Fig. 22 illustrates a similar arrangement, with a large tube T protruding into the part of the bulb containing the
refractory button m. In this case the wire leading from the outside into the bulb is omitted, the energy required
being supplied through condenser coatings C C The insulating packing P should in this construction be tightly
fitting to the glass, and rather wide, or otherwise the discharge Bright avoid passing through the wire w, which
connects the inside condenser coating to the incandescent button m, The molecular bombardment against the glass
stem in the bulb is a source of great trouble. As illustration I will cite a phenomenon only too frequently and
unwillingly observed. A bulb, preferably a large one, may be taken, and a good conducting body, such as a
piece of carbon, may be mounted in it upon a platinum wire sealed in the glass stem. The bulb may be
exhausted to a fairly high degree, nearly to the point when phosphorescence begins to appear.
When the bulb is connected with the coil, the piece of carbon, if small, may become highly incandescent at first,
but its brightness immediately diminishes, and then the discharge may break through the glass somewhere in the
middle of the stem, in the form of bright sparks, in spite of the fact that the platinum wire is in good electrical con-
nection with the rarefied gas through the piece of carbon or metal at the top. The first sparks are singularly bright,
recalling those drawn from a clear surface of mercury. But, as they heat the glass rapidly, they, of course, lose their
brightness, and cease when the glass at the ruptured place becomes incandescent, or generally sufficiently hot to
conduct. When observed for the first time the phenomenon must appear very curious, and shows in a striking
manner how radically different alternate currents, or impulses, of high frequency behave, as compared with steady
currents, or currents of low frequency. With such currents--namely, the latter--the phenomenon would of course
not occur. When frequencies such as are obtained by mechanical means are used, I think that the rupture of the
glass is more or less the consequence of the bombardment, which warms it up and impairs its insulating power; but
with frequencies obtainable with condensers I have no doubt that the glass may give way without previous heating.
Although this appears most singular at first, it is in reality what we might expect to occur. The energy supplied to
the wire leading into the bulb is given off partly by direct action through the carbon button, and partly by
inductive action through the glass surrounding the wire. The case is thus analogous to that in which a condenser
shunted by a conductor of low resistance is connected to a source of alternating currents. As long as the frequencies
are low" the conductor gets the most, and the condenser is perfectly safe; but when the frequency becomes
excessive, the role of the conductor may become quite insignificant. In the latter case the difference of potential at
the terminals of the condenser may become so great as to rupture the dielectric, notwithstanding the fact that the
terminals are joined by a conductor of low resistance.
It is, of course, not necessary, when it is desired to produce the incandescence of a body inclosed in a bulb by
means of these currents, that the body should be a conductor, for even a perfect non-conductor may be quite as
readily heated. For this purpose it is sufficient to surround a conducting electrode with a non-conducting material,
as, for instance, in the bulb described before in Fig. 21, in which a thin incandescent lamp filament is coated with a
non-conductor, and supports a button of the same material on the top. At the start the bombardment goes on by
inductive action through the non-conductor, until the same is sufficiently heated to become conducting, when the
bombardment continues in the ordinary way.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
FIG. 23.-EFFECT PRODUCED BY A RUBY DROP.
A different arrangement used in some of the bulbs constructed is illustrated in Fig. 23. In this instance a non-con-
ductor m is mounted in a piece of common arc light carbon so as to project some small distance above the latter.
The carbon piece is connected to the leading-in wire passing through a glass stem, which is wrapped with several
layers of mica. An aluminium tube a is employed as usual for screening. It is so arranged that it reaches very nearly
as high as the carbon and only the non-conductor m projects a little above it. The bombardment goes at first against
the upper surface of carbon, the lower parts being protected by the aluminium tube. As soon, however, as the non-
conductor m is heated it is rendered good conducting, and then it becomes the centre of the bombardment, being
most exposed to the same.
I have also constructed during these experiments many such single-wire bulbs with or without internal electrode, in
which the radiant matter was projected against, or focused upon, the body to be rendered incandescent. Fig. 24
illustrates one of the bulbs used. It consists of a spherical globe L, provided with a long neck n, on the top, for in-
creasing the action in some cases by the application of an external conducting coating. The globe L is blown out on
the bottom into a very small bulb b, which serves to hold it firmly in a socket S of insulating material into which it
is cemented. A fine lamp filament /, supported on a wire w, passes through the centre of the globe L. The filament
is rendered incandescent in the middle portion, where the bombardment proceeding from the lower inside surface
of the globe is most intense. The lower portion of the globe, as far as the socket S reaches, is rendered conducting,
either by a tinfoil coating or otherwise, and the external electrode is connected to a terminal of the coil.
The arrangement diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 24 was found to be an inferior one when it was desired to ren-
der incandescent a filament or button supported in the centre of the globe, but it was convenient when the object
was to excite phosphorescence.
In many experiments in which bodies of a different kind were mounted in the bulb as, for instance, indicated in Fig.
23, some observations of interest were made.
It was found, among other things, that in such cases, no matter where the bombardment began, just as soon as a
high temperature was reached there was generally one of the bodies which seemed to take most of the
bombardment upon itself, the other, or others, being thereby relieved. This quality appeared to depend principally
on the point of fusion, and on the facility with which the body was ·' evaporated," or, generally speaking,
disintegrated--meaning by the latter term not only the throwing off of atoms, but likewise of larger lumps. The
observation made was in accordance with generally accepted notions. In a highly exhausted bulb electricity is
carried off from the electrode by independent carriers, which are partly the atoms, or molecules, of the residual
atmosphere, and partly the atoms, molecules, or lumps thrown off from the electrode. If the electrode is composed
of bodies of different character, and if one of these is more easily disintegrated than the others, most of the
electricity supplied is carried off from that body, which is then brought to a higher temperature than the others, and
this the more, as upon an increase of the temperature the body is still more easily disintegrated.
It seems to me quite probable that a similar process takes place in the bulb even with a homogeneous electrode, and
I think it to be the principal cause of the disintegration. There is bound to be some irregularity, even if the surface is
highly polished, which, of course, is impossible with most of the refractory bodies employed as electrodes. Assume
that a point of the electrode gets hotter, instantly most of the discharge passes through that point, and a minute
patch is probably fused and evaporated. It is now possible that in consequence of the violent disintegration the spot
attacked sinks in temperature, or that a counter force is created, as in an arc; at any rate, the local tearing off meets
with the limitations incident to the experiment, whereupon the same process occurs on another place. To the eye the
electrode appears uniformly brilliant, but there axe upon it points constantly shifting and wandering around, of a
temperature far above the mean, and this materially hastens the process of deterioration. That some such thing
occurs, at least when the electrode is at a lower temperature, sufficient experimental evidence can be obtained in
the following manner : Exhaust a bulb to a very high degree, so that with a fairly high potential the discharge
cannot pass--that is, not a luminous one, for a weak invisible discharge occurs always, in all probability. Now raise
slowly and carefully the potential, leaving the primary current on no more than for an instant. At a certain point,
two, three, or half a dozen phosphorescent spots will appear on the globe. These places of the glass are evidently
more violently bombarded than others, this being due to the unevenly distributed electric density, necessitated, of
course, by sharp projections, or, generally speaking, irregularities of the electrode. But the luminous patches are
constantly changing in position, which is especially well observable if one manages to produce very few, and this
indicates that the configuration of the electrode is rapidly changing.
From experiences of this kind I am led to infer that, in order to be most durable, the refractory button in the bulb
should be in the form of a sphere with a highly polished surface. Such a small sphere could be manufactured from a
diamond or some other crystal, but a better way would be to fuse, by the employment of extreme degrees of
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
temperature, some oxide--as, for instance, zirconia--into a small drop, and then keep it in the bulb at a
temperature somewhat below its point of fusion.
Interesting and useful results can no doubt be reached in the direction of extreme degrees of heat. How can such
high temperatures be arrived at? How are the highest degrees of heat reached in nature? By the impact of stars, by
high speeds and collisions. In a collision any rate of heat generation may be attained. In a chemical process we are
limited. When oxygen and hydrogen combine, they fall, metaphorically speaking, from a definite height. We
cannot go very far with a blast, nor by confining heat in a furnace, but in an exhausted bulb we can concentrate any
amount of energy upon a minute button. Leaving practicability out of consideration, this, then, would be the means
which, in my opinion, would enable us to reach the highest temperature. But a great difficulty when proceeding in
this way is encountered, namely, in most cases the body is carried off before it can fuse and form a drop. This
difficulty exists principally with an oxide such as zirconia, because it cannot be compressed in so hard a cake that it
would not be carried off quickly. I endeavored repeatedly to fuse zirconia, placing it in a cup or arc light carbon as
indicated in Fig. 23. It glowed with a most intense light, and the stream of the particles projected out of the carbon
cup was of a vivid white; but whether it was compressed in a cake or made into a paste with carbon, it was carried
off before it could be fused. The carbon cup containing the zirconia had to be mounted very low in the neck of a
large bulb, as the heating of the glass by the projected particles of the oxide was so rapid that in the first trial the
bulb was cracked almost in an instant when the current was turned on. The heating of the glass by the projected
particles was found to be always greater when the carbon cup contained a body which was rapidly carried off--I
presume because in such cases, with the same potential, higher speeds were reached, and also because, per unit of
time, more matter was projected--that is, more particles would strike the glass.
The before-mentioned difficulty did not exist, however, when the body mounted in the carbon cup offered great re-
sistance to deterioration. For instance, when an oxide was first fused in an oxygen blast and then mounted in the
bulb, it melted very readily into a drop.
Generally during the process of fusion magnificent light effects were noted, of which it would be difficult to give
an adequate idea. Fig. 23 is intended to illustrate the effect observed with a ruby drop. -At first one may see a
narrow funnel of white light projected against the top of the globe, where it produces an irregularly outlined
phosphorescent patch. When the point of the ruby fuses the phosphorescence becomes very powerful; but as the
atoms are projected with much greater speed from the surface of the drop, soon the glass gets hot and "tired," and
now only the outer edge of the patch glows. In this manner an intensely phosphorescent, sharply defined line, I,
corresponding to the outline of the drop, is produced, which spreads slowly over the globe as the drop gets larger.
When the mass begins to boil, small bubbles and cavities are formed, which cause dark colored spots to sweep
across the globe. The bulb may be turned downward without fear of the drop falling off, as the mass possesses
considerable viscosity. I may mention here another feature of some interest, which I believe to have noted in the
course of these experiments, though the observations do not amount to a certitude. It appeared that under the
molecular impact caused by the rapidly alternating potential the body was fused and maintained in that state at a
lower temperature in a highly exhausted bulb than was the case at normal pressure and application of heat in the
ordinary way-- that is, at least, judging from the quantity of the light emitted. One of the experiments performed
may be mentioned here by way of illustration. A small piece of pumice stone was stuck on a platinum wire, and
first melted to it in a gas burner. The wire was next placed between two pieces of charcoal and a burner applied so
as to produce an intense heat, sufficient to melt down the pumice stone into a small glass-like button. The platinum
wire had to be taken of sufficient thickness to prevent its melting in the fire. While in the charcoal fire, or when
held in a burner to get a better idea of the degree of heat, the button glowed with great brilliancy. The wire with the
button was then mounted in a bulb, and upon exhausting the same to a high degree, the current was turned on
slowly so as to prevent the cracking of the button. The button was heated to the point of fusion, and when it melted
it did not, apparently, glow with the same brilliancy as before, and this would indicate a lower temperature.
Leaving out of consideration the observer's possible, and even probable, error, the question is, can a body under
these conditions be brought from a solid to a liquid state with evolution of less light? When the potential of a body
is rapidly alternated it is certain that the structure is jarred. When the potential is very high, although the vibrations
may be few--say 20,000 per second--the effect upon the structure may be considerable. Suppose, for example,
that a ruby is melted into a drop by a steady application of energy. When it forms a drop it will emit visible and
invisible waves, which will be in a definite ratio, and to the eye the drop will appear to be of a certain brilliancy.
Next, suppose we diminish to any degree we choose the energy steadily supplied, and, instead, supply energy
which rises and falls according to a certain law. Now, when the drop is formed, there will be emitted from it three
different kinds of vibrations--the ordinary visible, and two kinds of invisible waves : that is, the ordinary dark
waves of all lengths, and, in addition, waves of a well defined character. The latter would not exist by a steady
supply of the energy; still they help to jar and loosen the structure. If this really be the case, then the ruby drop will
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
emit relatively less visible and more invisible waves than before. Thus it would seem that when a platinum wire,
for instance, is fused by currents alternating with extreme rapidity, it emits at the point of fusion less light and more
invisible radiation than it does when melted by a steady current, though the total energy used up in the process of
fusion is the same in both cases. Or, to cite another example, a lamp filament is not capable of withstanding as long
with currents of extreme frequency as it does with steady currents, assuming that it be worked at the same luminous
intensity. This means that for rapidly alternating currents the filament should be shorter and thicker. The higher the
frequency--that is, the greater the departure from the steady flow--the worse it would be for the filament. But if
the truth of this remark were demonstrated, it would be erroneous to conclude that such a refractory button as used
in these bulbs would be deteriorated quicker by currents of extremely high frequency than by steady or low
frequency currents. From experience I may say that just the opposite holds good: the button withstands the
bombardment better with currents of very high frequency. But this is due to the fact that a high frequency discharge
passes through a rarefied gas with much greater freedom than a steady or low frequency discharge, and this will say
that with the former we can work with a lower potential or with a less violent impact. As long, then, as the gas is of
no consequence, a steady or low frequency current is better; but as soon as the action of the gas is desired and im-
portant, high frequencies are preferable.
In the course of these experiments a great many trials were made with all kinds of carbon buttons. Electrodes made
of ordinary carbon buttons were decidedly more durable when the buttons were obtained by the application of
enormous pressure. Electrodes prepared by depositing carbon in well known ways did not show up well; they
blackened the globe very quickly. From many experiences I conclude that lamp filaments obtained in this manner
can be advantageously used only with low potentials and low frequency currents. Some kinds of carbon withstand
so well that, in order to bring them to the point of fusion, it is necessary to employ very small buttons. In this case
the observation is rendered very difficult on account of the intense heat produced. Nevertheless there can be no
doubt that all kinds of carbon are fused under the molecular bombardment, but the liquid state must be one of great
instability. Of all the bodies tried there were two which withstood best--diamond and carborundum. These two
showed up about equally, but the latter was preferable, for many reasons. As it is more than likely that this body is
not yet generally known, I will venture to call your attention to it.
It has been recently produced by Mr. E. G. Acheson, of Monongahela City, Pa., U. S. A. It is intended to replace
ordinary diamond powder for polishing precious stones, etc., and I have been informed that it accomplishes this
object quite successfully. I do not know why the name "carborundum" has been given to it, unless there is
something in the process of its manufacture which justifies this selection. Through the kindness of the inventor, I
obtained a short while ago some samples which I desired to test in regard to their qualities of phosphorescence and
capability of withstanding high degrees of heat.
Carborundum can be obtained in two forms--in the form of "crystals" and of powder. The former appear to the
naked eye dark colored, but are very brilliant; the latter is of nearly the same color as ordinary diamond powder, but
very much finer. When viewed under a microscope the samples of crystals given to me did not appear to have any
definite form, but rather resembled pieces of broken up egg coal of fine quality. The majority were opaque, but
there were some which were transparent and colored. The crystals are a kind of carbon containing some impurities,
they are extremely hard, and withstand for a long time even an oxygen blast. When the blast is directed against
them they at first form a cake of some compactness, probably in consequence of the fusion of impurities they
contain. The mass withstands for a very long time the blast without further fusion ; but a slow Carrying off, or
burning, occurs, and, finally, a small quantity of a glass-like residue is left, which, I suppose, is melted alumina.
When compressed strongly they conduct very well, but not as well as ordinary carbon. The powder, which is
obtained from the crystals in some way, is practically non-conducting. It affords a magnificent polishing material
for stones.
The time has been too short to make a satisfactory study of the properties of this product, but enough experience
has been gained in a few weeks I have experimented upon it to say that it does possess some remarkable properties
in many respects. It withstands excessively high degrees of heat, it is little deteriorated by molecular bombardment,
and it does not blacken the globe as ordinary carbon does. The only difficulty which I have found in its use in
connection with these experiments was to find some binding material which would resist the heat and the effect of
the bombardment as successfully as carborundum itself does.
I have here a number of bulbs which I have provided with buttons of carborundum. To make such a button of
carborundum crystals I proceed in the following manner: I take an ordinary lamp filament and dip its point in tar, or
some other thick substance or paint which maybe readily carbonized. I next pass the point of the filament through
the crystals, and then hold it vertically over a hot plate. The tar softens and forms a drop on the point of the
filament, the crystals adhering to the surface of the drop. By regulating the distance from the plate the tar is slowly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dried out and the button becomes solid. I then once more dip the button in tar and hold it again over a plate until the
tar is evaporated, leaving only a hard mass which firmly binds the crystals. When a larger button is required I
repeat the process several times, and I generally also cover the filament a certain distance below the button with
crystals. The button being mounted in a bulb, when a good vacuum has been reached, first a weak and then a strong
discharge is passed through the bulb to carbonize the tar and expel all gases, and later it is brought to a very intense
incandescence.
When the powder is used I have found it best to proceed as follows: I make a thick paint of carborundum and tar,
and pass a lamp filament through the paint. Taking then most of the paint off by rubbing the filament against a
piece of chamois leather, I hold it over a hot plate until the tar evaporates and the coating becomes firm. I repeat
this process as many times as it is necessary to obtain a certain thickness of coating. On the point of the coated
filament I form a button in the same manner.
There is no doubt that such a button--properly prepared under great pressure--of carborundum, especially of
powder of the best quality, will withstand the effect of the bombardment fully as well as anything we know. The
difficulty is that the binding material gives way, and the carborundum is slowly thrown off after some time. As it
does not seem to blacken the globe in the least, it might be found useful for coating the filaments of ordinary incan-
descent lamps, and I think that it is even possible to produce thin threads or sticks of carborundum which will re-
place the ordinary filaments in an incandescent lamp. A carborundum coating seems to be more durable than other
coatings, not only because the carborundum can withstand high degrees of heat, but also because it seems to unite
with the carbon better than any other material I have tried. A coating of zirconia or any other oxide, for instance, is
far more quickly destroyed. I prepared buttons of diamond dust in the same manner as of carborundum, and these
came in durability nearest to those prepared of carborundum, but the binding paste- gave way much more quickly
in the diamond buttons : this, however, I attributed to the size and irregularity of the grains of the diamond.
It was of interest to find whether carborundum possesses the quality of phosphorescence. One is, of course,
prepared to encounter two difficulties: first, as regards the rough product, the "crystals," they are good conducting,
and it is a fact that conductors do not phosphoresce ; second, the powder, being exceedingly fine, would not be apt
to exhibit very prominently this quality, since we know that when crystals, even such as diamond or ruby, are finely
powdered, they lose the property of phosphorescence to a considerable degree.
The question presents itself here, can a conductor phosphoresce? What is there in such a body as a metal, for in-
stance, that would deprive it of the quality of phosphorescence, unless it is that property which characterizes it as a
conductor? for it is a fact that most of the phosphorescent bodies lose that quality when they are sufficiently heated
to become more or less conducting. Then, if a metal be in a large measure, or perhaps entirely, deprived of that
property, it should be capable of phosphorescence. Therefore it is quite possible that at some extremely high
frequency when behaving practically as a non-conductor, a metal or any other conductor might exhibit the quality
of phosphorescence, even though it be entirely incapable of phosphorescing under the impact of a low-frequency
discharge. There is, however, another possible way how a conductor might at least appear to phosphoresce.
Considerable doubt still exists as to what really is phosphorescence, and as to whether the various phenomena
comprised under this head are due to the same causes. Suppose that in an exhausted bulb, under the molecular
impact, the surface of a piece of metal or other conductor is rendered strongly luminous, but at the same time it is
found that it remains comparatively cool, would not this luminosity be called phosphorescence? Now such a result,
theoretically at least, is possible, for it is a mere question of potential or speed. Assume the potential of the elec-
trode, and consequently the speed of the projected atoms, ] to be sufficiently high, the surface of the metal piece ;
against which the atoms are projected would be rendered j highly incandescent, since the process of heat generation
| would be incomparably faster than that of radiating or 1 conducting away from the surface of the collision. In the
1 eye of the observer a single impact of the atoms would 1 cause an instantaneous flash, but if the impacts were
repeated with sufficient rapidity they would produce a continuous impression upon his retina. To him then the sur-
face of the metal would appear continuously incandescent and of constant luminous intensity, while in reality the
light would be either intermittent or at least changing periodically in intensity. The metal piece would rise in
temperature until equilibrium was attained--that is, until the energy continuously radiated would equal that
intermittently supplied. But the supplied energy might under such conditions not be sufficient to bring the body to
any more than a very moderate mean temperature, especially if the frequency of the atomic impacts be very low--
just enough that the fluctuation of the intensity of the light emitted could not be detected by the eye. The body
would now, owing to the manner in which the energy is supplied, emit a strong light, and yet be at a comparatively
very low mean temperature. How could the observer call the luminosity thus produced? Even if the analysis of the
light would teach him something definite, still he would probably rank it under the phenomena of phosphorescence.
It is conceivable that in such a way both conducting and non- . conducting bodies may be maintained at a certain
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
luminous intensity, but the energy required would very greatly vary with the nature and properties of the bodies.
These and some foregoing remarks of a speculative nature were made merely to bring out curious features of
alternate currents or electric impulses. By their help we may cause a body to emit more light, while at a certain
mean temperature, than it would emit if brought to that temperature by a steady supply; and, again, we may bring a
body to the point of fusion, and cause it to emit less light than when fused by the application of energy in ordinary
ways. It all depends on how we supply the energy, and what kind of vibrations we set up: in one case the vibrations
are more, in the other less, adapted to affect our sense of vision.
Some effects, which I had not observed before, obtained with carborundum in the first trials, I attributed to phos-
phorescence, but in subsequent experiments it appeared that it was devoid of that quality. The crystals possess a
noteworthy feature. In a bulb provided with a single electrode in the shape of a small circular metal disc, for
instance, at a certain degree of exhaustion the electrode is covered with a milky film, which is separated by a dark
space from the glow filling the bulb. When the metal disc is covered with carborundum crystals, the film is far
more intense, and snow-white. This I found later to be merely an effect of the bright surface of the crystals, for
when an aluminium electrode was highly polished it exhibited more or less the same phenomenon. I made a
number of experiments with the samples of crystals obtained, principally because it would have been of special
interest to find that they are capable of phosphorescence, on account of their being conducting. I could not produce
phosphorescence distinctly, but I must remark that a decisive opinion cannot be formed until other experimenters
have gone over the same ground.
The powder behaved in some experiments as though it contained alumina, but it did not exhibit with sufficient
distinctness the red of the latter. Its dead color brightens considerably under the molecular impact, but I am now
convinced it does not phosphoresce. Still, the tests with the powder are not conclusive, because powdered
carborundum probably does not behave like a phosphorescent sulphide, for example, which could be finely
powdered without impairing the phosphorescence, but rather like powdered ruby or diamond, and therefore it
would be necessary, in order to make a decisive test, to obtain it in a large lump and polish up the surface.
If the carborundum proves useful in connection with these and similar experiments, its chief value will be found in
the production of coatings, thin conductors, buttons, or other electrodes capable of withstanding extremely high
degrees of heat.
The production of a small electrode capable of withstanding enormous temperatures I regard as of the greatest im-
portance in. the manufacture of light. It would enable us to obtain, by means of currents of very high frequencies,
certainly 20 times, if not more, the quantity of light which is obtained in the present incandescent lamp by the same
expenditure of energy. This estimate may appear to many exaggerated, but in reality I think it is far from being so.
As this statement might be misunderstood I think it necessary to expose clearly the problem with which in this line
of work we are confronted, and the manner in which, in my opinion, a solution will be arrived at.
Anyone who begins a study of the problem will be apt to think that what is wanted in a lamp with an electrode is a
very high degree of incandescence of the electrode. There he will be mistaken. The high incandescence of the
button is a necessary evil, but what is really wanted is the high incandescence of the gas surrounding the button. In
other words, the problem in such a lamp is to bring a mass of gas to the highest possible incandescence. The higher
the incandescence, the quicker the mean vibration, the greater is the economy of the light production. But to
maintain a mass of gas at a high degree of incandescence in a glass vessel, it will always be necessary to keep the
incandescent mass away from the glass ; that is, to confine it as much as possible to the central portion of the globe.
In one of the experiments this evening a brush was produced at the end of a wire. This brush was a flame, a source
of heat and light. It did not emit much perceptible heat, nor did it glow with an intense light; but is it the less a
flame because it does not scorch my hand? Is it the less a flame because it does not hurt my eye by its brilliancy?
The problem is precisely to produce in the bulb such a flame, much smaller in size, but incomparably more power-
ful. Were there means at hand for producing electric impulses of a sufficiently high frequency, and for transmitting
them, the bulb could be done away with, unless it were used to protect the electrode, or to economize the energy by
confining the heat. But as such means are not at disposal, it becomes necessary to place the terminal in a bulb ' and
rarefy the air in the same. This is done merely to en- f able the apparatus to perform the work which it is not capable
of performing at ordinary air pressure. In the bulb we are able to intensify the action to any degree--so far that the
brush emits a powerful light.
The intensity of the light emitted depends principally on the frequency and potential of the impulses, and on the
electric density on the surface of the electrode. It is of the greatest importance to employ the smallest possible
button, in order to push the density very far. Under the violent impact of the molecules of the gas surrounding it,
the small electrode is of course brought to an extremely high temperature, but around it is a mass of highly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
incandescent gas, a flame photosphere, many hundred times the volume of the electrode. With a diamond,
carborundum or zirconia button the photosphere can be as much as one thousand times the volume of the button.
Without much reflecting one would think that in pushing so far the incandescence of the electrode it would be
instantly volatilized. But after a careful consideration he would find that, theoretically, it should not occur, and in
this fact--which, however, is experimentally demonstrated--lies principally the future value of such a lamp.
At first, when the bombardment begins, most of the work is performed on the surface of the button, but when a
highly conducting photosphere is formed the button is comparatively relieved. The higher the incandescence of the
photosphere the more it approaches in conductivity to that of the electrode, and the more, therefore, the solid and
the gas form one conducting body. The consequence is that the further is forced the incandescence the more work,
comparatively, is performed on the gas, and the less on the electrode. The formation of a powerful photosphere is
consequently the very means for protecting the electrode, This protection, of course, is a relative one, and it should
not be thought that by pushing the incandescence higher the electrode is actually less deteriorated Still,
theoretically, with extreme frequencies, this result must be reached, but probably at a temperature too high for most
of the refractory bodies known. Given, then, an electrode which can withstand to a very high limit the effect of the
bombardment and outward strain, it would be safe no matter how much it is forced beyond that limit. In an
incandescent lamp quite different considerations apply. There the gas is not at all concerned: the whole of the work
is performed on the filament; and the life of the lamp diminishes so rapidly with the increase of the degree of
incandescence that economical reasons compel us to work it at a low incandescence. But if an incandescent lamp is
operated with currents of very high frequency, the action of the gas cannot be neglected, and the rules for the most
economical working must be considerably modified.
In order to bring such a lamp with one or two electrodes to a great perfection, it is necessary to employ impulses of
very high frequency. The high frequency secures, among others, two chief advantages, which have a most
important bearing upon the economy of the light production. First, the deterioration of the electrode is reduced by
reason of the fact that we employ a great many small impacts, instead of a few violent ones, which shatter quickly
the structure; secondly, the formation of a large photosphere is facilitated.
In order to reduce the deterioration of the electrode to the minimum, it is desirable that the vibration be harmonic,
for any suddenness hastens the process of destruction. An electrode lasts much longer when kept at incandescence
by currents, or impulses, obtained from a high-frequency alternator, which rise and fall more or less harmonically,
than by impulses obtained from a disruptive discharge coil. In the latter case there is no doubt that most of the
damage is done by the fundamental sudden discharges.
One of the elements of loss in such a lamp is the bombardment of the globe. As the potential is very high, the
molecules are projected with great speed ; they strike the glass, and usually excite a strong phosphorescence. The
effect produced is very pretty, but for economical reasons it would be perhaps preferable to prevent, or at least re-
duce to the minimum, the bombardment against the globe, as in such case it is, as a rule, not the object to excite
phosphorescence, and as some loss of energy results from the bombardment. This loss in the bulb is principally
dependent on the potential of the impulses and on the electric density on the surface of the electrode. In employing
very high frequencies the loss of energy by the bombardment is greatly reduced, for, first, the potential needed to
perform a given amount of work is much smaller; and, secondly, by producing a highly conducting photosphere
around the electrode, the same result is obtained as though the electrode were much larger, which is equivalent to a
smaller electric density. But be it by the diminution of the maximum potential or of the density, the gain is effected
in the same manner, namely, by avoiding violent shocks, which strain the glass much beyond its limit of elasticity.
If the frequency could be brought high enough the loss due to the imperfect elasticity of the glass would be entirely
negligible. The loss due to bombardment of the globe may, however, be reduced by using two electrodes instead of
one. In such case each of the electrodes may be connected to one of the terminals; or else, if it is preferable to use
only one wire, one electrode may be connected to one terminal and the other to the ground or to an insulated body
of some surface, as, for instance, a shade on the lamp. In the latter case, unless some judgment is used, one of the
electrodes might glow more intensely than the other.
But on the whole I find it preferable when using such high frequencies to employ only one electrode and one con-
necting wire. I am convinced that the illuminating device of the near future will not require for its operation more
than one lead, and, at any rate, it will have no leading-in wire, since the energy required can be as well transmitted
through the glass. In experimental bulbs the leading-in wire is most generally used on account of convenience, as in
employing condenser coatings in the manner indicated in Fig. 22, for example, there is some difficulty in fitting the
parts, but these difficulties would not exist if a great many bulbs were manufactured; otherwise the energy can be
conveyed through the glass as well as through a wire, and with these high frequencies the losses are very small.
Such illuminating devices will necessarily involve the use of very high potentials, and this, in the eyes of practical
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
men, might be an objectionable feature. Yet, in reality, high potentials are not objectionable -- certainly not in the
least as far as the safety of the devices is concerned.
There are two ways of rendering an electric appliance safe. One is to use low potentials, the other is to determine
the dimensions of the apparatus so that it is safe no matter how high a potential is used. Of the two the latter seems
to me the better way, for then the safety is absolute, unaffected by any possible combination of circumstances
which might render even a low-potential appliance dangerous to life and property. But the practical conditions
require not only the judicious determination of the dimensions of the apparatus ; they likewise necessitate the
employment of energy of the proper kind. It is easy, for instance, to construct a transformer capable of giving,
when operated from an ordinary alternate current machine of low tension, say 50,000 volts, which might be
required to light a highly exhausted phosphorescent tube, so that, in spite of the high potential, it is perfectly safe,
the shock from it producing no inconvenience. Still, such a transformer would be expensive, and in itself
inefficient; and, besides, what energy was obtained from it would not be economically used for the production of
light. The economy demands the employment of energy in the form of extremely rapid vibrations. The problem of
producing light has been likened to that of maintaining a certain high-pitch note by means of a bell. It should be
said a barely audible note; and even these words would not express it, so wonderful is the sensitiveness of the eye.
We may deliver powerful blows at long intervals, waste a good deal of energy, and still not get what we want; or
we may keep up the note by delivering frequent gentle taps, and get nearer to the object sought by the expenditure
of much less energy. In the production of light, as far as the illuminating device is concerned, there can be only one
rule--that is, to use as high frequencies as can be obtained; but the means for the production and conveyance of
impulses of such character impose, at present at least, great limitations. Once it is decided to use very high
frequencies, the return wire becomes unnecessary, and all the appliances are simplified. By the use of obvious
means the same result is obtained as though the return wire were used. It is sufficient for this purpose to bring in
contact with the bulb, or merely in the vicinity of the same, an insulated body of some surface. The surface need, of
course, be the smaller, the higher the frequency and potential used, and necessarily, also, the higher the economy of
the lamp or other device.
This plan of working has been resorted to on several occasions this evening. So, for instance, when the incandes-
cence of a button was produced by grasping the bulb with the hand, the body of the experimenter merely served to
intensify the action. The bulb used was similar to that illustrated in Fig. 19, and the coil was excited to a small po-
tential, not sufficient to bring the button to incandescence when the bulb was hanging from the wire; and incident-
ally, in order to perform the experiment in a more suitable manner, the button was taken so large that a perceptible
time had to elapse before, upon grasping the bulb, it could be rendered incandescent. The contact with the bulb
was, of course, quite-unnecessary. It is easy, by using a rather large bulb with an exceedingly small electrode, to
adjust the conditions so that the latter is brought to bright incandescence by the mere approach of the experimenter
within a few feet of the bulb, and that the incandescence subsides upon his receding.
In another experiment, when phosphorescence was excited, a similar bulb was used. Here again, originally, the
potential was not sufficient to excite phosphorescence until the action was intensified--in this case, however) to
present a different feature, by touching the socket with a metallic object held in the hand. The electrode in the bulb
was a carbon button so large that it could not be brought to incandescence, and thereby spoil the effect produced by
phosphorescence.
Again, in another of the early experiments, a bulb was used as illustrated in Fig. 13. In this instance, by touching
the bulb with one or two fingers, one or two shadows of the stem inside were projected against the glass, the touch
of the finger producing the same result as the application of an external negative electrode under ordinary
circumstances.
In all these experiments the action was intensified by augmenting the capacity at the end of the lead connected to
the terminal. As a rule, it is not necessary to resort to such means, and would be quite unnecessary with still higher
frequencies ; but when it is desired, the bulb, or tube, can be easily adapted to the purpose.
In Fig. 24, for example, an experimental bulb L is shown, which is provided with a neck n on the top for the appli-
cation of an external tinfoil coating, which may be connected to a body of larger surface. Such a lamp as illustrated
in Fig. 25 may also be lighted by connecting the tinfoil coating on the neck n to the terminal, and the leading-in
wire to to an insulated plate. If the bulb stands in a socket upright, as shown in the cut, a shade of conducting
Material may be slipped in the neck n, and the action thus magnified.
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FIG. 24.--BULB WITHOUT LEADING-IN WIRE, SHOWING EFFECT
OF PROJECTED MATTER.
Fig 25 IMPROVED EXPERIMENTAL
Fig 26 IMPROVED BULB WITH
BULB
INTENSIFYING REFLECTOR
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A more perfected arrangement used in some of these bulbs is illustrated in Fig. 26. In this case the construction of
the bulb is as shown and described before, when reference was made to Fig. 19. A zinc sheet Z, with a tubular
extension T, is slipped over the metallic socket S. The bulb hangs downward from the terminal, the zinc sheet Z,
performing the double office of intensifier and reflector. The reflector is separated from the terminal t by an exten-
sion of the insulating plug P. A similar disposition with a phosphorescent tube is illustrated in Fig. 27. The tube T is
prepared from two short tubes of a different diameter, which are sealed on the ends. On the lower end is placed an
outside conducting coating Q which connects to the wire w. The wire has a hook on the upper end for suspension,
and passes through the centre of the inside tube, which is filled with some good and tightly packed insulator. On the
outside of the upper end of the tube T is another conducting coating C,, upon which is slipped a metallic reflector
Z, which should be separated by a thick insulation from the end of wire w.
FIG. 27.-PHOSPHORESCENT TUBE WITH INTENSIFYING REFLECTOR.
The economical use of such a reflector or intensifier would require that all energy supplied to an air condenser
should be recoverable, or, in other words, that there should not be any losses, neither in the gaseous medium nor
through its action elsewhere. This is far from being so, but, fortunately, the losses may be reduced to anything
desired. A few remarks are necessary on this subject, in order to make the experiences gathered in the course of
these investigations perfectly clear.
Suppose a small helix with many well insulated turns, as in experiment Fig. 17, has one of its ends connected to
one of the terminals of the induction coil, and the other to a metal plate, or, for the sake of simplicity, a sphere,
insulated in space. When the coil is set to work, the potential of the sphere is alternated, and the small helix now
behaves as though its free end were connected to the other terminal of the induction coil. If an iron rod be held
within the small helix it is quickly brought to a high temperature, indicating the passage of a strong current through
the helix. How does the insulated sphere act in this case?
It can be a condenser, storing and returning the energy supplied to it, or it can be a mere sink of energy, and the
conditions of the experiment determine whether it is more one or the other. The sphere being charged to a high po-
tential, it acts inductively upon the surrounding air, or whatever gaseous medium there might be. The molecules, or
atoms, which are near the sphere are of course more attracted, and move through a greater distance than the farther
ones. When the nearest molecules strike the sphere they are repelled, and collisions occur at all distances within the
inductive action of the sphere. It is now clear that, if the potential be steady, but little loss of energy can be caused
in this way, for the molecules which are nearest to the sphere, having had an additional charge imparted to them by
contact, are not attracted until they have parted, if not with all, at least with most of the additional charge, which
can be accomplished only after a great many collisions. From the fact that with a steady potential there is but little
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
loss in dry air, one must come to such a conclusion. When the potential of the sphere, instead of being steady, is
alternating, the conditions are entirely different. In this case a rhythmical bombardment occurs, no matter whether
the molecules after coming in contact with the sphere lose the imparted charge or not; what is more, if the charge is
not lost, the impacts are only the more violent. Still if the frequency of the impulses be very small, the loss caused
by the impacts and collisions would not be serious unless the potential were excessive. But when extremely high
frequencies and more or less high potentials are used, the loss may be very great. The total energy lost per unit of
time is proportionate to the product of the number of impacts per second, or the frequency and the energy lost in
each impact. But the energy of an impact must be proportionate to the square of the electric density of the sphere,
since the charge imparted to the molecule is proportionate to that density. I conclude from this that the total energy
lost must be proportionate to the product of the frequency and the square of the electric density ; but this law needs
experimental confirmation. Assuming the preceding considerations to be true, then, by rapidly alternating the
potential of a body immersed in an insulating gaseous medium, any amount of energy may be dissipated into space.
Most of that energy then, I believe, is not dissipated in the form of long ether waves, propagated to considerable
distance, as is thought most generally, but is consumed--in the case of an insulated 'sphere, for example--in
impact and collisional losses--that is, heat violations--on the surface and in the vicinity of the sphere. To reduce
the dissipation it is necessary to work with a small electric density-- the smaller the higher the frequency.
