lighthouses.
Another development Of Mr.. Tesla's vacu-