The sun., 1900-08-31
TESLA'S WORK AT NIAGARA.
INVENTIONS WHICH JUDGE Town
SEND PRAISED ~ A DECISION.

The Inventor Himself Describes the maoh'ne
which was Necessary for the Far Trsns-
mission Of Power-The Rotating Magnetic
FieId-ue Gives Much Credit 60 Others
Tho unusual character OF the opinion pom
dared by Judge william X. Townsend In new
Haven on Wednesday In upholdlng the Tesla
electrical patents. which had been inirlhseo
upon by the New England Granite company
OF Hartford and others. has attracted the az
tsntion OF many electricians OF this city Inc
decision went outside OF the routine court
formulas confirming the validity OF q patent 10
give praise In picturesque diction TO the inNeh-
tive genius Of Nikoa Tesla What others
looked upon a. only inyincblc barriers, impas-
,able currents and contradictory forces. said
Judge Townsend, Tesla seized and by har-
monizing their directions. utilized In practical
motors In distant cities the power OF Niagara.
while IL is not literally true" said one OF
the country's most noted electricians yes'er-
day, that Tesla harnessed motors in distant
cities 10 the power Of Niagara, II is quite true
that without his inventions as practical work.
ing basis and without his motors as means NJ
applying such power az could be transmitted
10 any considerable distance from Niagara
the whole Niagara enterprise would nave
boen quite beyond the bounds OF human achieve
ment Al the time when Tesla put his own
practical machines upon the market In this
country there was a lively struggle going on
between the alternating and direct current
systems Each side hoped ultimately TO have
the supremacy. The latter was uniitted ior
the transmission Of power TO great distances
for many reasons. The former was limited
by an equally great disadvantaee because
motor until the appearance Of Tesla's devices
could not be driven conveniently by an alter
mating current
THE projectors Of the Niagara plant were
unable to carry out any part Of their great
scheme without the use OF the machinery that
Tesla had invented. His generating mo-
ohinery. his devices for transmission OF cur
rent and his motors were necessary TO the
CARRYING out OF tho Niagara project. lie was
In constant consultation with the men VINO
were Interested In that enterprise and IN all
his later studies has Kept u IHhd oe odCs os
transmitting electricity. The principle on
which his system Ia founded has been adapted
until there is little room for Improvement In
the generating apparatus or the motor,
The great problem now l. to perfect the I'm means
tor and tranHmliter under the system Is as
low as 5 per cent, on both machines taken To-
setheT The oss on the ahsmssSp III 6ssSs Issds t
Is or 40 per cent and In the present Nlsxara
plant the power cannot be transmltted even men
The cost OF the leads Is so heavy that II puts
an almost prohlbitive limit on the distance 10
which line may be carried .o,,o,.,, 90 d,s-
cuss the decision Of Judge Townsend. II was
very pleasant to him, he said, 70 have recog-
milton OF the prac teal usefulness Of his machines
from Judge who had gone out Of his way
TO express his sense Of the value OF the Tesla
electrical inventions. Mr.. Tesla said that
utilized in the Niagara and other plants on this
coast and in the Western mining camps, the
credit for the details belonsed not TO him nII nHt
thst tSs ISe wsTe to yiss be Solved We ' asked
plain what the special value OF his hls inyenqdon ny Gnd
NV discovery provided" he said an eff d NJ
the power was TO be transmitted any great
distance This result was obtained by the
production OF a magnetic effect, which Is now
field ] secured the result by employing either
two alternating currents or three or more.
nons now well fiV aDderstooS by technical men When
EOpssss mSsar motor %'s and tsFsS as
more a 'polyphase", motor. Apart from
The fundamental pripciple Il was necessary
he srmature Of the motor was built up OF iron
that for the rotation. Of the ermature there
most practical Of all. and believe that motors
up TO many hundred hors> power are manu-
IL use ali over the world Other. I'm
portant features were the speed transformation
regulation. methods Of starting, controlling
and reversing, then methods OF transforming
direct into alternating currents. and methods
Of running motors from ordinary single alter
mating circuits, These and many other feat
ures are covered by about fifty patents 10 the
United states OF course, my work has been
only, that Of a pioneer. since laid down the
ago a great deal OF valuable work has been
done by others and the art Of controlling the
current over considerable distances has reached
q high state OF perfection.
How about the loss OF from IS to 20 per cent.
In transmission2- Mr.. Tesla was asked
"Yes,' he said. "the limitation which we have
still 10 contend with Ia the loss In the trans
mission to distance. and this hope, with my
latest Improvement, TO do away with almost
entirely and think that the time Is not far of
when we shall be able to transmit With wires
buried in the ground power from Niagara 70
New York city with loss not exceeding one
half OF per cent"