Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-01-18
WHAT TESLA CLAIMS.

| Mars has been the subject of wiIe dis
| sussion. and there is scarcely a paper
in the United States that has not
| given the scientist a rap Almost with
! out exception the newspapers have de-
nounced Teslas story. although many
of them have simply ridiculed it. About
| the only exception to this is Judge
Goodwin. the brilliant editor of the
| Salt Lake Tribune. who insists that the
/ scientists statement is not unbelieV-
/ able. In the midst of all this hubbub
/ it will he interesting to read what
! Tesla himself has to say in further
! explanatio of his theory The New
! York Sun publishes the following per-
sonal statement from Tesla:
In your issue of Tuesday Sir Norman
I.ockver, in commenting on my obser-
vations, is reported as having stated:
| communication with Mars is abso-
| lutt-,v outside the domain of practical
! science.
| Before | had obtained with electrical
! oscillations results such as We're out
| lined in a recent article l would have
unhesitatingly agreed to this statement
| but now l have the unmstaktble ex-
! detrimental evidence before me that the
! transmission of a message to that or
! some ot1er planet is possible and, what
is more. easily practicable.
! Necessity of avoiding technical de-
! tails unintelliGible to the general read
I er. compels me to illustrate the advan-
tage of the new means of communion
ton over the old by comparison which,
though not exact. is Suffclently correct
! to convey an approximate idea. Sup
| pose that the entire available power OF
| Niagara. about five million horse pow
| er, should be turned into an equivalent
amount of radiant heat and light en-
ergy to be used for the purposes of
signalling. Assume. further. that the
! observer in a planet at a distance Of
fifty million miles would be able to
| utilize ntegrally the energy falling
upon one hundredth of a square mile
of the planets surface. This would be
a difficult, if not impossible, task, but
if he We're successful, he would then
only have l-3,l4O, 600, 600, 900, 600, 0OOth of
, that horse power available for the op-
| Grafton of his instrument.
On the other hand, let us examine
how much energy could be conveyed by
the methods and apparatus l have de-
vised. In this case we should provide
! a conducting surface, connect 1t through
a coil to the ground, and impress cleo
trical oscillations upon this system. By
availing ourselves of certain adjust
ments and articles we should accord
ing to my experiences, encounter no
insuperable difficulties in setting up a
of
alent to a rate of five million horse
power, With but a small actual eXpen-
dture of energy Surprising the OBJ
server in the planet should avail him.
self of similar means we should then
have, as in my system of energy trans
mission or biography without wires.
two resonating attuned circuits con-
nected through condenser. A great
advantage would be at once secured
since the energy does not diminish with
the square of the distance. as with
light. heat or Hertzian rays. but in a
linear proportion to the same.
Estimating the capacity of the con-
denser formed by the earth, the planet
and the intervening medium, I find thai
We should be able to transmit in this
manner to Mars. at intervals energy
at the rate Of 1-5O,OO0th of horse
|
planet. by skilful construction and ad
, justment of the apparatus could be-
intensified to a rate of one-fifth Of ONT
horse power. and a considerable portion
of this accumulated energy would b,
4 available for the operation of the re
ceiving instrument.
The attainment of this enormous rat,
e of energy delivery is made possible b!
the fact that in using these novel means
we should not dissipate the energy a
the transmtter uselessly in all direc
c tions through space, as we should whel
q employing rays we should simpy trans
nit electrical stresses through the me
dunn. 1t is as if we had weightless
t elastic bar extending from our gob
= to the planet. and as If we We're trans
hitting energy by pushing this ba
+ back and forth. The above rough esti
g mate is obtained by ignoring the dis
turbing influences of the sun and @
other planets. hut by making all du
e allowances we could still convey to it
% place of destination an amount of en-
ergy many million times that possibl
L with radiant light or heat. As ia
Is then. as our ability of communicable
:. with Mars is concerned, far from bs
lievins it impossible. we are justifie
y in considering it practicable.
lie Why should Sir Norman J4ocky.
!, doubt that the energy would reach IL
planet? Does not the fact that electr
l. disturbances are produced in the cart
e. by changes in the sun offer sufficiel
10 warrant? While I do not consider m.
~ self infallible. fell confident that I a
c. neither capable of installing cart
T. auakes for novel electrical manifesto
lions. nor incapable of noting VIII
might have escaped the attention
e. others. I did not state that I had o
IL tame" a message from Mars. on
Ii ,, - "