The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-09
Magical COntrivances That May BE
Used Either for the Welfare or
the Injury of Mankind.
SPICE MAY BE ANNIHILATED
AND WHOLE FLEETS OF WAR YES
SELLS EASILY DESTROYED.
Power May BE Generated in the United
States and Utilized in Far
away Countries.


| electrician. in a newspaper interview de-
| scribes an application of electricity where-N
by, without the interposition of any arti-
fetal medium of communication, man
can control and direct with absolute eX-
actitude the movements of any type of YES
sci, balloon or land vehicle at any distance
that may be desired. From a station on
shore or from the deck of a vessel under
way a torpedo boat equipped with Mr.. Tes-
las controlling device may be propelled
either on or below the surface, Unanswered
at will in any direction and finally brought
into contact and exploded against the side
of a hostile vessel at any point within the
range of the vision of the operator. More
than this, assuming that it were possible to
accurately locate the position Of the vessel
| which it is desired to destroy, the torpedo
| boat could be directed to it, even if the
ship lay in the harbor Of Southampton and
the operator were stationed at Sandy Hook
Mr.. Tesla said that some months had
elapsed since he had fully developed his de-
vice, for which he had applied for patent
| When it was learned that Admiral Cervera
was bottled up at Santiago it was his in
| tention to apply his mechanism to several
| launches and similar small craft loaded
with high explosives and annihilate the fleet
at anchor. Admiral Cervera, however,
| came out and met his fate under the guns
| Of the American fleet before the necessary
arrangements could be made Then Mr..
| Tesla planned raid on the Spanish vessels
| in Havana harbor, only to be thwarted by
/ the proclamation of the suspension Of hos
| tilities.
Hitherto" said Mr. Tesla, "the only
| means of controlling the movements of a
vessel from distance have been supplied
| Al ~,
such as an electric cable, but this system
is subject to obvious limitations, such as
are imposed by the length. weight and
| strength of the conductor which can be
practically used; by the difficulty of main
tanning with safety the high speed of the
vessel or changing the direction of her
movements with rapidity, by the necessity
of effecting the control from a point which
is practically fixed and from many other
| drawbacks which are inseparably connected
| with such system.
THE plan which have perfected involves
| none of these objections, for 1 am enabled
| by the use of my invention to employ any
| means of propulsion, to impart to the NOV
| ing body or vessel the highest possible
| speed, to control the operation of its ma
| chinery and to direct it's movements from
| either a fixed point or from a body moving
| and changing its direction, however rapidly,
and to maintain this control over great dis
| tances without any artificial connections be-
| tween the vessel and the apparatus gov
| erning its movements, and without such re-
| strictions as these must necessarily impose.
NO WIRES REQUIRED.
'In a broad sense, then my invention diff
fers from all of those systems which pro-
vide for the control of the mechanism car
| ried by a moving object and governing it's
motion, in that l require no intermediate
wires, cables or other form of electrical
or mechanical connection with the object
save the natural media in space. accom-
plish, nevertheless, similar results and in
a much more practical manner by produc-
| ing waves impulses or radiations which are
| received through the earth, water or at
| mosphere by suitable apparatus on the
| moving body and causes the desired &C
| tions so long as the body remains within
the active region or effective range of such
| currents wave impulses or radiatlons
| Having explained to you some OF the
| possibilities of the Device continued Mr..
| Tesla, Il will now give you practical ex-
ample of the workings of the model before
going into detailed description of how l
am able to produce these results" Elevated
laboratory stood model of a screw prop
PEELED craft about four feet, long, and some
| what disproportionately wide and deep. Mr..
Tesla explained that it was merely
a working model which he had had
made in order to exhibit to Presi-
tempt had been made to follow the usual
sharp lines of torpedo boat. The deck was
| slightly arched and surmounted by three
! slender standards, the center one being con-
siderably higher than the other two, which
carried small incandescent bulbs, a third
sisted of a massive copper plate, the
| propeller and rudder being in the usual posi-
lions. Mr.. Tesla explained that the boat
| contained the propelling machinery, consist
| ing of an electric motor actuated by stor-
age battery in the hold; another motor to
| actuate the rudder and the delicate mechan-
| ism which performs the function of receiv-
ing through the central standard the cleo
| trio impulses sent through the atmosphere
| distant ting station. which
| set in motion the propelling and steering
motors, and through them light. or extin-
gush the electric bulbs and fire the explod-
| ing charge in chamber in the bow in re-
Spouse to signals sent by the operator
| Now watch" said the inventor and, go
ing to a table on the other side of the room,
| on which lay a little switchbox about five
| inches square, he gave the lever a sharp
turn Instantly the. little bronze propeller
| began to revolve at a furious rate. Now
I will send the boat to starboard ne said,
| and another quick movement of the lever
sent the helm sharp over and another
| movement turned it as rapidly back again.
At another signal the screw stopped and re-
versed.
THE EXPLOSION.
During the day." continued Mr.. Tesla,
| his hand still on the lever, 1--WE should
steer our course by keeping the two
standards in line but at night we should
| depend on the electric lights which would,
| of course, be screened, so as not to be WISH
| BILE to the enemy and, at a signal, both
| tiny bulbs were Illuminated Now we will
| assume that the boat has arrived within
| striking distance of the vessel to be de-
| stroyed and the bulb in the bow will serve
to show that the explosion has taken
| place" AS he spoke he touched the lever
| again and the light flashed and was ex
| tinguiShed
"Imagine, if you can" said Mr. Tesla, as
| he went back to his desk, what an ire
| sistible instrument of destruction we have
| in a torpedo boat thus controlled, which
we can operate day or night on the surface
| or below it and from any distance that may
| be desired. A ship thus assailed would have
| no possibility of escape can apply this
| system of control to any type of vessel and
| of any size. 1t is not even necessary to
| make a close approach to the vessel to be
| destroyed. AT the distance of one hundred
| feet the explosion of two hundred pounds
of dynamite will exert q shattering effect
on battle ship, but there is no reason
| why we should not load a vessel with two
hundred or three hundred tons, or even
more of dynamite which, exploded even a
mile or so away would raise a wave that
would overwhelm the biggest ship ever
built"
Continuing his description, Mr. Tesla
said: LAS to that part of my invention
which involves the production of suitable
waves or radiations and the conveying of
the same to a remote receiving apparatus,
capable of being operated or controlled by
their influences, ii may be carried OFT in
various ways which are at the present
time, more or less understood. For example,
| may pass through a conducting bath, pre-