But since, on the assumption before made, the loss is diminished with the square of the density, and since currents
of very high frequencies involve considerable waste when transmitted through conductors, it follows that, on the
whole, it is better to employ one wire than two. Therefore, if motors, lamps, or devices of any kind are perfected,
capable of being advantageously operated by currents of extremely high frequency, economical reasons will make
it advisable to use only one wire, especially if the distances are great.
When energy is absorbed in a condenser the same behaves as though its capacity were increased. Absorption
always exists more or less, but generally it is small and of no consequence as long as the frequencies are not very
great. In using extremely high frequencies, and, necessarily in such case, also high potentials, the absorption-- or,
what is here meant more particularly by this term, the loss of energy due to the presence of a gaseous medium--is
an important factor to be considered, as the energy absorbed in the air condenser may be any fraction of the
supplied energy. This would seem to make it very difficult to tell from the measured or computed capacity of an air
condenser its actual capacity or vibration period, especially if the condenser is of very small surface and is charged
to a very high potential. As many important results are dependent upon the correctness of the estimation of the
vibration period, this subject demands the most careful scrutiny of other investigators. To reduce the probable error
as much as possible in experiments of the kind alluded to, it is advisable to use spheres or plates of large surface, so
as to make the density exceedingly small. Otherwise, when it is practicable, an oil condenser should be used in
preference. In oil or other liquid dielectrics there are seemingly no such losses as in gaseous media. It being
impossible to exclude entirely the gas in condensers with solid dielectrics, such condensers should be immersed in
oil, for economical reasons if nothing else; they can then be strained to the utmost and will remain cool. In Leyden
jars the loss due to air is comparatively small, as the tinfoil coatings are large, close together, and the charged
surfaces not directly exposed; but when the potentials are very high, the loss may be more or less considerable at,
or near, the upper edge of the foil, where the air is principally acted upon. If the jar be immersed in boiled-out oil, it
will be capable of performing four times the amount of work which it can for any length of time when used in the
ordinary way, and the loss will be inappreciable.
It should not be thought that the loss in heat in an air condenser is necessarily associated with the formation of
visible streams or brushes. If a small electrode, inclosed in an unexhausted bulb, is connected to one of the ter-
minals of the coil, streams can be seen to issue from the electrode and the air in the bulb is heated; if, instead of a
small electrode, a large sphere is inclosed in the bulb, no streams are observed, still the air is heated.
Nor should it be thought that the temperature of an air condenser would give even an approximate idea of the loss
in heat incurred, as in such case heat must be given off much more quickly, since there is, in addition to the
ordinary radiation, a very active carrying away of heat by independent carriers going on, and since not only the ap-
paratus, but the air at some distance from it is heated in consequence of the collisions which must occur.
Owing to this, in experiments with such a coil, a rise of temperature can be distinctly observed only when the body
connected to the coil is very small. But with apparatus on a larger scale, even a body of considerable bulk would be
heated, as, for instance, the body of a person ; and I think that skilled physicians might make observations of utility
in such experiments, which, if the apparatus were judiciously designed, would not present the slightest danger.
A question of some interest, principally to meteorologists, presents itself here. How does the earth behave? The
earth is an air condenser, but is it a perfect or a very imperfect one--a mere sink of energy? There can be little
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
doubt that to such small disturbance as might be caused in an experiment the earth behaves as an almost perfect
condenser. But it might be different when its charge is set in vibration by some sudden disturbance occurring in the
heavens. In such case, as before stated, probably only little of the energy of the vibrations set up would be lost into
space in the form of long ether radiations, but most of the energy, I think, would spend itself in molecular impacts
and collisions, and pass off into space in the form of short heat, and possibly light, waves. As both the frequency of
the vibrations of the charge and the potential are in all probability excessive, the energy converted into heat may be
considerable. Since the density must be unevenly distributed, either in consequence of the irregularity of the earth's
surface, or on account of the condition of the atmosphere in various places, the effect produced would accordingly
vary from place to place. Considerable variations in the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere may in this
manner be caused at any point of the surface of the earth. The variations may be gradual or very sudden, according
to the nature of the general disturbance, and may produce rain and storms, or locally modify the weather in any
way. From the remarks before made one may see what an important factor of loss the air in the neighborhood of a
charged surface becomes when the electric density is great and the frequency of the impulses excessive. But the
action as explained implies that the air is insulating--that is that it is composed of independent carriers immersed in
an insulating medium. This is the case only when the air is at something like ordinary or greater, or at extremely
small, pressure. When the air is slightly rarefied and con ducting, then true conduction losses occur also. In such
case, of course, considerable energy may be dissipated into space even with a steady potential, or with impulses of
low frequency, if the density is very great.
When the gas is at very low pressure, an electrode is heated more because higher speeds can be reached. If the gas
around the electrode is strongly compressed, the displacements, and consequently the speeds, are very small, and
the heating is insignificant. But if in such case the frequency could be sufficiently increased, the electrode would be
brought to a high temperature as well as if the gas were at very low pressure; in fact, exhausting the bulb is only
necessary because we cannot produce (and possibly not convey) currents of the required frequency.
Returning to the subject of electrode lamps, it is obviously of advantage in such a lamp to confine as much as
possible the heat to the electrode by preventing the circulation of the gas in the bulb. If a very small bulb be taken,
it would confine the heat better than a large one, but it might not be of sufficient capacity to be operated from the
coil, or, if so, the glass might get too hot. A simple way to improve in this direction is to employ a globe of the
required size, but to place a small bulb, the diameter of which is properly estimated, over the refractory button
contained in the globe. This arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 28. The globe L has in this case a large neck n,
allowing the small bulb b to slip through. Otherwise the construction is the same as shown in Fig. 18, for example.
The small bulb is conveniently supported upon the stem s, carrying the refractory button m. It is separated from the
aluminium tube a by several layers of mica M, in order to prevent the cracking of the neck by the rapid heating c f
the aluminium tube upon a sudden turning on of the current. The inside bulb should be as small as possible when it
is desired to obtain light only by incandescence of the electrode. If it is desired to produce phosphorescence, the
bulb should be larger, else it would be apt to get too hot, and the phosphorescence would cease. In this arrangement
usually only the small bulb shows phosphorescence, as there is practically no bombardment against the outer globe.
In some of these bulbs constructed as illustrated in Fig. 28 the small tube was coated with phosphorescent paint,
and beautiful effects were obtained. Instead of making the inside bulb large, in order to avoid undue heating, it
answers the purpose to make the electrode m larger. In this case the bombardment is weakened by reason of the
smaller electric density.
Many bulbs were constructed on the plan illustrated in Fig. 29. Here a small bulb b, containing the refractory button
m, upon being exhausted to a very high degree was sealed in a large globe L, which was then moderately exhausted
and sealed off. The principal advantage of this construction was that it allowed of reaching extremely high vacuum,
and, at the same time use a large bulb. It was found, m the course of experiences with bulbs such as illustrated in
Fig. 29, that it was well to make the stem s near the seal at e very thick, and the leading-in wire w thin, as it oc-
curred sometimes that the stem at e was heated and the bulb was cracked. Often the outer globe L was exhausted
only just enough to allow the discharge to pass through and the space between the bulbs appeared crimson,
producing a curious effect. In some cases, when the exhaustion in globe L was very low, and the air good
conducting it was found necessary, in order to bring the button m to high incandescence, to place, preferably on the
upper part of the neck of the globe, a tinfoil coating which was connected to an insulated body, to the ground, or to
the other terminal of the coil, as the highly conducting air weakened the effect somewhat, probably by being acted
upon inductively from the wire w, where it entered the bulb at e. Another difficulty--which, however, is always
present when the refractory button is mounted in a very small bulb existed in the construction illustrated in Fig. 29,
namely, the vacuum in the bulb b would be impaired in a comparatively short time.
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FIG. 28.--LAMP WITH AUXILIARY BULB FOR CONFINING THE ACTION TO THE CENTRE.
The chief idea in the two last described constructions was to confine the heat to the central portion of the globe by
preventing the exchange of air. An advantage is secured, but owing to the heating of the inside bulb and slow evap-
oration of the glass the vacuum is hard to maintain, even if the construction illustrated in Fig. 28 be chosen, in
which both bulbs communicate.
But by far the better way--the ideal way--would be to reach sufficiently high frequencies. The higher the
frequency the slower would be the exchange of the air, and I think that a frequency may be reached at which there
would be no exchange whatever of the air molecules around the terminal. We would then produce a flame in which
there would be no carrying away of material, and a queer flame it would be, for it would be rigid! With such high
frequencies the inertia of the particles would come into play. As the brush, or flame, would gain rigidity in virtue of
the inertia of the particles, the exchange of the latter would be prevented. This would necessarily occur, for, the
number of the impulses being augmented, the potential energy of each would diminish, so that finally only atomic
vibrations could be set up, and the motion of translation through durable space would cease. Thus an ordinary gas
burner connected to a source of rapidly alternating potential might have its efficiency augmented to a certain limit,
and this for two reasons--because of the additional vibration imparted, and because of a slowing down of the
process of carrying off. But the renewal being rendered difficult, and renewal being necessary to maintain the
burner, a continued increase of the frequency of the impulses, assuming they could be transmitted to and impressed
upon the flame, would result in the "extinction" of the latter, meaning by this term only the cessation of the
chemical process.
ductor m is mounted in a piece of common arc light carbon so as to project some small distance above the latter.
The carbon piece is connected to the leading-in wire passing through a glass stem, which is wrapped with several
layers of mica. An aluminium tube a is employed as usual for screening. It is so arranged that it reaches very nearly
as high as the carbon and only the non-conductor m projects a little above it. The bombardment goes at first against
the upper surface of carbon, the lower parts being protected by the aluminium tube. As soon, however, as the non-
conductor m is heated it is rendered good conducting, and then it becomes the centre of the bombardment, being
most exposed to the same.
I have also constructed during these experiments many such single-wire bulbs with or without internal electrode, in
which the radiant matter was projected against, or focused upon, the body to be rendered incandescent. Fig. 24
illustrates one of the bulbs used. It consists of a spherical globe L, provided with a long neck n, on the top, for in-
creasing the action in some cases by the application of an external conducting coating. The globe L is blown out on
the bottom into a very small bulb b, which serves to hold it firmly in a socket S of insulating material into which it
is cemented. A fine lamp filament /, supported on a wire w, passes through the centre of the globe L. The filament
is rendered incandescent in the middle portion, where the bombardment proceeding from the lower inside surface
of the globe is most intense. The lower portion of the globe, as far as the socket S reaches, is rendered conducting,
either by a tinfoil coating or otherwise, and the external electrode is connected to a terminal of the coil.
The arrangement diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 24 was found to be an inferior one when it was desired to ren-
der incandescent a filament or button supported in the centre of the globe, but it was convenient when the object
was to excite phosphorescence.
In many experiments in which bodies of a different kind were mounted in the bulb as, for instance, indicated in Fig.
23, some observations of interest were made.
It was found, among other things, that in such cases, no matter where the bombardment began, just as soon as a
high temperature was reached there was generally one of the bodies which seemed to take most of the
bombardment upon itself, the other, or others, being thereby relieved. This quality appeared to depend principally
on the point of fusion, and on the facility with which the body was ·' evaporated," or, generally speaking,
disintegrated--meaning by the latter term not only the throwing off of atoms, but likewise of larger lumps. The
observation made was in accordance with generally accepted notions. In a highly exhausted bulb electricity is
carried off from the electrode by independent carriers, which are partly the atoms, or molecules, of the residual
atmosphere, and partly the atoms, molecules, or lumps thrown off from the electrode. If the electrode is composed
of bodies of different character, and if one of these is more easily disintegrated than the others, most of the
electricity supplied is carried off from that body, which is then brought to a higher temperature than the others, and
this the more, as upon an increase of the temperature the body is still more easily disintegrated.
It seems to me quite probable that a similar process takes place in the bulb even with a homogeneous electrode, and
I think it to be the principal cause of the disintegration. There is bound to be some irregularity, even if the surface is
highly polished, which, of course, is impossible with most of the refractory bodies employed as electrodes. Assume
that a point of the electrode gets hotter, instantly most of the discharge passes through that point, and a minute
patch is probably fused and evaporated. It is now possible that in consequence of the violent disintegration the spot
attacked sinks in temperature, or that a counter force is created, as in an arc; at any rate, the local tearing off meets
with the limitations incident to the experiment, whereupon the same process occurs on another place. To the eye the
electrode appears uniformly brilliant, but there axe upon it points constantly shifting and wandering around, of a
temperature far above the mean, and this materially hastens the process of deterioration. That some such thing
occurs, at least when the electrode is at a lower temperature, sufficient experimental evidence can be obtained in
the following manner : Exhaust a bulb to a very high degree, so that with a fairly high potential the discharge
cannot pass--that is, not a luminous one, for a weak invisible discharge occurs always, in all probability. Now raise
slowly and carefully the potential, leaving the primary current on no more than for an instant. At a certain point,
two, three, or half a dozen phosphorescent spots will appear on the globe. These places of the glass are evidently
more violently bombarded than others, this being due to the unevenly distributed electric density, necessitated, of
course, by sharp projections, or, generally speaking, irregularities of the electrode. But the luminous patches are
constantly changing in position, which is especially well observable if one manages to produce very few, and this
indicates that the configuration of the electrode is rapidly changing.
From experiences of this kind I am led to infer that, in order to be most durable, the refractory button in the bulb
should be in the form of a sphere with a highly polished surface. Such a small sphere could be manufactured from a
diamond or some other crystal, but a better way would be to fuse, by the employment of extreme degrees of
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
temperature, some oxide--as, for instance, zirconia--into a small drop, and then keep it in the bulb at a
temperature somewhat below its point of fusion.
Interesting and useful results can no doubt be reached in the direction of extreme degrees of heat. How can such
high temperatures be arrived at? How are the highest degrees of heat reached in nature? By the impact of stars, by
high speeds and collisions. In a collision any rate of heat generation may be attained. In a chemical process we are
limited. When oxygen and hydrogen combine, they fall, metaphorically speaking, from a definite height. We
cannot go very far with a blast, nor by confining heat in a furnace, but in an exhausted bulb we can concentrate any
amount of energy upon a minute button. Leaving practicability out of consideration, this, then, would be the means
which, in my opinion, would enable us to reach the highest temperature. But a great difficulty when proceeding in
this way is encountered, namely, in most cases the body is carried off before it can fuse and form a drop. This
difficulty exists principally with an oxide such as zirconia, because it cannot be compressed in so hard a cake that it
would not be carried off quickly. I endeavored repeatedly to fuse zirconia, placing it in a cup or arc light carbon as
indicated in Fig. 23. It glowed with a most intense light, and the stream of the particles projected out of the carbon
cup was of a vivid white; but whether it was compressed in a cake or made into a paste with carbon, it was carried
off before it could be fused. The carbon cup containing the zirconia had to be mounted very low in the neck of a
large bulb, as the heating of the glass by the projected particles of the oxide was so rapid that in the first trial the
bulb was cracked almost in an instant when the current was turned on. The heating of the glass by the projected
particles was found to be always greater when the carbon cup contained a body which was rapidly carried off--I
presume because in such cases, with the same potential, higher speeds were reached, and also because, per unit of
time, more matter was projected--that is, more particles would strike the glass.
The before-mentioned difficulty did not exist, however, when the body mounted in the carbon cup offered great re-
sistance to deterioration. For instance, when an oxide was first fused in an oxygen blast and then mounted in the
bulb, it melted very readily into a drop.
Generally during the process of fusion magnificent light effects were noted, of which it would be difficult to give
an adequate idea. Fig. 23 is intended to illustrate the effect observed with a ruby drop. -At first one may see a
narrow funnel of white light projected against the top of the globe, where it produces an irregularly outlined
phosphorescent patch. When the point of the ruby fuses the phosphorescence becomes very powerful; but as the
atoms are projected with much greater speed from the surface of the drop, soon the glass gets hot and "tired," and
now only the outer edge of the patch glows. In this manner an intensely phosphorescent, sharply defined line, I,
corresponding to the outline of the drop, is produced, which spreads slowly over the globe as the drop gets larger.
When the mass begins to boil, small bubbles and cavities are formed, which cause dark colored spots to sweep
across the globe. The bulb may be turned downward without fear of the drop falling off, as the mass possesses
considerable viscosity. I may mention here another feature of some interest, which I believe to have noted in the
course of these experiments, though the observations do not amount to a certitude. It appeared that under the
molecular impact caused by the rapidly alternating potential the body was fused and maintained in that state at a
lower temperature in a highly exhausted bulb than was the case at normal pressure and application of heat in the
ordinary way-- that is, at least, judging from the quantity of the light emitted. One of the experiments performed
may be mentioned here by way of illustration. A small piece of pumice stone was stuck on a platinum wire, and
first melted to it in a gas burner. The wire was next placed between two pieces of charcoal and a burner applied so
as to produce an intense heat, sufficient to melt down the pumice stone into a small glass-like button. The platinum
wire had to be taken of sufficient thickness to prevent its melting in the fire. While in the charcoal fire, or when
held in a burner to get a better idea of the degree of heat, the button glowed with great brilliancy. The wire with the
button was then mounted in a bulb, and upon exhausting the same to a high degree, the current was turned on
slowly so as to prevent the cracking of the button. The button was heated to the point of fusion, and when it melted
it did not, apparently, glow with the same brilliancy as before, and this would indicate a lower temperature.
Leaving out of consideration the observer's possible, and even probable, error, the question is, can a body under
these conditions be brought from a solid to a liquid state with evolution of less light? When the potential of a body
is rapidly alternated it is certain that the structure is jarred. When the potential is very high, although the vibrations
may be few--say 20,000 per second--the effect upon the structure may be considerable. Suppose, for example,
that a ruby is melted into a drop by a steady application of energy. When it forms a drop it will emit visible and
invisible waves, which will be in a definite ratio, and to the eye the drop will appear to be of a certain brilliancy.
Next, suppose we diminish to any degree we choose the energy steadily supplied, and, instead, supply energy
which rises and falls according to a certain law. Now, when the drop is formed, there will be emitted from it three
different kinds of vibrations--the ordinary visible, and two kinds of invisible waves : that is, the ordinary dark
waves of all lengths, and, in addition, waves of a well defined character. The latter would not exist by a steady
supply of the energy; still they help to jar and loosen the structure. If this really be the case, then the ruby drop will
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
emit relatively less visible and more invisible waves than before. Thus it would seem that when a platinum wire,
for instance, is fused by currents alternating with extreme rapidity, it emits at the point of fusion less light and more
invisible radiation than it does when melted by a steady current, though the total energy used up in the process of
fusion is the same in both cases. Or, to cite another example, a lamp filament is not capable of withstanding as long
with currents of extreme frequency as it does with steady currents, assuming that it be worked at the same luminous
intensity. This means that for rapidly alternating currents the filament should be shorter and thicker. The higher the
frequency--that is, the greater the departure from the steady flow--the worse it would be for the filament. But if
the truth of this remark were demonstrated, it would be erroneous to conclude that such a refractory button as used
in these bulbs would be deteriorated quicker by currents of extremely high frequency than by steady or low
frequency currents. From experience I may say that just the opposite holds good: the button withstands the
bombardment better with currents of very high frequency. But this is due to the fact that a high frequency discharge
passes through a rarefied gas with much greater freedom than a steady or low frequency discharge, and this will say
that with the former we can work with a lower potential or with a less violent impact. As long, then, as the gas is of
no consequence, a steady or low frequency current is better; but as soon as the action of the gas is desired and im-
portant, high frequencies are preferable.
In the course of these experiments a great many trials were made with all kinds of carbon buttons. Electrodes made
of ordinary carbon buttons were decidedly more durable when the buttons were obtained by the application of
enormous pressure. Electrodes prepared by depositing carbon in well known ways did not show up well; they
blackened the globe very quickly. From many experiences I conclude that lamp filaments obtained in this manner
can be advantageously used only with low potentials and low frequency currents. Some kinds of carbon withstand
so well that, in order to bring them to the point of fusion, it is necessary to employ very small buttons. In this case
the observation is rendered very difficult on account of the intense heat produced. Nevertheless there can be no
doubt that all kinds of carbon are fused under the molecular bombardment, but the liquid state must be one of great
instability. Of all the bodies tried there were two which withstood best--diamond and carborundum. These two
showed up about equally, but the latter was preferable, for many reasons. As it is more than likely that this body is
not yet generally known, I will venture to call your attention to it.
It has been recently produced by Mr. E. G. Acheson, of Monongahela City, Pa., U. S. A. It is intended to replace
ordinary diamond powder for polishing precious stones, etc., and I have been informed that it accomplishes this
object quite successfully. I do not know why the name "carborundum" has been given to it, unless there is
something in the process of its manufacture which justifies this selection. Through the kindness of the inventor, I
obtained a short while ago some samples which I desired to test in regard to their qualities of phosphorescence and
capability of withstanding high degrees of heat.
Carborundum can be obtained in two forms--in the form of "crystals" and of powder. The former appear to the
naked eye dark colored, but are very brilliant; the latter is of nearly the same color as ordinary diamond powder, but
very much finer. When viewed under a microscope the samples of crystals given to me did not appear to have any
definite form, but rather resembled pieces of broken up egg coal of fine quality. The majority were opaque, but
there were some which were transparent and colored. The crystals are a kind of carbon containing some impurities,
they are extremely hard, and withstand for a long time even an oxygen blast. When the blast is directed against
them they at first form a cake of some compactness, probably in consequence of the fusion of impurities they
contain. The mass withstands for a very long time the blast without further fusion ; but a slow Carrying off, or
burning, occurs, and, finally, a small quantity of a glass-like residue is left, which, I suppose, is melted alumina.
When compressed strongly they conduct very well, but not as well as ordinary carbon. The powder, which is
obtained from the crystals in some way, is practically non-conducting. It affords a magnificent polishing material
for stones.
The time has been too short to make a satisfactory study of the properties of this product, but enough experience
has been gained in a few weeks I have experimented upon it to say that it does possess some remarkable properties
in many respects. It withstands excessively high degrees of heat, it is little deteriorated by molecular bombardment,
and it does not blacken the globe as ordinary carbon does. The only difficulty which I have found in its use in
connection with these experiments was to find some binding material which would resist the heat and the effect of
the bombardment as successfully as carborundum itself does.
I have here a number of bulbs which I have provided with buttons of carborundum. To make such a button of
carborundum crystals I proceed in the following manner: I take an ordinary lamp filament and dip its point in tar, or
some other thick substance or paint which maybe readily carbonized. I next pass the point of the filament through
the crystals, and then hold it vertically over a hot plate. The tar softens and forms a drop on the point of the
filament, the crystals adhering to the surface of the drop. By regulating the distance from the plate the tar is slowly
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dried out and the button becomes solid. I then once more dip the button in tar and hold it again over a plate until the
tar is evaporated, leaving only a hard mass which firmly binds the crystals. When a larger button is required I
repeat the process several times, and I generally also cover the filament a certain distance below the button with
crystals. The button being mounted in a bulb, when a good vacuum has been reached, first a weak and then a strong
discharge is passed through the bulb to carbonize the tar and expel all gases, and later it is brought to a very intense
incandescence.
When the powder is used I have found it best to proceed as follows: I make a thick paint of carborundum and tar,
and pass a lamp filament through the paint. Taking then most of the paint off by rubbing the filament against a
piece of chamois leather, I hold it over a hot plate until the tar evaporates and the coating becomes firm. I repeat
this process as many times as it is necessary to obtain a certain thickness of coating. On the point of the coated
filament I form a button in the same manner.
There is no doubt that such a button--properly prepared under great pressure--of carborundum, especially of
powder of the best quality, will withstand the effect of the bombardment fully as well as anything we know. The
difficulty is that the binding material gives way, and the carborundum is slowly thrown off after some time. As it
does not seem to blacken the globe in the least, it might be found useful for coating the filaments of ordinary incan-
descent lamps, and I think that it is even possible to produce thin threads or sticks of carborundum which will re-
place the ordinary filaments in an incandescent lamp. A carborundum coating seems to be more durable than other
coatings, not only because the carborundum can withstand high degrees of heat, but also because it seems to unite
with the carbon better than any other material I have tried. A coating of zirconia or any other oxide, for instance, is
far more quickly destroyed. I prepared buttons of diamond dust in the same manner as of carborundum, and these
came in durability nearest to those prepared of carborundum, but the binding paste- gave way much more quickly
in the diamond buttons : this, however, I attributed to the size and irregularity of the grains of the diamond.
It was of interest to find whether carborundum possesses the quality of phosphorescence. One is, of course,
prepared to encounter two difficulties: first, as regards the rough product, the "crystals," they are good conducting,
and it is a fact that conductors do not phosphoresce ; second, the powder, being exceedingly fine, would not be apt
to exhibit very prominently this quality, since we know that when crystals, even such as diamond or ruby, are finely
powdered, they lose the property of phosphorescence to a considerable degree.
The question presents itself here, can a conductor phosphoresce? What is there in such a body as a metal, for in-
stance, that would deprive it of the quality of phosphorescence, unless it is that property which characterizes it as a
conductor? for it is a fact that most of the phosphorescent bodies lose that quality when they are sufficiently heated
to become more or less conducting. Then, if a metal be in a large measure, or perhaps entirely, deprived of that
property, it should be capable of phosphorescence. Therefore it is quite possible that at some extremely high
frequency when behaving practically as a non-conductor, a metal or any other conductor might exhibit the quality
of phosphorescence, even though it be entirely incapable of phosphorescing under the impact of a low-frequency
discharge. There is, however, another possible way how a conductor might at least appear to phosphoresce.
Considerable doubt still exists as to what really is phosphorescence, and as to whether the various phenomena
comprised under this head are due to the same causes. Suppose that in an exhausted bulb, under the molecular
impact, the surface of a piece of metal or other conductor is rendered strongly luminous, but at the same time it is
found that it remains comparatively cool, would not this luminosity be called phosphorescence? Now such a result,
theoretically at least, is possible, for it is a mere question of potential or speed. Assume the potential of the elec-
trode, and consequently the speed of the projected atoms, ] to be sufficiently high, the surface of the metal piece ;
against which the atoms are projected would be rendered j highly incandescent, since the process of heat generation
| would be incomparably faster than that of radiating or 1 conducting away from the surface of the collision. In the
1 eye of the observer a single impact of the atoms would 1 cause an instantaneous flash, but if the impacts were
repeated with sufficient rapidity they would produce a continuous impression upon his retina. To him then the sur-
face of the metal would appear continuously incandescent and of constant luminous intensity, while in reality the
light would be either intermittent or at least changing periodically in intensity. The metal piece would rise in
temperature until equilibrium was attained--that is, until the energy continuously radiated would equal that
intermittently supplied. But the supplied energy might under such conditions not be sufficient to bring the body to
any more than a very moderate mean temperature, especially if the frequency of the atomic impacts be very low--
just enough that the fluctuation of the intensity of the light emitted could not be detected by the eye. The body
would now, owing to the manner in which the energy is supplied, emit a strong light, and yet be at a comparatively
very low mean temperature. How could the observer call the luminosity thus produced? Even if the analysis of the
light would teach him something definite, still he would probably rank it under the phenomena of phosphorescence.
It is conceivable that in such a way both conducting and non- . conducting bodies may be maintained at a certain
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luminous intensity, but the energy required would very greatly vary with the nature and properties of the bodies.
These and some foregoing remarks of a speculative nature were made merely to bring out curious features of
alternate currents or electric impulses. By their help we may cause a body to emit more light, while at a certain
mean temperature, than it would emit if brought to that temperature by a steady supply; and, again, we may bring a
body to the point of fusion, and cause it to emit less light than when fused by the application of energy in ordinary
ways. It all depends on how we supply the energy, and what kind of vibrations we set up: in one case the vibrations
are more, in the other less, adapted to affect our sense of vision.
Some effects, which I had not observed before, obtained with carborundum in the first trials, I attributed to phos-
phorescence, but in subsequent experiments it appeared that it was devoid of that quality. The crystals possess a
noteworthy feature. In a bulb provided with a single electrode in the shape of a small circular metal disc, for
instance, at a certain degree of exhaustion the electrode is covered with a milky film, which is separated by a dark
space from the glow filling the bulb. When the metal disc is covered with carborundum crystals, the film is far
more intense, and snow-white. This I found later to be merely an effect of the bright surface of the crystals, for
when an aluminium electrode was highly polished it exhibited more or less the same phenomenon. I made a
number of experiments with the samples of crystals obtained, principally because it would have been of special
interest to find that they are capable of phosphorescence, on account of their being conducting. I could not produce
phosphorescence distinctly, but I must remark that a decisive opinion cannot be formed until other experimenters
have gone over the same ground.
The powder behaved in some experiments as though it contained alumina, but it did not exhibit with sufficient
distinctness the red of the latter. Its dead color brightens considerably under the molecular impact, but I am now
convinced it does not phosphoresce. Still, the tests with the powder are not conclusive, because powdered
carborundum probably does not behave like a phosphorescent sulphide, for example, which could be finely
powdered without impairing the phosphorescence, but rather like powdered ruby or diamond, and therefore it
would be necessary, in order to make a decisive test, to obtain it in a large lump and polish up the surface.
If the carborundum proves useful in connection with these and similar experiments, its chief value will be found in
the production of coatings, thin conductors, buttons, or other electrodes capable of withstanding extremely high
degrees of heat.
The production of a small electrode capable of withstanding enormous temperatures I regard as of the greatest im-
portance in. the manufacture of light. It would enable us to obtain, by means of currents of very high frequencies,
certainly 20 times, if not more, the quantity of light which is obtained in the present incandescent lamp by the same
expenditure of energy. This estimate may appear to many exaggerated, but in reality I think it is far from being so.
As this statement might be misunderstood I think it necessary to expose clearly the problem with which in this line
of work we are confronted, and the manner in which, in my opinion, a solution will be arrived at.
Anyone who begins a study of the problem will be apt to think that what is wanted in a lamp with an electrode is a
very high degree of incandescence of the electrode. There he will be mistaken. The high incandescence of the
button is a necessary evil, but what is really wanted is the high incandescence of the gas surrounding the button. In
other words, the problem in such a lamp is to bring a mass of gas to the highest possible incandescence. The higher
the incandescence, the quicker the mean vibration, the greater is the economy of the light production. But to
maintain a mass of gas at a high degree of incandescence in a glass vessel, it will always be necessary to keep the
incandescent mass away from the glass ; that is, to confine it as much as possible to the central portion of the globe.
In one of the experiments this evening a brush was produced at the end of a wire. This brush was a flame, a source
of heat and light. It did not emit much perceptible heat, nor did it glow with an intense light; but is it the less a
flame because it does not scorch my hand? Is it the less a flame because it does not hurt my eye by its brilliancy?
The problem is precisely to produce in the bulb such a flame, much smaller in size, but incomparably more power-
ful. Were there means at hand for producing electric impulses of a sufficiently high frequency, and for transmitting
them, the bulb could be done away with, unless it were used to protect the electrode, or to economize the energy by
confining the heat. But as such means are not at disposal, it becomes necessary to place the terminal in a bulb ' and
rarefy the air in the same. This is done merely to en- f able the apparatus to perform the work which it is not capable
of performing at ordinary air pressure. In the bulb we are able to intensify the action to any degree--so far that the
brush emits a powerful light.
The intensity of the light emitted depends principally on the frequency and potential of the impulses, and on the
electric density on the surface of the electrode. It is of the greatest importance to employ the smallest possible
button, in order to push the density very far. Under the violent impact of the molecules of the gas surrounding it,
the small electrode is of course brought to an extremely high temperature, but around it is a mass of highly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
incandescent gas, a flame photosphere, many hundred times the volume of the electrode. With a diamond,
carborundum or zirconia button the photosphere can be as much as one thousand times the volume of the button.
Without much reflecting one would think that in pushing so far the incandescence of the electrode it would be
instantly volatilized. But after a careful consideration he would find that, theoretically, it should not occur, and in
this fact--which, however, is experimentally demonstrated--lies principally the future value of such a lamp.
At first, when the bombardment begins, most of the work is performed on the surface of the button, but when a
highly conducting photosphere is formed the button is comparatively relieved. The higher the incandescence of the
photosphere the more it approaches in conductivity to that of the electrode, and the more, therefore, the solid and
the gas form one conducting body. The consequence is that the further is forced the incandescence the more work,
comparatively, is performed on the gas, and the less on the electrode. The formation of a powerful photosphere is
consequently the very means for protecting the electrode, This protection, of course, is a relative one, and it should
not be thought that by pushing the incandescence higher the electrode is actually less deteriorated Still,
theoretically, with extreme frequencies, this result must be reached, but probably at a temperature too high for most
of the refractory bodies known. Given, then, an electrode which can withstand to a very high limit the effect of the
bombardment and outward strain, it would be safe no matter how much it is forced beyond that limit. In an
incandescent lamp quite different considerations apply. There the gas is not at all concerned: the whole of the work
is performed on the filament; and the life of the lamp diminishes so rapidly with the increase of the degree of
incandescence that economical reasons compel us to work it at a low incandescence. But if an incandescent lamp is
operated with currents of very high frequency, the action of the gas cannot be neglected, and the rules for the most
economical working must be considerably modified.
In order to bring such a lamp with one or two electrodes to a great perfection, it is necessary to employ impulses of
very high frequency. The high frequency secures, among others, two chief advantages, which have a most
important bearing upon the economy of the light production. First, the deterioration of the electrode is reduced by
reason of the fact that we employ a great many small impacts, instead of a few violent ones, which shatter quickly
the structure; secondly, the formation of a large photosphere is facilitated.
In order to reduce the deterioration of the electrode to the minimum, it is desirable that the vibration be harmonic,
for any suddenness hastens the process of destruction. An electrode lasts much longer when kept at incandescence
by currents, or impulses, obtained from a high-frequency alternator, which rise and fall more or less harmonically,
than by impulses obtained from a disruptive discharge coil. In the latter case there is no doubt that most of the
damage is done by the fundamental sudden discharges.
One of the elements of loss in such a lamp is the bombardment of the globe. As the potential is very high, the
molecules are projected with great speed ; they strike the glass, and usually excite a strong phosphorescence. The
effect produced is very pretty, but for economical reasons it would be perhaps preferable to prevent, or at least re-
duce to the minimum, the bombardment against the globe, as in such case it is, as a rule, not the object to excite
phosphorescence, and as some loss of energy results from the bombardment. This loss in the bulb is principally
dependent on the potential of the impulses and on the electric density on the surface of the electrode. In employing
very high frequencies the loss of energy by the bombardment is greatly reduced, for, first, the potential needed to
perform a given amount of work is much smaller; and, secondly, by producing a highly conducting photosphere
around the electrode, the same result is obtained as though the electrode were much larger, which is equivalent to a
smaller electric density. But be it by the diminution of the maximum potential or of the density, the gain is effected
in the same manner, namely, by avoiding violent shocks, which strain the glass much beyond its limit of elasticity.
If the frequency could be brought high enough the loss due to the imperfect elasticity of the glass would be entirely
negligible. The loss due to bombardment of the globe may, however, be reduced by using two electrodes instead of
one. In such case each of the electrodes may be connected to one of the terminals; or else, if it is preferable to use
only one wire, one electrode may be connected to one terminal and the other to the ground or to an insulated body
of some surface, as, for instance, a shade on the lamp. In the latter case, unless some judgment is used, one of the
electrodes might glow more intensely than the other.
But on the whole I find it preferable when using such high frequencies to employ only one electrode and one con-
necting wire. I am convinced that the illuminating device of the near future will not require for its operation more
than one lead, and, at any rate, it will have no leading-in wire, since the energy required can be as well transmitted
through the glass. In experimental bulbs the leading-in wire is most generally used on account of convenience, as in
employing condenser coatings in the manner indicated in Fig. 22, for example, there is some difficulty in fitting the
parts, but these difficulties would not exist if a great many bulbs were manufactured; otherwise the energy can be
conveyed through the glass as well as through a wire, and with these high frequencies the losses are very small.
Such illuminating devices will necessarily involve the use of very high potentials, and this, in the eyes of practical
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
men, might be an objectionable feature. Yet, in reality, high potentials are not objectionable -- certainly not in the
least as far as the safety of the devices is concerned.
There are two ways of rendering an electric appliance safe. One is to use low potentials, the other is to determine
the dimensions of the apparatus so that it is safe no matter how high a potential is used. Of the two the latter seems
to me the better way, for then the safety is absolute, unaffected by any possible combination of circumstances
which might render even a low-potential appliance dangerous to life and property. But the practical conditions
require not only the judicious determination of the dimensions of the apparatus ; they likewise necessitate the
employment of energy of the proper kind. It is easy, for instance, to construct a transformer capable of giving,
when operated from an ordinary alternate current machine of low tension, say 50,000 volts, which might be
required to light a highly exhausted phosphorescent tube, so that, in spite of the high potential, it is perfectly safe,
the shock from it producing no inconvenience. Still, such a transformer would be expensive, and in itself
inefficient; and, besides, what energy was obtained from it would not be economically used for the production of
light. The economy demands the employment of energy in the form of extremely rapid vibrations. The problem of
producing light has been likened to that of maintaining a certain high-pitch note by means of a bell. It should be
said a barely audible note; and even these words would not express it, so wonderful is the sensitiveness of the eye.
We may deliver powerful blows at long intervals, waste a good deal of energy, and still not get what we want; or
we may keep up the note by delivering frequent gentle taps, and get nearer to the object sought by the expenditure
of much less energy. In the production of light, as far as the illuminating device is concerned, there can be only one
rule--that is, to use as high frequencies as can be obtained; but the means for the production and conveyance of
impulses of such character impose, at present at least, great limitations. Once it is decided to use very high
frequencies, the return wire becomes unnecessary, and all the appliances are simplified. By the use of obvious
means the same result is obtained as though the return wire were used. It is sufficient for this purpose to bring in
contact with the bulb, or merely in the vicinity of the same, an insulated body of some surface. The surface need, of
course, be the smaller, the higher the frequency and potential used, and necessarily, also, the higher the economy of
the lamp or other device.
This plan of working has been resorted to on several occasions this evening. So, for instance, when the incandes-
cence of a button was produced by grasping the bulb with the hand, the body of the experimenter merely served to
intensify the action. The bulb used was similar to that illustrated in Fig. 19, and the coil was excited to a small po-
tential, not sufficient to bring the button to incandescence when the bulb was hanging from the wire; and incident-
ally, in order to perform the experiment in a more suitable manner, the button was taken so large that a perceptible
time had to elapse before, upon grasping the bulb, it could be rendered incandescent. The contact with the bulb
was, of course, quite-unnecessary. It is easy, by using a rather large bulb with an exceedingly small electrode, to
adjust the conditions so that the latter is brought to bright incandescence by the mere approach of the experimenter
within a few feet of the bulb, and that the incandescence subsides upon his receding.
