The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-12-18

graph engineering department. where he
Invented several improvements. From
| there he went to Paris to be engineer
| OF II large lighting company, and thence
| to the United States. where he was enl-
! ployed byfTho1nas Edison In his labora-
istory. HIS next position was that Of
| electrician to the Tesln Electric Light
! Company. and ut the SHINE time lie cstab.
lahed the Tesla laboratory fliere, from:
| which his great Inventions have come:
Tesla the Inventor.
During my chat with Mr.. Tesla asked
him wtlss, he first realized that he had
the invsntiYe faculty and he told mo he
had always been inventIng something
or other. When he waa quite small
i{boy he made toy guns. which would
shoot birds. and Il us b he "a was 4 he only
one who could make t!istn he. supplied.
E.the boys Of l,s 1cighborhood He made
clocks at eight orE1linc years and began,
10 dabble In electricity before lie was
lin his teens. His first determination:
Ito devote his life to inventio on came short
&ly after he went to Lond on to deliver
alecturc before q scientific society there
AT this lecture he M t Lord Rayleigh.}
the great physlcist, and showed him some
| OF his experiments. Rayieigh said that
he had, undoubtedly. the faculty OF dis
covery and that he would succeed as
an inventor. s5.Bs gss.S i354t
SHORTY aftef this my mother died.
said Mr. Tesla. .'and concluded to exert
this faculty. Lord Tsayieigh said ~
possessed 1t ana, upon examining myself.
I; I believed him correct. did not 7'.ant.
to waste my powers on small things
and I decided to strive toward something
that would benefit humanity. j am
working on an invention for the trims rs.
mission Of force. This invention will.
Isbelcve. reyolutlonize the world e. Of
labor. 7 am also working On electricity
ana II cannot remember when was not
| working more or less in the direction OF
! Il successful flying machine. My idea,
as to that. Is along different lines than
any yet proposed and expect to see II
realized Indeed. we shall eventually
have flying machines that will be large.
enough to carry crowds through thr air.
They must be large in order to succeed
These words were uttered by Mr.. Tesla
nine years ago. TO. day he SAYS he has
completed his force transmission inven-i
ton, as Will be seen by my Waldorf
conversation, which follows. Hc has
also done other things which he proposed
In that Interview. Rene mber 1t was
before the time$o OF the wireless telegraph,
but he then said to me the following:
3.'I toll you, uesnre.s on the threshold
OF a new era. II We have only begun to-
master the great forces of nature and
the Invention OF the mex t few decades
will be far superior to a ny OF the past.
lYnnt would YOU think OF standing on
the shore and telephoning to your friends
In mid-ocean? What Of being In the
center OF n room md making your whole
body blaze with light? What OF send
ing power to and fro over the EARTH
at will and making it do It's work any
where and almost anyhow 3,
How It Feels to Invent.
Mr.. Tesla told mo that his greatest
pleasure was In his work, and that he
could conceive no moment so exciting
and rapturous as that connected with
the discovery OF q new princlnle which
wien put into use. would >revOlutionizo
the work of the world. Take, for in-3i
stance, the Invention which brought forth
tho apparatu s used in the transmission
ofl power at Niagara Falls. Said he, as
he took me to a great coil Of wire wound
about stationary magnet, which was
connected with the4,dynumo, and held
above ii a little glass. globe in which
was Il steel wheel moving on pivot:
II had been working upon that expert
ments for long time. and this was the
test. knew that II were correct that
the wheel in this globe would revolvc ms
soon as 1. turned on the electricity. II,
,idid revolvc, and y knew ] had discoy-.
cred what would revoiutionize the labor
| OF the world. You can run all sorts Of
power by that principle. You can take
power from Niagara and bring It to New
York. The cars can be pulled by 1t,
factories run, houses heated and dinners
cooked. 7 cannot describe my sensa-
tim when / saw the wheel revolve, I
| thought should go crazy, md / went
to my laboratory and took some bromide
OF potassium to quiet me. 5Sfs
It has been the same III some Of my
experiments with electric lights and other
things. No. the. greatest rapture one
can have is to discover "a new force or
series Of flrces, which will reduce mans
working necessities to tho minimum. 4
do not believe In laZlness, and should
| like 10 see tho loafer wiped from tho
face OF the earth; but want that those
who arc willing TO work should snccom-
plsh their results With the least labor
ana In tho best WY.
How Tesla Works,
AS to Mr., Tesla himself, there is no
| lie seldom slept more than four hours
OF hight. and during some periods nor
moro than three, When in tho thick
az a. new invention II Is hard to sleep.
Ills work is always with him and he says
That his mind sometimes. works In his
sleep. He awalses in the morning 10
md that the problem which had worried
him Whep he went to bed has been praeyi
ticnlly solved oyer night. 10 has ais
ways hecn light sleeper. His. mother
died at seventy and sshc never took more
than four hours sleep. Ills father was
u light SLEEPER, A 5s3f \. ..$l e g
Tesla is. d peculiar worker failures
oS3not trouble him. Il a ter lie under
1nkes "a thing and decides that 1t should
come out a certain way, he keeps on ex--
Ipe,imcntng and experimenting, belleyTs
ing In hts SUCCESS. y He says that ~ he,
douhted his ability It would mako him