The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-15
TESLA on PEARr,s JOURNEy.
Tho Electric Motor Flyins Machine the
Future Vehicle OF END!OrGtiOn,

Future Vehicle OF Exploration.
To THE EDITor or The SuN-Sir: Eycrr-
body must have been pleased to learn that
Commodore Peary has finally obtained the
financial assistance which viii enable him
to start without further delay on his i'm
portant journey. Let us wi1h the bold navlga-
r'thc most complete success in hiS porlious
undertaking. in the interest of humanity as
well rs for his own and his companions sake
and tho qualification of the generous donors
who have aided him. But. while voicng these
sentiments, let us hope that Peary's will be
The last attempt to reach the pole IN thls
slow. penible and hazardous way.
We have already sufficiently advanced in
the knowledge of electricity and It's applica-
lions TO avail ourselves OF better means OF
transportation. enabling us to reach and
TO explore without difficulty and In more
perfect manner not only the North. but also
the South Pole. and any other still unknown
regions OF the enrth's surface. I refer to the
facilities afforded in this respect by the trans
mission of electrical energy without wires
and aerial navigation, which has found In this
novel art its ideal solution.
Many OF your readers will. no. doubt, be
under the impression that / am speaking
merely OF possibilities. As a matter OF fact.
from the principles involved and the expert
ments which I have actually performed. not
only Ia the practical success OF suoh distribu-
ton Of power reduced to degree Of mathe-
matical gertrude. but the transmission can
be effected with an economy much greater
than possible by the present method involving
the use Of wires.
1t would not take long to build plant
for purposes OF aerial navigation and geo.
graphical research nor would 1t cost as
much might be supposed. Its location
would be perfectly immaterial. IL might
IA ar in nj Victorian
in Africa. without any appreciable difference
in the power collected in flying machine
or other apparatus.
popular error which have often oppor-
tunity to correct. Is to believe that the
energy OF such plant would dissipate
Itself In all directions. This Ia not so. as l
have pointed out In my technical publications.
Electricity Is displaced by the transmitter
In all directions, equally through the earth
and the air: that Is true. but energy is ex-
pended only at the place where It Is collected
and used to perform some work To Illus
trate. a plant Of 10000 horsepower. such as
] have been planning, might be running full
blast at Niagara. and there might be but one
flying machine. Of. say, so horsepower oper-
ating In some distant place. the location being
OF absolutely no consequence In this case
50 horsepower would be all the power fur
nished by the plant to the rest OF the uni
verse. Although the electrical oscillations
would manifest themselves all over the earth.
at the surface as we'll high In the air.
virtually no power would be consumed.
MY experiments have shown that the entire
electrical movement which keeps the whole
globe a.tremble can be maintained with but
few horse power. Apart from the trans
hitting and receiving apparatus. the only
loss incurred is the energy radiated In the
form OF Hertzian or electromagnetic waves.
which can be reduced to an entirely insignif-
cant quantity.
appreciate the diff1culty which your nom
technical readers must experience In COM
pretending the working OF this system. To
gain rough idea. let them imagine the trans
mitter and the earth to be two elastic bags,
one very small and tho other immense. both
being connected by a tube and filled with
some incompressible fluid. pump Is pro-
vided for forcing the fluid from one into the
other alternately and in rapid succession.
Now. to produce a great movement OF the
fluid in bag OF such enormous size az the
earth would require pump so large that
It would be greater task to construct 1t than
to build thousand Egyptian pyramids.
But there is a way OF accomplishing this with
a pump Of very small dimensions. The bag
connected to the earth is elastic. and when
suddenly struck vlbrates at a certain rate.
The FIRST artifce consists in so designing and
adjusting the parts that the natural vbra-
lions OF the bag are In synchronsm with the
strokes Of the pump. Under such conditions
the bag Ia set into violent vibrations. and the
fluid is made to rush in and out with terrific
force. But the immense hag-the earth, is
still comparatively undisturbed. Its size.
however. does not exempt it from the laws
of nature, and Just as the small bag. so 100
the earth responds to certain impulses, This
fact discovered In 1890.
The second artifce Is to so adjust the trans
mtter that 1t will furnish these particular
impulses. When all Is properly done. the
large bag is thrown into spasms OF vibration.
and the effects are bewildering. But no
power is yet transmitted. and all this colossal
requires little energy to maintain.
1t is like an engine running without load.
Next let your readers imagine that at any
place where IL may be desired to deliver
energy small elastic bag. not unlike the
first, is connected to the large one through
a tube The third artfce consists in so
the parts that the attachment
will be responsive to the impulses trans
mitted. this resulting In a great intensihca-
ton OF the vibration Of the bag. Still the
pump will not furnish power until these vibra-
lions are made to do work of some kind.
To conduce to an understa nding OF the
fourth artifce. that Of Standardization,
let your readers follow me a step further
and conceive that the flow OF energy to any
point can be controlled from the place where
the pump Is located at will. and with equal
facility and precision. regardless OF distance.
and. Furthermore. through a device such as the
combination lock OF a safe they will then have
a crude idea Of the processes involved. But
only when they realize that all these and many
other processes not mentioned. and related
to one another like the links OF a chain. are
ompleted in a fraction Of second. will your
readers DO able to appreciate the magical
OF electrical vibrations and form
a conception of the miracles which a skilled
electrician can perform by the use OF these
appliances.
| earnestly hope that in tho near future
the conditions will be favorable for the con-
structlon Of a plant such as have proposed
As soon as this Ia done it will be possible
to adapt electrical motors to flying machines
Of the typo popularized by Santos Dumont.
There will be no necessity OF carrying a
or store of motive energy and
the machine will be much
lighter and smaller. Owing to this and also
to the greater power available for propulsion.
the speed will be considerably increased. |
But fe W OF such machines. properly equipped
with photo graphic and other appliances.
will be sufficient to give us In a short time |
an exact knowledge Of the entire earth.s |