In another experiment, when phosphorescence was excited, a similar bulb was used. Here again, originally, the
potential was not sufficient to excite phosphorescence until the action was intensified--in this case, however) to
present a different feature, by touching the socket with a metallic object held in the hand. The electrode in the bulb
was a carbon button so large that it could not be brought to incandescence, and thereby spoil the effect produced by
phosphorescence.
Again, in another of the early experiments, a bulb was used as illustrated in Fig. 13. In this instance, by touching
the bulb with one or two fingers, one or two shadows of the stem inside were projected against the glass, the touch
of the finger producing the same result as the application of an external negative electrode under ordinary
circumstances.
In all these experiments the action was intensified by augmenting the capacity at the end of the lead connected to
the terminal. As a rule, it is not necessary to resort to such means, and would be quite unnecessary with still higher
frequencies ; but when it is desired, the bulb, or tube, can be easily adapted to the purpose.
In Fig. 24, for example, an experimental bulb L is shown, which is provided with a neck n on the top for the appli-
cation of an external tinfoil coating, which may be connected to a body of larger surface. Such a lamp as illustrated
in Fig. 25 may also be lighted by connecting the tinfoil coating on the neck n to the terminal, and the leading-in
wire to to an insulated plate. If the bulb stands in a socket upright, as shown in the cut, a shade of conducting
Material may be slipped in the neck n, and the action thus magnified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIG. 24.--BULB WITHOUT LEADING-IN WIRE, SHOWING EFFECT
OF PROJECTED MATTER.
Fig 25 IMPROVED EXPERIMENTAL
Fig 26 IMPROVED BULB WITH
BULB
INTENSIFYING REFLECTOR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A more perfected arrangement used in some of these bulbs is illustrated in Fig. 26. In this case the construction of
the bulb is as shown and described before, when reference was made to Fig. 19. A zinc sheet Z, with a tubular
extension T, is slipped over the metallic socket S. The bulb hangs downward from the terminal, the zinc sheet Z,
performing the double office of intensifier and reflector. The reflector is separated from the terminal t by an exten-
sion of the insulating plug P. A similar disposition with a phosphorescent tube is illustrated in Fig. 27. The tube T is
prepared from two short tubes of a different diameter, which are sealed on the ends. On the lower end is placed an
outside conducting coating Q which connects to the wire w. The wire has a hook on the upper end for suspension,
and passes through the centre of the inside tube, which is filled with some good and tightly packed insulator. On the
outside of the upper end of the tube T is another conducting coating C,, upon which is slipped a metallic reflector
Z, which should be separated by a thick insulation from the end of wire w.
FIG. 27.-PHOSPHORESCENT TUBE WITH INTENSIFYING REFLECTOR.
The economical use of such a reflector or intensifier would require that all energy supplied to an air condenser
should be recoverable, or, in other words, that there should not be any losses, neither in the gaseous medium nor
through its action elsewhere. This is far from being so, but, fortunately, the losses may be reduced to anything
desired. A few remarks are necessary on this subject, in order to make the experiences gathered in the course of
these investigations perfectly clear.
Suppose a small helix with many well insulated turns, as in experiment Fig. 17, has one of its ends connected to
one of the terminals of the induction coil, and the other to a metal plate, or, for the sake of simplicity, a sphere,
insulated in space. When the coil is set to work, the potential of the sphere is alternated, and the small helix now
behaves as though its free end were connected to the other terminal of the induction coil. If an iron rod be held
within the small helix it is quickly brought to a high temperature, indicating the passage of a strong current through
the helix. How does the insulated sphere act in this case?
It can be a condenser, storing and returning the energy supplied to it, or it can be a mere sink of energy, and the
conditions of the experiment determine whether it is more one or the other. The sphere being charged to a high po-
tential, it acts inductively upon the surrounding air, or whatever gaseous medium there might be. The molecules, or
atoms, which are near the sphere are of course more attracted, and move through a greater distance than the farther
ones. When the nearest molecules strike the sphere they are repelled, and collisions occur at all distances within the
inductive action of the sphere. It is now clear that, if the potential be steady, but little loss of energy can be caused
in this way, for the molecules which are nearest to the sphere, having had an additional charge imparted to them by
contact, are not attracted until they have parted, if not with all, at least with most of the additional charge, which
can be accomplished only after a great many collisions. From the fact that with a steady potential there is but little
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
loss in dry air, one must come to such a conclusion. When the potential of the sphere, instead of being steady, is
alternating, the conditions are entirely different. In this case a rhythmical bombardment occurs, no matter whether
the molecules after coming in contact with the sphere lose the imparted charge or not; what is more, if the charge is
not lost, the impacts are only the more violent. Still if the frequency of the impulses be very small, the loss caused
by the impacts and collisions would not be serious unless the potential were excessive. But when extremely high
frequencies and more or less high potentials are used, the loss may be very great. The total energy lost per unit of
time is proportionate to the product of the number of impacts per second, or the frequency and the energy lost in
each impact. But the energy of an impact must be proportionate to the square of the electric density of the sphere,
since the charge imparted to the molecule is proportionate to that density. I conclude from this that the total energy
lost must be proportionate to the product of the frequency and the square of the electric density ; but this law needs
experimental confirmation. Assuming the preceding considerations to be true, then, by rapidly alternating the
potential of a body immersed in an insulating gaseous medium, any amount of energy may be dissipated into space.
Most of that energy then, I believe, is not dissipated in the form of long ether waves, propagated to considerable
distance, as is thought most generally, but is consumed--in the case of an insulated 'sphere, for example--in
impact and collisional losses--that is, heat violations--on the surface and in the vicinity of the sphere. To reduce
the dissipation it is necessary to work with a small electric density-- the smaller the higher the frequency.
But since, on the assumption before made, the loss is diminished with the square of the density, and since currents
of very high frequencies involve considerable waste when transmitted through conductors, it follows that, on the
whole, it is better to employ one wire than two. Therefore, if motors, lamps, or devices of any kind are perfected,
capable of being advantageously operated by currents of extremely high frequency, economical reasons will make
it advisable to use only one wire, especially if the distances are great.
When energy is absorbed in a condenser the same behaves as though its capacity were increased. Absorption
always exists more or less, but generally it is small and of no consequence as long as the frequencies are not very
great. In using extremely high frequencies, and, necessarily in such case, also high potentials, the absorption-- or,
what is here meant more particularly by this term, the loss of energy due to the presence of a gaseous medium--is
an important factor to be considered, as the energy absorbed in the air condenser may be any fraction of the
supplied energy. This would seem to make it very difficult to tell from the measured or computed capacity of an air
condenser its actual capacity or vibration period, especially if the condenser is of very small surface and is charged
to a very high potential. As many important results are dependent upon the correctness of the estimation of the
vibration period, this subject demands the most careful scrutiny of other investigators. To reduce the probable error
as much as possible in experiments of the kind alluded to, it is advisable to use spheres or plates of large surface, so
as to make the density exceedingly small. Otherwise, when it is practicable, an oil condenser should be used in
preference. In oil or other liquid dielectrics there are seemingly no such losses as in gaseous media. It being
impossible to exclude entirely the gas in condensers with solid dielectrics, such condensers should be immersed in
oil, for economical reasons if nothing else; they can then be strained to the utmost and will remain cool. In Leyden
jars the loss due to air is comparatively small, as the tinfoil coatings are large, close together, and the charged
surfaces not directly exposed; but when the potentials are very high, the loss may be more or less considerable at,
or near, the upper edge of the foil, where the air is principally acted upon. If the jar be immersed in boiled-out oil, it
will be capable of performing four times the amount of work which it can for any length of time when used in the
ordinary way, and the loss will be inappreciable.
It should not be thought that the loss in heat in an air condenser is necessarily associated with the formation of
visible streams or brushes. If a small electrode, inclosed in an unexhausted bulb, is connected to one of the ter-
minals of the coil, streams can be seen to issue from the electrode and the air in the bulb is heated; if, instead of a
small electrode, a large sphere is inclosed in the bulb, no streams are observed, still the air is heated.
Nor should it be thought that the temperature of an air condenser would give even an approximate idea of the loss
in heat incurred, as in such case heat must be given off much more quickly, since there is, in addition to the
ordinary radiation, a very active carrying away of heat by independent carriers going on, and since not only the ap-
paratus, but the air at some distance from it is heated in consequence of the collisions which must occur.
Owing to this, in experiments with such a coil, a rise of temperature can be distinctly observed only when the body
connected to the coil is very small. But with apparatus on a larger scale, even a body of considerable bulk would be
heated, as, for instance, the body of a person ; and I think that skilled physicians might make observations of utility
in such experiments, which, if the apparatus were judiciously designed, would not present the slightest danger.
A question of some interest, principally to meteorologists, presents itself here. How does the earth behave? The
earth is an air condenser, but is it a perfect or a very imperfect one--a mere sink of energy? There can be little
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
doubt that to such small disturbance as might be caused in an experiment the earth behaves as an almost perfect
condenser. But it might be different when its charge is set in vibration by some sudden disturbance occurring in the
heavens. In such case, as before stated, probably only little of the energy of the vibrations set up would be lost into
space in the form of long ether radiations, but most of the energy, I think, would spend itself in molecular impacts
and collisions, and pass off into space in the form of short heat, and possibly light, waves. As both the frequency of
the vibrations of the charge and the potential are in all probability excessive, the energy converted into heat may be
considerable. Since the density must be unevenly distributed, either in consequence of the irregularity of the earth's
surface, or on account of the condition of the atmosphere in various places, the effect produced would accordingly
vary from place to place. Considerable variations in the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere may in this
manner be caused at any point of the surface of the earth. The variations may be gradual or very sudden, according
to the nature of the general disturbance, and may produce rain and storms, or locally modify the weather in any
way. From the remarks before made one may see what an important factor of loss the air in the neighborhood of a
charged surface becomes when the electric density is great and the frequency of the impulses excessive. But the
action as explained implies that the air is insulating--that is that it is composed of independent carriers immersed in
an insulating medium. This is the case only when the air is at something like ordinary or greater, or at extremely
small, pressure. When the air is slightly rarefied and con ducting, then true conduction losses occur also. In such
case, of course, considerable energy may be dissipated into space even with a steady potential, or with impulses of
low frequency, if the density is very great.
When the gas is at very low pressure, an electrode is heated more because higher speeds can be reached. If the gas
around the electrode is strongly compressed, the displacements, and consequently the speeds, are very small, and
the heating is insignificant. But if in such case the frequency could be sufficiently increased, the electrode would be
brought to a high temperature as well as if the gas were at very low pressure; in fact, exhausting the bulb is only
necessary because we cannot produce (and possibly not convey) currents of the required frequency.
Returning to the subject of electrode lamps, it is obviously of advantage in such a lamp to confine as much as
possible the heat to the electrode by preventing the circulation of the gas in the bulb. If a very small bulb be taken,
it would confine the heat better than a large one, but it might not be of sufficient capacity to be operated from the
coil, or, if so, the glass might get too hot. A simple way to improve in this direction is to employ a globe of the
required size, but to place a small bulb, the diameter of which is properly estimated, over the refractory button
contained in the globe. This arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 28. The globe L has in this case a large neck n,
allowing the small bulb b to slip through. Otherwise the construction is the same as shown in Fig. 18, for example.
The small bulb is conveniently supported upon the stem s, carrying the refractory button m. It is separated from the
aluminium tube a by several layers of mica M, in order to prevent the cracking of the neck by the rapid heating c f
the aluminium tube upon a sudden turning on of the current. The inside bulb should be as small as possible when it
is desired to obtain light only by incandescence of the electrode. If it is desired to produce phosphorescence, the
bulb should be larger, else it would be apt to get too hot, and the phosphorescence would cease. In this arrangement
usually only the small bulb shows phosphorescence, as there is practically no bombardment against the outer globe.
In some of these bulbs constructed as illustrated in Fig. 28 the small tube was coated with phosphorescent paint,
and beautiful effects were obtained. Instead of making the inside bulb large, in order to avoid undue heating, it
answers the purpose to make the electrode m larger. In this case the bombardment is weakened by reason of the
smaller electric density.
Many bulbs were constructed on the plan illustrated in Fig. 29. Here a small bulb b, containing the refractory button
m, upon being exhausted to a very high degree was sealed in a large globe L, which was then moderately exhausted
and sealed off. The principal advantage of this construction was that it allowed of reaching extremely high vacuum,
and, at the same time use a large bulb. It was found, m the course of experiences with bulbs such as illustrated in
Fig. 29, that it was well to make the stem s near the seal at e very thick, and the leading-in wire w thin, as it oc-
curred sometimes that the stem at e was heated and the bulb was cracked. Often the outer globe L was exhausted
only just enough to allow the discharge to pass through and the space between the bulbs appeared crimson,
producing a curious effect. In some cases, when the exhaustion in globe L was very low, and the air good
conducting it was found necessary, in order to bring the button m to high incandescence, to place, preferably on the
upper part of the neck of the globe, a tinfoil coating which was connected to an insulated body, to the ground, or to
the other terminal of the coil, as the highly conducting air weakened the effect somewhat, probably by being acted
upon inductively from the wire w, where it entered the bulb at e. Another difficulty--which, however, is always
present when the refractory button is mounted in a very small bulb existed in the construction illustrated in Fig. 29,
namely, the vacuum in the bulb b would be impaired in a comparatively short time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIG. 28.--LAMP WITH AUXILIARY BULB FOR CONFINING THE ACTION TO THE CENTRE.
The chief idea in the two last described constructions was to confine the heat to the central portion of the globe by
preventing the exchange of air. An advantage is secured, but owing to the heating of the inside bulb and slow evap-
oration of the glass the vacuum is hard to maintain, even if the construction illustrated in Fig. 28 be chosen, in
which both bulbs communicate.
But by far the better way--the ideal way--would be to reach sufficiently high frequencies. The higher the
frequency the slower would be the exchange of the air, and I think that a frequency may be reached at which there
would be no exchange whatever of the air molecules around the terminal. We would then produce a flame in which
there would be no carrying away of material, and a queer flame it would be, for it would be rigid! With such high
frequencies the inertia of the particles would come into play. As the brush, or flame, would gain rigidity in virtue of
the inertia of the particles, the exchange of the latter would be prevented. This would necessarily occur, for, the
number of the impulses being augmented, the potential energy of each would diminish, so that finally only atomic
vibrations could be set up, and the motion of translation through durable space would cease. Thus an ordinary gas
burner connected to a source of rapidly alternating potential might have its efficiency augmented to a certain limit,
and this for two reasons--because of the additional vibration imparted, and because of a slowing down of the
process of carrying off. But the renewal being rendered difficult, and renewal being necessary to maintain the
burner, a continued increase of the frequency of the impulses, assuming they could be transmitted to and impressed
upon the flame, would result in the "extinction" of the latter, meaning by this term only the cessation of the
chemical process.
FIG. 29.--LAMP WITH INDEPENDENT AUXILIARY BULB.
I think, however, that in the case of an electrode immersed in a fluid insulating medium, and surrounded by
independent carriers of electric charges, which can be acted upon inductively, a sufficiently high frequency of the
impulses would probably result in a gravitation of the gas all around toward the electrode. For this it would be only
necessary to assume that the independent bodies are irregularly shaped; they would then turn toward the electrode
their side of the greatest electric density, and this would be a position in which the fluid resistance to approach
would be smaller than that offered to the receding. The general opinion, I do not doubt, is that it is out of the
question to reach any such frequencies as might--assuming some of the views before expressed to be true--
produce any of the results which I have pointed out as mere possibilities. This may be so, but in the course of these
investigations, from the observation of many phenomena I have gained the conviction that these frequencies would
be much lower than one is apt to estimate at first. In a flame we set up light vibrations by causing molecules, or
atoms, to collide.
But what is the ratio of the frequency of the collisions and that of the vibrations set up? Certainly it must be incom-
parably smaller than that of the knocks of the bell and the sound vibrations, or that of the discharges and the oscilla-
tions of the condenser. We may cause the molecules of the gas to collide by the use of alternate electric impulses of
high frequency, and so we may imitate the process in a flame ; and from experiments with frequencies which we
are now able to obtain, I think that the result is producible with impulses which are transmissible through a con-
ductor.
In connection with thoughts of a similar nature, it appeared to me of great interest to demonstrate the rigidity of a
vibrating gaseous column. Although with such low frequencies as, say 10,000 per second, which I was able to
obtain without difficulty from a specially constructed alternator, the task looked discouraging at first, I made a
series of experiments. The trials with air at ordinary pressure led to no result, but with air moderately rarefied I
obtain what I think to be an unmistakable experimental evidence of the property sought for. As a result of this kind
might lead able investigators to conclusions of importance I will describe one of the experiments performed.
It is well known that when a tube is slightly exhausted the discharge may be passed through it in the form of a thin
luminous thread. When produced with currents of low frequency, obtained from a coil operated as usual, this thread
is inert. If a magnet be approached to it, the part near the same is attracted or repelled, according to the direction of
the lines of force of the magnet. It occurred to me that if such a thread would be produced with currents of very
high frequency, it should be more or less rigid, and as it was visible it could be easily studied. Accordingly I
prepared a tube about 1 inch in diameter and 1 metre long, with outside coating at each end. The tube was
exhausted to a point at which by a little working the thread discharge could be obtained. It must be remarked here
that the general aspect of the tube, and the degree of exhaustion, are quite different than when ordinary low fre-
quency currents are used. As it was found preferable to work with one terminal, the tube prepared was suspended
from the end of a wire connected to the terminal, the tinfoil coating being connected to the wire, and to the lower
coating sometimes- a small insulated plate was attached. When the thread was formed it extended through the
upper part of the tube and lost itself in the lower end. If it possessed rigidity it resembled, not exactly an elastic
cord stretched tight between two supports, but a cord suspended from a height with a small weight attached at the
end. When the finger or a magnet was approached to the upper end of the luminous thread, it could be brought
locally out of position by electrostatic or magnetic action; and when the disturbing object was very quickly
removed, an analogous result was produced, as though a suspended cord would be displaced and quickly released
near the point of suspension. In doing this the luminous thread was set in vibration, and two very sharply marked
nodes, and a third indistinct one, were formed. The vibration, once set up, continued for fully eight minutes, dying
gradually out. The speed of the vibration
often varied perceptibly, and it could be observed that the electrostatic attraction of the glass affected the vibrating
thread; but it was clear that the electrostatic action was not the cause of the vibration, for the thread was most
generally stationary, and could always be set in vibration by passing the finger quickly near the upper part of the
tube. With a magnet the thread could be split in two and both parts vibrated. By approaching the hand to the lower
coating of the tube, or insulated plate if attached, the vibration was quickened; also, as far as I could see, by raising
the potential or frequency. Thus, either increasing the frequency or passing a stronger discharge of the same
frequency corresponded to a tightening of the cord. I did not obtain any experimental evidence with condenser
discharges. A luminous band excited in a bulb by repeated discharges of a Leyden jar must possess rigidity, and if
deformed and suddenly released should vibrate. But probably the amount of vibrating matter is so small that in
spite of the extreme speed the inertia cannot prominently assert itself. Besides, the observation in such a case is
rendered extremely difficult on account of the fundamental vibration.
The demonstration of the fact--which still needs better experimental confirmation--that a vibrating gaseous col-
umn possesses rigidity, might greatly modify the views of thinkers. When with low frequencies and insignificant
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
potentials indications of that property may be noted, how must a gaseous medium behave under the influence of
enormous electrostatic stresses which may be active in the interstellar space, and which may alternate with
inconceivable rapidity? The existence of such an electrostatic, rhythmically throbbing force--of a vibrating
electrostatic field-would show a possible way how solids might have formed from the ultra-gaseous uterus, and
how transverse and all kinds of vibrations may be transmitted through a gaseous medium filling all space. Then,
ether might be a true fluid, devoid of rigidity, and at rest, it being merely necessary as a connecting link to enable
interaction. What determines the rigidity of a body? It must be the speed and the amount of moving matter. In a gas
the speed may be considerable, but the density is exceedingly small; in a liquid the speed would be likely to be
small, though the density may be considerable ; and in both cases the inertia resistance offered to displacement is
practically nil. But place a gaseous (or liquid) column in an intense, rapidly alternating electrostatic field, set the
particles vibrating with enormous speeds, then the inertia resistance asserts itself. A body might move with more or
less freedom through the vibrating mass, but as a whole it would be rigid.
There is a subject which I must mention in connection with these experiments: it is that of high vacua. This is a
subject the study of which is not only interesting, but useful, for it may lead to results of great practical importance.
In commercial apparatus, such as incandescent lamps, operated from ordinary systems of distribution, a much
higher vacuum than obtained at present would not secure a very great advantage. In such a case the work is
performed on the filament and the gas is little concerned; the improvement, therefore, would be but trifling. But
when we begin to use very high frequencies and potentials, the action of the gas becomes all important, and the
degree of exhaustion materially modifies the results. As long as ordinary coils, even very large ones, were used, the
study of the subject was limited, because just at a point when it became most interesting it had to be interrupted on
account of the "non-striking" vacuum being reached. But presently we are able to obtain from a small, disruptive
discharge coil potentials much higher than even the largest coil was capable of giving, and, what is more, we can
make the potential alternate with great rapidity. Both of these results enable us now to pass a luminous discharge
through almost any vacua obtainable, and the field of our investigations is greatly extended. Think we as we may,
of all the possible directions to develop a practical illuminant, the line of high vacua seems to be the most
promising at present. But to reach extreme vacua the appliances must be much more improved, and ultimate
perfection will not be attained until we shall have discarded the mechanical and perfected an electrical vacuum
pump. Molecules and atoms can be thrown out of a bulb under the action of an enormous potential: this will be the
principle of the vacuum pump of the future. For the present, we must secure the best results we can with
mechanical appliances. In this respect, it might not be out of the way to say a few words about the method of, and
apparatus for, producing excessively high degrees of exhaustion of which I have availed myself m the course of
these investigations. It is very probable that other experimenters have used similar arrangements; but as it is
possible that there may be an item or interest in their description, a few remarks, which will render this
investigation more complete, might be permitted.
independent carriers of electric charges, which can be acted upon inductively, a sufficiently high frequency of the
impulses would probably result in a gravitation of the gas all around toward the electrode. For this it would be only
necessary to assume that the independent bodies are irregularly shaped; they would then turn toward the electrode
their side of the greatest electric density, and this would be a position in which the fluid resistance to approach
would be smaller than that offered to the receding. The general opinion, I do not doubt, is that it is out of the
question to reach any such frequencies as might--assuming some of the views before expressed to be true--
produce any of the results which I have pointed out as mere possibilities. This may be so, but in the course of these
investigations, from the observation of many phenomena I have gained the conviction that these frequencies would
be much lower than one is apt to estimate at first. In a flame we set up light vibrations by causing molecules, or
atoms, to collide.
But what is the ratio of the frequency of the collisions and that of the vibrations set up? Certainly it must be incom-
parably smaller than that of the knocks of the bell and the sound vibrations, or that of the discharges and the oscilla-
tions of the condenser. We may cause the molecules of the gas to collide by the use of alternate electric impulses of
high frequency, and so we may imitate the process in a flame ; and from experiments with frequencies which we
are now able to obtain, I think that the result is producible with impulses which are transmissible through a con-
ductor.
In connection with thoughts of a similar nature, it appeared to me of great interest to demonstrate the rigidity of a
vibrating gaseous column. Although with such low frequencies as, say 10,000 per second, which I was able to
obtain without difficulty from a specially constructed alternator, the task looked discouraging at first, I made a
series of experiments. The trials with air at ordinary pressure led to no result, but with air moderately rarefied I
obtain what I think to be an unmistakable experimental evidence of the property sought for. As a result of this kind
might lead able investigators to conclusions of importance I will describe one of the experiments performed.
It is well known that when a tube is slightly exhausted the discharge may be passed through it in the form of a thin
luminous thread. When produced with currents of low frequency, obtained from a coil operated as usual, this thread
is inert. If a magnet be approached to it, the part near the same is attracted or repelled, according to the direction of
the lines of force of the magnet. It occurred to me that if such a thread would be produced with currents of very
high frequency, it should be more or less rigid, and as it was visible it could be easily studied. Accordingly I
prepared a tube about 1 inch in diameter and 1 metre long, with outside coating at each end. The tube was
exhausted to a point at which by a little working the thread discharge could be obtained. It must be remarked here
that the general aspect of the tube, and the degree of exhaustion, are quite different than when ordinary low fre-
quency currents are used. As it was found preferable to work with one terminal, the tube prepared was suspended
from the end of a wire connected to the terminal, the tinfoil coating being connected to the wire, and to the lower
coating sometimes- a small insulated plate was attached. When the thread was formed it extended through the
upper part of the tube and lost itself in the lower end. If it possessed rigidity it resembled, not exactly an elastic
cord stretched tight between two supports, but a cord suspended from a height with a small weight attached at the
end. When the finger or a magnet was approached to the upper end of the luminous thread, it could be brought
locally out of position by electrostatic or magnetic action; and when the disturbing object was very quickly
removed, an analogous result was produced, as though a suspended cord would be displaced and quickly released
near the point of suspension. In doing this the luminous thread was set in vibration, and two very sharply marked
nodes, and a third indistinct one, were formed. The vibration, once set up, continued for fully eight minutes, dying
gradually out. The speed of the vibration
often varied perceptibly, and it could be observed that the electrostatic attraction of the glass affected the vibrating
thread; but it was clear that the electrostatic action was not the cause of the vibration, for the thread was most
generally stationary, and could always be set in vibration by passing the finger quickly near the upper part of the
tube. With a magnet the thread could be split in two and both parts vibrated. By approaching the hand to the lower
coating of the tube, or insulated plate if attached, the vibration was quickened; also, as far as I could see, by raising
the potential or frequency. Thus, either increasing the frequency or passing a stronger discharge of the same
frequency corresponded to a tightening of the cord. I did not obtain any experimental evidence with condenser
discharges. A luminous band excited in a bulb by repeated discharges of a Leyden jar must possess rigidity, and if
deformed and suddenly released should vibrate. But probably the amount of vibrating matter is so small that in
spite of the extreme speed the inertia cannot prominently assert itself. Besides, the observation in such a case is
rendered extremely difficult on account of the fundamental vibration.
The demonstration of the fact--which still needs better experimental confirmation--that a vibrating gaseous col-
umn possesses rigidity, might greatly modify the views of thinkers. When with low frequencies and insignificant
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
potentials indications of that property may be noted, how must a gaseous medium behave under the influence of
enormous electrostatic stresses which may be active in the interstellar space, and which may alternate with
inconceivable rapidity? The existence of such an electrostatic, rhythmically throbbing force--of a vibrating
electrostatic field-would show a possible way how solids might have formed from the ultra-gaseous uterus, and
how transverse and all kinds of vibrations may be transmitted through a gaseous medium filling all space. Then,
ether might be a true fluid, devoid of rigidity, and at rest, it being merely necessary as a connecting link to enable
interaction. What determines the rigidity of a body? It must be the speed and the amount of moving matter. In a gas
the speed may be considerable, but the density is exceedingly small; in a liquid the speed would be likely to be
small, though the density may be considerable ; and in both cases the inertia resistance offered to displacement is
practically nil. But place a gaseous (or liquid) column in an intense, rapidly alternating electrostatic field, set the
particles vibrating with enormous speeds, then the inertia resistance asserts itself. A body might move with more or
less freedom through the vibrating mass, but as a whole it would be rigid.
There is a subject which I must mention in connection with these experiments: it is that of high vacua. This is a
subject the study of which is not only interesting, but useful, for it may lead to results of great practical importance.
In commercial apparatus, such as incandescent lamps, operated from ordinary systems of distribution, a much
higher vacuum than obtained at present would not secure a very great advantage. In such a case the work is
performed on the filament and the gas is little concerned; the improvement, therefore, would be but trifling. But
when we begin to use very high frequencies and potentials, the action of the gas becomes all important, and the
degree of exhaustion materially modifies the results. As long as ordinary coils, even very large ones, were used, the
study of the subject was limited, because just at a point when it became most interesting it had to be interrupted on
account of the "non-striking" vacuum being reached. But presently we are able to obtain from a small, disruptive
discharge coil potentials much higher than even the largest coil was capable of giving, and, what is more, we can
make the potential alternate with great rapidity. Both of these results enable us now to pass a luminous discharge
through almost any vacua obtainable, and the field of our investigations is greatly extended. Think we as we may,
of all the possible directions to develop a practical illuminant, the line of high vacua seems to be the most
promising at present. But to reach extreme vacua the appliances must be much more improved, and ultimate
perfection will not be attained until we shall have discarded the mechanical and perfected an electrical vacuum
pump. Molecules and atoms can be thrown out of a bulb under the action of an enormous potential: this will be the
principle of the vacuum pump of the future. For the present, we must secure the best results we can with
mechanical appliances. In this respect, it might not be out of the way to say a few words about the method of, and
apparatus for, producing excessively high degrees of exhaustion of which I have availed myself m the course of
these investigations. It is very probable that other experimenters have used similar arrangements; but as it is
possible that there may be an item or interest in their description, a few remarks, which will render this
investigation more complete, might be permitted.
FIG. 30.--APPARATUS USED FOR OBTAINING HIGH DEGREES OF EXHAUSTION.
The apparatus is illustrated in a drawing shown in Fig 80. S represents a Sprengel pump, which has been specially
constructed to better suit the work required. The stop-cock which is usually employed has been omitted, and
instead of it a hollow stopper s has been fitted in the neck of the reservoir R. This stopper has a small hole h,
through which the mercury descends; the size of the outlet o being properly determined with respect to the section
of the fall tube t, which is sealed to the reservoir instead of being connected to it in the usual manner. This arrange-
ment overcomes the imperfections and troubles which often arise from the use of the stopcock on the reservoir and
the connection of the latter with the fall tube.
The pump is connected through a U-shaped tube to a very large reservoir R1. Especial care was taken in fitting the
grinding surfaces of the stoppers p and p1 and both of these and the mercury caps above them were made excep-
tionally long. After the U-shaped tube was fitted and put in place, it was heated, so as to soften and take off the
strain resulting from imperfect fitting. The U-shaped tube was provided with a stopcock C, and two ground connec-
tions g and g1--one for a small bulb b, usually containing caustic potash, and the other for the receiver r, to be
exhausted.
The reservoir Rt was connected by means of a rubber tube to a slightly larger reservoir R2, each of the two
reservoirs being provided with a stopcock Ct and C2, respectively. The reservoir R2 could be raised and lowered by
a wheel and rack, and the range of its motion was so determined that when it was filled with mercury and the
stopcock C2 closed, so as to form a Torricellian vacuum in it when raised, it could be lifted so high that the mercury
in reservoir R1 would stand a little above stopcock C1; and when this stopcock was closed and the reservoir R
descended, so as to form a Torricellian vacuum in reservoir R1 it could be lowered so far as to completely empty
the latter, the mercury filling the reservoir R2 up to a little above stopcock C2.
The capacity of the pump and of the connections was taken as small as possible relatively to the volume of reser-
voir, R1 since, of course, the degree of exhaustion depended upon the ratio of these quantities.
With this apparatus I combined the usual means indicated by former experiments for the production of very high
vacua. In most of the experiments it was convenient to use caustic potash. I may venture to say, in regard to its use,
that much time is saved and a more perfect action of the pump insured by fusing and boiling the potash as soon as,
or even before, the pump settles down. If this course is not followed the sticks, as ordinarily employed, may give
moisture off at a certain very slow rate, and the pump may work for many hours without reaching a very high
vacuum. The potash was heated either by a spirit lamp or by passing a discharge through it, or by passing a current
through a wire contained in it. The advantage in the latter case was that the heating could be more rapidly repeated.
Generally the process of exhaustion was the following:-- At the start, the stop-cocks C and C1 being open, and all
other connections closed, the reservoir R2 was raised so far that the mercury filled the reservoir R1 and a part of the
narrow connecting U-shaped tube. When the pump was set to work, the mercury would, of course, quickly rise in
the tube, and reservoir R2 was lowered, the experimenter keeping the mercury at about the same level. The reservoir
R1 was balanced by a long spring which facilitated the operation, and the friction of the parts was generally suf-
ficient to keep it almost in any position. When the Sprengel pump had done its work, the reservoir R2 was further
lowered and the mercury descended in R1 and filled R2, whereupon stopcock C2 was closed. The air adhering to the
walls of R1 and that absorbed by the mercury was carried off, and to free the mercury of all air the reservoir R2 was
for a long time worked up and down. During this process some air, which would gather below stopcock C2, was
expelled from R2 by lowering it far enough and opening the stopcock, closing the latter again before raising the
reservoir. When all the air had been expelled from the mercury, and no air would gather in R2 when it was lowered,
the caustic potash was resorted to. The reservoir R2 was now again raised until the mercury in R1 stood above
stopcock C1. The caustic potash was fused and boiled, and the moisture partly carried off by the pump and partly
re-absorbed; and this process of heating and cooling was repeated many times, and each time, upon the moisture
being absorbed or carried off, the reservoir R2 was for a long time raised and lowered. In this manner all the
moisture was carried off from the mercury, and both the reservoirs were in proper condition to be used. The
reservoir R2 was then again raised to the top, and the pump was kept working for a long time. When the highest
vacuum obtainable with the pump had been reached the potash bulb was usually wrapped with cotton which was
sprinkled with ether so as to keep the potash at a very low temperature, then the reservoir R2 was lowered, and upon
reservoir R1 being emptied the receiver r was quickly sealed up.
When a new bulb was put on, the mercury was always raised above stopcock C1 which was closed, so as to always
keep the mercury and both the reservoirs in fine condition, and the mercury was never withdrawn from R except
when the pump had reached the highest degree of exhaustion. It is necessary to observe this rule if it is desired to
use the apparatus to advantage.
By means of this arrangement I was able to proceed very quickly, and when the apparatus was in perfect order it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
was possible to reach the phosphorescent stage in a small bulb in less than 15 minutes, which is certainly very
quick work for a small laboratory arrangement requiring all in all about 100 pounds of mercury. With ordinary
small bulbs the ratio of the capacity of the pump, receiver, and connections, and that of reservoir R was about 1-20,
and the degrees of exhaustion reached were necessarily very high, though I am unable to make a precise and
reliable statement how far the exhaustion was carried.
What impresses the investigator most in the course of these experiences is the behavior of gases when subjected to
great rapidly alternating electrostatic stresses. But he must remain in doubt as to whether the effects observed are
due wholly to the molecules, or atoms, of the gas which chemical analysis discloses to us, or whether there enters
into play another medium of a gaseous nature, comprising atoms, or molecules, immersed in a fluid pervading the
space. Such a medium surely must exist, and I am convinced that, for instance, even if air were absent, the surface
and neighborhood of a body in space would be heated by rapidly alternating the potential of the body; but no such
heating of the surface or neighborhood could occur if all free atoms were removed and only a homogeneous, in-
compressible, and elastic fluid--such as ether is supposed to be--would remain, for then there would be no
impacts, no collisions. In such a case, as far as the body itself is concerned, only frictional losses in the inside could
occur.
It is a striking fact that the discharge through a gas is established with ever increasing freedom as the frequency of
the impulses is augmented. It behaves in this respect quite contrarily to a metallic conductor. In the latter the
impedance enters prominently into play as the frequency is increased, but the gas acts much as a series of conden-
sers would: the facility with which the discharge passes through seems to depend on the rate of change of potential.
If it act so, then in a vacuum tube even of great length, and no matter how strong the current, self-induction could
not assert itself to any appreciable degree. We have, then, as far as we can now see, in the gas a conductor which is
capable of transmitting electric impulses of any frequency which we may be able to produce. Could the frequency
be brought high enough, then a queer system of electric distribution, which would be likely to interest gas
companies, might be realized : metal pipes filled with gas--the metal being the insulator, the gas the conductor--
supplying phosphorescent bulbs, or perhaps devices as yet uninvented. It is certainly Possible to take a hollow core
of copper, rarefy the gas in the same, and by passing impulses of sufficiently high frequency through a circuit
around it, bring the gas inside to a high degree of incandescence; but as to the nature of the forces there would be
considerable uncertainty, for it would be doubtful whether with such impulses the copper core would act as a static
screen. Such paradoxes and apparent impossibilities we encounter at every step in this line of work, and therein
lies, to a great extent, the charm of the study.
I have here a short and wide tube which is exhausted to a high degree and covered with a substantial coating of
bronze, the coating allowing barely the light to shine through. A metallic clasp, with a hook for suspending the
tube, is fastened around the middle portion of the latter, the clasp being in contact with the bronze coating. I now
want to light the gas inside by suspending the tube on a wire connected to the coil. Any one who would try the
experiment for the first time, not having any previous experience, would probably take care to be quite alone when
making the trial, for fear that he might become the joke of his assistants. Still, the bulb lights in spite of the metal
coating, and the light can be distinctly perceived through the latter. A long tube covered with aluminium bronze
lights when held in one hand--the other touching the terminal of the coil--quite powerfully. It might be objected
that the coatings are not sufficiently conducting ; still, even if they were highly resistant, they ought to screen the
gas. They certainly screen it perfectly in a condition of rest, but not by far perfectly when the charge is surging in
the coating. But the loss of energy which occurs within the tube, notwithstanding the screen, is occasioned
principally by the presence of the gas. "Were to take a large hollow metallic sphere and fill it with a feet
incompressible fluid dielectric, there would be no loss inside of the sphere, and consequently the inside might be
considered as perfectly screened, though the potential be very rapidly alternating. Even were the sphere filled with
oil, the loss would be incomparably smaller than when the fluid is replaced by a gas, for in the latter case the force
produces displacements; that means impact and collisions in the inside.
