The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-09
ONE OF TEsLA's WONDERS.
He Cam Create a Force Here Tha
VIII Run Machinery in Europe.


air to any point on the surface of the earth.
Mr.. Tesla is now busy at work in his labora-
tory in East Houston street perfecting the
details for the trial That force can be so
transmitted and that his machine can fur
nish it in sufficient degree to be of vast COM
mercial Importance Mr.. Tesla says is be-
You'd the stage OF experiment and theory
it is demonstrated reality. He only wishes
that before a public exhibition is given ev
cry necessary part should be thoroughly
thought out and arranged for, so that there
can be no possible hitch in accomplishing
results.
In all the marvellous demonstrations Mr..
Tesla has made he has never once failed to
do what he proposed to do, and the reason
for this is he always perfects his arrange
ments to the last minutia before attempting
to give an exhibition.
The test which is soon to be made will be
in the United States If that is successful
Mr.. Tesla proposes to do what at first blush
seems the impossible He will transmit
electric force probably to the extent of $1,000
horsepower from a station in this country
to the Creusot works in France. This is one
of the largest gun making and steel plants
in the world and Mr.. Tesla has already ar
ranged 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, an exhibition will be
made between this country and the Paris
| exposition in 1900
! Astonishing as the first announcement of
| Mr.. Tesla's invention showed it to be, it
| gave only faint hint of it's far-reaching
possibilities. The ability to harness natural
forces and transmit their energy TO any part
| Of IA ic Of bo IO1,y
mercial Importance, yet this practical in
ventor, who deals in mathematical facts, in
watts centimeters and amperes, is also a
| philosopher. and sees an ethical effect of his
| discovery. In it he sees force working for
! universal peace-good fellowship among ma
! tions. For" he says will a nation Which
nish 1t the power to run its entire industrial
! system offend the source?" And so by
vastly increasing the mutual dependence of
| the peoples or the earth Nikola Tesla may
put into operation a peace measure which
will make the late manifesto of the Car a
feeble, inaudible whisper in the auditorium
Of the world
TALK WITH THE INVENTOR
Though the general outline of Mr. Tesla's
| discovery has been given, the inventor to-
day gave the first extended explanation of
the inception and progress of his work.
GAS far back as 1893" he said, 81 declared
in my lectures that the great thing to be
sought was some means of utilizing the en-
ergy of the sun. Here are the earth and
other planets spinning along through space
and driven and held in place by the same
| illimitable, continuous force. There must
be some means found Of making use Of it,
| With the idea then expressed of making
! the sun do our work, l set about discover
| ing way.
"a little later 1 experimental in tele-
graphing through the air and demonstrated
| that it could be done at certain distances,
as is now shown by systems in use in Eu-
rope.
''Then the idea came to me of making the
transmission of electricity through the air
commercially important. While at the
| worlds fair, in Chicago, Professor Helm
holz. the famous German scientist called on
me and 1 considered it would be a good
chance to ask him what he thought of the
possibility of transmitting electricity
through the air sufficient to make it avail
able for power He agreed it would be feas-
1ble, provided an apparatus could be con-
structed which would produce a high
enough potential. There was the obstacle
| which had recognized and sought to over
| come. The highest force which had then
been obtained was from 100000 to 100000
volts But in order to make the idea of any
use several million volts were necessary.
"A machine to do this was, therefore, es-
sentlal; l began to experiment on one and
81 The perfection of an apparatus cap
| able of producing the immense pressure of
100000 volts. This capacity has been at
| tanned In my own laboratory and it will be
quite possible to produce 1O0.000000 volts
just as easily.
/ z. This tremendous pressure, the pres.
sure OF lightning, can be handled with alb
| Solute safety.
SO. The currents so produced evinced the
| property of passing through air, and expert
ments showed that the air became a con-
| ductor.
"a When the air was rarefied the con-
Quoting power increased, so rapidly that
when rarefied enough it conducted practical
| ly like copper wire.
easily demonstrated that unlimited power
can be transmitted through an air stratum
such as exists in attitudes which have been
reached by balloons as shown by exact rec
| ordS.''
TWO NATURAL MEDIUMS.
This is the general statement of the re-
| suits of Teslas experiments. 1t will be seen
therefore that instead of the two wires or
cables which are used in transmitting cleo
tricity in the ordinary way. he used two
natural mediums-the stratum of rareded
air and the earth. They cost nothing and
are continuous over the entire earth, making
the distance to which electric energy may be
| transmitted unlimited.
AS to the practical working of his appa-
ratus Mr.. Tesla SAID:
THE mathematical details have all been
| studied and found perfectly practicable. 1
| have consulted friends who are engineers
and am an engineer myself, and 1 am as
| sure of the working of them as if 1 were to
! build bridge. steel wire has been made
which will support it's own weight for six,
| teen miles. Balloons have been sent to alti-
| tudes far higher than it will be necessary
| to operate 1t will not take a wire larger
| than a spiders web to convey the current
| to the balloon though the voltage at the
| point of escape in the apparatus in the bal
! loon would be millions. OF course in use
| there would be several wires but that would
| be to insure against accidents
Mr.. Tesla was asked what the effect of
storms would be on the balloons-would
meteorological disturbances not make their
position uncertain? THAT was one of the
easiest obstacles overcome he said. THE
balloons will be far above the region of the
atmosphere where storms exist or form.
10 eco feet high, while the balloons will be
sent above the highest stratum of clouds
They will be above the frost like particles
which exist above the feather clouds.
Wires such as | shall use have been tested
and shown to have strength to withstand
any hurricane, there is no possible
mechanical difficulty with the undertaking.
They have been the easiest obstacles to
overcome"
The apparatus by which the tremendous
electric force is produced is called an "elec-
trio oscillator." A technical description
would be understood only by experts and
could be made only by an expert. TO
the layman all it is necessary TO know is
that this oscillator produces the 10 900 goo
to 100 coo coo volts of electric force. 1t will
be in the balloon miles above the earth
Natural power, such as Niagara Falls, will
furnish the original current, or, as Mr..
This current is conducted by wire TO the
oscillator in the balloon The current need
be only small: one ampere is sufficient The
ocsillator transforms IL INTO millions of
volts Of force, which flow away in the rare
fed stratum of air as a conductor. This