The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-11-09
To Be Used by Tesla in Trans
hitting Electric Energy
Across the Universe - To Give
a Practical Test.
AIR BECOMES MEDIUM
With Force Created in America
Inventor Says
Machinery Can Be Run in For
eign Countries.

New York, Nov. "a practical test is
soon to be made Of the wonderful discov-
cry Of Nikola Tesla of a means by which
electrical force may be transmitted
through the air to any point on the sur
face of the earth.
Mr.. Tesla is now busy at work in his
laboratory in East Houston street perfect
ing the details for the trial That force
can be SO transmitted and that his ma
chine can furnish it in sufficient degree
to be of vast commercial Importance MI
ment and theory-it is a demonstrated re-
atty. He only wishes that before pub
should be thoroughly thought out and
arranged for, so that there can be no pos
sible hitch in accomplishing results.
In all the marvellous demOnstra lions Mr..
Tesla has made he has never once failed
reason for this is he always perfects his
arrangements to the last minuua before
attempting to give an exhibition
be in the United States. If that proves
at first blush seems impossible He will
transmit electric force, probably to the
ton in this country to the Creusot works
in France. This is one of the largest
gunmakng and steel plants in the world
and Mr.. Tesla has already arranged with
the owners for the trial when the success
of the one in the United States has been
attained. Following this, if the result
should be favorable, and Mr. Tesla has
doubt of it. exhibition will be made
between this country and the Paris ex-
Astonishing as the announcement Of Mr.
Tesla's invention showed 1t to be, 1t gave
only a faint hint of its far-reach1ng posi-
bilities. The ability to harness natural
forces and transmit their energy to any
part Of the world is of the most tremend-
Gus commercial Importance, yet this prac-
teal inventor, who deals in mathematical
is also a PHILOSOPHER and sees an ethical
effect of his discovery. In it he sees a
force working for universal peacAgood
fellowship among the nations. For" he
says, will a nation which realizes that
another nation is able to furnish it the
power to run its entire industrial system
offend the sOurce?' And so by vastly in
creasing the mutual dependence of the
peoples of the earth Ni1ola. Tesla may put
into operation peace measure which Will
make the late manifesto of the car fee
Bile, inaudible whisper in the auditorium of
Though the general outline of Mr.. Tes-
las discovery has been given, the inventor
today gave the first explanation of the in
LAS far back as 1885, he said. ct de-
clared in my lectures that the great thing
to be sought was some means of utilizing
earth and other planets spinning along
through space and driven and held in
force. There must be some means found
expressed of making. the sun do work,
l set ABOUT discovering a way.
"a little later experimental in tele-
graphing through the air and demon
strated that it could be done at certain
distances, as is now shown by systems in
use in Europe.
Then the idea came to me of making
the transmission Of electricity through the
air commercially important. While at
the Worlds fair in Chicago, Prof. Helm
holz. the famous German scientist, called
on me and I considered it would be a good
ehaneSe, to ask MIN what ne thought Of the
through the air sufficient to make it avail
feasible, provided an apparatus could be
constructed which would produce a high
which I had recognized and sought to
overcome. The highest force which had
10000 volts, but IN order. to make the idea
of any use several million volts were nee
"A machine to do this was therefore es-
sentlal. began to experiment on one,
Il The perfection of an apparatus capa-
bic Of producing the immense pressure
attained in my own laboratory and it will
be quite possible to attain 100,OOOOOO volts
%. This tremendous pressure, the pres
sure Of lightning, can be handled with
So The currents SO produced evfnced the
property Of passing through air. and ex-
a When the air was rarffied the con-
Quoting power Increased, rapidly that
when rarified enough it conducted practi-
cally like copper wire.
with these facts established, 1t was
easily demonstrated that unlimited power
can be transmitted through air. STRAIT
been reached by balloons, as shown by
This is the general statement of the re-
suits of-Tesla.s experiments; It will be
s-.It-s 80 $3.50 ttiet AlSISeto u the tWO
hitting. electricity in the ordinary way,
he used two natural mediums-the STRAIT
UNI of rarified air and the earth. They
cost nothing and are continuous over the
entire earth, making the distance to which
electric energy may be transmitted IN
limited.
AS to the practical working of his ap-
paratuS, Mr.. Tesla said:
The mathematical details have all been
studied and found perfectly practica BILE.
have consulted friends who are eng-in GERS
and am an engineer myself. and am as
sure of the working of them as If I were
to build a bridge. steel wire has been
made which will support its own weight
for 16 miles. Balloons have been sent to
attitudes far higher than it will be neces-
sary to operate. It will not take a lire
larger than spiders web to convey the
current to the balloon, though the voltage
at the point of escape in the apparatus in
in use there would be several wires, but
that would be to insure against acct
dents"