No matter what the pressure of the gas may be, it becomes an important factor in the heating of a conductor when
the electric density is great and the frequency very high. That in the heating of conductors by lightning discharges
air is an element of great importance, is almost as certain as an experimental fact. I may illustrate the action of the
air by the following experiment: I take a short tube which is exhausted to a moderate degree and has a platinum
wire running through the middle from one end to the other. I pass a steady or low frequency current through the
wire, and it is heated uniformly in all parts. The heating here is due to conduction, or frictional losses, and the gas
around the wire has--as far as we can see--no function to perform. But now let me pass sudden discharges, or a
high frequency current, through the wire. Again the wire is heated, this time principally on the ends and least in the
middle portion; and if the frequency of the impulses, or the rate of change, is high enough, the wire might as well
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
be cut in the middle as not, for practically the heating is due to the rarefied gas. Here the bright only act as a
conductor of no impedance diverting the current from the wire as the impedance of the latter is enormously
increased, and merely heating the ends of the wire by reason of their resistance to the passage of the discharge. But
it is not at all necessary that the gas in the tube should be conducting; it might be at an extremely low pressure, still
the ends of the wire would be heated--as, however, is ascertained by experience--only the two ends would in such
case not be electrically connected through the gaseous medium. Now what with these frequencies and potentials
occurs in an exhausted tube occurs in the lightning discharges at ordinary pressure. We only need remember one of
the facts arrived at in the course of these investigations, namely, that to impulses of very high frequency the gas at
ordinary pressure behaves much in the same manner as though it were at moderately low pressure. I think that in
lightning discharges frequently wires or conducting objects are volatilized merely because air is present, and that,
were the conductor immersed in an insulating liquid, it would be safe, for then the energy would have to spend
itself somewhere else. From the behavior of gases to sudden impulses of high potential I am led to conclude that
there can be no surer way of diverting a lightning discharge than by affording it a passage through a volume of gas,
if such a thing can be done in a practical manner.
There are two more features upon which I think it necessary to dwell in connection with these experiments--the
"radiant state" and the "non-striking vacuum."
Any one who has studied Crookes' work must have received the impression that the "radiant state" is a property of
the gas inseparably connected with an extremely high degree of exhaustion. But it should be remembered that the
phenomena observed in an exhausted vessel are limited to the character and capacity of the apparatus which is
made use of. I think that in a bulb a molecule, or atom, does not precisely move in a straight line because it meets
no obstacle, but because the velocity imparted to it is sufficient to propel it in a sensibly straight line. The mean
free path is one thing, but the velocity--the energy associated with the moving body--is another, and under
ordinary circumstances I believe that it is a mere question of potential or speed. A disruptive discharge coil, when
the potential is pushed very far, excites phosphorescence and projects shadows, at comparatively low degrees of
exhaustion. In a lightning discharge, matter moves in straight lines at ordinary pressure when the mean free path is
exceedingly small, and frequently images of wires or other metallic objects have been produced by the particles
thrown off in straight lines.
constructed to better suit the work required. The stop-cock which is usually employed has been omitted, and
instead of it a hollow stopper s has been fitted in the neck of the reservoir R. This stopper has a small hole h,
through which the mercury descends; the size of the outlet o being properly determined with respect to the section
of the fall tube t, which is sealed to the reservoir instead of being connected to it in the usual manner. This arrange-
ment overcomes the imperfections and troubles which often arise from the use of the stopcock on the reservoir and
the connection of the latter with the fall tube.
The pump is connected through a U-shaped tube to a very large reservoir R1. Especial care was taken in fitting the
grinding surfaces of the stoppers p and p1 and both of these and the mercury caps above them were made excep-
tionally long. After the U-shaped tube was fitted and put in place, it was heated, so as to soften and take off the
strain resulting from imperfect fitting. The U-shaped tube was provided with a stopcock C, and two ground connec-
tions g and g1--one for a small bulb b, usually containing caustic potash, and the other for the receiver r, to be
exhausted.
The reservoir Rt was connected by means of a rubber tube to a slightly larger reservoir R2, each of the two
reservoirs being provided with a stopcock Ct and C2, respectively. The reservoir R2 could be raised and lowered by
a wheel and rack, and the range of its motion was so determined that when it was filled with mercury and the
stopcock C2 closed, so as to form a Torricellian vacuum in it when raised, it could be lifted so high that the mercury
in reservoir R1 would stand a little above stopcock C1; and when this stopcock was closed and the reservoir R
descended, so as to form a Torricellian vacuum in reservoir R1 it could be lowered so far as to completely empty
the latter, the mercury filling the reservoir R2 up to a little above stopcock C2.
The capacity of the pump and of the connections was taken as small as possible relatively to the volume of reser-
voir, R1 since, of course, the degree of exhaustion depended upon the ratio of these quantities.
With this apparatus I combined the usual means indicated by former experiments for the production of very high
vacua. In most of the experiments it was convenient to use caustic potash. I may venture to say, in regard to its use,
that much time is saved and a more perfect action of the pump insured by fusing and boiling the potash as soon as,
or even before, the pump settles down. If this course is not followed the sticks, as ordinarily employed, may give
moisture off at a certain very slow rate, and the pump may work for many hours without reaching a very high
vacuum. The potash was heated either by a spirit lamp or by passing a discharge through it, or by passing a current
through a wire contained in it. The advantage in the latter case was that the heating could be more rapidly repeated.
Generally the process of exhaustion was the following:-- At the start, the stop-cocks C and C1 being open, and all
other connections closed, the reservoir R2 was raised so far that the mercury filled the reservoir R1 and a part of the
narrow connecting U-shaped tube. When the pump was set to work, the mercury would, of course, quickly rise in
the tube, and reservoir R2 was lowered, the experimenter keeping the mercury at about the same level. The reservoir
R1 was balanced by a long spring which facilitated the operation, and the friction of the parts was generally suf-
ficient to keep it almost in any position. When the Sprengel pump had done its work, the reservoir R2 was further
lowered and the mercury descended in R1 and filled R2, whereupon stopcock C2 was closed. The air adhering to the
walls of R1 and that absorbed by the mercury was carried off, and to free the mercury of all air the reservoir R2 was
for a long time worked up and down. During this process some air, which would gather below stopcock C2, was
expelled from R2 by lowering it far enough and opening the stopcock, closing the latter again before raising the
reservoir. When all the air had been expelled from the mercury, and no air would gather in R2 when it was lowered,
the caustic potash was resorted to. The reservoir R2 was now again raised until the mercury in R1 stood above
stopcock C1. The caustic potash was fused and boiled, and the moisture partly carried off by the pump and partly
re-absorbed; and this process of heating and cooling was repeated many times, and each time, upon the moisture
being absorbed or carried off, the reservoir R2 was for a long time raised and lowered. In this manner all the
moisture was carried off from the mercury, and both the reservoirs were in proper condition to be used. The
reservoir R2 was then again raised to the top, and the pump was kept working for a long time. When the highest
vacuum obtainable with the pump had been reached the potash bulb was usually wrapped with cotton which was
sprinkled with ether so as to keep the potash at a very low temperature, then the reservoir R2 was lowered, and upon
reservoir R1 being emptied the receiver r was quickly sealed up.
When a new bulb was put on, the mercury was always raised above stopcock C1 which was closed, so as to always
keep the mercury and both the reservoirs in fine condition, and the mercury was never withdrawn from R except
when the pump had reached the highest degree of exhaustion. It is necessary to observe this rule if it is desired to
use the apparatus to advantage.
By means of this arrangement I was able to proceed very quickly, and when the apparatus was in perfect order it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
was possible to reach the phosphorescent stage in a small bulb in less than 15 minutes, which is certainly very
quick work for a small laboratory arrangement requiring all in all about 100 pounds of mercury. With ordinary
small bulbs the ratio of the capacity of the pump, receiver, and connections, and that of reservoir R was about 1-20,
and the degrees of exhaustion reached were necessarily very high, though I am unable to make a precise and
reliable statement how far the exhaustion was carried.
What impresses the investigator most in the course of these experiences is the behavior of gases when subjected to
great rapidly alternating electrostatic stresses. But he must remain in doubt as to whether the effects observed are
due wholly to the molecules, or atoms, of the gas which chemical analysis discloses to us, or whether there enters
into play another medium of a gaseous nature, comprising atoms, or molecules, immersed in a fluid pervading the
space. Such a medium surely must exist, and I am convinced that, for instance, even if air were absent, the surface
and neighborhood of a body in space would be heated by rapidly alternating the potential of the body; but no such
heating of the surface or neighborhood could occur if all free atoms were removed and only a homogeneous, in-
compressible, and elastic fluid--such as ether is supposed to be--would remain, for then there would be no
impacts, no collisions. In such a case, as far as the body itself is concerned, only frictional losses in the inside could
occur.
It is a striking fact that the discharge through a gas is established with ever increasing freedom as the frequency of
the impulses is augmented. It behaves in this respect quite contrarily to a metallic conductor. In the latter the
impedance enters prominently into play as the frequency is increased, but the gas acts much as a series of conden-
sers would: the facility with which the discharge passes through seems to depend on the rate of change of potential.
If it act so, then in a vacuum tube even of great length, and no matter how strong the current, self-induction could
not assert itself to any appreciable degree. We have, then, as far as we can now see, in the gas a conductor which is
capable of transmitting electric impulses of any frequency which we may be able to produce. Could the frequency
be brought high enough, then a queer system of electric distribution, which would be likely to interest gas
companies, might be realized : metal pipes filled with gas--the metal being the insulator, the gas the conductor--
supplying phosphorescent bulbs, or perhaps devices as yet uninvented. It is certainly Possible to take a hollow core
of copper, rarefy the gas in the same, and by passing impulses of sufficiently high frequency through a circuit
around it, bring the gas inside to a high degree of incandescence; but as to the nature of the forces there would be
considerable uncertainty, for it would be doubtful whether with such impulses the copper core would act as a static
screen. Such paradoxes and apparent impossibilities we encounter at every step in this line of work, and therein
lies, to a great extent, the charm of the study.
I have here a short and wide tube which is exhausted to a high degree and covered with a substantial coating of
bronze, the coating allowing barely the light to shine through. A metallic clasp, with a hook for suspending the
tube, is fastened around the middle portion of the latter, the clasp being in contact with the bronze coating. I now
want to light the gas inside by suspending the tube on a wire connected to the coil. Any one who would try the
experiment for the first time, not having any previous experience, would probably take care to be quite alone when
making the trial, for fear that he might become the joke of his assistants. Still, the bulb lights in spite of the metal
coating, and the light can be distinctly perceived through the latter. A long tube covered with aluminium bronze
lights when held in one hand--the other touching the terminal of the coil--quite powerfully. It might be objected
that the coatings are not sufficiently conducting ; still, even if they were highly resistant, they ought to screen the
gas. They certainly screen it perfectly in a condition of rest, but not by far perfectly when the charge is surging in
the coating. But the loss of energy which occurs within the tube, notwithstanding the screen, is occasioned
principally by the presence of the gas. "Were to take a large hollow metallic sphere and fill it with a feet
incompressible fluid dielectric, there would be no loss inside of the sphere, and consequently the inside might be
considered as perfectly screened, though the potential be very rapidly alternating. Even were the sphere filled with
oil, the loss would be incomparably smaller than when the fluid is replaced by a gas, for in the latter case the force
produces displacements; that means impact and collisions in the inside.
No matter what the pressure of the gas may be, it becomes an important factor in the heating of a conductor when
the electric density is great and the frequency very high. That in the heating of conductors by lightning discharges
air is an element of great importance, is almost as certain as an experimental fact. I may illustrate the action of the
air by the following experiment: I take a short tube which is exhausted to a moderate degree and has a platinum
wire running through the middle from one end to the other. I pass a steady or low frequency current through the
wire, and it is heated uniformly in all parts. The heating here is due to conduction, or frictional losses, and the gas
around the wire has--as far as we can see--no function to perform. But now let me pass sudden discharges, or a
high frequency current, through the wire. Again the wire is heated, this time principally on the ends and least in the
middle portion; and if the frequency of the impulses, or the rate of change, is high enough, the wire might as well
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
be cut in the middle as not, for practically the heating is due to the rarefied gas. Here the bright only act as a
conductor of no impedance diverting the current from the wire as the impedance of the latter is enormously
increased, and merely heating the ends of the wire by reason of their resistance to the passage of the discharge. But
it is not at all necessary that the gas in the tube should be conducting; it might be at an extremely low pressure, still
the ends of the wire would be heated--as, however, is ascertained by experience--only the two ends would in such
case not be electrically connected through the gaseous medium. Now what with these frequencies and potentials
occurs in an exhausted tube occurs in the lightning discharges at ordinary pressure. We only need remember one of
the facts arrived at in the course of these investigations, namely, that to impulses of very high frequency the gas at
ordinary pressure behaves much in the same manner as though it were at moderately low pressure. I think that in
lightning discharges frequently wires or conducting objects are volatilized merely because air is present, and that,
were the conductor immersed in an insulating liquid, it would be safe, for then the energy would have to spend
itself somewhere else. From the behavior of gases to sudden impulses of high potential I am led to conclude that
there can be no surer way of diverting a lightning discharge than by affording it a passage through a volume of gas,
if such a thing can be done in a practical manner.
There are two more features upon which I think it necessary to dwell in connection with these experiments--the
"radiant state" and the "non-striking vacuum."
Any one who has studied Crookes' work must have received the impression that the "radiant state" is a property of
the gas inseparably connected with an extremely high degree of exhaustion. But it should be remembered that the
phenomena observed in an exhausted vessel are limited to the character and capacity of the apparatus which is
made use of. I think that in a bulb a molecule, or atom, does not precisely move in a straight line because it meets
no obstacle, but because the velocity imparted to it is sufficient to propel it in a sensibly straight line. The mean
free path is one thing, but the velocity--the energy associated with the moving body--is another, and under
ordinary circumstances I believe that it is a mere question of potential or speed. A disruptive discharge coil, when
the potential is pushed very far, excites phosphorescence and projects shadows, at comparatively low degrees of
exhaustion. In a lightning discharge, matter moves in straight lines at ordinary pressure when the mean free path is
exceedingly small, and frequently images of wires or other metallic objects have been produced by the particles
thrown off in straight lines.
FIG. 31. -BULB SHOWING RADIANT LIME STREAM AT LOW EXHAUSTION.
I have prepared a bulb to illustrate by an experiment the correctness of these assertions. In a globe L (Fig. 31, I
have mounted upon a lamp filament a piece of lime l. The lamp filament is connected with a wire which leads into
the bulb, and the general construction of the latter is as indicated in Fig. 19, before described. The bulb being
suspended from a wire connected to the terminal of the coil, and the latter being set to work, the lime piece l and
the projecting parts of the filament/ are bombarded. The degree of exhaustion is just such that with the potential the
coil is capable of giving phosphorescence of the glass is produced, but disappears as soon as the vacuum is
impaired. The lime containing moisture, and moisture being given off as soon as heating occurs, the phospho-
rescence lasts only for a few moments. When the lime has been sufficiently heated, enough moisture has been
given off to impair materially the vacuum of the bulb. As the bombardment goes on, one point of the lime piece is
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
more heated than other points, and the result is that finally practically all the discharge passes through that point
which is intensely heated, and a white stream of lime particles (Fig. 31) then breaks forth from that point. This
stream is composed of "radiant" matter, yet the degree of exhaustion is low. But the particles move in straight lines
because the velocity imparted to them is great, and this is due to three causes--to the great electric density, the high
temperature of the small point, and the fact that the particles of the lime are easily torn and thrown off--far more
easily than those of carbon. With frequencies such as we are able to obtain, the particles are bodily thrown off and
projected to a considerable distance; but with sufficiently high frequencies no such thing would occur: in such case
only a stress would spread or a vibration would be propagated through the bulb. It would be out of the question to
reach any such frequency on the assumption that the atoms move with the speed of light; but I believe that such a
thing is impossible; for this an enormous potential would be required. With potentials which we are able to obtain,
even with a disruptive discharge coil, the speed must be quite insignificant.
As to the "non-striking vacuum," the point to be noted is that it can occur only with low frequency impulses, and it
is necessitated by the impossibility of carrying off enough energy with such impulses in high vacuum since the few
atoms which are around the terminal upon coming in contact with the same are repelled and kept at a distance for a
comparatively long period of time, and not enough work can be performed to render the effect perceptible to the
eye. If the difference of potential between the terminals is raised, the dielectric breaks down. But with very high
frequency impulses there is no necessity for such breaking down, since any amount of work can be performed by
continually agitating the atoms in the exhausted vessel, provided the frequency is high enough. It is easy to reach--
even with frequencies obtained from an alternator as here used-- a stage at which the discharge does not pass
between two electrodes in a narrow tube, each of these being connected to one of the terminals of the coil, but it is
difficult to reach a point at which a luminous discharge would not occur around each electrode.
A thought which naturally presents itself in connection with high frequency currents, is to make use of their pow-
erful electro-dynamic inductive action to produce light effects in a sealed glass globe. The leading-in wire is one of
the defects of the present incandescent lamp, and if DO other improvement were made, that imperfection at least
should be done away with. Following this thought, I have carried on experiments in various directions, of which
some were indicated in my former paper. I may here mention one or two more lines of experiment which have been
followed up. Many bulbs were constructed as shown in Fig. 32 and Fig. 33.
have mounted upon a lamp filament a piece of lime l. The lamp filament is connected with a wire which leads into
the bulb, and the general construction of the latter is as indicated in Fig. 19, before described. The bulb being
suspended from a wire connected to the terminal of the coil, and the latter being set to work, the lime piece l and
the projecting parts of the filament/ are bombarded. The degree of exhaustion is just such that with the potential the
coil is capable of giving phosphorescence of the glass is produced, but disappears as soon as the vacuum is
impaired. The lime containing moisture, and moisture being given off as soon as heating occurs, the phospho-
rescence lasts only for a few moments. When the lime has been sufficiently heated, enough moisture has been
given off to impair materially the vacuum of the bulb. As the bombardment goes on, one point of the lime piece is
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
more heated than other points, and the result is that finally practically all the discharge passes through that point
which is intensely heated, and a white stream of lime particles (Fig. 31) then breaks forth from that point. This
stream is composed of "radiant" matter, yet the degree of exhaustion is low. But the particles move in straight lines
because the velocity imparted to them is great, and this is due to three causes--to the great electric density, the high
temperature of the small point, and the fact that the particles of the lime are easily torn and thrown off--far more
easily than those of carbon. With frequencies such as we are able to obtain, the particles are bodily thrown off and
projected to a considerable distance; but with sufficiently high frequencies no such thing would occur: in such case
only a stress would spread or a vibration would be propagated through the bulb. It would be out of the question to
reach any such frequency on the assumption that the atoms move with the speed of light; but I believe that such a
thing is impossible; for this an enormous potential would be required. With potentials which we are able to obtain,
even with a disruptive discharge coil, the speed must be quite insignificant.
As to the "non-striking vacuum," the point to be noted is that it can occur only with low frequency impulses, and it
is necessitated by the impossibility of carrying off enough energy with such impulses in high vacuum since the few
atoms which are around the terminal upon coming in contact with the same are repelled and kept at a distance for a
comparatively long period of time, and not enough work can be performed to render the effect perceptible to the
eye. If the difference of potential between the terminals is raised, the dielectric breaks down. But with very high
frequency impulses there is no necessity for such breaking down, since any amount of work can be performed by
continually agitating the atoms in the exhausted vessel, provided the frequency is high enough. It is easy to reach--
even with frequencies obtained from an alternator as here used-- a stage at which the discharge does not pass
between two electrodes in a narrow tube, each of these being connected to one of the terminals of the coil, but it is
difficult to reach a point at which a luminous discharge would not occur around each electrode.
A thought which naturally presents itself in connection with high frequency currents, is to make use of their pow-
erful electro-dynamic inductive action to produce light effects in a sealed glass globe. The leading-in wire is one of
the defects of the present incandescent lamp, and if DO other improvement were made, that imperfection at least
should be done away with. Following this thought, I have carried on experiments in various directions, of which
some were indicated in my former paper. I may here mention one or two more lines of experiment which have been
followed up. Many bulbs were constructed as shown in Fig. 32 and Fig. 33.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Fig 32 33 ELECTRO DYNAMIC,INDUCTION COIL INDUCTION LAMP
In Fig. 32 a wide tube T was sealed to a smaller W-shaped tube U, of phosphorescent glass. In the tube T was
placed a coil C of aluminium wire, the ends of which were provided with small spheres t and t1 of aluminium, and
reached into the U tube. The tube T was slipped into a socket containing a primary coil through which usually the
discharges of Leyden jars were directed, and the rarefied gas in the small 17 tube was excited to strong luminosity
by the high-tension currents induced in the coil C. When Leyden jar discharges were used to induce currents in the
coil C, it was found necessary to pack the tube T tightly with insulating powder, as a discharge would occur
frequently between the turns of the coil, especially when the primary was thick and the air gap, through which the
jars discharged, large, and no little trouble was experienced in this way.
In Fig. 33 is illustrated another form of the bulb constructed. In this case a tube T is sealed to a globe L. The tube
contains a coil C, the ends of which pass through two small glass tubes t and t1, which are sealed to the tube T. Two
refractory buttons m and mx are mounted on lamp filaments which are fastened to the ends of the wires passing
through the glass tubes t and t1. Generally in bulbs made on this plan the globe L communicated with the tube T.
For this purpose the ends of the small tubes t and t1 were just a trifle heated in the burner, merely to hold the wires,
but not to interfere with the communication. The tube T, with the small tubes, wires through the same, and the
refractory buttons m and m1, was first prepared, and then sealed to globe L, whereupon the coil C was slipped in
and the connections made to its ends. The tube was then packed with insulating powder, jamming the latter as tight
as possible up to very nearly the end, then it was closed and only a small hole left through which the remainder of
the powder was introduced, and finally the end of the tube was closed. Usually in bulbs constructed as shown in
Fig. 33 an aluminium tube a was fastened to the upper end s of each of the tubes t and t1, in order to protect that
end against the heat. The buttons m and m1 could be brought to any degree of incandescence by passing the dis-
charges of Leyden jars around the coil C. In such bulbs with two buttons a very curious effect is produced by the
formation of the shadows of each of the two buttons.
Another line of experiment, which has been assiduously followed, was to induce by electro-dynamic induction a
current or luminous discharge in an exhausted tube or bulb. This matter has received such able treatment at the
hands of Prof. J. J. Thomson that I could add but little to what he has made known, even had I made it the special
subject of this lecture. Still, since experiences in this line have gradually led me to the present views and results, a
few words must be devoted here to this subject.
It has occurred, no doubt, to many that as a vacuum tube is made longer the electromotive force per unit length of
the tube, necessary to pass a luminous discharge through the latter, gets continually smaller; therefore, if the ex-
hausted tube be made long enough, even with low frequencies a luminous discharge could be induced in such a
tube closed upon itself. Such a tube might be placed around a hall or on a ceiling, and at once a simple appliance
capable of giving considerable light would be obtained. But this would be an appliance hard to manufacture and
extremely unmanageable. It would not do to make the tube up of small lengths, because there would be with
ordinary frequencies considerable loss in the coatings, and besides, if coatings were used, it would be better to
supply the current directly to the tube by connecting the coatings to a transformer. But even if all objections of such
nature were removed, still, with low frequencies the light conversion itself would be inefficient, as I have before
stated. In using extremely high frequencies the length of the secondary--in other words, the size of the vessel--can
be reduced as far as desired, and the efficiency of the light conversion is increased, provided that means are
invented for efficiently obtaining such high frequencies. Thus one is led, from theoretical and practical
considerations, to the use of high frequencies, and this means high electromotive forces and small currents in the
primary. When he works with condenser charges--and they are the only means up to the present known for
reaching these extreme frequencies--he gets to electromotive forces of several thousands of volts per turn of the
primary. He cannot multiply the electro-dynamic inductive effect by taking more turns in the primary, for ho ar-
rives at the conclusion that the best way is to work with one single turn--though he must sometimes depart from
this rule--and he must get along with whatever inductive effect he can obtain with one turn. But before he has long
experimented with the extreme frequencies required to set up in a small bulb an electromotive force of several
thousands of volts he realizes the great importance of electrostatic effects, and these effects grow relatively to the
electro-dynamic in significance as the frequency is increased.
Now, if anything is desirable in this case, it is to increase the frequency, and this would make it still worse for the
electro-dynamic effects. On the other hand, it is easy to exalt the electrostatic action as far as one likes by taking
more turns on the secondary, or combining self-induction and capacity to raise the potential. It should also be
remembered that, in reducing the current to the smallest value and increasing the potential, the electric impulses of
high frequency can be more easily transmitted through a conductor.
These and similar thoughts determined me to devote more attention to the electrostatic phenomena, and to endeavor
to produce potentials as high as possible, and alternating as fast as they could be made to alternate. I then found that
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I could excite vacuum tubes at considerable distance from a conductor connected to a properly constructed coil, and
that I could, by converting the oscillatory current of a condenser to a higher potential, establish electrostatic
alternating fields which acted through the whole extent of a room, lighting up a tube no matter where it was held in
space. I thought I recognized that I had made a step in advance, and I have persevered in this line; but I wish to say
that I share with all lovers of science and progress the one and only desire--to reach a result of utility to men in any
direction to which thought or experiment may lead me. I think that this departure is the right one, for I cannot see,
from the observation of the phenomena which manifest themselves as the frequency is increased, what there would
remain to act between two circuits conveying, for instance, impulses of several hundred millions per second, except
electrostatic forces. Even with such trifling frequencies the energy would be practically all potential, and my
conviction has grown strong that, to whatever kind of motion light may be due, it is produced by tremendous
electrostatic stresses vibrating with extreme rapidity.
Of all these phenomena observed with currents, or electric impulses, of high frequency, the most fascinating for an
audience are certainly those which are noted in an electrostatic field acting through considerable distance, and the
best an unskilled lecturer can do is to begin and finish with the exhibition of these singular effects. I take a tube in
the hand and move it about, and it is lighted wherever I may hold it; throughout space the invisible forces act. But I
may take another tube and it might not light, the vacuum being very high. I excite it by means of a disruptive
discharge coil, and now it will light in the electrostatic field. I may put it away for a few weeks or months, still it
retains the faculty of being excited. What change have I produced in the tube in the act of exciting it? If a motion
imparted to the atoms, it is difficult to perceive how it can persist so long without being arrested by frictional losses
; and if a strain exerted in the dielectric, such as a simple electrification would produce, it is easy to see how it may
persist indefinitely, but very difficult to understand why such a condition should aid the excitation when we have to
deal with potentials which are rapidly alternating. Since I have exhibited these phenomena for the first time, I have
obtained some other interesting effects. For instance, I have produced the incandescence of a button, filament, or
wire enclosed in a tube. To get to this result it was necessary to economize the energy which is obtained from the
field and direct most of it on the small body to be rendered incandescent. At the beginning the task appeared
difficult, but the experiences gathered permitted me to reach the result easily. In Fig. 34 and Fig. 35 two such tubes
are illustrated which are prepared for the occasion. In Fig. 34 a short tube T1, sealed to another long tube T, is pro-
vided with a stem s, with a platinum wire sealed in the latter. A very thin lamp filament I is fastened to this wire,
and connection to the outside is made through a thin copper wire w. The tube is provided with outside and inside
coatings. C and d respectively, and is filled as far as the coatings reach with conducting, and the space above with
insulating powder. These coatings are merely used to enable me to perform two experiments with the tube--
namely, to produce the effect desired either by direct connection of the body of the experimenter or of another body
to the wire w, or by acting inductively through the glass. The stem a is provided with an aluminium tube a, for pur-
poses before explained, and only a small part of the filament reaches out of this tube. By holding the tube T1 any-
where in the electrostatic field the filament is rendered incandescent.
A more interesting piece of apparatus is illustrated in Fig. 35. The construction is the same as before, only instead
of the lamp filament a small platinum wire p, sealed in a stem s, and bent above it in a circle, is connected to the
copper wire to, which is joined to an inside coating C A small stem st is provided with a needle, on the point of
which is arranged to rotate very freely a very light fan of mica v. To prevent the fan from falling out, a thin stem of
glass g is bent properly and fastened to the aluminium tube. When the glass tube is held anywhere in the
electrostatic field the platinum wire becomes incandescent, and the mica vanes are rotated very fast.
Intense phosphorescence may be excited in a bulb by merely connecting it to a plate within the field, and the plate
need not be any larger than an ordinary lamp shade. The phosphorescence excited with these currents is incom-
parably more powerful than with ordinary apparatus. A small phosphorescent bulb, when attached to a wire con-
nected to a coil, emits sufficient light to allow reading ordinary print at a distance of five to six paces. It was of
interest to see how some of the phosphorescent bulbs of Professor Crookes would behave with these currents, and
he has had the kindness to lend me a few for the occasion. The effects produced are magnificent, especially by the
sulphide of calcium and sulphide of zinc. From the disruptive discharge coil they glow intensely merely by holding
them in the hand and connecting the body to the terminal of the coil.
To whatever results investigations of this kind may lead, their chief interest lies for the present in the possibilities
they offer for the production of an efficient illuminating device. In no branch of electric industry is an advance
more desired than in the manufacture of light. Every thinker, when considering the barbarous methods employed,
the deplorable losses incurred in our best systems of light production, must have asked himself, What is likely to be
the light of the future? Is it to be an incandescent solid, as in the present lamp, or an incandescent gas, or a
phosphorescent body, or something like a burner, but incomparably more efficient?
placed a coil C of aluminium wire, the ends of which were provided with small spheres t and t1 of aluminium, and
reached into the U tube. The tube T was slipped into a socket containing a primary coil through which usually the
discharges of Leyden jars were directed, and the rarefied gas in the small 17 tube was excited to strong luminosity
by the high-tension currents induced in the coil C. When Leyden jar discharges were used to induce currents in the
coil C, it was found necessary to pack the tube T tightly with insulating powder, as a discharge would occur
frequently between the turns of the coil, especially when the primary was thick and the air gap, through which the
jars discharged, large, and no little trouble was experienced in this way.
In Fig. 33 is illustrated another form of the bulb constructed. In this case a tube T is sealed to a globe L. The tube
contains a coil C, the ends of which pass through two small glass tubes t and t1, which are sealed to the tube T. Two
refractory buttons m and mx are mounted on lamp filaments which are fastened to the ends of the wires passing
through the glass tubes t and t1. Generally in bulbs made on this plan the globe L communicated with the tube T.
For this purpose the ends of the small tubes t and t1 were just a trifle heated in the burner, merely to hold the wires,
but not to interfere with the communication. The tube T, with the small tubes, wires through the same, and the
refractory buttons m and m1, was first prepared, and then sealed to globe L, whereupon the coil C was slipped in
and the connections made to its ends. The tube was then packed with insulating powder, jamming the latter as tight
as possible up to very nearly the end, then it was closed and only a small hole left through which the remainder of
the powder was introduced, and finally the end of the tube was closed. Usually in bulbs constructed as shown in
Fig. 33 an aluminium tube a was fastened to the upper end s of each of the tubes t and t1, in order to protect that
end against the heat. The buttons m and m1 could be brought to any degree of incandescence by passing the dis-
charges of Leyden jars around the coil C. In such bulbs with two buttons a very curious effect is produced by the
formation of the shadows of each of the two buttons.
Another line of experiment, which has been assiduously followed, was to induce by electro-dynamic induction a
current or luminous discharge in an exhausted tube or bulb. This matter has received such able treatment at the
hands of Prof. J. J. Thomson that I could add but little to what he has made known, even had I made it the special
subject of this lecture. Still, since experiences in this line have gradually led me to the present views and results, a
few words must be devoted here to this subject.
It has occurred, no doubt, to many that as a vacuum tube is made longer the electromotive force per unit length of
the tube, necessary to pass a luminous discharge through the latter, gets continually smaller; therefore, if the ex-
hausted tube be made long enough, even with low frequencies a luminous discharge could be induced in such a
tube closed upon itself. Such a tube might be placed around a hall or on a ceiling, and at once a simple appliance
capable of giving considerable light would be obtained. But this would be an appliance hard to manufacture and
extremely unmanageable. It would not do to make the tube up of small lengths, because there would be with
ordinary frequencies considerable loss in the coatings, and besides, if coatings were used, it would be better to
supply the current directly to the tube by connecting the coatings to a transformer. But even if all objections of such
nature were removed, still, with low frequencies the light conversion itself would be inefficient, as I have before
stated. In using extremely high frequencies the length of the secondary--in other words, the size of the vessel--can
be reduced as far as desired, and the efficiency of the light conversion is increased, provided that means are
invented for efficiently obtaining such high frequencies. Thus one is led, from theoretical and practical
considerations, to the use of high frequencies, and this means high electromotive forces and small currents in the
primary. When he works with condenser charges--and they are the only means up to the present known for
reaching these extreme frequencies--he gets to electromotive forces of several thousands of volts per turn of the
primary. He cannot multiply the electro-dynamic inductive effect by taking more turns in the primary, for ho ar-
rives at the conclusion that the best way is to work with one single turn--though he must sometimes depart from
this rule--and he must get along with whatever inductive effect he can obtain with one turn. But before he has long
experimented with the extreme frequencies required to set up in a small bulb an electromotive force of several
thousands of volts he realizes the great importance of electrostatic effects, and these effects grow relatively to the
electro-dynamic in significance as the frequency is increased.
Now, if anything is desirable in this case, it is to increase the frequency, and this would make it still worse for the
electro-dynamic effects. On the other hand, it is easy to exalt the electrostatic action as far as one likes by taking
more turns on the secondary, or combining self-induction and capacity to raise the potential. It should also be
remembered that, in reducing the current to the smallest value and increasing the potential, the electric impulses of
high frequency can be more easily transmitted through a conductor.
These and similar thoughts determined me to devote more attention to the electrostatic phenomena, and to endeavor
to produce potentials as high as possible, and alternating as fast as they could be made to alternate. I then found that
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I could excite vacuum tubes at considerable distance from a conductor connected to a properly constructed coil, and
that I could, by converting the oscillatory current of a condenser to a higher potential, establish electrostatic
alternating fields which acted through the whole extent of a room, lighting up a tube no matter where it was held in
space. I thought I recognized that I had made a step in advance, and I have persevered in this line; but I wish to say
that I share with all lovers of science and progress the one and only desire--to reach a result of utility to men in any
direction to which thought or experiment may lead me. I think that this departure is the right one, for I cannot see,
from the observation of the phenomena which manifest themselves as the frequency is increased, what there would
remain to act between two circuits conveying, for instance, impulses of several hundred millions per second, except
electrostatic forces. Even with such trifling frequencies the energy would be practically all potential, and my
conviction has grown strong that, to whatever kind of motion light may be due, it is produced by tremendous
electrostatic stresses vibrating with extreme rapidity.
Of all these phenomena observed with currents, or electric impulses, of high frequency, the most fascinating for an
audience are certainly those which are noted in an electrostatic field acting through considerable distance, and the
best an unskilled lecturer can do is to begin and finish with the exhibition of these singular effects. I take a tube in
the hand and move it about, and it is lighted wherever I may hold it; throughout space the invisible forces act. But I
may take another tube and it might not light, the vacuum being very high. I excite it by means of a disruptive
discharge coil, and now it will light in the electrostatic field. I may put it away for a few weeks or months, still it
retains the faculty of being excited. What change have I produced in the tube in the act of exciting it? If a motion
imparted to the atoms, it is difficult to perceive how it can persist so long without being arrested by frictional losses
; and if a strain exerted in the dielectric, such as a simple electrification would produce, it is easy to see how it may
persist indefinitely, but very difficult to understand why such a condition should aid the excitation when we have to
deal with potentials which are rapidly alternating. Since I have exhibited these phenomena for the first time, I have
obtained some other interesting effects. For instance, I have produced the incandescence of a button, filament, or
wire enclosed in a tube. To get to this result it was necessary to economize the energy which is obtained from the
field and direct most of it on the small body to be rendered incandescent. At the beginning the task appeared
difficult, but the experiences gathered permitted me to reach the result easily. In Fig. 34 and Fig. 35 two such tubes
are illustrated which are prepared for the occasion. In Fig. 34 a short tube T1, sealed to another long tube T, is pro-
vided with a stem s, with a platinum wire sealed in the latter. A very thin lamp filament I is fastened to this wire,
and connection to the outside is made through a thin copper wire w. The tube is provided with outside and inside
coatings. C and d respectively, and is filled as far as the coatings reach with conducting, and the space above with
insulating powder. These coatings are merely used to enable me to perform two experiments with the tube--
namely, to produce the effect desired either by direct connection of the body of the experimenter or of another body
to the wire w, or by acting inductively through the glass. The stem a is provided with an aluminium tube a, for pur-
poses before explained, and only a small part of the filament reaches out of this tube. By holding the tube T1 any-
where in the electrostatic field the filament is rendered incandescent.
A more interesting piece of apparatus is illustrated in Fig. 35. The construction is the same as before, only instead
of the lamp filament a small platinum wire p, sealed in a stem s, and bent above it in a circle, is connected to the
copper wire to, which is joined to an inside coating C A small stem st is provided with a needle, on the point of
which is arranged to rotate very freely a very light fan of mica v. To prevent the fan from falling out, a thin stem of
glass g is bent properly and fastened to the aluminium tube. When the glass tube is held anywhere in the
electrostatic field the platinum wire becomes incandescent, and the mica vanes are rotated very fast.
Intense phosphorescence may be excited in a bulb by merely connecting it to a plate within the field, and the plate
need not be any larger than an ordinary lamp shade. The phosphorescence excited with these currents is incom-
parably more powerful than with ordinary apparatus. A small phosphorescent bulb, when attached to a wire con-
nected to a coil, emits sufficient light to allow reading ordinary print at a distance of five to six paces. It was of
interest to see how some of the phosphorescent bulbs of Professor Crookes would behave with these currents, and
he has had the kindness to lend me a few for the occasion. The effects produced are magnificent, especially by the
sulphide of calcium and sulphide of zinc. From the disruptive discharge coil they glow intensely merely by holding
them in the hand and connecting the body to the terminal of the coil.
To whatever results investigations of this kind may lead, their chief interest lies for the present in the possibilities
they offer for the production of an efficient illuminating device. In no branch of electric industry is an advance
more desired than in the manufacture of light. Every thinker, when considering the barbarous methods employed,
the deplorable losses incurred in our best systems of light production, must have asked himself, What is likely to be
the light of the future? Is it to be an incandescent solid, as in the present lamp, or an incandescent gas, or a
phosphorescent body, or something like a burner, but incomparably more efficient?
