New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-23
ICTIoN AT A DISTANCE.
,x WONDERS WROUGHT BY ELEc-
W. TRICITY.

-sollISG vEssELs-PowER TRANSMISSION
suggestion was made not long ago by
u" N the inventor OF the telectroscope,
rr Tesla might find a flying machine a
10, .,hiect for experiment. in testing his ap-
for controlling the movements OF a vehi-
distance. The idea is not bad one;
involves difficulties which the young Pole
0",,hlv has not considered.
pV res,a had in view, when he worked on
-Asune last summer the control OF marine
",s capable of carrying a storage battery
"" cancelled and steered electrically. But a
80 battery is heavy, and although II has
81 ,-ed on a small scale in aerial navigation
.o,dency Of late years has been toward the
.-,ction and use of extremely light steam
-.soIene engines instead of electric motors
mis- manner il seems TO be practicable TO
- the weight of the machinery in proper
- N the power developed In so dense a
ann, as sea water a craft laden with a con-
,-oble number Of accumulation cells would
iii, preserve its buoyancy. but the case is
ss.,cnt with an airshp Again. II is the
.~h,,ion OF the aerial navigator to traverse
-..-ss even hundreds of miles. after once
,,rnching out upon voyage, whereas Mr.
~,s,s while studying how to project against an
..1nvs warship a more formidable quantity OF
s,eh explosives than has hitherto been used,
.~narently contemplated shorter trips.
In view OF the lively interest now taken by
40 enlightened public in electrical action at
,,s,anoe without wires a fresh consideration
=, Mr. Tesa's plan Is not out Of place. In his
os,ent. applied for last July. and taken out in
November. he says:
The invention which I have described may
,,ore useful in many ways. Vessels or vehicles
~ ary suitable kind may be used as life, dis
ystch or pilot boats or the like. or for carry
,,rr letters packages. provisions. instruments
nhiscts or materials of any description, for es-
,ahushing communication with inaccessible re-
oIons and exploring conditions existing in the
same for killing or capturing whales or other
arirnals OF the sea, and for many other scientific
engineering or commercial purposes. But the
greatest value Of my invention will result from
its effect upon warfare and ornaments; for, by
-sason Of its certain and unlimited destructive
reae II will tend 10 bring about and maintain
permanent peace among nations
Mr. Tesla provides for a base of operations
On the shore or on a big ship at sea. Here the
n6n who controls the movements OF the crew.
less torpedo-boat has before him a rotating de-
vice or switch. one complete turn of which ad-
mits four momentsry impulses TO a vertical
wire and sends them off into the earth or
other conducting medium The wire leads down
mating overhead in a fiat metal plate. Several
forms OF apparatus for generating the electric
waves are mentioned as available for this ser
vice They resemble in general the appliances
which Mr. Tesla has proposed to use for wire
less telegraphy.
The small boat is equipped with an uplifted
metal plate wire running down from 1t into
the vessel a sensitive device through which any
in
flow. and. finally. a wire leading to the keel Of
the boat and thus to the sea AS has been men
toned already the boat carries storage bat
terry. and there are several wire circuits each
leading TO a different set of instruments. These
wires behave much like pipes a steamship
which conduct steam along various routes 10
perform different kinds Of work. In each auxil-
larry circuit acting like valve 10 admit or shut
Of current is the familiar relay" Of the teleg
rapher. This mechanism is so constructed that
an exceedingly faint current passing through
one part OF il, automatically opens up the way
for the flow of another current through another
channel
But the master instrument is the sensitive de-
vice in the receiving Circuit. This is so arranged
that II already has a weak current trying to flow
through il, and needing only the least imaginable
additional stimulus TO promote success. The
needed impulse is derived from the vibrations
emitted from the distant land station. and COM
municated through the ether. sea or earth. The
sensitive device performs somewhat the same
function the "coherer" of a Marconi tele-
graphic system but is an original affair in design
Mr.. Tesla regards ii as much more trustworthy
and efficient
II is not necessary to describe in detail the ap-
paratus inside the boat 1t sufflces to say that
II has been tried in a model and works to per-
lection The distant operator. by his manner Of
moving the switch. can start the boat ahead
stop It. and steer ii to the right or the left
Automobile torpedoes carry a charge Of one hun
dred or two hundred pounds Of guncotton.
boat like this Of Mr.. Tesla might bear tons Of
explosive and work the instantaneous ruin Of
the stoutest war vessel ever conceived No won
Ger that he regards himself as the ally Of the
Gar Of Russia in putting an end TO war!
The plan Of producing action at a distance
should moi be COMPOUNDED with that other start
Ing project which Mr.. Tesla preached last sum
mer-the transmission Of power through the
upper air. In the work just described only very
small quantity Of energy IS employed and it
unlocks another store of energy already existing
al the distant point. Moreover the vibrations
are transmitted not by the air but by the land
-" vi WHAT lnr Scientist, not the poet, means
when he uses the word ether" But Mr. Teslas
new power transmission scheme contemplates
such work as is now being done between
Niagara and Buffalo. where several thousand
horsepower in the form of electricity are sent
over costly copper rods. mounted on pole line
and carefully insulated.
MOI only is it proposed to convey enormous
quantities Of energy from one place to another
over distances Of hundreds OF miles. but 10 dis
pehse altogether with the metallic conductor and
use 'he air instead. At ordinary densities espe-
ANY "heh dry' the air is an insulatOr. and not
conductor. But when sufficiently rarefied II
Viii conduct admirably: and as the atnospbere
grows more rare as the distance above the earth
increases one needs only TO get up to a certain
elevation to find the right degree OF rarefaction
The current which Mr. Tesla would usa for
his purpose would possess a very high potential
Or voltage. and this would be secured bv q neu,Iv