The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-25
THE SUBWAY AND MR.. TESLA.
statement by the Electrical Director o.
the Interborough Company.

the InterbOr0ugh Company.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir: In q
letter printed In your issue OF June 10. Mr.
Nikola Tesla points out what he says ne con
sders source OF danger In the subway ana
reiterates an opinion. which he has previously
expressed In your columns. to the enect NAV
a mistake was made In not adopting what
he calls my alternating system OF distrinu-
tion. popularity known as the two three.
multi or polyphase.' 1t Ia possible that
some Of your readers who have read none Of
Mr.. Tesla's prophetic essays which have APP
peared from time to time during the iast
ten or fifteen years In the daily press may
attach weight to his opinions, and as the pup
lie is greatly interested In the subway and its
operation. statement OF lew iacts seeihs
pertinent and proper
1t will be recalled. perhaps. by your read
ers that In your issue of Nov. /. 1904. letter
from MIR. Tesla was published, In which,
inter ala, he expressed the opinion that poly
phase induction motors should have been
adopted instead Of continuous current motors.
Incidentally. he remarked also that the dis
trlbuting mains ought to be insulated art-
fcially by refrigeration. that he had recently
perfected inventions which. "abolishing all
barriers to electrical development. will soon
sweep the world with irresistible force" that
he had not seen the tunnel and did not know
its location. and was equally Ignorant as re-
cards the power house, that At the , system ;hat r
represented the state Of the art more than
ten years ago. that a mistake had been
70 aqs NJ n91 bas instead OF the ehapes
equipment. and that the lnterboroush Rapid
Transit Company had never asked him lor
any expert adyice or suggestion
In letter which was printed IN your issue
Of Nov, II, 1904. I stated that Mr. belmont
ana his assoca1e ddeSters had o
that IL any mist AXE In the selection OF electric
equipment had been made. i was mine not
Ts.a xod bssTe the "a
,sinnx specific ana definite criticism :, h,l the tnr
the sl purpose Of a fuil and frank discussion
This suggestion, for reasons which were
9scnees to asnp IN oss
You Printed in your Issue OF Nov. 81, 1901. in
desllnine to appear before the institute, he he
se 10 e whch
adopted was one which he had devised many
any serious comment, that polypha,c in;
On ho 10 nate
iterates some Of the statements contained IN
wosds Se ne dsnss 9ste o whoh
sesr s In the poSS x q
sitHton and tkermc dis.octltion q water
through the direct currents used in the opera,
on Of the h rs be ree
from this danger. obviously. charge so
serious, as this should rest upon very sub
alton OF self interest or Of personal animoslty
will excuse its author unless he can prove his
charge And what does Mr. Tesla "ffer as as
ss's1 'e 3 be- place iNs hs aoM'y @
subway appreciably above that Which mi sh,
reasonably have been, expected in, such a
more or, less stagnated channel" In other
he constructs hi, theory Of the production OF
oxygen and hydrogen ga. by electr0 G,, Is,
no one has ale sed that the air in the subway
s s1GS ns a fes an 4
pairing an actual analysis with ANYTHING more.
definite than, his, own notion of the kind OF
II is for him to make clear his reasoning. I
Prof. Charles F Chandler; who was recently
city of New York to test the condition OF the
subway from sanitary standpoint; with
especial reference to the purity of the air.
says
According to the hes, authorities as. for example.
Or. John S. Billings. in his work Ventilation and
Heating" the chemical composition OF the asmos-
phere when uncontam'nated Is as follows;
oxygen '.'.-'.'.. !uso
The composition is no, absolutely constant the
oxygen being sometimes litle higher and some
. aboS. ''''e lower ina" the percentage gwen
Thus far. nny sample. of subway air hay. been
carefully aralvz,d and the percentage OF OXYGEN
determined. the result being maximum OF 20 80
and nn. Of % ,Ise. s. 81 w.4. se
mum OF 20 O0-avcragc 2o.7e.
1t will be noted that the percentage Of
determined
Chandler. is little less than that Of normal
uncontaminated air: there is therefore no
Among all tina, MIR. Tesla has said upon the
subject. three charges besides that relating
to alleged excess Of oxygen perhaps call for
reply in order that any part OF the public
which may have been disturbed by his at ate
ments may be reassnred These charges
adopting polyphase Induction motors: iol
,ha not single electrician Of the
In not asking the electric companies to fur
nish the best instead of the cheapest equip
ment
letter OF Nov. II. 1904. II is absolutely with
out the slightest foundation in fact. The
the best system available. and no limitation
In respect to cost was imposed upon it's en-
H T Ss sfsb to
duction motor system Ia more expensive than
that adopted, As matter OF fact. the re-
verse Is the case, the CnlN1 Clalm OF the IN
duction system residing in the fact that it
la less expensive than the system which the
fnterborough company has adopted. Sew
eral years ago. when tenders were submitted
BY manufacturers to the Metropolitan and
District Underground Railways in London
the induction motor system was proposed
BY CAM 4 Co. Of Budapest. and the price
asked was approximately two-thirds the
average price Of, the competing tenders
which were based upon tho system which
has since been adopted for the New York
subway
The responsibility for decision in respect
to the system adopted rests primarily upon
me- but the plans were duly examined and
approved by Mcssrs. DunCa and Hutchin-
son. Consulting Electrical Engineers to the
Eapid Transit Commission. As regards con-
sultation with electricians and engineers Of
the General Electric and Westin ghouse com
panies l have been in touch with tho leading
representatives OF both companies from the
outstart of this work up to the present time
Many OF these gentlemen have contributed
largely to the success Of the Installation and
operation of the electrical e,duipment, and, so
far ms am aware. are unanimous in believing
that the best system able was adopted
In support Of his contention that mistake
was made in adopting the system which is in
use. MIR: Tesla has offered simply an express.
sion Of his personal opinion. The polvphase
motor system, as developed hy GAM 4 Co
of Budapest. undoubtedly has very strong
points to commend 1t under certain concli-
tons. and for what Mr. Tesla did in rho on rlv