TUBE WITH FILAMENT , CROOKES' EXPERIMENT IN RENDERED INCADESCENT IN AN ELECTROSTATIC FIELD
There is little chance to perfect a gas burner; not, perhaps, because human ingenuity has been bent upon that
problem for centuries without a radical departure having been made--though this argument is not devoid of
force-- but because in a burner the higher vibrations can never be reached except by passing through all the low
ones. For how is a flame produced unless by a fall of lifted weights.? Such process cannot be maintained without
renewal, and renewal is repeated passing from low to high vibrations. One way only seems to be open to improve a
burner, and that n by trying to reach higher degrees of incandescence. Higher incandescence is equivalent to a
quicker vibration that means more light from the same material, and that again, means more economy. In this
direction some improvements have been made, but the progress is hampered by many limitations. Discarding, then,
the burner, there remain the three ways first mentioned, which are essentially electrical.
Suppose the light of the immediate future to be a solid rendered incandescent by electricity. Would it not seem that
it is better to employ a small button than a frail filament? From many considerations it certainly must be concluded
that a button is capable of a higher economy, assuming, of course, the difficulties connected with the operation of
such a lamp to be effectively overcome. But to light such a lamp we require a high potential and to get this
economically we must use high frequencies.
Such considerations apply even more to the production of light by the incandescence of a gas, or by phosphores-
cence. In all cases we require high frequencies and high potentials. These thoughts occurred to me a long time ago.
Incidentally we gain, by the use of very high frequencies, many advantages, such as a higher economy in the light
production, the possibility of working with one lead, the possibility of doing away with the leading-in wire, etc.
The question is, how far can we go with frequencies? Ordinary conductors rapidly lose the facility of transmitting
electric impulses when the frequency is greatly increased. Assume the means for the production of impulses of very
great frequency brought to the utmost perfection, every one will naturally ask how to transmit them when the
necessity arises. In transmitting such impulses through conductors we must remember that we have to deal with
pressure and flow, in the ordinary interpretation of these terms. Let the pressure increase to an enormous value, and
let the flow correspondingly diminish, then such impulses--variations merely of pressure, as it were--can no doubt
be transmitted through a wire even if their frequency be many hundreds of millions per second. It would, of course,
be out of question to transmit such impulses through a wire immersed in a gaseous medium, even if the wire were
provided with a thick and excellent insulation for most of the energy would be lost in molecular bombardment and
consequent heating. The end of the wire connected to the source would be heated, and the remote end would
receive but a trifling part of the energy supplied. The prime necessity, then, if such electric impulses are to be used,
is to find means to reduce as much as possible the dissipation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thought is, employ the thinnest possible wire surrounded by the thickest practicable insulation. The next
thought is to employ electrostatic screens. The insulation of the wire may be covered with a thin conducting coating
and the latter connected to the ground. But this would not do, as then all the energy would pass through the
conducting coating to the ground and nothing would get to the end of the wire. If a ground connection is made it
can only be made through a conductor offering an enormous impedance, or though a condenser of extremely small
capacity. This, however, does not do away with other difficulties.
If the wave length of the impulses is much smaller than the length of the wire, then corresponding short waves will
be sent up in the conducting coating, and it will be more or less the same as though the coating were directly
connected to earth. It is therefore necessary to cut up the coating in sections much shorter than the wavelength.
Such an arrangement does not still afford a perfect screen, but it is ten thousand times better than none. I think it
preferable to cut up the conducting coating in small sections, even if the current waves be much longer than the
coating.
If a wire were provided with a perfect electrostatic screen, it would be the same as though all objects were removed
from it at infinite distance. The capacity would then be reduced to the capacity of the wire itself, which would be
very small. It would then be possible to send over the wire current vibrations of very high frequencies at enormous
distance without affecting greatly the character of the vibrations. A perfect screen is of course out of the question,
but I believe that with a screen such as I have just described telephony could be rendered practicable across the
Atlantic. According to my ideas, the guttapercha covered wire should be provided with a third conducting coating
subdivided in sections. On the top of this should be again placed a layer of gutta-percha and other insulation, and
on the top of the whole the armor. But such cables will not be constructed, for ere long intelligence--transmitted
without wires--will throb through the earth like a pulse through a living organism. The wonder is that, with the
present state of knowledge and the experiences gained, no attempt is being made to disturb the electrostatic or
magnetic condition of the earth, and transmit, if nothing else, intelligence.
It has been my chief aim in presenting these results to point out phenomena or features of novelty, and to advance
ideas which I am hopeful will serve as starting points of new departures. It has been my chief desire this evening to
entertain you with some novel experiments. Your applause, so frequently and generously accorded, has told me that
I have succeeded.
In conclusion, let me thank you most heartily for your kindness and attention, and assure you that the honor I have
had in addressing such a distinguished audience, the pleasure I have had in presenting these results to a gathering of
so many able men--and among them also some of those in whose work for many years past I have found en-
lightenment and constant pleasure--I shall never forget.
problem for centuries without a radical departure having been made--though this argument is not devoid of
force-- but because in a burner the higher vibrations can never be reached except by passing through all the low
ones. For how is a flame produced unless by a fall of lifted weights.? Such process cannot be maintained without
renewal, and renewal is repeated passing from low to high vibrations. One way only seems to be open to improve a
burner, and that n by trying to reach higher degrees of incandescence. Higher incandescence is equivalent to a
quicker vibration that means more light from the same material, and that again, means more economy. In this
direction some improvements have been made, but the progress is hampered by many limitations. Discarding, then,
the burner, there remain the three ways first mentioned, which are essentially electrical.
Suppose the light of the immediate future to be a solid rendered incandescent by electricity. Would it not seem that
it is better to employ a small button than a frail filament? From many considerations it certainly must be concluded
that a button is capable of a higher economy, assuming, of course, the difficulties connected with the operation of
such a lamp to be effectively overcome. But to light such a lamp we require a high potential and to get this
economically we must use high frequencies.
Such considerations apply even more to the production of light by the incandescence of a gas, or by phosphores-
cence. In all cases we require high frequencies and high potentials. These thoughts occurred to me a long time ago.
Incidentally we gain, by the use of very high frequencies, many advantages, such as a higher economy in the light
production, the possibility of working with one lead, the possibility of doing away with the leading-in wire, etc.
The question is, how far can we go with frequencies? Ordinary conductors rapidly lose the facility of transmitting
electric impulses when the frequency is greatly increased. Assume the means for the production of impulses of very
great frequency brought to the utmost perfection, every one will naturally ask how to transmit them when the
necessity arises. In transmitting such impulses through conductors we must remember that we have to deal with
pressure and flow, in the ordinary interpretation of these terms. Let the pressure increase to an enormous value, and
let the flow correspondingly diminish, then such impulses--variations merely of pressure, as it were--can no doubt
be transmitted through a wire even if their frequency be many hundreds of millions per second. It would, of course,
be out of question to transmit such impulses through a wire immersed in a gaseous medium, even if the wire were
provided with a thick and excellent insulation for most of the energy would be lost in molecular bombardment and
consequent heating. The end of the wire connected to the source would be heated, and the remote end would
receive but a trifling part of the energy supplied. The prime necessity, then, if such electric impulses are to be used,
is to find means to reduce as much as possible the dissipation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first thought is, employ the thinnest possible wire surrounded by the thickest practicable insulation. The next
thought is to employ electrostatic screens. The insulation of the wire may be covered with a thin conducting coating
and the latter connected to the ground. But this would not do, as then all the energy would pass through the
conducting coating to the ground and nothing would get to the end of the wire. If a ground connection is made it
can only be made through a conductor offering an enormous impedance, or though a condenser of extremely small
capacity. This, however, does not do away with other difficulties.
If the wave length of the impulses is much smaller than the length of the wire, then corresponding short waves will
be sent up in the conducting coating, and it will be more or less the same as though the coating were directly
connected to earth. It is therefore necessary to cut up the coating in sections much shorter than the wavelength.
Such an arrangement does not still afford a perfect screen, but it is ten thousand times better than none. I think it
preferable to cut up the conducting coating in small sections, even if the current waves be much longer than the
coating.
If a wire were provided with a perfect electrostatic screen, it would be the same as though all objects were removed
from it at infinite distance. The capacity would then be reduced to the capacity of the wire itself, which would be
very small. It would then be possible to send over the wire current vibrations of very high frequencies at enormous
distance without affecting greatly the character of the vibrations. A perfect screen is of course out of the question,
but I believe that with a screen such as I have just described telephony could be rendered practicable across the
Atlantic. According to my ideas, the guttapercha covered wire should be provided with a third conducting coating
subdivided in sections. On the top of this should be again placed a layer of gutta-percha and other insulation, and
on the top of the whole the armor. But such cables will not be constructed, for ere long intelligence--transmitted
without wires--will throb through the earth like a pulse through a living organism. The wonder is that, with the
present state of knowledge and the experiences gained, no attempt is being made to disturb the electrostatic or
magnetic condition of the earth, and transmit, if nothing else, intelligence.
It has been my chief aim in presenting these results to point out phenomena or features of novelty, and to advance
ideas which I am hopeful will serve as starting points of new departures. It has been my chief desire this evening to
entertain you with some novel experiments. Your applause, so frequently and generously accorded, has told me that
I have succeeded.
In conclusion, let me thank you most heartily for your kindness and attention, and assure you that the honor I have
had in addressing such a distinguished audience, the pleasure I have had in presenting these results to a gathering of
so many able men--and among them also some of those in whose work for many years past I have found en-
lightenment and constant pleasure--I shall never forget.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Chapter 5 TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY WITHOUT WIRES
(Communicated to the Thirtieth Anniversary Number of the Electrical World and Engineer, March 5, 1904.)
BY NIKOLA TESLA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is impossible to resist your courteous request extended on an occasion of such moment in the life of your journal. Your letter
has vivified the memory of our beginning friendship, of the first imperfect attempts and undeserved successes, of kindnesses
and misunderstandings. It has brought painfully to my mind the greatness of early expectations, the quick flight of time, and
alas the smallness of realizations. The following lines which, but for your initiative, might not have been given to the world for
a long time yet, are an offering in the friendly spirit of old, and my best wishes for y6ur future success accompany them.
Towards the close of 1898 a systematic research, carried on for a number of years with the object of perfecting a method of
transmission of electrical energy through the natural medium, led me to recognize three important necessities: First, to develop
a transmitter of great power; second, to perfect means for individualizing and isolating the energy transmitted; and, third, to
ascertain the laws of propagation of currents through the earth and the atmosphere. Various reasons, not the least of which was
the help proffered by my friend Leonard E. Curtis and the Colorado Springs Electric Company, determined me to select for my
experimental investigations the large plateau, two thousand meters above sea-level, in the vicinity of that delightful resort,
which I reached late in May, 1899. I had not been there but a few days when I congratulated myself on the happy choice and I
began the task, for which I had long trained myself, with a grateful sense and full of inspiring hope. The perfect purity of the
air, the unequaled beauty of the sky, the imposing sight of a high mountain range, the quiet and restful-ness of the place--all
around contributed to make the conditions for scientific observation ideal. To this was added the exhilarating influence of a
glorious climate and a singular sharpening of the senses. In those regions the organs undergo perceptible physical changes. The
eyes assume an extraordinary limpidity, improving vision; the ears dry out and become more susceptible to sound. Objects can
be clearly distinguished there at distances such that I prefer to have them told by someone else, and I have heard--this I can
venture to vouch for--the claps of thunder seven and eight hundred kilometers away. I might have done better still, had it not
been tedious to wait for the sounds to arrive, in definite intervals, as heralded precisely by an electrical indicating apparatus--
nearly an hour before.
Experimental Laboratory, Colorado Springs.
In the middle of June, while preparations for other work were going on, I arranged one of my receiving transformers with the
view of determining in a novel manner, experimentally, the electric potential of the globe and studying its periodic and casual
fluctuations. This formed part of a plan carefully mapped out in advance. A highly sensitive, self-restorative device, controlling
a recording instrument, was included in the secondary circuit, while the primary was connected to the ground and an elevated
terminal of adjustable capacity. The variations of potential gave rise to electric surgings in the primary; these generated
secondary currents, which in turn affected the sensitive device and recorder in proportion to their intensity. The earth was
found to be, literally, alive with electrical vibrations, and soon I was deeply absorbed in this interesting investigation. No better
opportunities for such observations as I intended to make could be found anywhere. Colorado is a country famous for the
natural displays of electric force. In that dry and rarefied atmosphere the sun's rays beat the objects with fierce intensity. I
raised steam, to a dangerous pressure, in barrels filled with concentrated salt solution, and the tin-foil coatings of some of my
elevated terminals shriveled up in the fiery blaze. An experimental high-tension former, carelessly exposed to the rays of the
setting sun, had most of its insulating compound melted out and was rendered useless. Aided by the dryness and rarefaction of
the air, the water evaporates as in a boiler, and static electricity is developed in abundance. Lightning discharges are, ac-
cordingly, very frequent and sometimes of inconceivable violence. On one occasion approximately twelve thousand discharges
occurred in two hours, and all in a radius of certainly less than fifty kilometers from the laboratory. Many of them resembled
gigantic trees of fire with the trunks up or down. I never saw fire balls, but as a compensation for my disappointment I
succeeded later in determining the mode of their formation and producing them artificially.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's tower at Wardenclyffe for sending messages across the Atlantic and
electricity into the atmosphere as it appeared in 1904.
The letterhead for his stationary, promising "ten million Horsepower" of
"Electrical oscillator activity."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the latter part of the same month I noticed several times that my instruments were affected stronger by discharges taking
place at great distances than by those near by. This puzzled me very much. What was the cause? A number of observations
proved that it could not be due to the differences in the intensity of the individual discharges, and I readily ascertained that the
phenomenon was not the result of a varying relation between the periods of my receiving circuits and those of the terrestrial
disturbances. One night, as I was walking home with an assistant, meditating over these experiences, I was suddenly staggered
by a thought. Years ago, when I wrote a chapter of my lecture before the Franklin Institute and the National Electric Light
Association, it had presented itself to me, but I had dismissed it as absurd and impossible. I banished it again. Nevertheless, my
instinct was aroused and somehow I felt that I was nearing a great revelation.
It was on the third of July--the date I shall never forget-- when I obtained the first decisive experimental evidence of a truth
of overwhelming importance for the advancement of humanity. A dense mass of strongly charged clouds gathered in the west
and towards the evening a violent storm broke loose which, after spending much of its fury in the mountains, was driven away
with great velocity over the plains. Heavy and long persisting arcs formed almost in regular time' intervals. My observations
were now greatly facilitated and rendered more accurate by the experiences already gained. I was able to handle my
instruments quickly and I was prepared. The recording apparatus being properly adjusted, its indications became fainter and
fainter with the increasing distance of the storm, until they ceased altogether. I was watching in eager expectation. Surely
enough, in a little while the indications again began, grew stronger and stronger and, after passing through a maximum,
gradually decreased and ceased once more. Many times, in regularly recurring intervals, the same actions were repeated until
the storm which, as evident from simple computations, was moving with nearly constant speed, had retreated to a distance of
about three hundred kilometers. Nor did these strange actions stop then, but continued to manifest themselves with
undiminished force. Subsequently, similar observations were also made by my assistant, Mr. Fritz Lowenstein, and shortly
afterward several admirable opportunities presented themselves which brought out, still more forcibly, and unmistakably, the
true nature of the wonderful phenomenon. No doubt whatever remained: I was observing stationary waves.
As the source of disturbances moved away the receiving circuit came successively upon their nodes and loops. Impossible as it
seemed, this planet, despite its vast extent, behaved like a conductor of limited dimensions. The tremendous significance of
this fact in the transmission of energy by my system had already become quite clear to me. Not only was it practicable to send
telegraphic messages to any distance without wires, as I recognized long ago, but also to impress upon the entire globe the faint
modulations of the human voice, far more still, to transmit power, in unlimited amounts, to any terrestrial distance and almost
without any loss.
Experimental Laboratory, Colorado Springs.
With these stupendous possibilities in sight, with the experimental evidence before me that their realization was henceforth
merely a question of expert knowledge, patience and skill, I attacked vigorously the development of my magnifying
transmitter, now, however, not so much with the original intention of producing one of great power, as with the object of
learning how to construct the best one. This is, essentially, a circuit of very high self-induction and small resistance which in
its arrangement, mode of excitation and action, may be said to be the diametrical opposite of a transmitting circuit typical of
telegraphy by Hertzian or electromagnetic radiations. It is difficult to form an adequate idea of the marvelous power of this
unique appliance, by the aid of which the globe will be transformed. The electromagnetic radiations being reduced to an
insignificant quantity, and proper conditions of resonance maintained, the circuit acts like an immense pendulum, storing
indefinitely the energy of the primary exciting impulses and impressions upon the earth and its conducting atmosphere uniform
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
harmonic oscillations of intensities which, as actual tests have shown, may be pushed so far as to surpass those attained in the
natural displays of static electricity.
Simultaneously with these endeavors, the means of individualization and isolation were gradually improved. Great importance
was attached to this, for it was found that simple tuning was not sufficient to meet the vigorous practical requirements. The
fundamental idea of employing a number of distinctive elements, cooperatively associated, for the purpose of isolating energy
transmitted, I trace directly to my perusal of Spencer's clear and suggestive exposition of the human nerve mechanism. The
influence of this principle on the transmission of intelligence, and electrical energy in general, cannot as yet be estimated, for
the art is still in the embryonic stage; but many thousands of simultaneous telegraphic and telephonic messages, through one
single conducting channel, natural or artificial, and without serious mutual interference, are certainly practicable, while
millions are possible. On the other hand, any desired degree of individualization may be secured by the use of a great number
of co-operative elements and arbitrary variation of their distinctive features and order of succession. For obvious reasons, the
principle will also be valuable in the extension of the distance of transmission.
Progress though of necessity slow was steady and sure, for the objects aimed at were in a direction of my constant study and
exercise. It is, therefore, not astonishing that before the end of 1899 I completed the task undertaken and reached the results
which I have announced in my article in the Century Magazine of June, 1900, every word of which was carefully weighed.
Much has already been done towards making my system commercially available, in the transmission of energy in small
amounts for specific purposes, as well as on an industrial scale. The results attained by me have made my scheme of
intelligence transmission, for which the name of "World Telegraphy" has been suggested, easily realizable. It constitutes, I
believe, in its principle of operation, means employed and capacities of application, a radical and fruitful departure from what
has been done heretofore. I have no doubt that it will prove very efficient in enlightening the masses, particularly in still
uncivilized countries and less accessible regions, and that it will add materially to general safety, comfort and convenience, and
maintenance of peaceful relations. It involves the employment of a number of plants, all of which are capable of transmitting
individualized signals to the uttermost confines of the earth. Each of them will be preferably located near some important
center of civilization and the news it receives through any channel will be flashed to all points of the globe. A cheap and
simple device, which might be carried in one's pocket, may then be set up somewhere on sea or land, and it will record the
world's news or such special messages as may be intended for it. Thus the entire earth will be converted into a huge brain, as it
were, capable of response in every one of its parts. Since a single plant of but one hundred horse-power can operate hundreds
of millions of instruments, the system will have a virtually infinite working capacity, and it must needs immensely facilitate
and cheapen the transmission of intelligence.
The first of these central plants would have been already completed had it not been for unforeseen delays which, fortunately,
have nothing to do with its purely technical features. But this loss of time, while vexatious, may, after all, prove to be a
blessing in disguise. The best design of which I know has been adopted, and the transmitter will emit a wave complex of a total
maximum activity of ten million horse-power, one per cent, of which is amply sufficient to "girdle the globe." This enormous
rate of energy delivery, approximately twice that of the combined falls of Niagara, is obtainable only by the use of certain
artifices, which I shall make known in due course.
For a large part of the work which I have done so far I am indebted to the noble generosity of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, which
was all the more welcome and stimulating, as it was extended at a time when those, who have since promised most, were the
greatest of doubters. I have also to thank my friend, Stanford White, for much unselfish and valuable assistance. This work is
now far advanced, and though the results may be tardy, they are sure to come.
Meanwhile, the transmission of energy on an industrial scale is not being neglected. The Canathan Niagara Power Company
have offered me a splendid inducement, and next to achieving success for the sake of the art, it will give me the greatest
satisfaction to make their concession financially profitable to them. In this first power plant, which I have been designing for a
long time, I propose to distribute ten thousand horse-power under a tension of one hundred million volts, which I am now able
to produce and handle with safety.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's perfected system of wireless transmission with four tuned circuits
was described in U.S. Patent numbers 645,576 (March 20, 1900) and 649621
(May 15, 1900). The applications were filed on Sept. 2, 1897
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The experimental station at Colorado Springs showing the structure used to determine the rate
of incremental capacity with reference to the earth.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diagramatic illustrations of the hermetically enclosed mercury
break that is described in U.S. Patent No. 609,245 of August 16, 1898.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This energy will be collected all over the globe preferably in small amounts, ranging from a fraction of
one to a few horse-power. One of its chief uses will be the illumination of isolated homes. It takes very
little power to light a dwelling with vacuum tubes operated by high-frequency currents and in each
instance a terminal a little above the roof will be sufficient. Another valuable application will be the
driving of clocks and other such apparatus. These clocks will be exceedingly simple, will require
absolutely no attention and will indicate rigorously correct time. The idea of impressing upon the earth
American time is fascinating and very likely to become popular. There are innumerable devices of all
kinds which are either now employed or can be supplied, and by operating them in this manner I may be
able to offer a great convenience to the whole world with a plant of no more than ten thousand horse-
power. The introduction of this system will give opportunities for invention and manufacture such as have
never presented themselves before.
Knowing the far-reaching importance of this first attempt and its effect upon future development, I shall
proceed slowly and carefully. Experience has taught me not to assign a term to enterprises the
consummation of which is not wholly dependent on my own abilities and exertions. But I am hopeful that
these great realizations are not far off, and I know that when this first work is completed they will follow
with mathematical certitude.
When the great truth accidentally revealed and experimentally confirmed is fully recognized, that this
planet, with all its appalling immensity, is to electric currents virtually no more than a small metal ball
and that by this fact many possibilities, each baffling imagination and of incalculable consequence, are
rendered absolutely sure of accomplishment; when the first plant is inaugurated and it is shown that a
telegraphic message, almost as secret and non-interferable as a thought, can be transmitted to any
terrestrial distance, the sound of the human voice, with all its intonations and inflections, faithfully and
instantly reproduced at any other point of the globe, the energy of a waterfall made available for sup-
plying light, heat or motive power, anywhere--on sea, or land, or high in the air--humanity will be like
an ant heap stirred up with a stick: See the excitement coming!
The original 1904 caption to this photo read: Tesla Central Power Plant, Transmitting
Tower, and Laboratory for "World Telegraphy," Wardenclyffe, Long Island.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a 1929 article on "World-Wide Transmission of Electrical Signals, Tesla explained his theory to
the general public. The article used the following diagrams to show the "Theory, Analogy, and
Realization" of the transmission of Electrical Signals world-wide.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above: Tesla's drawing of the earth and its atmospheric envelope drawn to scale from the
February, 1919 issue of Electrical Experimenter, which discussed Tesla's "Ether Space Wave
Theory." Below: Another drawing from 1929 demonstrating Tesla's Ether theory and how he
theorized he would recover the energy from electromagnetic Hertz waves as oscillatory energy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's X-Ray tube, part of his method for utilizing "radiant energy," which
operated from the top of a Tesla coil, providing a means to charge the "elevated
insulated body of capacitance" C, with armatures T-T'. "Whenever the circuit is
closed owing to the rotation of the terminal t', the stored energy is discharged..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interior views of Tesla's experimental Colorado Springs tower, showing the cage
generatoring voltage and the banks of batteries.
BY NIKOLA TESLA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is impossible to resist your courteous request extended on an occasion of such moment in the life of your journal. Your letter
has vivified the memory of our beginning friendship, of the first imperfect attempts and undeserved successes, of kindnesses
and misunderstandings. It has brought painfully to my mind the greatness of early expectations, the quick flight of time, and
alas the smallness of realizations. The following lines which, but for your initiative, might not have been given to the world for
a long time yet, are an offering in the friendly spirit of old, and my best wishes for y6ur future success accompany them.
Towards the close of 1898 a systematic research, carried on for a number of years with the object of perfecting a method of
transmission of electrical energy through the natural medium, led me to recognize three important necessities: First, to develop
a transmitter of great power; second, to perfect means for individualizing and isolating the energy transmitted; and, third, to
ascertain the laws of propagation of currents through the earth and the atmosphere. Various reasons, not the least of which was
the help proffered by my friend Leonard E. Curtis and the Colorado Springs Electric Company, determined me to select for my
experimental investigations the large plateau, two thousand meters above sea-level, in the vicinity of that delightful resort,
which I reached late in May, 1899. I had not been there but a few days when I congratulated myself on the happy choice and I
began the task, for which I had long trained myself, with a grateful sense and full of inspiring hope. The perfect purity of the
air, the unequaled beauty of the sky, the imposing sight of a high mountain range, the quiet and restful-ness of the place--all
around contributed to make the conditions for scientific observation ideal. To this was added the exhilarating influence of a
glorious climate and a singular sharpening of the senses. In those regions the organs undergo perceptible physical changes. The
eyes assume an extraordinary limpidity, improving vision; the ears dry out and become more susceptible to sound. Objects can
be clearly distinguished there at distances such that I prefer to have them told by someone else, and I have heard--this I can
venture to vouch for--the claps of thunder seven and eight hundred kilometers away. I might have done better still, had it not
been tedious to wait for the sounds to arrive, in definite intervals, as heralded precisely by an electrical indicating apparatus--
nearly an hour before.
Experimental Laboratory, Colorado Springs.
In the middle of June, while preparations for other work were going on, I arranged one of my receiving transformers with the
view of determining in a novel manner, experimentally, the electric potential of the globe and studying its periodic and casual
fluctuations. This formed part of a plan carefully mapped out in advance. A highly sensitive, self-restorative device, controlling
a recording instrument, was included in the secondary circuit, while the primary was connected to the ground and an elevated
terminal of adjustable capacity. The variations of potential gave rise to electric surgings in the primary; these generated
secondary currents, which in turn affected the sensitive device and recorder in proportion to their intensity. The earth was
found to be, literally, alive with electrical vibrations, and soon I was deeply absorbed in this interesting investigation. No better
opportunities for such observations as I intended to make could be found anywhere. Colorado is a country famous for the
natural displays of electric force. In that dry and rarefied atmosphere the sun's rays beat the objects with fierce intensity. I
raised steam, to a dangerous pressure, in barrels filled with concentrated salt solution, and the tin-foil coatings of some of my
elevated terminals shriveled up in the fiery blaze. An experimental high-tension former, carelessly exposed to the rays of the
setting sun, had most of its insulating compound melted out and was rendered useless. Aided by the dryness and rarefaction of
the air, the water evaporates as in a boiler, and static electricity is developed in abundance. Lightning discharges are, ac-
cordingly, very frequent and sometimes of inconceivable violence. On one occasion approximately twelve thousand discharges
occurred in two hours, and all in a radius of certainly less than fifty kilometers from the laboratory. Many of them resembled
gigantic trees of fire with the trunks up or down. I never saw fire balls, but as a compensation for my disappointment I
succeeded later in determining the mode of their formation and producing them artificially.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's tower at Wardenclyffe for sending messages across the Atlantic and
electricity into the atmosphere as it appeared in 1904.
The letterhead for his stationary, promising "ten million Horsepower" of
"Electrical oscillator activity."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the latter part of the same month I noticed several times that my instruments were affected stronger by discharges taking
place at great distances than by those near by. This puzzled me very much. What was the cause? A number of observations
proved that it could not be due to the differences in the intensity of the individual discharges, and I readily ascertained that the
phenomenon was not the result of a varying relation between the periods of my receiving circuits and those of the terrestrial
disturbances. One night, as I was walking home with an assistant, meditating over these experiences, I was suddenly staggered
by a thought. Years ago, when I wrote a chapter of my lecture before the Franklin Institute and the National Electric Light
Association, it had presented itself to me, but I had dismissed it as absurd and impossible. I banished it again. Nevertheless, my
instinct was aroused and somehow I felt that I was nearing a great revelation.
It was on the third of July--the date I shall never forget-- when I obtained the first decisive experimental evidence of a truth
of overwhelming importance for the advancement of humanity. A dense mass of strongly charged clouds gathered in the west
and towards the evening a violent storm broke loose which, after spending much of its fury in the mountains, was driven away
with great velocity over the plains. Heavy and long persisting arcs formed almost in regular time' intervals. My observations
were now greatly facilitated and rendered more accurate by the experiences already gained. I was able to handle my
instruments quickly and I was prepared. The recording apparatus being properly adjusted, its indications became fainter and
fainter with the increasing distance of the storm, until they ceased altogether. I was watching in eager expectation. Surely
enough, in a little while the indications again began, grew stronger and stronger and, after passing through a maximum,
gradually decreased and ceased once more. Many times, in regularly recurring intervals, the same actions were repeated until
the storm which, as evident from simple computations, was moving with nearly constant speed, had retreated to a distance of
about three hundred kilometers. Nor did these strange actions stop then, but continued to manifest themselves with
undiminished force. Subsequently, similar observations were also made by my assistant, Mr. Fritz Lowenstein, and shortly
afterward several admirable opportunities presented themselves which brought out, still more forcibly, and unmistakably, the
true nature of the wonderful phenomenon. No doubt whatever remained: I was observing stationary waves.
As the source of disturbances moved away the receiving circuit came successively upon their nodes and loops. Impossible as it
seemed, this planet, despite its vast extent, behaved like a conductor of limited dimensions. The tremendous significance of
this fact in the transmission of energy by my system had already become quite clear to me. Not only was it practicable to send
telegraphic messages to any distance without wires, as I recognized long ago, but also to impress upon the entire globe the faint
modulations of the human voice, far more still, to transmit power, in unlimited amounts, to any terrestrial distance and almost
without any loss.
Experimental Laboratory, Colorado Springs.
With these stupendous possibilities in sight, with the experimental evidence before me that their realization was henceforth
merely a question of expert knowledge, patience and skill, I attacked vigorously the development of my magnifying
transmitter, now, however, not so much with the original intention of producing one of great power, as with the object of
learning how to construct the best one. This is, essentially, a circuit of very high self-induction and small resistance which in
its arrangement, mode of excitation and action, may be said to be the diametrical opposite of a transmitting circuit typical of
telegraphy by Hertzian or electromagnetic radiations. It is difficult to form an adequate idea of the marvelous power of this
unique appliance, by the aid of which the globe will be transformed. The electromagnetic radiations being reduced to an
insignificant quantity, and proper conditions of resonance maintained, the circuit acts like an immense pendulum, storing
indefinitely the energy of the primary exciting impulses and impressions upon the earth and its conducting atmosphere uniform
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
harmonic oscillations of intensities which, as actual tests have shown, may be pushed so far as to surpass those attained in the
natural displays of static electricity.
Simultaneously with these endeavors, the means of individualization and isolation were gradually improved. Great importance
was attached to this, for it was found that simple tuning was not sufficient to meet the vigorous practical requirements. The
fundamental idea of employing a number of distinctive elements, cooperatively associated, for the purpose of isolating energy
transmitted, I trace directly to my perusal of Spencer's clear and suggestive exposition of the human nerve mechanism. The
influence of this principle on the transmission of intelligence, and electrical energy in general, cannot as yet be estimated, for
the art is still in the embryonic stage; but many thousands of simultaneous telegraphic and telephonic messages, through one
single conducting channel, natural or artificial, and without serious mutual interference, are certainly practicable, while
millions are possible. On the other hand, any desired degree of individualization may be secured by the use of a great number
of co-operative elements and arbitrary variation of their distinctive features and order of succession. For obvious reasons, the
principle will also be valuable in the extension of the distance of transmission.
Progress though of necessity slow was steady and sure, for the objects aimed at were in a direction of my constant study and
exercise. It is, therefore, not astonishing that before the end of 1899 I completed the task undertaken and reached the results
which I have announced in my article in the Century Magazine of June, 1900, every word of which was carefully weighed.
Much has already been done towards making my system commercially available, in the transmission of energy in small
amounts for specific purposes, as well as on an industrial scale. The results attained by me have made my scheme of
intelligence transmission, for which the name of "World Telegraphy" has been suggested, easily realizable. It constitutes, I
believe, in its principle of operation, means employed and capacities of application, a radical and fruitful departure from what
has been done heretofore. I have no doubt that it will prove very efficient in enlightening the masses, particularly in still
uncivilized countries and less accessible regions, and that it will add materially to general safety, comfort and convenience, and
maintenance of peaceful relations. It involves the employment of a number of plants, all of which are capable of transmitting
individualized signals to the uttermost confines of the earth. Each of them will be preferably located near some important
center of civilization and the news it receives through any channel will be flashed to all points of the globe. A cheap and
simple device, which might be carried in one's pocket, may then be set up somewhere on sea or land, and it will record the
world's news or such special messages as may be intended for it. Thus the entire earth will be converted into a huge brain, as it
were, capable of response in every one of its parts. Since a single plant of but one hundred horse-power can operate hundreds
of millions of instruments, the system will have a virtually infinite working capacity, and it must needs immensely facilitate
and cheapen the transmission of intelligence.
The first of these central plants would have been already completed had it not been for unforeseen delays which, fortunately,
have nothing to do with its purely technical features. But this loss of time, while vexatious, may, after all, prove to be a
blessing in disguise. The best design of which I know has been adopted, and the transmitter will emit a wave complex of a total
maximum activity of ten million horse-power, one per cent, of which is amply sufficient to "girdle the globe." This enormous
rate of energy delivery, approximately twice that of the combined falls of Niagara, is obtainable only by the use of certain
artifices, which I shall make known in due course.
For a large part of the work which I have done so far I am indebted to the noble generosity of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, which
was all the more welcome and stimulating, as it was extended at a time when those, who have since promised most, were the
greatest of doubters. I have also to thank my friend, Stanford White, for much unselfish and valuable assistance. This work is
now far advanced, and though the results may be tardy, they are sure to come.
Meanwhile, the transmission of energy on an industrial scale is not being neglected. The Canathan Niagara Power Company
have offered me a splendid inducement, and next to achieving success for the sake of the art, it will give me the greatest
satisfaction to make their concession financially profitable to them. In this first power plant, which I have been designing for a
long time, I propose to distribute ten thousand horse-power under a tension of one hundred million volts, which I am now able
to produce and handle with safety.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's perfected system of wireless transmission with four tuned circuits
was described in U.S. Patent numbers 645,576 (March 20, 1900) and 649621
(May 15, 1900). The applications were filed on Sept. 2, 1897
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The experimental station at Colorado Springs showing the structure used to determine the rate
of incremental capacity with reference to the earth.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diagramatic illustrations of the hermetically enclosed mercury
break that is described in U.S. Patent No. 609,245 of August 16, 1898.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This energy will be collected all over the globe preferably in small amounts, ranging from a fraction of
one to a few horse-power. One of its chief uses will be the illumination of isolated homes. It takes very
little power to light a dwelling with vacuum tubes operated by high-frequency currents and in each
instance a terminal a little above the roof will be sufficient. Another valuable application will be the
driving of clocks and other such apparatus. These clocks will be exceedingly simple, will require
absolutely no attention and will indicate rigorously correct time. The idea of impressing upon the earth
American time is fascinating and very likely to become popular. There are innumerable devices of all
kinds which are either now employed or can be supplied, and by operating them in this manner I may be
able to offer a great convenience to the whole world with a plant of no more than ten thousand horse-
power. The introduction of this system will give opportunities for invention and manufacture such as have
never presented themselves before.
Knowing the far-reaching importance of this first attempt and its effect upon future development, I shall
proceed slowly and carefully. Experience has taught me not to assign a term to enterprises the
consummation of which is not wholly dependent on my own abilities and exertions. But I am hopeful that
these great realizations are not far off, and I know that when this first work is completed they will follow
with mathematical certitude.
When the great truth accidentally revealed and experimentally confirmed is fully recognized, that this
planet, with all its appalling immensity, is to electric currents virtually no more than a small metal ball
and that by this fact many possibilities, each baffling imagination and of incalculable consequence, are
rendered absolutely sure of accomplishment; when the first plant is inaugurated and it is shown that a
telegraphic message, almost as secret and non-interferable as a thought, can be transmitted to any
terrestrial distance, the sound of the human voice, with all its intonations and inflections, faithfully and
instantly reproduced at any other point of the globe, the energy of a waterfall made available for sup-
plying light, heat or motive power, anywhere--on sea, or land, or high in the air--humanity will be like
an ant heap stirred up with a stick: See the excitement coming!
The original 1904 caption to this photo read: Tesla Central Power Plant, Transmitting
Tower, and Laboratory for "World Telegraphy," Wardenclyffe, Long Island.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a 1929 article on "World-Wide Transmission of Electrical Signals, Tesla explained his theory to
the general public. The article used the following diagrams to show the "Theory, Analogy, and
Realization" of the transmission of Electrical Signals world-wide.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above: Tesla's drawing of the earth and its atmospheric envelope drawn to scale from the
February, 1919 issue of Electrical Experimenter, which discussed Tesla's "Ether Space Wave
Theory." Below: Another drawing from 1929 demonstrating Tesla's Ether theory and how he
theorized he would recover the energy from electromagnetic Hertz waves as oscillatory energy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's X-Ray tube, part of his method for utilizing "radiant energy," which
operated from the top of a Tesla coil, providing a means to charge the "elevated
insulated body of capacitance" C, with armatures T-T'. "Whenever the circuit is
closed owing to the rotation of the terminal t', the stored energy is discharged..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interior views of Tesla's experimental Colorado Springs tower, showing the cage
generatoring voltage and the banks of batteries.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Chapter 6 TESLA'S DEATH RAYS
Tesla's Death Ray was instantly a controversial and popular topic. In his later years, after the Wardencliff
Tower project had been stopped by J.P. Morgan and dismantled under F.B.I. supervision, Tesla made
little money from his projects and in many cases did not even bother to seek patents. He was more
interested in publicity and became a favorite with newspaper reporters for his flamboyant demonstrations,
controversial predictions and incredible new inventions.
On July 11, 1934, the New York Times ran a story which was headlined:
TESLA AT 78 BARES
NEW "DEATH-BEAM,"
Invention Powerful Enough to Destroy
10,000 Planes 250 Miles Away,
He Asserts.
DEFENSIVE WEAPON ONLY.
Scientist, in Interview, Tells of Apparatus
That He Says Will Kill Without Trace.
Tesla's death ray device was a kind of radio-wave-scalar weapon or what might be called an ultra-sound
gun. Tesla and death ray made quite a media splash at the time. In the 1930's several Death Ray weapon
films came out, including The Death Ray (1938) with Boris Karloff, and such serials as Flash Gordon and
Radar Men From the Moon.
