The Holly chieftain., 1898-12-09

tience he labored and toiled on lesser
devices, which brought him the means
Of carrying on his greater operations.
And now he has broken his silence by
announcing to the world the perfection
Of an engine which, If 1t does but half
he claims for It. will revolutionize mod
ern warfare and completely. change the
position OF nations. In fact. the dis
armament of the powers would be a
necessity, and war would be SO terrible
that no country could sustain it even
for few weeks.
Mr.. Tesla's invention, to describe II
in few words. consists in an applica-
tion of electricity whereby. without in
tcrposition of any artificial medium of
communication. one man can control
and direct with absolute exactness the
movements Of any type OF vessel. bal-
loon or land vehicle at any distance
that may be desired. From a station
OH shore or from the deck of moving
vessel torpedo boat equipped with
this device may be propelled either on
or below the surface, maneuver at will
in any direction and finally brought
into contact and exploded at the side
of hostile ship at any point within
the rnnge of the operator. More mar
velous yet. assuming that it were pos
sible to locate the position OF the war.
ship to be destroyed. the torpedo boat
could be directed to 1t, even II the yes
sci lay in European harbor and the
operator were stationed at Sandy Hook
or Fort Monroe.
The result OF this invention? Let Mr..
Tesla speak for himself:
war will cease to be possible when
all the world knows that the most
feeble of nations can supply itself with
weapon which renders its coast se-
cure and its ports impregnable to the
assaults of even the united armadas of
the world. Battleships will cease to be
built and the mightiest ironcIads and
the most tremendous artillery afoat
will be OF no more use than so much
scrap iron. And this irresistible power
can be exerted at nny distance by an
agency of 80 delicate. so impalpable
quality that am justified in predict
ing the time will come, incredible us
1t may seem, when It can be called into
action by the mere exercise of the hui
nun will"
How does the new device work?
Hitherto the only means Of control
ling the movement OF vessel from a
distance has been supplied through the
medium Of flexible conductor. such az
an electric cable, but this system, &C.
cording to Tesla, Is subject to many
Limitations, such as are imposed by the
length. weight and strength of the con-
ductor. by the difficulty of maintaining
with safety the high speed of II vessel
Of changing the direction Of its move
ments with rapidity, by the necessity
of effecting the control from point
which is practically fxed. and from
many other drawbacks which are in
separately connected with such sys-
tenn.
TeHa's plan seems to involve none Of
these objections. He IL enabled by the
use of his invention to employ any
means Of propulsion. to imparf to the
moving body or vessel the highest pos
sible speed. to control the operation Of
lis machinery, and to direct its move
ments from either 6xed point or from
body moving and changing its direc-
tion. however rapidly, and to maintain
this control over great distances with.
out artificial connections between the
vessel and the apparatus governing tts