In fact, the very first of the Max Fletcher Superman cartoons of the 1940's featured Tesla in The Mad
Scientist (Sept 1941) in which a crazed, eccentric scientist, obviously patterned after Tesla, battles
Superman while he terrorizes New York with his "electrothenasia death ray." In the next cartoon, The
Mechanical Monsters (Nov. 1941) Superman again battles Tesla, the mad scientist who this time
unleashes an army of robots on Manhattan. Superman battle Tesla and his Death Ray one last time in
Magnetic Telescope (April 1942), where Tesla is using a special magnetogravitic ray that pulls asteroids
out of orbit and sends them crashing to earth. With Japateurs in September of 1942, the Superman
cartoons turned toward War themes, featuring Japanese spies and to a lesser part, Nazi agents.
It is interesting to think of Tesla as the model for all the "mad scientists" of comic book and cinematic
fiction.
In the Spring of 1924 "death rays," were the subject of many newspapers around the world. Harry
Grindell-Matthews of London lead the contenders in this early Star Wars race. The New York Times of
May 21st had this report-Paris, May 20--If confidence of Grindell Madiew (sic), inventor of the so-called
'diabolical ray,' in his discovery is justified it may become possible to put the whole of an enemy army out
of action, destroy any force of airplanes attacking a city or paralyze any fleet venturing within a certain
distance of the coast by invisible rays.
Grindell-Matthews stated mat his destructive rays would operate over a distance of four miles and that the
maximum distance for this type of weapon would be seven or eight miles. Tests have been reported where
the ray has been used to stop the operation of automobiles by arresting the action of the magnetos, and an
quantity of gunpowder is said to have been exploded by playing the beams on it from a distance of thirty
six feet" Grindell-Matthews was able, also, to electrocute mice, shrivel plants, and light the wick of an oil
lamp from the same distance away.
Sensing something of importance the New York Times copyrighted a story on May 28th of 1924 on a ray-
weapon developed by the Soviets. The story opened:
"News has leaked out from the Communist circles in Moscow that behind Trotsky's recent war-like
utterance lies an electromagnetic invention, by a Russian engineer named Grammachikoff for destroying
airplanes.
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Tests of the destructive ray, the Times continued, had began the previous August with the aid of German
technical experts.
A large, scale demonstration at Podosinsky Aerodrome near Moscow was so successful that the
revolutionary Military Council and the Political Bureau decided to fund enough electronic anti-aircraft
stations to protect sensitive areas of Russia. Similar, but more powerful, stations were to be constructed to
disable the electrical mechanisms of warships.
The Commander of the Soviet Air Services, Rosenholtz, was so overwhelmed by the ray weapon
demonstration that he proposed "to curtail the activity of the air fleet, because the invention rendered a
large air fleet unnecessary for the purpose of defense."
Tesla appears to have been the renegade scientist, eccentric and brilliant. However, after his finances had
been destroyed by Morgan, and indirectly by Westinghouse, Tesla was constantly broke. In lieu of money
on rent, in the early 1930's, Tesla gave the management of the Governor Clinton Hotel a supposed
invention of his to be used for collateral. He said that the device was very dangerous and worth $10,000.
In 1943, an MIT scientist, working for the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) and
accompanied by the office of Naval Intelligence, John O. Trump, went to the hotel to retrieve the device,
after Tesla's death.
He was told that the invention could "detonate if opened by an unauthorized person." Trump stated that
he reflected momentarily upon his life before he opened the container. In his FBI report he stated
"Inside was a handsome wooden chest bound with brass... [containing] a multidecade resistance box of
the type used for a Wheatstone bridge resistance measurements--a common standard item found in every
electric laboratory before the turn of the century!"
According to Tesla researcher Dr. Marc Seifer, Tesla appears to have told both his pigeon caretaker and
an army engineer named Fitzgerald, a friend of Tesla's, that he had built a working model of a Death Ray.
Dr. Seifer says that a number of people closely associated with Tesla would recount stories, circa 1918, of
Tesla bouncing electronic beams off the moon. Seifer says that this is not a Death Ray, but it certainly
supports the hypothesis that the inventor created working models along those lines.
According to Dr. Seifer, Tesla drew up "artist conceptions" in the mid-1930s that were "made of a
building with a tower in the form of a cylinder 16.5 feet in diameter, 115 feet tall. The structure was
capped at the top by a 10 meter diameter sphere (covered with hemispheric shells as in the 1914
patent)."The inventor had also contacted people at Alcoa Aluminum throughout 1935 who were "ready to
start as soon as Tesla advanced the funds."
Two years later, at the 81, the inventor stated at a luncheon attended by ministers of Yugoslavia and
Czechoslovakia that he had constructed a number of beam transmission devices including the death ray
for protecting a country from incoming invasions and a laser-like machine that could send impulses to the
moon and other planets.
According to Dr. Seifer, Tesla also said that he was going to take the death ray to a Geneva conference
for world peace.; When pressed by the columnists to "give a full description..., Dr. Tesla said..., "But it is
not an experiment... I have built, demonstrated and used it Only a little time will pass before I can give it
to the world."
Another Tesla scholar who believes that Tesla built a "death ray" is Oliver Nichelson, who has written
quite a bit on Tesla, including an article entitled "Nicola Tesla's Long Range Weapon" (1989).
Picking up the death ray stories on the wire services on the other side of the world, the Colorado Springs
Gazette, ran a local interest item on May 30th. With the headline: Tesla Discovered 'Death Ray' in
Experiments He Made Here," the story recounted, with a feeling of local pride, the inventor's 1899
researches financed by John Jacob Astor.
Tesla's Colorado Springs tests were well remembered by local residents. With a 200 foot pole topped by a
large copper sphere rising above his laboratory he generated potentials that discharged lightning bolts up
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to 135 feet long. Thunder from the released energy could be heard 15 miles away in Cripple Creek People
walking along the streets were amazed to see sparks jumping between their feet and the ground, and
flames of electricity would spring from a tap when anyone turned them on for a drink of water. Light
bulbs within 100 feet of the experimental tower glowed when they were turned off. Horses at the livery
stable received shocks through their metal shoes and bolted from the stalls. Even insects were affected:
Butterflies became electrified and "helplessly swirled in circles--their wings spouting blue halos of 'St.
Elmo's Fire.'"
The most pronounced effect, and the one that captured the attention o death ray inventors, occurred at the
Colorado Springs Electric Company generating station. One day while Tesla was conducting a high
power test, the crackling from inside the laboratory suddenly stopped. Bursting into the lab Tesla
demanded to know why his assistant had disconnected the coil. The assistant protested that had not
anything. The power from the city's generator, the assistant said, must have quit When the angry Tesla
telephoned the power company he received an equally angry reply that the electric company had not cut
the power, but that Tesla's experiment had destroyed the generator!
According to Oliver Nichelson, Tesla explained to The Electrical Experimenter, in August of 19l7 what
had happened. While running his transmitter at a power level of "several hundred kilowatts" high
frequency currents were set up in the electric company's generators. These powerful currents "caused
heavy sparks to jump thru the winds and destroy the insulation." When the insulation failed, the generator
shorted out and was destroyed.
Some years later, 1935, he elaborated on the destructive potential of his transmitter in the February issue
of Liberty magazine:
"My invention requires a large plant, but once it is established it will be possible to destroy anything, men
or machines, approaching within a radius of 200 miles."
He went on to make a distinction between his invention and those brought forward by others. He claimed
that his device did not use any so-called "death rays" because such radiation cannot be produced in large
amounts and rapidly becomes weaker over distance. Here, he likely had in mind a Grindell-Matthews
type of device which, according to contemporary reports, used a powerful ultraviolet beam to make the
air conducting so that high energy current could be directed to the target The range of an ultra-violet
searchlight would be much less than what Tesla was claiming. As he put it: "all the energy of New York
City (approximately two million horsepower [1.5 billion watts]) transformed into rays and projected
twenty miles, would not kill a human being." On the contrary, he said:
"My apparatus projects particles which may be relatively large or of microscopic dimensions, enabling us
to convey to a small area at a great distance trillions of times more energy than is possible with rays of
any kind. Many thousands of horsepower can be thus transmitted by a stream thinner than a hair, so that
nothing can resist."
According to Oliver Nichelson, what Tesla had in mind with this defensive system was a large scale
version of his Colorado Springs lightning bolt machine As airplanes or ships entered the electric field of
his charged tower, they would set up a conducting path for a stream of high energy particles that would
destroy the intruder's electrical system.
A drawback to having giant Tesla transmitters poised to shoot bolts of lightning at an enemy approaching
the coasts is that they would have to be located in an uninhabited area equal to its circle of protection.
Anyone stepping into the defensive zone of the coils would be sensed as an intruder and struck down.
Today, with the development of oil drilling platforms, this disadvantage might be overcome by locating
the lightning defensive system at sea.
As ominous as death ray and beam weapon technology will be for the future there is another, more
destructive, weapon system alluded to in Tesla's writings. According to Oliver Nichelson, when Tesla
realized, as he pointed out in the 1900 Century article, The Problem of Increasing Human Energy," that
economic forces would not allow the development of a new type of electrical generator able to supply
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power without burning fuel he "was led to recognize [that] the transmission of electrical energy to any
distance through the media as by far the best solution of the great problem of harnessing the sun's energy
for the use of man.' His idea was that a relatively few generating plants located near waterfalls would
supply his very high energy transmitters which, in turn, would send power through the earth to be picked
up wherever it was needed. The plan would require several of his transmitters to rhythmically pump huge
amounts of electricity into the earth at pressures on the order of 100 million volts. The earth would
become like a huge ball inflated to a great electrical potential, but pulsing to Tesla's imposed beat.
Receiving energy from this high pressure reservoir only would require a person to put a rod into the
ground and connect it to a receiver operating in unison with the earth's electrical motion. As Tesla
described it, "the entire apparatus for lighting the average country dwelling will contain no moving parts
whatever, and could be readily carried about in a small valise."
However, the difference between a current that can be used to run, say, a sewing machine and a current
used as a method of destruction, however, is a matter of timing. If the amount of electricity used to run a
sewing machine for an hour is released in a millionth of a second, it would have a very different, and
negative, effect on the sewing machine.
Tesla said his transmitter could produce 100 million volts of pressure with currents up to 1000 amperes
which is a power level of 100 billion watts. If it was resonating at a radio frequency of 2 MHz, then the
energy released during one period of its oscillation would be 100,000,000,000,000,000 Joules of energy,
or roughly the amount of energy released by the explosion of 10 megatons of TNT.
Such a transmitter, would be capable of projecting the energy of a nuclear warhead by radio. Any location
in the world could be vaporized at the speed of light
Not unexpectedly, many scientists doubted the technical feasibility of Tesla's wireless power transmission
scheme whether for commercial or military purposes. The secret of how through- the-earth broadcast
power was found not in the theories of electrical engineering, but in the realm of high energy physics.
Dr. Andrija Puharich, in 1976, was the first to point out that Tesla's power transmission system could not
be explained by the laws of classical electrodynamics, but, rather, in terms of relativistic transformations
in high energy fields. He noted that according to Dirac's theory of the electron, when one of those
particles encountered its oppositely charged member, a positron, the two particles would annihilate each
other. Because energy can neither be destroyed nor created the energy of the two former particles are
transformed into an electromagnetic wave. The opposite, of course, holds true. If there is a strong enough
electric field, two opposite charges of electricity are formed where there was originally no charge at all.
This type of transformation usually takes place near the intense field near an atomic nucleus, but it can
also manifest without the aid of a nuclear catalyst if an electric field has enough energy. Puharich's
involved mathematical treatment demonstrated that power levels in a Tesla transmitter were strong
enough to cause such pair production.
The mechanism of pair production offers a very attractive explanation for the ground transmission of
power. Ordinary electrical currents do not travel far through the earth. Dirt has a high resistance to
electricity and quickly turns currents into heat energy that is wasted. With the pair production method
electricity can be moved from one point to another without really having to push the physical particle
through the earth - the transmitting source would create a strong field, and a particle would be created at
the receiver.
If the sending of currents through the earth is possible from the viewpoint of modern physics, the question
remains of whether Tesla actually demonstrated the weapons application of his power transmitter or
whether it remained an unrealized plan on the part of the inventor. Circumstantial evidence points to there
having been a test of this weapon.
The clues are found in the chronology of Tesla's work and financial fortunes between 1900 and 1915.
1900: Tesla returned from Colorado Springs after a series of important tests of wireless power
transmission. It was during these tests that his magnifying transmitter sent out waves of energy causing
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the destruction of the power company's generator.
He received financial backing from J.Pierpont Morgan of $150,000 to build a radio transmitter for
signaling Europe. With the first portion of the money he obtained 200 acres of land at Shoreham, Long
Island and built an enormous tower 187 feet tall topped with a 55 ton, 68 foot metal dome. He called the
research site "Wardenclyffe."
As Tesla was just getting started, investors were rushing to buy stock offered by the Marconi company.
Supporters of the Marconi Company include his old adversary Edison.
On December 12th, Marconi sent the first transatlantic signal, the letter "S" from Cornwall, England to
Newfoundland. He did this with, as the financiers noted, equipment much less costly than that envisioned
by Tesla.
1902: Marconi is being hailed as a hero around the world while Tesla is seen as a shirker by the public for
ignoring a call to jury duty in a murder case (he was excused from duty because of his opposition to the
death penalty).
1903: When Morgan sent the balance of the $150,000, it would not cover the outstanding balance Tesla
owed on the Wardenclyffe construction. To encourage a larger investment in the face of Marconi's
success, Tesla revealed to Morgan his real purpose was not to just send radio signals but the wireless
transmission of power to any point on the planet. Morgan was uninterested and declined further funding.
A financial panic that Fall put an end to Tesla's hopes of financing by Morgan or other wealthy
industrialists. This left Tesla without money even to buy the coal to fire the transmitter's electrical
generators.
1904: Tesla writes for the Electrical World, The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires,''
noting that the globe, even with its great size, responds to electrical currents like a small metal ball.
Tesla declares to the press the completion of Wardenclyffe.
1904: The Colorado Springs power company sues for electricity used at that experimental station. Tesla's
Colorado laboratory is torn down and is sold for lumber to pay the $180 judgment; his electrical
equipment is put in storage.
1905: Electrotherapeutic coils are manufactured at Wardenclyffe, for hospitals and researchers to help
pay bills.
Tesla is sued by his lawyer for nonpayment of a loan. In an article, Tesla comments on Peary's expedition
to the North Pole and tells of his, Tesla's, plans for energy transmission to any central point on the
ground.
Tesla is sued by C.J. Duffner, a caretaker at the experimental station in Colorado Springs, for wages.
1906: "Left Property Here; Skips; Sheriffs Sale," was the headline in the Colorado Springs Gazette for
March 6di. Tesla's electrical equipment is sold to pay judgment of $928.57.
George Westinghouse, who bought Tesla's patents for alternating current motors and generators in the
1880's, turns down the inventor's power transmission proposal.
Workers gradually stop coming to the Wardenclyffe laboratory when there are no funds to pay them.
1907: When commenting on the destruction of the French ship Iena, Tesla noted in a letter to the New
York Times that he has built and tested remotely controlled torpedoes, but that electrical waves would be
more destructive. "As to projecting wave energy to any particular region of the globe... this can be done
by my devices," he wrote. Further, he claimed that "the spot at which the desired effect is to be produced
can be calculated very closely, assuming the accepted terrestrial measurements to be correct."
1908: Tesla repeated the idea of destruction by electrical waves to the newspaper on April 21st His letter
to the editor stated, "When I spoke of future warfare I meant that it should be conducted by direct
application of electrical waves without the use of aerial engines or other implements of destruction." He
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added: This is not a dream. Even now wireless power plants could be constructed by which any region of
the globe might be rendered uninhabitable without subjecting the population of other parts to serious
danger or inconvenience."
1915: Again, in another letter to the editor, Tesla stated: "It is perfectly practical to transmit electrical
energy without wires and produce destructive effects at a distance. I have already constructed a wireless
transmitter which makes this possible... When unavoidable, the [transmitter] may be used to destroy
property and life."
Important to this chronology is the state of Tesla's mental health. One researcher, Marc J. Seifer, a
psychologist, believes Tesla suffered a nervous breakdown catalyzed by the death of one the partners in
the Tesla Electric Company and the shooting of Stanford White, the noted architect, who had designed
Wardenclyffe. Seifer places this in 1906 and cites as evidence a letter from George Scherff, Tesla's
secretary:
Wardenclyffe, 4/10/1906
Dear Mr. Tesla:
I have received your letter and am very glad to know you are vanquishing your illness. I have
scarcely ever seen you so out of sorts as last Sunday; and I was frightened.
In the period from 1900 to 1910 Tesla's creative thrust was to establish his Plan for wireless transmission
of energy. Undercut by Marconi's accomplishment, beset by financial problems, and spurned by the
scientific establishment Tesla was in a desperate situation by mid-decade. The strain became too great by
1906 and he suffered an emotional collapse. In order to make a final effort to have his grand scheme
recognized, he may have tried one high power test of his transmitter to show off its destructive potential.
This would have been in 1908.
The Tunguska event took place on the morning of June 30th, 1908. An explosion estimated to be
equivalent to 10-15 megatons of TNT flattened 500,000 acres of pine forest near the Stony Tunguska River in
central Siberia, Whole herds of reindeer were destroyed. The explosion was heard over a radius of 620 miles. When
an expedition was made to the area in 1927 to find evidence of the meteorite presumed to have caused the blast, no
impact crater was found When the ground was drilled for pieces of nickel, iron, or stone, the main constituents of
meteorites, none were found down to a depth of 118 feet.
Many explanations have been given for the Tunguska event The officially accepted version is that a 100,000 ton
fragment of Encke's Comet, composed mainly of dust and ice, entered the atmosphere at 62,000 m.p.h., heated up,
and exploded over the earth's surface creating a fireball and shock wave but no crater. Alternative versions of the
disaster see a renegade mini-black hole or an alien space ship crashing into the earth with the resulting release of
energy.
According to Oliver Nichelson, the historical facts point to the possibility that this event was caused by a test firing
of Tesla's energy weapon.
In 1907 and 1908, Tesla wrote about the destructive effects of his energy transmitter. His Wardenclyffe transmitter
was much larger than the Colorado Springs device that destroyed the power station's generator. His new transmitter
would be capable of effects many orders of magnitude greater than the Colorado device.
In 1915, he said he had already built a transmitter that "when unavoidable ... may be used to destroy property and
life." Finally, a 1934 letter from Tesla to J.P. Morgan, uncovered by Tesla biographer Margaret Cheney, seems to
conclusively point to an energy weapon test In an effort to raise money for his defensive system he wrote:
The flying machine has completely demoralized the world, so much so that in some cities,
as London and Paris, people are in mortal fear from aerial bombing. The new means I
have perfected affords absolute protection against this and other forms of attack... These
new discoveries I have carried out experimentally on a limited scale, created a profound
impression (emphasis added).
Again, the evidence is circumstantial but, to use the language of criminal investigation, Tesla had motive and
means to be the cause of the Tunguska event He also seems to confess to such a test having taken place before
1915. His transmitter could generate energy levels and frequencies that would release the destructive force of 10
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megatons, or more, of TNT. And the overlooked genius was desperate.
The nature of the Tunguska event, also, is not inconsistent with what would happen during the sudden release of
wireless power. No fiery object was reported in the skies at that time by professional or amateur astronomers as
would be expected when a 200,000,000 pound object enters the atmosphere. The sky glow in the region, mentioned
by some witnesses, just before the explosion may have come from the ground, as geological researchers discovered
in the 1970's. Just before an earthquake the stressed rock beneath the ground creates an electrical effect causing the
air to illuminate.
According to Oliver Nichelson, if the explosion was caused by wireless energy transmission, either the geological
stressing or the current itself would cause an air glow. Finally, there is the absence of an impact crater. Because
there is no material object to impact, an explosion caused by broadcast power would not leave a crater.
Given Tesla's general pacifistic nature it is hard to understand why he would carry out a test harmful to both
animals and the people who herded the animals even when he was in the grip of financial desperation. The answer
is that he probably intended no harm, but was aiming for a publicity coup and, literally, missed his target.
At the end of 1908, the whole world was following the daring attempt of Peary to reach the North Pole. Peary
claimed the Pole in the Spring of 1909, but the winter before he had returned to the base at Ellesmere Island, about
700 miles from the Pole. If Tesla wanted the attention of the international press, few things would have been more
impressive than the Peary expedition sending out Word of a cataclysmic explosion on the ice in the direction of the
North Pole. Tesla, then, if he could not be hailed as the master creator that he was, could be seen as the master of a
mysterious new force of destruction.
The test, it seems, was not a complete success, says Nichelson. It must have been difficult controlling the vast
amount of power in transmitter and guiding ^ to the exact spot Tesla wanted. Alert, Canada on Ellesmere Island
and the Tunguska region are all on the same great circle line from Shoreham, Long "land. Both are on a compass
bearing of a little more than 2 degrees along a Polar path. The destructive electrical wave overshot its target.
Whoever was privy to Tesla's energy weapon demonstration must have been dismayed either because it missed the
intended target and would be a threat t inhabited regions of the planet, or because it worked too well in devastating
such, a large area at the mere throwing of a switch thousands of miles away. Whicheve was the case, Tesla never
received the notoriety he sought for his power transmitter.
In 1915, the Wardenclyffe laboratory was deeded over to Waldorf- Astoria. Inc. in lieu of payment for Tesla's hotel
bills. In 1917, Wardenclyffe was dynamited on orders of the new owners to recover some money from the scran
Oliver Nichelson's exotic theory may be pure fantasy, or perhaps, Nikola Tesla did shake the world in a way that
has been kept secret for over 80 years
Today, Stars Wars threatens to control the entire population of this planet from earth orbit Tesla's death ray
inventions can be utilized in a variety of ways-as scalar wave howitzers, world radar, earthquake contrivances,
brain wave manipulation, particle beam weapons, wave-train impulses, hand-held phasers and an infinite variety of
more devices.
On the good side of this technology, there is free energy and the use of Tesla Shields, the forming of an energy
shell around a city, community or installation that is impenetrable. Blasts from a Tesla Howitzer could destroy the
communications network of any major city with a well placed jolt of many millions volts, and air strikes can be
called in from space. The military applications for many of Tesla's inventions are myriad, and so the need for a
cover-up of Tesla and his inventions would behoove the military industrial complex.
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Above & Below: Tesla's Death Ray popularized in a drawing from "Diabolical Rays"
in the November, 1915 issue of Popular Radio Magazine. The fear of these "diabolical
death rays," was one of the reasons given for the dismantling of Tesla's Wardencliff Tower.
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Above: The New York Times article on Tesla's Death Ray of July 11, 1934. Below: Two illustrations from an
article in the March, 1920 issue of Electrical Experimenter entitled Wireless Transmission of Power Now
Possible. The illustrations show his prototype devices for "directed ionized beam transmissions," a "death-
ray--searchlight" device. Curiously, powerful searchlight-beams have frequently been reported as part of
unidentified discoid and cigar-shaped craft since the late 1800s.
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Above: The New York Times for Sunday, July 11, 1937 calling Tesla a "Dinosaur." Tesla, a man
living far ahead of his time, rather than behind the times, speaks of sending messages to Mars on his
81st birthday. Marconi and his scientists were already preparing to journey to Mars with their
electro-gravitic spacecraft. Right: A recent article on Tesla's advanced science by Oliver Nicholson
in the January, 1990 issue of FATE magazine.
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This electrostatic atom-smasher was built at the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C., and
used between 1920 and 1940. The cross-section shows a spherical conductor, its insulating
supports, and tube in which particles are accelerated. The charging belt is shown cut-off near the
top and bottom. This structure was also the talk of "death-rays."
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The Van de Graaf electrostatic generator of the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C. in
action. Note the man-sized door at the bottom of the building. This gives a good idea how
Tesla's Wardenclyffe tower might have appeared when operational.
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The amazing Wardenclyffe Tower of Long Island in full action as Tesla envisioned it. The tower is broadcasting
power to anti-gravity airships and electric airplanes that hover around it. Note the powerful searchlight-beams
on the airships. These were a combination of searchlight and death-ray, as commonly spoken of by Tesla.
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TESLA SCALAR WAVE SYSTEMS: THE EARTH AS A CAPACITOR
by Richard L. Clark
Nikola Tesla engineered his communications and power broadcast systems based on the Earth as a
spherical capacitor plate with the ionosphere as the other plate. The frequencies that work best
with this system are 12 Hz and its harmonics and the "storm" frequency around 500 KHz. The
basic Earth electrostatic system and the basic Tesla designs are shown in the figure below. All
lengths or circuits must be one-quarter wavelength or some odd multiple of it.
The elevated capacitor has really two functions. Capacity to Ground (Cg) and Capacity to
Ionosphere (Ci). The bottom plate only to ground is Cg, and both plates are Ci. L2 and C3 are a
resonant step-down air core coupling system at the desired frequency. Simple calculations will
allow resonant frequency values to be determined from the Tesla Equivalent Circuit diagram. Be
extremely careful of the high voltages in this system.
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Bearden's Scalar Wave weapons in action. Tomorrow's science fiction weaponry was yesterday's reality. Yet
science has apparently not moved forward with this technology for eighty years--or has it?
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Col. Tom Bearden's idea of how a "Testa Howizter" system using current scalar wave technology
might work. Compare to Tesla's 1920 illustration for his "directed ionized beam transmissions."
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Was Edison adversary father of 'Star Wars'?
By James Coates
Chicago Tribune
COLORADO SPRINGS -- Giants have trod the
ground here. Zebujon Pike, legendary explorer of
the unknown West, gave his name to the
majestic white- capped peak just outside of town.
President Dwight Eisenhower came here to carve
America's ultimate nuclear war command center,
the awesome North American Aerospace
Defense Command [NORAD] bunker, into the
granite underneath Pike's Peak's neighboring
summit, Cheyenne Mountain.
Most impressive ol all, the man who invented
radio and who discovered the way that the world
Nikola Tesla: Is his research helping the
transmits its electrical power did much of his
Soviet Union build the ultimate weapon?
creative work here. But, wait. Weren't we taught
ry are indications that the Soviet Union is testing
that radio was invented by an Italian named
devices for transmitting energy over large
Gugliel-mo Marconi? And that the legendary
distances developed nearly a century ago by
Thomas Alva Edison devised today's electrical
Tesla.
power system in his New Jersey laboratories?
Of particular interest to Tesla researchers, said
"We were taught wrong," said Toby Grotz,
Grotz, is a widely reported April 9, 1984, event
president of the International Tesla Society based
in which at least four airline pilots reported
.here in honor of a little-known flamboyant
seeing an eruption near Japan that appeared to be
genius named Nikola Tesla.
a nuclear explosion cloud that billowed to a
Two years before Marconi demonstrated his
height of 60,000 feet and a width of 200 miles
wireless radio transmission, Tesla, a naturalized
within just two minutes and enveloped their
Yugoslavian immigrant, performed an identical
aircraft.
feat at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.
In late July the Cox News Service reported that
On June 21, 1943, in the case of Marconi
all four of these planes had been examined by
Wireless Telegraph Co. vs. the United States the
the U.S. Air Force at Anchorage, Alaska, and
Supreme Court ruled that that Tesla's radio
were found to be free of radiation despite the fact
patents had predated those of the Italian genius.
they had flown through the mysterious cloud in
To be sure, Edison invented the incandescent
question.
light bulb. But he powered it and all of his other
Grotz said that such clouds could form if
projects with inefficient direct current [DC]
someone were attempting to implement Tesla's
electricity.
plans for broadcasting energy by "creating
It was Tesla who discovered how to use the far
resonances inside the earth's ionospheric cavity"
more powerful phased form of alternating
calculated in Colorado Springs during 1899
current [AC] electricity that is virtually the
experiments by the electrical genius.
universal type of electricity employed by modern
Each year about 400 members of the Tesla
civilization.
Society,
sanctioned
by
the
prestigous
And now, there are indications that Tesla also
International Institute of Electric Engineering
discovered many of the devices which the United
[1IEE], meet here where the wizard of electricity
States military-industrial complex is seeking to
carried out his most startling lightning-crackling
develop and build for the Pentagon's
'experiments to discuss one of the strangest
controversial Star Wars antimissile defense
stories in the annals of American science.
system.
It is a story of tormented genius. It also is the
Grotz and other Tesla experts speculate that
story of a little-known but intensely bitter feud
recent puzzling reports of immense clouds
that pitted Edison and the fabulously wealthy
forming within minutes over Soviet arctic territo-
financier J.P. Morgan on one side and Tesla and
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
his ally, the equally powerful George
Nearly every natural history museum and high
Westinghouse on the other. And, finally, it is a
school physics lab in the world sports a Tesla
spy story.
Coil capable of making delighted students' hair
Many in the Tesla Society are convinced that
stand on end or of arcing dramatic sparks from
foolish U.S. bureaucrats shipped the secrets
the fingertips of someone who, standing firmly
needed to build Star Wars that Tesla discovered
on a rubber mat, holds the other hand over the
to communist-controlled Yugoslavia shortly after
coil's top.
World War II, thereby allowing the Soviets an
At the corner of Foote and Kowia streets in
enormous head start in the quest for a particle
Colorado Springs, Tesla erected a coil 122 feet
beam weapon that is deemed essential to
high. Tapping into the entire city electric system,
building any missile shield.
the electrical genius sent millions of volts of
In an interview between sessions at this August's
current into the structure and bolts of man-made
Tesla symposium, Grotz explained that Tesla
lightning leaped as much as 135 feet into the
was drawn to Colorado Springs because he
brooding sky to mingle with other bolts created
needed both the dry climate and the furiously
in nature.
powerful lightning storms that so often come
The first time he threw the Switch, the entire city
tumbling down the sides of Pikes Peak and
was blacked, tests created artificial clouds
Cheyenne Mountain.
around his installation and caused lights to burn
"Tesla dreamed of supplying limitless amounts
as much as 26 miles away, according to news
of power freely and equally available to all
reports of the time.
persons on Earth," said Grotz.
The Colorado Springs artificial lightning bolts
And he was convinced he could do so by
created during the single year that Tesla lived
broadcasting electrical power across large
here, 1899-1900, have never been duplicated,
distances just as radio transmits far smaller
said Grotz.
amounts of energy, explained Grotz.
The experiments established that lightning
The same energy beams, of course, could be
storms as they swooped down the Rockies and
directed at the speed of light to destroy enemy
then rumbled across the plains into Kansas were
planes and missiles as well as to supply
resonating at a frequency of 7.68 cycles per
electricity, he noted.
second.
Such investigations take one into the realm of the
This natural phenomenon was rediscovered in
most complicated question facing science today,
the 1960s by researcher W.O. Schumann while
the so-called Unified Field Theory that Albert
working for the Navy on ways to broadcast
Einstein himself confessed was beyond his
nuclear war orders to submerged submarines,
abilities, acknowledged Grotz, an engineer for
said Grotz.
this Martin Marietta Aerospace company in
A paper widely circulated at the Tesla
Denver.
symposium called "Star Wars Now! The Bohm-
Tesla believed that he could broadcast power by
Aharonov Effect, Scalar Interferometry and
producing vibrations in the atmosphere that were
Soviet Weaponization" speculates that the
perfectly in phase with the natural vibrations that
mysterious clouds that frightened airline pilots
exist in thunderstorms, said Grotz.
were created when energy was drained from one
Then, anyone with a receiver could simply tap
area and transmitted to another using Tesla
into broadcasts and acquire electricity just as
principles.
they receive radio or TV broadcasts.
The paper's author, T.E. Beaden, a retired
On a hilltop just where the prairies sweep up to
Pentagon war games expert and active consulting
the foot of the Rockies, Tesla erected a gigantic
engineer to the Defense Department, said the
version of what is known as the Tesla Coil, a
result of such energy transmissions is a "cold
device that produces dramatic arcs of electricity
explosion" that could be enormously destructive.
by rapidly changing its resistance.
Noting that the cloud covered 150 miles, Beaden
wrote, "A single shot of such a weapon could
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
almost instantly freeze every NATO soldier in
The visionary died in 1943 in a New York hotel
that area into a block of ice."
room he shared with several pigeons that he con-
Grotz acknowledged that much of the world's
sidered his only friends, the biographer said.
mainstream scientific community doubts the
After the war, Tesla's relatives in Yugoslavia
claims made by Tesla fans like himself and
petitioned Washington to receive 17 trunks of
Beaden.
papers and laboratory equipment that he had
"But," he added, "Tesla always was rejected by
stored in a New York garage.
the establishment."
In 1952 these items were sent to Belgrade where
After Tesla began building AC dynamos, motors
they are housed in a Tesla museum.
and other devices with financial backing from
But, said Grotz, "What do you suppose are the
Westinghouse, Edison and his General Electric
chances that everything was first copied by the
Company waged a campaign to discredit AC by
KGB?"
emphasizing its dangers, according "to Tesla
"In the USA we don't even give him credit for
biographer Margaret Cheney in her "Tesla, Man
inventing 'the radio and the Soviet bloc is
Out of Time."
building Tesla museums," said the engineer.
Edison would force dogs and cats to stand on
"Why do they respect him so much?"
steel plates energized by AC current and then
throw a switch, electrocuting them. He called the
process "Westinghousing," Cheney wrote.
Ultimately Tesla lost out to Edison and other
foes, even though his AC power system
prevailed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Future Motive Power
By
Nikola
Tesla
December 1931
Above and to the right, the arrangement of one of the great
terrestrial-heat power plants of the future. Water is circulated to
the bottom of the shaft, returning as steam to drive the turbines,
and then returned to liquid form in the condenser, in an unending
cycle.
Internal heat of the earth is great and in comparison with the
demands which man can make upon it, is practically inexhaust-
ible: since the heated contents of the earth are sex-trillions of
tons.
This drawing illustrates the essential parts comprising a boiler at
a great depth, a condenser, cooled by river or other water avail-
able, on the ground, a turbine coupled to a generator, and a
motor-driven high vacuum pump. The steam or vapor generated
in the boiler is conveyed to the turbine and condenser through a
insulated central pipe while another smaller pipe, likewise
provided with a thermal covering serves to feed the condensate
into the boiler by gravity. All that is necessary to open up
unlimited resources of power throughout the world is to find
some economic and speedy way of sinking deep shafts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's fascinating patent of Jan. 2, 1894 is for a mechanical oscillator with a
controlling electromagnetic system.
Tower project had been stopped by J.P. Morgan and dismantled under F.B.I. supervision, Tesla made
little money from his projects and in many cases did not even bother to seek patents. He was more
interested in publicity and became a favorite with newspaper reporters for his flamboyant demonstrations,
controversial predictions and incredible new inventions.
On July 11, 1934, the New York Times ran a story which was headlined:
TESLA AT 78 BARES
NEW "DEATH-BEAM,"
Invention Powerful Enough to Destroy
10,000 Planes 250 Miles Away,
He Asserts.
DEFENSIVE WEAPON ONLY.
Scientist, in Interview, Tells of Apparatus
That He Says Will Kill Without Trace.
Tesla's death ray device was a kind of radio-wave-scalar weapon or what might be called an ultra-sound
gun. Tesla and death ray made quite a media splash at the time. In the 1930's several Death Ray weapon
films came out, including The Death Ray (1938) with Boris Karloff, and such serials as Flash Gordon and
Radar Men From the Moon.
In fact, the very first of the Max Fletcher Superman cartoons of the 1940's featured Tesla in The Mad
Scientist (Sept 1941) in which a crazed, eccentric scientist, obviously patterned after Tesla, battles
Superman while he terrorizes New York with his "electrothenasia death ray." In the next cartoon, The
Mechanical Monsters (Nov. 1941) Superman again battles Tesla, the mad scientist who this time
unleashes an army of robots on Manhattan. Superman battle Tesla and his Death Ray one last time in
Magnetic Telescope (April 1942), where Tesla is using a special magnetogravitic ray that pulls asteroids
out of orbit and sends them crashing to earth. With Japateurs in September of 1942, the Superman
cartoons turned toward War themes, featuring Japanese spies and to a lesser part, Nazi agents.
It is interesting to think of Tesla as the model for all the "mad scientists" of comic book and cinematic
fiction.
In the Spring of 1924 "death rays," were the subject of many newspapers around the world. Harry
Grindell-Matthews of London lead the contenders in this early Star Wars race. The New York Times of
May 21st had this report-Paris, May 20--If confidence of Grindell Madiew (sic), inventor of the so-called
'diabolical ray,' in his discovery is justified it may become possible to put the whole of an enemy army out
of action, destroy any force of airplanes attacking a city or paralyze any fleet venturing within a certain
distance of the coast by invisible rays.
Grindell-Matthews stated mat his destructive rays would operate over a distance of four miles and that the
maximum distance for this type of weapon would be seven or eight miles. Tests have been reported where
the ray has been used to stop the operation of automobiles by arresting the action of the magnetos, and an
quantity of gunpowder is said to have been exploded by playing the beams on it from a distance of thirty
six feet" Grindell-Matthews was able, also, to electrocute mice, shrivel plants, and light the wick of an oil
lamp from the same distance away.
Sensing something of importance the New York Times copyrighted a story on May 28th of 1924 on a ray-
weapon developed by the Soviets. The story opened:
"News has leaked out from the Communist circles in Moscow that behind Trotsky's recent war-like
utterance lies an electromagnetic invention, by a Russian engineer named Grammachikoff for destroying
airplanes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tests of the destructive ray, the Times continued, had began the previous August with the aid of German
technical experts.
A large, scale demonstration at Podosinsky Aerodrome near Moscow was so successful that the
revolutionary Military Council and the Political Bureau decided to fund enough electronic anti-aircraft
stations to protect sensitive areas of Russia. Similar, but more powerful, stations were to be constructed to
disable the electrical mechanisms of warships.
The Commander of the Soviet Air Services, Rosenholtz, was so overwhelmed by the ray weapon
demonstration that he proposed "to curtail the activity of the air fleet, because the invention rendered a
large air fleet unnecessary for the purpose of defense."
Tesla appears to have been the renegade scientist, eccentric and brilliant. However, after his finances had
been destroyed by Morgan, and indirectly by Westinghouse, Tesla was constantly broke. In lieu of money
on rent, in the early 1930's, Tesla gave the management of the Governor Clinton Hotel a supposed
invention of his to be used for collateral. He said that the device was very dangerous and worth $10,000.
In 1943, an MIT scientist, working for the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) and
accompanied by the office of Naval Intelligence, John O. Trump, went to the hotel to retrieve the device,
after Tesla's death.
He was told that the invention could "detonate if opened by an unauthorized person." Trump stated that
he reflected momentarily upon his life before he opened the container. In his FBI report he stated
"Inside was a handsome wooden chest bound with brass... [containing] a multidecade resistance box of
the type used for a Wheatstone bridge resistance measurements--a common standard item found in every
electric laboratory before the turn of the century!"
According to Tesla researcher Dr. Marc Seifer, Tesla appears to have told both his pigeon caretaker and
an army engineer named Fitzgerald, a friend of Tesla's, that he had built a working model of a Death Ray.
Dr. Seifer says that a number of people closely associated with Tesla would recount stories, circa 1918, of
Tesla bouncing electronic beams off the moon. Seifer says that this is not a Death Ray, but it certainly
supports the hypothesis that the inventor created working models along those lines.
According to Dr. Seifer, Tesla drew up "artist conceptions" in the mid-1930s that were "made of a
building with a tower in the form of a cylinder 16.5 feet in diameter, 115 feet tall. The structure was
capped at the top by a 10 meter diameter sphere (covered with hemispheric shells as in the 1914
patent)."The inventor had also contacted people at Alcoa Aluminum throughout 1935 who were "ready to
start as soon as Tesla advanced the funds."
Two years later, at the 81, the inventor stated at a luncheon attended by ministers of Yugoslavia and
Czechoslovakia that he had constructed a number of beam transmission devices including the death ray
for protecting a country from incoming invasions and a laser-like machine that could send impulses to the
moon and other planets.
According to Dr. Seifer, Tesla also said that he was going to take the death ray to a Geneva conference
for world peace.; When pressed by the columnists to "give a full description..., Dr. Tesla said..., "But it is
not an experiment... I have built, demonstrated and used it Only a little time will pass before I can give it
to the world."
Another Tesla scholar who believes that Tesla built a "death ray" is Oliver Nichelson, who has written
quite a bit on Tesla, including an article entitled "Nicola Tesla's Long Range Weapon" (1989).
Picking up the death ray stories on the wire services on the other side of the world, the Colorado Springs
Gazette, ran a local interest item on May 30th. With the headline: Tesla Discovered 'Death Ray' in
Experiments He Made Here," the story recounted, with a feeling of local pride, the inventor's 1899
researches financed by John Jacob Astor.
Tesla's Colorado Springs tests were well remembered by local residents. With a 200 foot pole topped by a
large copper sphere rising above his laboratory he generated potentials that discharged lightning bolts up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to 135 feet long. Thunder from the released energy could be heard 15 miles away in Cripple Creek People
walking along the streets were amazed to see sparks jumping between their feet and the ground, and
flames of electricity would spring from a tap when anyone turned them on for a drink of water. Light
bulbs within 100 feet of the experimental tower glowed when they were turned off. Horses at the livery
stable received shocks through their metal shoes and bolted from the stalls. Even insects were affected:
Butterflies became electrified and "helplessly swirled in circles--their wings spouting blue halos of 'St.
Elmo's Fire.'"
The most pronounced effect, and the one that captured the attention o death ray inventors, occurred at the
Colorado Springs Electric Company generating station. One day while Tesla was conducting a high
power test, the crackling from inside the laboratory suddenly stopped. Bursting into the lab Tesla
demanded to know why his assistant had disconnected the coil. The assistant protested that had not
anything. The power from the city's generator, the assistant said, must have quit When the angry Tesla
telephoned the power company he received an equally angry reply that the electric company had not cut
the power, but that Tesla's experiment had destroyed the generator!
According to Oliver Nichelson, Tesla explained to The Electrical Experimenter, in August of 19l7 what
had happened. While running his transmitter at a power level of "several hundred kilowatts" high
frequency currents were set up in the electric company's generators. These powerful currents "caused
heavy sparks to jump thru the winds and destroy the insulation." When the insulation failed, the generator
shorted out and was destroyed.
Some years later, 1935, he elaborated on the destructive potential of his transmitter in the February issue
of Liberty magazine:
"My invention requires a large plant, but once it is established it will be possible to destroy anything, men
or machines, approaching within a radius of 200 miles."
He went on to make a distinction between his invention and those brought forward by others. He claimed
that his device did not use any so-called "death rays" because such radiation cannot be produced in large
amounts and rapidly becomes weaker over distance. Here, he likely had in mind a Grindell-Matthews
type of device which, according to contemporary reports, used a powerful ultraviolet beam to make the
air conducting so that high energy current could be directed to the target The range of an ultra-violet
searchlight would be much less than what Tesla was claiming. As he put it: "all the energy of New York
City (approximately two million horsepower [1.5 billion watts]) transformed into rays and projected
twenty miles, would not kill a human being." On the contrary, he said:
"My apparatus projects particles which may be relatively large or of microscopic dimensions, enabling us
to convey to a small area at a great distance trillions of times more energy than is possible with rays of
any kind. Many thousands of horsepower can be thus transmitted by a stream thinner than a hair, so that
nothing can resist."
According to Oliver Nichelson, what Tesla had in mind with this defensive system was a large scale
version of his Colorado Springs lightning bolt machine As airplanes or ships entered the electric field of
his charged tower, they would set up a conducting path for a stream of high energy particles that would
destroy the intruder's electrical system.
A drawback to having giant Tesla transmitters poised to shoot bolts of lightning at an enemy approaching
the coasts is that they would have to be located in an uninhabited area equal to its circle of protection.
Anyone stepping into the defensive zone of the coils would be sensed as an intruder and struck down.
Today, with the development of oil drilling platforms, this disadvantage might be overcome by locating
the lightning defensive system at sea.
As ominous as death ray and beam weapon technology will be for the future there is another, more
destructive, weapon system alluded to in Tesla's writings. According to Oliver Nichelson, when Tesla
realized, as he pointed out in the 1900 Century article, The Problem of Increasing Human Energy," that
economic forces would not allow the development of a new type of electrical generator able to supply
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
power without burning fuel he "was led to recognize [that] the transmission of electrical energy to any
distance through the media as by far the best solution of the great problem of harnessing the sun's energy
for the use of man.' His idea was that a relatively few generating plants located near waterfalls would
supply his very high energy transmitters which, in turn, would send power through the earth to be picked
up wherever it was needed. The plan would require several of his transmitters to rhythmically pump huge
amounts of electricity into the earth at pressures on the order of 100 million volts. The earth would
become like a huge ball inflated to a great electrical potential, but pulsing to Tesla's imposed beat.
Receiving energy from this high pressure reservoir only would require a person to put a rod into the
ground and connect it to a receiver operating in unison with the earth's electrical motion. As Tesla
described it, "the entire apparatus for lighting the average country dwelling will contain no moving parts
whatever, and could be readily carried about in a small valise."
However, the difference between a current that can be used to run, say, a sewing machine and a current
used as a method of destruction, however, is a matter of timing. If the amount of electricity used to run a
sewing machine for an hour is released in a millionth of a second, it would have a very different, and
negative, effect on the sewing machine.
Tesla said his transmitter could produce 100 million volts of pressure with currents up to 1000 amperes
which is a power level of 100 billion watts. If it was resonating at a radio frequency of 2 MHz, then the
energy released during one period of its oscillation would be 100,000,000,000,000,000 Joules of energy,
or roughly the amount of energy released by the explosion of 10 megatons of TNT.
Such a transmitter, would be capable of projecting the energy of a nuclear warhead by radio. Any location
in the world could be vaporized at the speed of light
Not unexpectedly, many scientists doubted the technical feasibility of Tesla's wireless power transmission
scheme whether for commercial or military purposes. The secret of how through- the-earth broadcast
power was found not in the theories of electrical engineering, but in the realm of high energy physics.
Dr. Andrija Puharich, in 1976, was the first to point out that Tesla's power transmission system could not
be explained by the laws of classical electrodynamics, but, rather, in terms of relativistic transformations
in high energy fields. He noted that according to Dirac's theory of the electron, when one of those
particles encountered its oppositely charged member, a positron, the two particles would annihilate each
other. Because energy can neither be destroyed nor created the energy of the two former particles are
transformed into an electromagnetic wave. The opposite, of course, holds true. If there is a strong enough
electric field, two opposite charges of electricity are formed where there was originally no charge at all.
This type of transformation usually takes place near the intense field near an atomic nucleus, but it can
also manifest without the aid of a nuclear catalyst if an electric field has enough energy. Puharich's
involved mathematical treatment demonstrated that power levels in a Tesla transmitter were strong
enough to cause such pair production.
The mechanism of pair production offers a very attractive explanation for the ground transmission of
power. Ordinary electrical currents do not travel far through the earth. Dirt has a high resistance to
electricity and quickly turns currents into heat energy that is wasted. With the pair production method
electricity can be moved from one point to another without really having to push the physical particle
through the earth - the transmitting source would create a strong field, and a particle would be created at
the receiver.
If the sending of currents through the earth is possible from the viewpoint of modern physics, the question
remains of whether Tesla actually demonstrated the weapons application of his power transmitter or
whether it remained an unrealized plan on the part of the inventor. Circumstantial evidence points to there
having been a test of this weapon.
The clues are found in the chronology of Tesla's work and financial fortunes between 1900 and 1915.
1900: Tesla returned from Colorado Springs after a series of important tests of wireless power
transmission. It was during these tests that his magnifying transmitter sent out waves of energy causing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the destruction of the power company's generator.
He received financial backing from J.Pierpont Morgan of $150,000 to build a radio transmitter for
signaling Europe. With the first portion of the money he obtained 200 acres of land at Shoreham, Long
Island and built an enormous tower 187 feet tall topped with a 55 ton, 68 foot metal dome. He called the
research site "Wardenclyffe."
As Tesla was just getting started, investors were rushing to buy stock offered by the Marconi company.
Supporters of the Marconi Company include his old adversary Edison.
On December 12th, Marconi sent the first transatlantic signal, the letter "S" from Cornwall, England to
Newfoundland. He did this with, as the financiers noted, equipment much less costly than that envisioned
by Tesla.
1902: Marconi is being hailed as a hero around the world while Tesla is seen as a shirker by the public for
ignoring a call to jury duty in a murder case (he was excused from duty because of his opposition to the
death penalty).
1903: When Morgan sent the balance of the $150,000, it would not cover the outstanding balance Tesla
owed on the Wardenclyffe construction. To encourage a larger investment in the face of Marconi's
success, Tesla revealed to Morgan his real purpose was not to just send radio signals but the wireless
transmission of power to any point on the planet. Morgan was uninterested and declined further funding.
A financial panic that Fall put an end to Tesla's hopes of financing by Morgan or other wealthy
industrialists. This left Tesla without money even to buy the coal to fire the transmitter's electrical
generators.
1904: Tesla writes for the Electrical World, The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires,''
noting that the globe, even with its great size, responds to electrical currents like a small metal ball.
Tesla declares to the press the completion of Wardenclyffe.
1904: The Colorado Springs power company sues for electricity used at that experimental station. Tesla's
Colorado laboratory is torn down and is sold for lumber to pay the $180 judgment; his electrical
equipment is put in storage.
1905: Electrotherapeutic coils are manufactured at Wardenclyffe, for hospitals and researchers to help
pay bills.
Tesla is sued by his lawyer for nonpayment of a loan. In an article, Tesla comments on Peary's expedition
to the North Pole and tells of his, Tesla's, plans for energy transmission to any central point on the
ground.
Tesla is sued by C.J. Duffner, a caretaker at the experimental station in Colorado Springs, for wages.
1906: "Left Property Here; Skips; Sheriffs Sale," was the headline in the Colorado Springs Gazette for
March 6di. Tesla's electrical equipment is sold to pay judgment of $928.57.
George Westinghouse, who bought Tesla's patents for alternating current motors and generators in the
1880's, turns down the inventor's power transmission proposal.
Workers gradually stop coming to the Wardenclyffe laboratory when there are no funds to pay them.
1907: When commenting on the destruction of the French ship Iena, Tesla noted in a letter to the New
York Times that he has built and tested remotely controlled torpedoes, but that electrical waves would be
more destructive. "As to projecting wave energy to any particular region of the globe... this can be done
by my devices," he wrote. Further, he claimed that "the spot at which the desired effect is to be produced
can be calculated very closely, assuming the accepted terrestrial measurements to be correct."
1908: Tesla repeated the idea of destruction by electrical waves to the newspaper on April 21st His letter
to the editor stated, "When I spoke of future warfare I meant that it should be conducted by direct
application of electrical waves without the use of aerial engines or other implements of destruction." He
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
added: This is not a dream. Even now wireless power plants could be constructed by which any region of
the globe might be rendered uninhabitable without subjecting the population of other parts to serious
danger or inconvenience."
1915: Again, in another letter to the editor, Tesla stated: "It is perfectly practical to transmit electrical
energy without wires and produce destructive effects at a distance. I have already constructed a wireless
transmitter which makes this possible... When unavoidable, the [transmitter] may be used to destroy
property and life."
Important to this chronology is the state of Tesla's mental health. One researcher, Marc J. Seifer, a
psychologist, believes Tesla suffered a nervous breakdown catalyzed by the death of one the partners in
the Tesla Electric Company and the shooting of Stanford White, the noted architect, who had designed
Wardenclyffe. Seifer places this in 1906 and cites as evidence a letter from George Scherff, Tesla's
secretary:
Wardenclyffe, 4/10/1906
Dear Mr. Tesla:
I have received your letter and am very glad to know you are vanquishing your illness. I have
scarcely ever seen you so out of sorts as last Sunday; and I was frightened.
In the period from 1900 to 1910 Tesla's creative thrust was to establish his Plan for wireless transmission
of energy. Undercut by Marconi's accomplishment, beset by financial problems, and spurned by the
scientific establishment Tesla was in a desperate situation by mid-decade. The strain became too great by
1906 and he suffered an emotional collapse. In order to make a final effort to have his grand scheme
recognized, he may have tried one high power test of his transmitter to show off its destructive potential.
This would have been in 1908.
The Tunguska event took place on the morning of June 30th, 1908. An explosion estimated to be
equivalent to 10-15 megatons of TNT flattened 500,000 acres of pine forest near the Stony Tunguska River in
central Siberia, Whole herds of reindeer were destroyed. The explosion was heard over a radius of 620 miles. When
an expedition was made to the area in 1927 to find evidence of the meteorite presumed to have caused the blast, no
impact crater was found When the ground was drilled for pieces of nickel, iron, or stone, the main constituents of
meteorites, none were found down to a depth of 118 feet.
Many explanations have been given for the Tunguska event The officially accepted version is that a 100,000 ton
fragment of Encke's Comet, composed mainly of dust and ice, entered the atmosphere at 62,000 m.p.h., heated up,
and exploded over the earth's surface creating a fireball and shock wave but no crater. Alternative versions of the
disaster see a renegade mini-black hole or an alien space ship crashing into the earth with the resulting release of
energy.
According to Oliver Nichelson, the historical facts point to the possibility that this event was caused by a test firing
of Tesla's energy weapon.
In 1907 and 1908, Tesla wrote about the destructive effects of his energy transmitter. His Wardenclyffe transmitter
was much larger than the Colorado Springs device that destroyed the power station's generator. His new transmitter
would be capable of effects many orders of magnitude greater than the Colorado device.
In 1915, he said he had already built a transmitter that "when unavoidable ... may be used to destroy property and
life." Finally, a 1934 letter from Tesla to J.P. Morgan, uncovered by Tesla biographer Margaret Cheney, seems to
conclusively point to an energy weapon test In an effort to raise money for his defensive system he wrote:
The flying machine has completely demoralized the world, so much so that in some cities,
as London and Paris, people are in mortal fear from aerial bombing. The new means I
have perfected affords absolute protection against this and other forms of attack... These
new discoveries I have carried out experimentally on a limited scale, created a profound
impression (emphasis added).
Again, the evidence is circumstantial but, to use the language of criminal investigation, Tesla had motive and
means to be the cause of the Tunguska event He also seems to confess to such a test having taken place before
1915. His transmitter could generate energy levels and frequencies that would release the destructive force of 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
megatons, or more, of TNT. And the overlooked genius was desperate.
The nature of the Tunguska event, also, is not inconsistent with what would happen during the sudden release of
wireless power. No fiery object was reported in the skies at that time by professional or amateur astronomers as
would be expected when a 200,000,000 pound object enters the atmosphere. The sky glow in the region, mentioned
by some witnesses, just before the explosion may have come from the ground, as geological researchers discovered
in the 1970's. Just before an earthquake the stressed rock beneath the ground creates an electrical effect causing the
air to illuminate.
According to Oliver Nichelson, if the explosion was caused by wireless energy transmission, either the geological
stressing or the current itself would cause an air glow. Finally, there is the absence of an impact crater. Because
there is no material object to impact, an explosion caused by broadcast power would not leave a crater.
Given Tesla's general pacifistic nature it is hard to understand why he would carry out a test harmful to both
animals and the people who herded the animals even when he was in the grip of financial desperation. The answer
is that he probably intended no harm, but was aiming for a publicity coup and, literally, missed his target.
At the end of 1908, the whole world was following the daring attempt of Peary to reach the North Pole. Peary
claimed the Pole in the Spring of 1909, but the winter before he had returned to the base at Ellesmere Island, about
700 miles from the Pole. If Tesla wanted the attention of the international press, few things would have been more
impressive than the Peary expedition sending out Word of a cataclysmic explosion on the ice in the direction of the
North Pole. Tesla, then, if he could not be hailed as the master creator that he was, could be seen as the master of a
mysterious new force of destruction.
The test, it seems, was not a complete success, says Nichelson. It must have been difficult controlling the vast
amount of power in transmitter and guiding ^ to the exact spot Tesla wanted. Alert, Canada on Ellesmere Island
and the Tunguska region are all on the same great circle line from Shoreham, Long "land. Both are on a compass
bearing of a little more than 2 degrees along a Polar path. The destructive electrical wave overshot its target.
Whoever was privy to Tesla's energy weapon demonstration must have been dismayed either because it missed the
intended target and would be a threat t inhabited regions of the planet, or because it worked too well in devastating
such, a large area at the mere throwing of a switch thousands of miles away. Whicheve was the case, Tesla never
received the notoriety he sought for his power transmitter.
In 1915, the Wardenclyffe laboratory was deeded over to Waldorf- Astoria. Inc. in lieu of payment for Tesla's hotel
bills. In 1917, Wardenclyffe was dynamited on orders of the new owners to recover some money from the scran
Oliver Nichelson's exotic theory may be pure fantasy, or perhaps, Nikola Tesla did shake the world in a way that
has been kept secret for over 80 years
Today, Stars Wars threatens to control the entire population of this planet from earth orbit Tesla's death ray
inventions can be utilized in a variety of ways-as scalar wave howitzers, world radar, earthquake contrivances,
brain wave manipulation, particle beam weapons, wave-train impulses, hand-held phasers and an infinite variety of
more devices.
On the good side of this technology, there is free energy and the use of Tesla Shields, the forming of an energy
shell around a city, community or installation that is impenetrable. Blasts from a Tesla Howitzer could destroy the
communications network of any major city with a well placed jolt of many millions volts, and air strikes can be
called in from space. The military applications for many of Tesla's inventions are myriad, and so the need for a
cover-up of Tesla and his inventions would behoove the military industrial complex.
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Above & Below: Tesla's Death Ray popularized in a drawing from "Diabolical Rays"
in the November, 1915 issue of Popular Radio Magazine. The fear of these "diabolical
death rays," was one of the reasons given for the dismantling of Tesla's Wardencliff Tower.
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Above: The New York Times article on Tesla's Death Ray of July 11, 1934. Below: Two illustrations from an
article in the March, 1920 issue of Electrical Experimenter entitled Wireless Transmission of Power Now
Possible. The illustrations show his prototype devices for "directed ionized beam transmissions," a "death-
ray--searchlight" device. Curiously, powerful searchlight-beams have frequently been reported as part of
unidentified discoid and cigar-shaped craft since the late 1800s.
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Above: The New York Times for Sunday, July 11, 1937 calling Tesla a "Dinosaur." Tesla, a man
living far ahead of his time, rather than behind the times, speaks of sending messages to Mars on his
81st birthday. Marconi and his scientists were already preparing to journey to Mars with their
electro-gravitic spacecraft. Right: A recent article on Tesla's advanced science by Oliver Nicholson
in the January, 1990 issue of FATE magazine.
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This electrostatic atom-smasher was built at the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C., and
used between 1920 and 1940. The cross-section shows a spherical conductor, its insulating
supports, and tube in which particles are accelerated. The charging belt is shown cut-off near the
top and bottom. This structure was also the talk of "death-rays."
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The Van de Graaf electrostatic generator of the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C. in
action. Note the man-sized door at the bottom of the building. This gives a good idea how
Tesla's Wardenclyffe tower might have appeared when operational.
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The amazing Wardenclyffe Tower of Long Island in full action as Tesla envisioned it. The tower is broadcasting
power to anti-gravity airships and electric airplanes that hover around it. Note the powerful searchlight-beams
on the airships. These were a combination of searchlight and death-ray, as commonly spoken of by Tesla.
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TESLA SCALAR WAVE SYSTEMS: THE EARTH AS A CAPACITOR
by Richard L. Clark
Nikola Tesla engineered his communications and power broadcast systems based on the Earth as a
spherical capacitor plate with the ionosphere as the other plate. The frequencies that work best
with this system are 12 Hz and its harmonics and the "storm" frequency around 500 KHz. The
basic Earth electrostatic system and the basic Tesla designs are shown in the figure below. All
lengths or circuits must be one-quarter wavelength or some odd multiple of it.
The elevated capacitor has really two functions. Capacity to Ground (Cg) and Capacity to
Ionosphere (Ci). The bottom plate only to ground is Cg, and both plates are Ci. L2 and C3 are a
resonant step-down air core coupling system at the desired frequency. Simple calculations will
allow resonant frequency values to be determined from the Tesla Equivalent Circuit diagram. Be
extremely careful of the high voltages in this system.
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Bearden's Scalar Wave weapons in action. Tomorrow's science fiction weaponry was yesterday's reality. Yet
science has apparently not moved forward with this technology for eighty years--or has it?
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Col. Tom Bearden's idea of how a "Testa Howizter" system using current scalar wave technology
might work. Compare to Tesla's 1920 illustration for his "directed ionized beam transmissions."
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Was Edison adversary father of 'Star Wars'?
By James Coates
Chicago Tribune
COLORADO SPRINGS -- Giants have trod the
ground here. Zebujon Pike, legendary explorer of
the unknown West, gave his name to the
majestic white- capped peak just outside of town.
President Dwight Eisenhower came here to carve
America's ultimate nuclear war command center,
the awesome North American Aerospace
Defense Command [NORAD] bunker, into the
granite underneath Pike's Peak's neighboring
summit, Cheyenne Mountain.
Most impressive ol all, the man who invented
radio and who discovered the way that the world
Nikola Tesla: Is his research helping the
transmits its electrical power did much of his
Soviet Union build the ultimate weapon?
creative work here. But, wait. Weren't we taught
ry are indications that the Soviet Union is testing
that radio was invented by an Italian named
devices for transmitting energy over large
Gugliel-mo Marconi? And that the legendary
distances developed nearly a century ago by
Thomas Alva Edison devised today's electrical
Tesla.
power system in his New Jersey laboratories?
Of particular interest to Tesla researchers, said
"We were taught wrong," said Toby Grotz,
Grotz, is a widely reported April 9, 1984, event
president of the International Tesla Society based
in which at least four airline pilots reported
.here in honor of a little-known flamboyant
seeing an eruption near Japan that appeared to be
genius named Nikola Tesla.
a nuclear explosion cloud that billowed to a
Two years before Marconi demonstrated his
height of 60,000 feet and a width of 200 miles
wireless radio transmission, Tesla, a naturalized
within just two minutes and enveloped their
Yugoslavian immigrant, performed an identical
aircraft.
feat at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.
In late July the Cox News Service reported that
On June 21, 1943, in the case of Marconi
all four of these planes had been examined by
Wireless Telegraph Co. vs. the United States the
the U.S. Air Force at Anchorage, Alaska, and
Supreme Court ruled that that Tesla's radio
were found to be free of radiation despite the fact
patents had predated those of the Italian genius.
they had flown through the mysterious cloud in
To be sure, Edison invented the incandescent
question.
light bulb. But he powered it and all of his other
Grotz said that such clouds could form if
projects with inefficient direct current [DC]
someone were attempting to implement Tesla's
electricity.
plans for broadcasting energy by "creating
It was Tesla who discovered how to use the far
resonances inside the earth's ionospheric cavity"
more powerful phased form of alternating
calculated in Colorado Springs during 1899
current [AC] electricity that is virtually the
experiments by the electrical genius.
universal type of electricity employed by modern
Each year about 400 members of the Tesla
civilization.
Society,
sanctioned
by
the
prestigous
And now, there are indications that Tesla also
International Institute of Electric Engineering
discovered many of the devices which the United
[1IEE], meet here where the wizard of electricity
States military-industrial complex is seeking to
carried out his most startling lightning-crackling
develop and build for the Pentagon's
'experiments to discuss one of the strangest
controversial Star Wars antimissile defense
stories in the annals of American science.
system.
It is a story of tormented genius. It also is the
Grotz and other Tesla experts speculate that
story of a little-known but intensely bitter feud
recent puzzling reports of immense clouds
that pitted Edison and the fabulously wealthy
forming within minutes over Soviet arctic territo-
financier J.P. Morgan on one side and Tesla and
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
his ally, the equally powerful George
Nearly every natural history museum and high
Westinghouse on the other. And, finally, it is a
school physics lab in the world sports a Tesla
spy story.
Coil capable of making delighted students' hair
Many in the Tesla Society are convinced that
stand on end or of arcing dramatic sparks from
foolish U.S. bureaucrats shipped the secrets
the fingertips of someone who, standing firmly
needed to build Star Wars that Tesla discovered
on a rubber mat, holds the other hand over the
to communist-controlled Yugoslavia shortly after
coil's top.
World War II, thereby allowing the Soviets an
At the corner of Foote and Kowia streets in
enormous head start in the quest for a particle
Colorado Springs, Tesla erected a coil 122 feet
beam weapon that is deemed essential to
high. Tapping into the entire city electric system,
building any missile shield.
the electrical genius sent millions of volts of
In an interview between sessions at this August's
current into the structure and bolts of man-made
Tesla symposium, Grotz explained that Tesla
lightning leaped as much as 135 feet into the
was drawn to Colorado Springs because he
brooding sky to mingle with other bolts created
needed both the dry climate and the furiously
in nature.
powerful lightning storms that so often come
The first time he threw the Switch, the entire city
tumbling down the sides of Pikes Peak and
was blacked, tests created artificial clouds
Cheyenne Mountain.
around his installation and caused lights to burn
"Tesla dreamed of supplying limitless amounts
as much as 26 miles away, according to news
of power freely and equally available to all
reports of the time.
persons on Earth," said Grotz.
The Colorado Springs artificial lightning bolts
And he was convinced he could do so by
created during the single year that Tesla lived
broadcasting electrical power across large
here, 1899-1900, have never been duplicated,
distances just as radio transmits far smaller
said Grotz.
amounts of energy, explained Grotz.
The experiments established that lightning
The same energy beams, of course, could be
storms as they swooped down the Rockies and
directed at the speed of light to destroy enemy
then rumbled across the plains into Kansas were
planes and missiles as well as to supply
resonating at a frequency of 7.68 cycles per
electricity, he noted.
second.
Such investigations take one into the realm of the
This natural phenomenon was rediscovered in
most complicated question facing science today,
the 1960s by researcher W.O. Schumann while
the so-called Unified Field Theory that Albert
working for the Navy on ways to broadcast
Einstein himself confessed was beyond his
nuclear war orders to submerged submarines,
abilities, acknowledged Grotz, an engineer for
said Grotz.
this Martin Marietta Aerospace company in
A paper widely circulated at the Tesla
Denver.
symposium called "Star Wars Now! The Bohm-
Tesla believed that he could broadcast power by
Aharonov Effect, Scalar Interferometry and
producing vibrations in the atmosphere that were
Soviet Weaponization" speculates that the
perfectly in phase with the natural vibrations that
mysterious clouds that frightened airline pilots
exist in thunderstorms, said Grotz.
were created when energy was drained from one
Then, anyone with a receiver could simply tap
area and transmitted to another using Tesla
into broadcasts and acquire electricity just as
principles.
they receive radio or TV broadcasts.
The paper's author, T.E. Beaden, a retired
On a hilltop just where the prairies sweep up to
Pentagon war games expert and active consulting
the foot of the Rockies, Tesla erected a gigantic
engineer to the Defense Department, said the
version of what is known as the Tesla Coil, a
result of such energy transmissions is a "cold
device that produces dramatic arcs of electricity
explosion" that could be enormously destructive.
by rapidly changing its resistance.
Noting that the cloud covered 150 miles, Beaden
wrote, "A single shot of such a weapon could
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
almost instantly freeze every NATO soldier in
The visionary died in 1943 in a New York hotel
that area into a block of ice."
room he shared with several pigeons that he con-
Grotz acknowledged that much of the world's
sidered his only friends, the biographer said.
mainstream scientific community doubts the
After the war, Tesla's relatives in Yugoslavia
claims made by Tesla fans like himself and
petitioned Washington to receive 17 trunks of
Beaden.
papers and laboratory equipment that he had
"But," he added, "Tesla always was rejected by
stored in a New York garage.
the establishment."
In 1952 these items were sent to Belgrade where
After Tesla began building AC dynamos, motors
they are housed in a Tesla museum.
and other devices with financial backing from
But, said Grotz, "What do you suppose are the
Westinghouse, Edison and his General Electric
chances that everything was first copied by the
Company waged a campaign to discredit AC by
KGB?"
emphasizing its dangers, according "to Tesla
"In the USA we don't even give him credit for
biographer Margaret Cheney in her "Tesla, Man
inventing 'the radio and the Soviet bloc is
Out of Time."
building Tesla museums," said the engineer.
Edison would force dogs and cats to stand on
"Why do they respect him so much?"
steel plates energized by AC current and then
throw a switch, electrocuting them. He called the
process "Westinghousing," Cheney wrote.
Ultimately Tesla lost out to Edison and other
foes, even though his AC power system
prevailed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Future Motive Power
By
Nikola
Tesla
December 1931
Above and to the right, the arrangement of one of the great
terrestrial-heat power plants of the future. Water is circulated to
the bottom of the shaft, returning as steam to drive the turbines,
and then returned to liquid form in the condenser, in an unending
cycle.
Internal heat of the earth is great and in comparison with the
demands which man can make upon it, is practically inexhaust-
ible: since the heated contents of the earth are sex-trillions of
tons.
This drawing illustrates the essential parts comprising a boiler at
a great depth, a condenser, cooled by river or other water avail-
able, on the ground, a turbine coupled to a generator, and a
motor-driven high vacuum pump. The steam or vapor generated
in the boiler is conveyed to the turbine and condenser through a
insulated central pipe while another smaller pipe, likewise
provided with a thermal covering serves to feed the condensate
into the boiler by gravity. All that is necessary to open up
unlimited resources of power throughout the world is to find
some economic and speedy way of sinking deep shafts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's fascinating patent of Jan. 2, 1894 is for a mechanical oscillator with a
controlling electromagnetic system.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Chapter 7 THE MOST UNUSUAL INVENTIONS
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Many of Tesla's inventions, now 90 to 100 years old, still seem like science-fiction to us today.
Much of Tesla's inventions and overall power system in development, does indeed seem to be a recreation
of an advanced and ancient system of transmitting power to parts of the globe. As early as 1899, in the
Colorado Springs tests, Tesla sent electrical beams through the earth and lighted up light bulbs five miles
away.
Tesla is credited with so many inventions, that one might begin to think that he invented much of our
modern technology. Tesla's battle for recognition as the inventor of the radio, a device still usually
credited to Marconi, is familiar to most Tesla enthusiasts.
Among the incredible inventions that Tesla actually conceived, frequently patented, were:
The Electric Submarine
In 1898 Tesla patented the Teleautomaton Boat," (#613,809) an electrically powered submarine. This
submarine would pick-up electricity that was being broadcast to it by a receiver. Power could also be
stored in batteries and the electric submarine could be operated by remote control.
Tesla's VTOL
His design for a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft received its patent on January 3, 1928. This
was to become Tesla's last patented invention. After this, he no longer sought patents on any of his
inventions.
The Electro Dynamic Induction Lamp
In 1894, Tesla's Electro-Dynamic Induction Lamp was given US. patent 514. 170. The Electro-Dynamic
Induction Lamp is a type of light bulb that is said to be far in advance than those currently available.
The Bladeless Tesla Turbine
This bladeless turbine, patented in 1916 (#1,329,559), uses a series of rotating discs to pump liquids or
gases through a turbine engine. Hovercraft speed boats, or simple pumps can utilize the Bladeless
Turbine. It is said to be the world's most efficient engine, and is 20 times more efficient than a
conventional turbine, yet, it is still not in use today!
Improved Unipolar Generator
In 1891, Tesla published an article in The Electrical Engineer (New York Sept. 2,1891 about his
improved version of the Unipolar Generator. His rotating disc and opposing magnets has been copied by
many "magic-motor" builders over the years.
Tesla's Mechanical Oscillator
An unusual and little-known device invented by Tesla was the Mechanical Oscillator which compressed
air until the oxygen became a liquid. It was built in the form of an air cylinder and contained several
chambers, each of which successively cools the air until it becomes liquid. Tesla stated that the device
was highly efficient and could be used as a power generating system if magnets were attached to the
oscillating pistons. Tesla believed that an "oxygen recycle system" was a vast improvement to gasoline
engines and intended to conduct important experiments with LIQUID OXYGEN for new turbine engines
capable of developing extraordinary power.
Tesla's Ozone generator
Tesla's ozone generator. US Patent568,l77,issued in l896.0zonegenerator's are currently banned for
medical use in the U.S. despite the claims of some doctors that ozone therapy can cure cancer and AIDS.
Many of Tesla's inventions, now 90 to 100 years old, still seem like science-fiction to us today.
Much of Tesla's inventions and overall power system in development, does indeed seem to be a recreation
of an advanced and ancient system of transmitting power to parts of the globe. As early as 1899, in the
Colorado Springs tests, Tesla sent electrical beams through the earth and lighted up light bulbs five miles
away.
Tesla is credited with so many inventions, that one might begin to think that he invented much of our
modern technology. Tesla's battle for recognition as the inventor of the radio, a device still usually
credited to Marconi, is familiar to most Tesla enthusiasts.
Among the incredible inventions that Tesla actually conceived, frequently patented, were:
The Electric Submarine
In 1898 Tesla patented the Teleautomaton Boat," (#613,809) an electrically powered submarine. This
submarine would pick-up electricity that was being broadcast to it by a receiver. Power could also be
stored in batteries and the electric submarine could be operated by remote control.
Tesla's VTOL
His design for a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft received its patent on January 3, 1928. This
was to become Tesla's last patented invention. After this, he no longer sought patents on any of his
inventions.
The Electro Dynamic Induction Lamp
In 1894, Tesla's Electro-Dynamic Induction Lamp was given US. patent 514. 170. The Electro-Dynamic
Induction Lamp is a type of light bulb that is said to be far in advance than those currently available.
The Bladeless Tesla Turbine
This bladeless turbine, patented in 1916 (#1,329,559), uses a series of rotating discs to pump liquids or
gases through a turbine engine. Hovercraft speed boats, or simple pumps can utilize the Bladeless
Turbine. It is said to be the world's most efficient engine, and is 20 times more efficient than a
conventional turbine, yet, it is still not in use today!
Improved Unipolar Generator
In 1891, Tesla published an article in The Electrical Engineer (New York Sept. 2,1891 about his
improved version of the Unipolar Generator. His rotating disc and opposing magnets has been copied by
many "magic-motor" builders over the years.
Tesla's Mechanical Oscillator
An unusual and little-known device invented by Tesla was the Mechanical Oscillator which compressed
air until the oxygen became a liquid. It was built in the form of an air cylinder and contained several
chambers, each of which successively cools the air until it becomes liquid. Tesla stated that the device
was highly efficient and could be used as a power generating system if magnets were attached to the
oscillating pistons. Tesla believed that an "oxygen recycle system" was a vast improvement to gasoline
engines and intended to conduct important experiments with LIQUID OXYGEN for new turbine engines
capable of developing extraordinary power.
Tesla's Ozone generator
Tesla's ozone generator. US Patent568,l77,issued in l896.0zonegenerator's are currently banned for
medical use in the U.S. despite the claims of some doctors that ozone therapy can cure cancer and AIDS.
THE FIRST PRACTICAL TELAUTOMATON.
A machine having all its bodily or translatory movements and the operation of the interior mechanism
controlled from a distance without wires. The crewless boat shown in the photograph contains its own
motive power, propelling--and steering-machinery, and numerous other accessories, all of which are
controlled by transmitting from a distance, without wires, electrical oscillations to a circuit carried by the
boat and adjusted to respond only to these oscillations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's "Thought Photography" Machine
This was perhaps Nikola Tesla's most fantastic invention, a device for photographing thought Tesla once
said in 1933, when 78 years old, "I expect to photograph thoughts... In 1893, while engaged in certain
investigations, became convinced that a definite image formed in thought, must by reflex action, produce
a corresponding image on the retina, which might be read by a suitable apparatus. This brought me to my
system of television which announced at that time... My idea was to employ an artificial retina receiving
an object of the image seen, an optic nerve and another retina at the place o reproduction... both being
fashioned somewhat like a checkerboard, with the optic nerve being a part of earth. "Tesla made his
transition before revealing to many details of his invention. The above were taken from a newspaper
interview that was released to wire services on September 10, 1933.
Anti-Gravity & the Wall of Light
When matter is considered to be linked by electromagnetic wave propagations from the sun, manifesting
as sunlight, then a literal Wall of Light can be created, and through this wall, all manifestations of time,
space, gravity and matter can be manipulated. The mystical Wall of Light, used frequently in Tesla
references, and is the tide of a book about Tesla, is allegorical to columns of light in the sky, and to the
manipulation of energy and matter.
Tesla was unquestionably a visionary and a mystic. Anti-gravity airships were typically depicted in
illustrations of his interviews and advanced predictions. He often spoke of the coming world in which
anti-gravity aircraft will carry cargo across the continent, drawing power from centrally located power
stations along the earth grid.
Tesla has been credited with several space drives, though plans that have been published are dubious. In
his mind he had no doubt created an electro-gravitic craft that would draw power from his Wardenclyffe
Tower plant. Could such a craft have ever been built in secret? Tesla certainly had the plans for such a
craft in his head--all he needed was a wealthy financier. Perhaps a Jules Verne-type character like
Captain Nemo.
It is interesting to note here that Tesla's electric submarine could also be the proto-design for the airship,
as these cigar-shaped craft can allegedly go underwater, and act as submarines, as well as airships.
Teleportation and Time Travel Devices
Tesla's Death Ray, a kind of radio-wave-scalar weapon or ultra-sound gun, was the stepping stone to
more important inventions, like teleportation and Time Travel devices. H.G. Wells had already
popularized the idea, but Tesla may have actually experimented with such devices.
With such popular time-travel tales as The Philadelphia Experiment and The Montauk Project, it would
only seem natural that secret government research on time-travel and teleportation would owe something
to the work of Nikola Tesla. If Tesla was truly the genius that some believe he was, he could have made
his own time-machine and gone into the future, or maybe teleport himself to Mars. Perhaps he built a
flying saucer and flew away, after cleverly faking his death.
Tesla was like an odd-ball hero from the past. A literal Man Out of Time. He had visions of his
inventions, even as a teenager.
Tesla and Atlantis
According to the Unarius Academy of San Diego, California, Nikola Tesla was the reincarnation of an
Adantean engineer and inventor who was responsible for the energy supply first used to power on a now
destroyed island in the Atlantic. According to Unarius, from the great central pyramid in Atlantis, power
beams would be relayed from reflectors on mountaintops into the Afferent homes where these power
beams would be converted into light, heat 0r even to cool the house.
According to Unarius, a round glass globe or sphere about afoot in diameter was filled with certain rare
gases that would fluoresce and give off a soft white light, just as does a modern fluorescent light. Heating
or cooling was also quite simple: Air being made up of molecules of gases, each molecule composed of a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
number of atoms. Electrical energy of a certain frequency was then radiated through the air and converted
into heat trough "hysteresis" in the electromagnetic fields of the atoms.
According to Unarius, the same proposition in reverse makes the air become cold. Similarly, the
atmosphere on the earth is always converting certain electromagnetic energy into heat. Speakingfrom the
point of absolute zero (495 degrees Fahrenheit), all air on the surface of the earth is comparatively warm,
even at the poles.
Cooling or heating the air at any given point means merely to decrease or increase the "electromagnetic
hysteresis." As a definition for a Pabst hysteresis-synchronous motor, Unarius says that it is the "inductive
principle of cosmic hysteresis, and add that the reference to "hysteresis" is not the earth-electronics
definition, but rather an electromagnetic conversion process wherein cyclic (4di dim.) waveform-
structures are transformed into lower (3rd dim.) waveform-structures."
Minoan homes are used as an example, where it is said that a small object afoot or so square sitting on the
floor of any room could be both the heater and the cooler. It would, according to the dictates of a
thermostat, radiate certain energies into the room which would either slow down hysteresis and make the
air cooler or speed up hysteresis and make the air warmer; a far different process than our present-day
crude, clumsy, inefficient and enormous heating and cooling systems which must always either heat air in
a furnace or cool it by means of refrigeration and, with a fan, blow it into the room through a large duct.
The Adantean Power System
Tesla's Adantean power system, according to Unarius, was a huge rotating squirrel-cage generator turned
by a motor was linked up to an electronic computer which was housed in a twenty-foot square metal box
on the floor just above the generator. This computer automatically made and broke connections--with
banks of power collector cells on the outside pyramid surface in such a sequential manner that a
tremendous oscillating voltage was built up. On the ten-foot ball which stood atop the metal box, this
oscillating electricity discharged more than six hundred feet straight up to a similar metal ball hanging
down from the pyramid apex on a long metal rod.
Unarius compares the Atlantean-Tesla system to that of a 1900's scientist named Steinmetz, a friend of
Tesla's. Steinmetz hurled thunder-bolts from two large metal spheres one hundred feet apart in a manner
which is somehow strangely similar to the process used in the Atlantean Pyramid 16,000 years ago. This
discharge across the two metal balls served as a tank-circuit, as it is called and again a similarity to our
modern early-day wireless, a motor turning a rimless rotary wheel from which protruded a number of
spokes, actually electrodes A the wheel rotated about 2,000 rpm (rotations per minute), a sizzling white
spark jumped from the spokes to another electrode placed about one-half inch away from the spokes. It
was this spark-gap which created the necessary high-intensity voltage.
According to Unarius, on top of the Adantean pyramid was a fifty-foot metal column, something like a
thick flagpole, which terminated in a circular bank of what looked like the spokes on a wheel. About ten
feet long and sixteen inches in diameter, these spokes protruded at a number of irregular intervals, each
one carefully sighted like a rifle, to a near or distant receiver. These spokes were actually composed of an
exotic mixture of metals and formed into a homogeneous, crystalline aggregate under extreme pressure
and magnetic hysteresis. Each rod or spoke then contained billions of tiny crystals; each one pointed, so
to speak, toward the outside flat of the rod. They absorbed energy and like a boy who'd eaten too much
watermelon, they reached certain capacity and discharged their energy toward the outside end of the rod.
The net total of these charge and discharge oscillations were on the order of millions of megacycles per
second and as they functioned from the end of the rod, a beam of pure coherent energy emerged--and at
the rate of more than 186,000 miles per second straight to a receiver, abeam of enormous power. How
similar to our present first versions of the laser: A six-inch synthetic ruby rod, one inch in diameter and
containing many chromium molecules; these chromium molecules were charged with electricity from an
outside source of condenser banks and other associated equipment which generated a high-frequency
impulse. As the chromium molecule atoms reached their saturation point, they discharged their energies
which began to oscillate ping-pong fashion from each end of the optically-ground and slivered ends of the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rod. When this oscillating energy reached a certain point, it discharged through the more lightly silvered
end in a single straight coherent beam of great intensity and power.
The power beams which emerged from the Atlantis pyramid were intercepted by similar metallic rods of
crystallized metal which, because they oscillated in a similar manner an frequency, presented no
resistance to the enormous power of the beam. The beam then traveled straight through the rod or was
broken up and separated into separate beams by a crystal prism, which again sent beams pulsating
through crystalline rods and on a new tangent to another receiver.
In utilizing these power beams in a dwelling, a metal ball fitted on top of a metal rod, like a small
flagpole, contained a crystal of certain prismatic figurations which directed the beam down through the
hollow center of the rod to a disburser instrument which energized the entire house by means of induction
so that the round milky-white crystal globes would glow with light, motors turn, etc.
The Generator-Oscillator Banks
Unarius's technical description goes on to describe the generator-oscillator hanks beneath the pyramid and
the generation of the 'flame'. In the subterranean chamber beneath the floor stood a motor-generator
combination mounted on a vertical shaft. This piece of machinery "worked exactly similar to our present
day Pabst synchronous-hysteresis motor, that is, exactly in reverse to ordinary motors which have a rotor
rotating inside fixed stationary field coils. In the Pabst motor, the rotor is stationary and the metal field
terminals rotate around it, similar to a squirrel cage.
The Adantean motor-generator combination works as follows: a huge externally-powered, (AC.)
alternating current motor rotated the squirrel cage which was actually a large number of extremely
powerful high-gauss, high-intensity magnets affixed to the metal frame which rotated around what would
normally be the rotor which was made from a high-permeability, soft iron core. Wound around a large
number of these poles were almost countless thousands of turns of insulated wire.
"These coils were, in turn, connected up to different banks of cells on the outside skin surface of the
pyramid. The sequence of this wiring was such, that when the magnets turned around the rotor, the cells
and the magnetic currents so generated were in extremely rapid sequence which built up an extremely
high-frequency oscillating voltage which discharged across the two balls which I described previously.
The purpose of this gap was to stabilize these oscillations under resistive conditions in open air.
"Increasing the frequency increases the voltage or power which is why a laser beam can pierce a diamond
with less energy than would light a small flashlight. The energy from a five-foot long lightning bolt from
a Tesla coil (500,000 Cycles per second) is less than two millionths of all ampere and would cause only a
mild tingling sensation. A lightning bolt traveling from a cloud to the earth contains only enough energy
to light a hundred-watt bulb for about thirty seconds."
According to Unarius, electronic scientists of today "are still a bit mixed up on the proposition of voltage
versus frequency. They string 1/2 inch thick laminated cable across the countryside for hundreds of miles
from tall steel towers and push electricity through these cables in far-away cities at voltages in excess of
300,000 and at only 60 cycles per second alternating frequency, whereas a small pencil-thin power beam
oscillating at hundreds of millions of times per second could be reflected from tower to tower across
country; one beam carrying sufficient power to energize the largest city."
Protective Metal Helmets
According to Unarius, and other esoteric groups that expound on ancient science, in ancient Egypt,
Mexico, and other lands where there were pyramids the Egyptians and others tried to duplicate the round
spoke-like wheel which glowed with a blue-white corona and which shot beams of intense light in
different directions. The Egyptians topped their stone pyramid with a large ball-like contrivance covered
with small plates of pure polished gold in a scale-like manner; and as the earth turned, shafts of light were
reflected in all directions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several thousands of years later, these metal
balls with scales of gold had disappeared, so had
the alabaster white coating except for small
sections near the top, in order to use the smaller
surface stones in nearby cities for building
purposes.
The modern Egyptians wore in their temples and
palaces a metallic headdress and woven metal
scafes interwoven with threads of gold which
hung down over their shoulders just as they did
in the ancient Atlantis when, after the scientists
had gone, the Atlanteans started to worship the
flame in the temple pyramid.
Unarius mentions that the metallic headdress
plus a metallic robe was necessary to protect
them from the strong electromagnetic field in the pyramid and through various priesthoods the metallic
headdress has arrived in our present modern time in the form of a scarf worn by women in a Catholic
church, or the uraeus worn by the priest.
Here we see how the Egyptian gold headdress may have originated from the ancient Adantean power
station engineers, and it is fascinating to note that the celebrated Face On Mars is also wearing a similar
protective helmet! Are the pyramids of Mars part of a similar Adantean Power system as Tesla was
planning to build on earth? This brings us to the final mystery of Nikola Tesla: his involvement with
Guglielmo Marconi and the Pyramids of Mars.
controlled from a distance without wires. The crewless boat shown in the photograph contains its own
motive power, propelling--and steering-machinery, and numerous other accessories, all of which are
controlled by transmitting from a distance, without wires, electrical oscillations to a circuit carried by the
boat and adjusted to respond only to these oscillations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's "Thought Photography" Machine
This was perhaps Nikola Tesla's most fantastic invention, a device for photographing thought Tesla once
said in 1933, when 78 years old, "I expect to photograph thoughts... In 1893, while engaged in certain
investigations, became convinced that a definite image formed in thought, must by reflex action, produce
a corresponding image on the retina, which might be read by a suitable apparatus. This brought me to my
system of television which announced at that time... My idea was to employ an artificial retina receiving
an object of the image seen, an optic nerve and another retina at the place o reproduction... both being
fashioned somewhat like a checkerboard, with the optic nerve being a part of earth. "Tesla made his
transition before revealing to many details of his invention. The above were taken from a newspaper
interview that was released to wire services on September 10, 1933.
Anti-Gravity & the Wall of Light
When matter is considered to be linked by electromagnetic wave propagations from the sun, manifesting
as sunlight, then a literal Wall of Light can be created, and through this wall, all manifestations of time,
space, gravity and matter can be manipulated. The mystical Wall of Light, used frequently in Tesla
references, and is the tide of a book about Tesla, is allegorical to columns of light in the sky, and to the
manipulation of energy and matter.
Tesla was unquestionably a visionary and a mystic. Anti-gravity airships were typically depicted in
illustrations of his interviews and advanced predictions. He often spoke of the coming world in which
anti-gravity aircraft will carry cargo across the continent, drawing power from centrally located power
stations along the earth grid.
Tesla has been credited with several space drives, though plans that have been published are dubious. In
his mind he had no doubt created an electro-gravitic craft that would draw power from his Wardenclyffe
Tower plant. Could such a craft have ever been built in secret? Tesla certainly had the plans for such a
craft in his head--all he needed was a wealthy financier. Perhaps a Jules Verne-type character like
Captain Nemo.
It is interesting to note here that Tesla's electric submarine could also be the proto-design for the airship,
as these cigar-shaped craft can allegedly go underwater, and act as submarines, as well as airships.
Teleportation and Time Travel Devices
Tesla's Death Ray, a kind of radio-wave-scalar weapon or ultra-sound gun, was the stepping stone to
more important inventions, like teleportation and Time Travel devices. H.G. Wells had already
popularized the idea, but Tesla may have actually experimented with such devices.
With such popular time-travel tales as The Philadelphia Experiment and The Montauk Project, it would
only seem natural that secret government research on time-travel and teleportation would owe something
to the work of Nikola Tesla. If Tesla was truly the genius that some believe he was, he could have made
his own time-machine and gone into the future, or maybe teleport himself to Mars. Perhaps he built a
flying saucer and flew away, after cleverly faking his death.
Tesla was like an odd-ball hero from the past. A literal Man Out of Time. He had visions of his
inventions, even as a teenager.
Tesla and Atlantis
According to the Unarius Academy of San Diego, California, Nikola Tesla was the reincarnation of an
Adantean engineer and inventor who was responsible for the energy supply first used to power on a now
destroyed island in the Atlantic. According to Unarius, from the great central pyramid in Atlantis, power
beams would be relayed from reflectors on mountaintops into the Afferent homes where these power
beams would be converted into light, heat 0r even to cool the house.
According to Unarius, a round glass globe or sphere about afoot in diameter was filled with certain rare
gases that would fluoresce and give off a soft white light, just as does a modern fluorescent light. Heating
or cooling was also quite simple: Air being made up of molecules of gases, each molecule composed of a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
number of atoms. Electrical energy of a certain frequency was then radiated through the air and converted
into heat trough "hysteresis" in the electromagnetic fields of the atoms.
According to Unarius, the same proposition in reverse makes the air become cold. Similarly, the
atmosphere on the earth is always converting certain electromagnetic energy into heat. Speakingfrom the
point of absolute zero (495 degrees Fahrenheit), all air on the surface of the earth is comparatively warm,
even at the poles.
Cooling or heating the air at any given point means merely to decrease or increase the "electromagnetic
hysteresis." As a definition for a Pabst hysteresis-synchronous motor, Unarius says that it is the "inductive
principle of cosmic hysteresis, and add that the reference to "hysteresis" is not the earth-electronics
definition, but rather an electromagnetic conversion process wherein cyclic (4di dim.) waveform-
structures are transformed into lower (3rd dim.) waveform-structures."
Minoan homes are used as an example, where it is said that a small object afoot or so square sitting on the
floor of any room could be both the heater and the cooler. It would, according to the dictates of a
thermostat, radiate certain energies into the room which would either slow down hysteresis and make the
air cooler or speed up hysteresis and make the air warmer; a far different process than our present-day
crude, clumsy, inefficient and enormous heating and cooling systems which must always either heat air in
a furnace or cool it by means of refrigeration and, with a fan, blow it into the room through a large duct.
The Adantean Power System
Tesla's Adantean power system, according to Unarius, was a huge rotating squirrel-cage generator turned
by a motor was linked up to an electronic computer which was housed in a twenty-foot square metal box
on the floor just above the generator. This computer automatically made and broke connections--with
banks of power collector cells on the outside pyramid surface in such a sequential manner that a
tremendous oscillating voltage was built up. On the ten-foot ball which stood atop the metal box, this
oscillating electricity discharged more than six hundred feet straight up to a similar metal ball hanging
down from the pyramid apex on a long metal rod.
Unarius compares the Atlantean-Tesla system to that of a 1900's scientist named Steinmetz, a friend of
Tesla's. Steinmetz hurled thunder-bolts from two large metal spheres one hundred feet apart in a manner
which is somehow strangely similar to the process used in the Atlantean Pyramid 16,000 years ago. This
discharge across the two metal balls served as a tank-circuit, as it is called and again a similarity to our
modern early-day wireless, a motor turning a rimless rotary wheel from which protruded a number of
spokes, actually electrodes A the wheel rotated about 2,000 rpm (rotations per minute), a sizzling white
spark jumped from the spokes to another electrode placed about one-half inch away from the spokes. It
was this spark-gap which created the necessary high-intensity voltage.
According to Unarius, on top of the Adantean pyramid was a fifty-foot metal column, something like a
thick flagpole, which terminated in a circular bank of what looked like the spokes on a wheel. About ten
feet long and sixteen inches in diameter, these spokes protruded at a number of irregular intervals, each
one carefully sighted like a rifle, to a near or distant receiver. These spokes were actually composed of an
exotic mixture of metals and formed into a homogeneous, crystalline aggregate under extreme pressure
and magnetic hysteresis. Each rod or spoke then contained billions of tiny crystals; each one pointed, so
to speak, toward the outside flat of the rod. They absorbed energy and like a boy who'd eaten too much
watermelon, they reached certain capacity and discharged their energy toward the outside end of the rod.
The net total of these charge and discharge oscillations were on the order of millions of megacycles per
second and as they functioned from the end of the rod, a beam of pure coherent energy emerged--and at
the rate of more than 186,000 miles per second straight to a receiver, abeam of enormous power. How
similar to our present first versions of the laser: A six-inch synthetic ruby rod, one inch in diameter and
containing many chromium molecules; these chromium molecules were charged with electricity from an
outside source of condenser banks and other associated equipment which generated a high-frequency
impulse. As the chromium molecule atoms reached their saturation point, they discharged their energies
which began to oscillate ping-pong fashion from each end of the optically-ground and slivered ends of the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
rod. When this oscillating energy reached a certain point, it discharged through the more lightly silvered
end in a single straight coherent beam of great intensity and power.
The power beams which emerged from the Atlantis pyramid were intercepted by similar metallic rods of
crystallized metal which, because they oscillated in a similar manner an frequency, presented no
resistance to the enormous power of the beam. The beam then traveled straight through the rod or was
broken up and separated into separate beams by a crystal prism, which again sent beams pulsating
through crystalline rods and on a new tangent to another receiver.
In utilizing these power beams in a dwelling, a metal ball fitted on top of a metal rod, like a small
flagpole, contained a crystal of certain prismatic figurations which directed the beam down through the
hollow center of the rod to a disburser instrument which energized the entire house by means of induction
so that the round milky-white crystal globes would glow with light, motors turn, etc.
The Generator-Oscillator Banks
Unarius's technical description goes on to describe the generator-oscillator hanks beneath the pyramid and
the generation of the 'flame'. In the subterranean chamber beneath the floor stood a motor-generator
combination mounted on a vertical shaft. This piece of machinery "worked exactly similar to our present
day Pabst synchronous-hysteresis motor, that is, exactly in reverse to ordinary motors which have a rotor
rotating inside fixed stationary field coils. In the Pabst motor, the rotor is stationary and the metal field
terminals rotate around it, similar to a squirrel cage.
The Adantean motor-generator combination works as follows: a huge externally-powered, (AC.)
alternating current motor rotated the squirrel cage which was actually a large number of extremely
powerful high-gauss, high-intensity magnets affixed to the metal frame which rotated around what would
normally be the rotor which was made from a high-permeability, soft iron core. Wound around a large
number of these poles were almost countless thousands of turns of insulated wire.
"These coils were, in turn, connected up to different banks of cells on the outside skin surface of the
pyramid. The sequence of this wiring was such, that when the magnets turned around the rotor, the cells
and the magnetic currents so generated were in extremely rapid sequence which built up an extremely
high-frequency oscillating voltage which discharged across the two balls which I described previously.
The purpose of this gap was to stabilize these oscillations under resistive conditions in open air.
"Increasing the frequency increases the voltage or power which is why a laser beam can pierce a diamond
with less energy than would light a small flashlight. The energy from a five-foot long lightning bolt from
a Tesla coil (500,000 Cycles per second) is less than two millionths of all ampere and would cause only a
mild tingling sensation. A lightning bolt traveling from a cloud to the earth contains only enough energy
to light a hundred-watt bulb for about thirty seconds."
According to Unarius, electronic scientists of today "are still a bit mixed up on the proposition of voltage
versus frequency. They string 1/2 inch thick laminated cable across the countryside for hundreds of miles
from tall steel towers and push electricity through these cables in far-away cities at voltages in excess of
300,000 and at only 60 cycles per second alternating frequency, whereas a small pencil-thin power beam
oscillating at hundreds of millions of times per second could be reflected from tower to tower across
country; one beam carrying sufficient power to energize the largest city."
Protective Metal Helmets
According to Unarius, and other esoteric groups that expound on ancient science, in ancient Egypt,
Mexico, and other lands where there were pyramids the Egyptians and others tried to duplicate the round
spoke-like wheel which glowed with a blue-white corona and which shot beams of intense light in
different directions. The Egyptians topped their stone pyramid with a large ball-like contrivance covered
with small plates of pure polished gold in a scale-like manner; and as the earth turned, shafts of light were
reflected in all directions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several thousands of years later, these metal
balls with scales of gold had disappeared, so had
the alabaster white coating except for small
sections near the top, in order to use the smaller
surface stones in nearby cities for building
purposes.
The modern Egyptians wore in their temples and
palaces a metallic headdress and woven metal
scafes interwoven with threads of gold which
hung down over their shoulders just as they did
in the ancient Atlantis when, after the scientists
had gone, the Atlanteans started to worship the
flame in the temple pyramid.
Unarius mentions that the metallic headdress
plus a metallic robe was necessary to protect
them from the strong electromagnetic field in the pyramid and through various priesthoods the metallic
headdress has arrived in our present modern time in the form of a scarf worn by women in a Catholic
church, or the uraeus worn by the priest.
Here we see how the Egyptian gold headdress may have originated from the ancient Adantean power
station engineers, and it is fascinating to note that the celebrated Face On Mars is also wearing a similar
protective helmet! Are the pyramids of Mars part of a similar Adantean Power system as Tesla was
planning to build on earth? This brings us to the final mystery of Nikola Tesla: his involvement with
Guglielmo Marconi and the Pyramids of Mars.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Chapter 8 THE LAST PATENTS (1913 to 1928)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tesla's design of a vertical takeoff aircraft.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 9
TESLA & THE PYRAMIDS OF MARS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The relationship between Tesla and Marconi is a fascinating study! While Tesla has become a popular
figure to Revisionist Scientists in the last ten years, Marconi is still largely unknown and seen as an
usurper of Tesla's inventions. Yet Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), was a brilliant scientist, and, in fact,
Tesla's close friend.
In the esoteric writing of the Latin countries, Marconi has achieved a near legendary status, much as Tesla
has recently in the United States. But most Tesla students are unaware that Marconi was supposed to have
founded a secret high-tech city in the remote southern jungles of Venezuela.
The great Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi was a former student of Tesla's. Marconi studied radio
transmission theory with Tesla and made his first radio transmission in 1895. Marconi was fascinated by
the transmission of power, and in 1896 received a British patent and sent a signal nine miles across the
Bristol Channel. In 1899 he successfully setup a wireless station to communicate with a French station 31
miles across the English Channel.
It was thought that the curve of the earth's surface would limit radio transmission to 200 miles at the most
When, on December 11,1901, Marconi transmitted a signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, to St. John's
Newfoundland, 2000 miles away, he created a major sensation. For this Marconi replaced the wire
receiver with a coherer, a glass tube filled with iron filings, which could conduct radio waves. At the time
there was no scientific explanation for this phenomena of long-distance transmission, and it was
postulated that there was a layer in the upper atmosphere--the ionosphere--which reflected back
electromagnetic waves.
Marconi the Mysterious
Marconi was the son of a wealthy Italian landowner and an Irish mother When interest in his first
transmission in 1895 had not interested Italian authorities, he had gone to Britain. The Marconi Wireless
Telegraph Company was formed in London in 1896 and Marconi made millions off his inventions.
Marconi and Tesla are both given credit for the invention of the radio Marconi's historical radio
transmission utilized a Heinrich Hertz spark arrester a Popov antenna and an Edouard Bramely coherer
for his simple device that was to go on to become the modern radio.
Marconi was given the Noble Prize for Physics in 1909 jointly with Karl Ferdinand Braun, who made
important modification which considerably increased the range of the first Marconi transmitters.
Like Tesla, Marconi was a mysterious man in his later years, and was known to perform experiments,
including anti-gravity experiments, aboard his yacht Electra. Marconi's yacht was a floating super-
laboratory, from which he sent signals into space and lit lights in Australia in 1930. He did this with the
aid of an Italian physicist named Landini by sending wave train signals through the earth, much as Tesla
had done in Colorado Springs.
In June of 1936 Marconi demonstrated to Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini a wave gun device that
could be used as a defensive weapon. In the 1930's such devices were popularized as "death rays" as in a
Boris Karloff film of the same name. Marconi demonstrated the ray on a busy highway north of Milan
one afternoon. Mussolini had asked his wife Rachele to also be on the highway at precisely 3:30 in the
afternoon. Marconi's device caused the electrical systems in all the cars, including Rachele's, to
malfunction for half an hour, while her chauffeur and other motorists checked their fuel pumps and spark
plugs. At 3:35 all the cars were able to start again. Rachele Mussolini later published this account in her
autobiography.
Mussolini was quite pleased with Marconi's invention, however it is said that Pope Pius XI learned about
the invention of the paralyzing rays and took steps to have Mussolini stop Marconi's research. According
to Marconi's followers, Marconi then took his yacht to South America in 1937, after faking his own death.
The Secret City in South America
A number of European scientists were said to have gone with Marconi, including Landini. In the 1937,
the enigmatic Italian physicist and alchemist Fulcanelli warned European physicists of the grave dangers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
of atomic weapons and then mysteriously vanished a few years later. He is believed to have joined
Marconi's secret group in South America.
Ninety-eight scientists were said to have gone to South America where they built a city in an extinct
volcanic cater in the southern jungles of Venezuela. In their secret city, financed by the great wealth they
had created during their lives, they continued Marconi's work on solar energy, cosmic energy and anti-
gravity. They worked secretly and apart from the world's nations, building free-energy motors and
ultimately discoid aircraft with a form of gyroscopic anti-gravity. The community is said to be dedicated
to universal peace and the common good of all mankind. Believing the rest of the world to be under the
control of energy companies, multi-national bankers and the military-industrial complex, they have
remained isolated from the rest of the world, working subversively to foster peace and a clean, ecological
technology on the world.
We have information on this astonishing high-tech city from a number of sources. In the South America
the story is a common subject among certain metaphysical groups. Says the French writer Robert
Charroux in his book The Mysteries of the Andes, (1974, 1977, Avon Books) "... the Ciudad Subterranean
de los Andes, is discussed in private from Caracas to Santiago." Charroux goes on to tell the story of
Marconi and his secret city, plus the story of a Mexican journalist named Mario Rojas Avendaro who
investigated the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes (Underground City of the Andes) and concluded that
it was a true story. Avendaro was contacted by man named Nacisso Genovese, who had been a student of
Marconi's and was a physics teacher at a High School in Baja, Mexico.
Genovese was an Italian by origin and claimed to have lived for many years in the Ciudad Subterranean
de los Andes. Sometime in the late 1950s he wrote an obscure book entided "My Trip To Mars." Though
the book was never published in English, it did appear in various Spanish, Portuguese and Italian editions.
Tesla Technology
Genovese claimed that the city had been built with large financial resources, was underground and had
better research facilities than any other research facility in the world (at mat time, at least). By 1946 the
city already using a powerful collector of cosmic energy, the essential component of all matter, according
to Marconi's theories, many of which he had derived from Tesla. "In 1952," according to Genovese, "we
traveled above all the seas and continents in a craft whose energy supply was continuous and practical
inexhaustible. It reached a speed of half a million miles an hour and withstood enormous pressures, near
the limit of resistance of the alloys that composed it. The problem was to slow it down at just the right
time."
According to Genovese, the city is located at the bottom of a crater, is mostly underground and is entirely
self-sufficient. The extinct volcano is covered in thick vegetation, is hundreds of miles from any roads,
and is at thirteen thousand feet in the jungle mountains of the Amazon.
The French author Charroux expressed surprise and disbelief to the statement that the city was on a jungle
covered mountain that was 13,000 feet high. Yet, the eastern side of Andean cordillera has many such
mountains, from Venezuela to Bolivia, spanning thousands of miles. Several such cities, and mountains,
could exist in this vast, unexplored, and perpetually cloud-covered region.
Yet, a secret city in a jungle crater was the least of the claims. Genovese claimed that flights to the Moon
and Mars were made in their "flying saucers." He claimed that once the technology had been conquered,
it was relatively simple to make the trip to the Moon (a few hours) or Mars (several days). Genovese does
not mention pyramids or what they did on Mars. Perhaps they created a Martian base in one of the
ancient, sand-blown pyramids of the Cydonia Region.
There have been many reports of UFOs in South America, especially along the edge of the mountainous
jungles of the eastern Andes, from Bolivia to Venezuela. Is it possible that some of these UFOs are anti-
gravity craft from the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes?
In light of highly reliable sources who claim that a "Last Battalion" of German solders escaped via
submarine in the last days of WWII to Antarctica and South America, it is possible that the Germans may
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
have high tech super cities in the remote jungles of South America as well.
A number of military historians, such as Col. Howard Buechner, author of Secrets of the Holy Lance and
Hitler's Ashes, maintain that the Germans had already created bases in Queen Maud Land, opposite South
Africa during the war.
Afterwards, German U-Boats, in some reports as many as 100, took important scientists, aviators and
politicians to the final fortress of Nazi Germany. Two of these U-boats surrendered in Argentina three
months after the war. In 1947, the U.S. Navy invaded Antarctica, mainly Queen Maud Land with Admiral
Byrd in command.
The Americans were defeated and several jets from the four aircraft carriers were said to have been shot
down by discoid craft. The navy retreated and did not return until 1957.
According to the book, Chronicle of Akakor, a book first published in German by the journalist Karl
Brugger, a German battalion had taken refuge in an underground city on the borders of Brazil and Peru.
Brugger, a German journalist who lived in Manaus, was assassinated in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of
Ipanema in 1981. His guide, Tatunca Nara, went on to become Jacques
Cousteau's guide on the upper Amazon. In fact, photographs of Tatunca Nara appear in Cousteau's large
coffee-table book of color photographs called Cousteau's Amazon Journey. (For more information on
Tatunca Nara, Karl Brugger, Underground Cities and Germans see Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of
South America.)
While the secret cities of South America manufacturing flying saucers and battling the current powers of
the world from their hidden jungle fortresses may sound too much like the plot of a James Bond movie, it
appears to be based on fact!
Based upon the above scenario, it may not be totally fantastic to suggest, as some authors have, that Tesla
was picked up during the late 1930s by a flying saucer. Yet, it would not have been a flying saucer from
another planet, but one of Marconi's craft from the secret city in South America.
In the most incredible scenario so-far, and one that may well be true, Tesla was induced to fake his own
death, just as Marconi and many of the other scientists had done, and was taken, by special discoid craft,
to Marconi's high-tech super-city. Away from the outside world, the military governments, the oil
companies, the arms and aircraft manufacturers, Marconi and Tesla, both supposedly dead, continued
their experiments, in an atmosphere conducive to scientific achievement.
Who knows what they may have achieved? They were ten years ahead of the Germans and twenty years
ahead of the Americans in their anti-gravity technology. Could they have developed discoid spacecraft in
the early 1940s, and gone on to time travel machines and hyperspace drives? Perhaps Marconi and Tesla
went into the future, and have already returned to the past!
Time Travel experiments, teleportation, pyramids on Mars, Armageddon and an eventual Golden Age on
earth, may all have something to do with Tesla, Marconi and their suppressed inventions. While "UFO
experts" and "former intelligence agents" tell us that flying saucers are extraterrestrial and are being
currently retro-engineered by military scientists, Tesla, Marconi and their friends may be waiting for us at
their space base at the pyramids and Face on Mars.
Our government, Hollywood and the media have trained us to certain beliefs and prejudices that amazing
technology must be from extraterrestrials visiting our planet. To the scientist-philosopher who seeks
knowledge... sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A U.S. Patent for Guglielmo Marconi and his Wireless Telegraphy given on June 11, 1901. Marconi
was as much of a genius as Tesla. When Marconi saw Tesla beaten by the powerful World
Financiers, he hesitantly approached the Fascists of Italy with some of his inventions. After the
Pope condemed his death-ray, Marconi faked his own death in 1936 and left with more than 100
scientists to South America aboard his yacht Electro.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above: Guglielmo Marconi, the Anglo-Italian inventor whose mentor was Nikola Tesla. In this photo,
Marconi is seen at Signal Hill, Newfoundland, in 1901, with the instruments that he used to receive the
first wireless signal across the Atlantic, sent to him from Polhu, Cornwall, England. Below: Mark
Carlotto's computer illustration showing a perspective view of the face on Mars and surrounding
pyramids, looking from the west, and well above the Martian surface. Many experts on Marconi, Tesla
and UFOs believe that Marconi and other scientists moved to a secret base in the Amazon jungle in 1937
and began making anti-gravity craft with which they reached Mars in the early 1950s or late 1940s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NASA frame 35A72 of Mars, showing the famous "Face" (a) with its protective metal helmet, while the
"city" (b) with its pyramids and the "D&M pyramid" (c) is farther to the lower right. Did Marconi and his
scientists actually travel to Mars in the early 1950s as was claimed by a number of Marconi's followers in
South America?
These four photos are from the U.S. Airforce Blue Book files and show a "French Flying Saucer Device"
that is alleged to be one of the craft used by Marconi and built at the secret city in South America. The
Photos clearly show a man-made discoid craft hovering, tilting and landing. Although the margin notes
state "Date Unk.--" the photos are known to have been taken in 1953. At first they were classified
SECRET, but were later "downgraded" and finally marked "unclassified." The initials ATIC (upside
down at bottom left) stand for Air Technical Intelligence Center, the parent military agency in the Air
Force hierarchy sponsoring Project Blue Book.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On April 24, 1959, Hello Augiar was driving along the Plata beach In Salvador, a beach in northern
Brazil, when his engine suddenly stopped. He then witnessed a flying saucer flying along the beach and
took four photos of it. It is interesting to note the symbols on the underside of the craft in this drawing.
The craft had four hemispherical protrusions in the center of the craft on the bottom and three ribs or
tubes on the top of the craft. This discoid vehicle is similar to the type of craft allegedly made at
Marconi's secret city, and is also similar to the Schriever-Habermohl flying disc made by Germany at the
BMW factory near Prague in 1944, and first flown on February 4, 1945 (German Jet Genesis by David
Masters, 1982, Jane's Books, London. Page 135).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After taking these photos on Plata Beach, Salvador, Brazil, (April 24, 1959) Hello Aguiar lost conciousness.
When he came to, he was clutching this message, written in his own hand: "ATOMIC EXPERIMENTS FOR
WARLIKE PURPOSES SHALL BE DEFINITELY STOPPED ... THE EQUILIBRIUM OF THE
UNIVERSE IS THREATENED. WE WILL REMAIN VIGILANT AND READY TO INTERFERE."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Polaroid photo taken In Peru on October 19, 1973 by architect Hugo Vega. Vega, who happened to
have a camera with him, was looking for a house of client about 34 miles east of Lima, the coastal capital
of Peru. He was looking out over the Rimac River valley when a discoid craft with portholes between the
domed top and main section, came into view. The craft flew along the valley and hovered for a few
seconds against the jungle background, which is when Vega got his Polaroid shot. The old-fashioned
design of the craft is noteworthy, with this 1973 saucer looking more like a 1950-type craft. Some UFO
experts believe that this craft is one of Marconi's manufacture at the underground city.
Tesla's design of a vertical takeoff aircraft.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 9
TESLA & THE PYRAMIDS OF MARS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The relationship between Tesla and Marconi is a fascinating study! While Tesla has become a popular
figure to Revisionist Scientists in the last ten years, Marconi is still largely unknown and seen as an
usurper of Tesla's inventions. Yet Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), was a brilliant scientist, and, in fact,
Tesla's close friend.
In the esoteric writing of the Latin countries, Marconi has achieved a near legendary status, much as Tesla
has recently in the United States. But most Tesla students are unaware that Marconi was supposed to have
founded a secret high-tech city in the remote southern jungles of Venezuela.
The great Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi was a former student of Tesla's. Marconi studied radio
transmission theory with Tesla and made his first radio transmission in 1895. Marconi was fascinated by
the transmission of power, and in 1896 received a British patent and sent a signal nine miles across the
Bristol Channel. In 1899 he successfully setup a wireless station to communicate with a French station 31
miles across the English Channel.
It was thought that the curve of the earth's surface would limit radio transmission to 200 miles at the most
When, on December 11,1901, Marconi transmitted a signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, to St. John's
Newfoundland, 2000 miles away, he created a major sensation. For this Marconi replaced the wire
receiver with a coherer, a glass tube filled with iron filings, which could conduct radio waves. At the time
there was no scientific explanation for this phenomena of long-distance transmission, and it was
postulated that there was a layer in the upper atmosphere--the ionosphere--which reflected back
electromagnetic waves.
Marconi the Mysterious
Marconi was the son of a wealthy Italian landowner and an Irish mother When interest in his first
transmission in 1895 had not interested Italian authorities, he had gone to Britain. The Marconi Wireless
Telegraph Company was formed in London in 1896 and Marconi made millions off his inventions.
Marconi and Tesla are both given credit for the invention of the radio Marconi's historical radio
transmission utilized a Heinrich Hertz spark arrester a Popov antenna and an Edouard Bramely coherer
for his simple device that was to go on to become the modern radio.
Marconi was given the Noble Prize for Physics in 1909 jointly with Karl Ferdinand Braun, who made
important modification which considerably increased the range of the first Marconi transmitters.
Like Tesla, Marconi was a mysterious man in his later years, and was known to perform experiments,
including anti-gravity experiments, aboard his yacht Electra. Marconi's yacht was a floating super-
laboratory, from which he sent signals into space and lit lights in Australia in 1930. He did this with the
aid of an Italian physicist named Landini by sending wave train signals through the earth, much as Tesla
had done in Colorado Springs.
In June of 1936 Marconi demonstrated to Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini a wave gun device that
could be used as a defensive weapon. In the 1930's such devices were popularized as "death rays" as in a
Boris Karloff film of the same name. Marconi demonstrated the ray on a busy highway north of Milan
one afternoon. Mussolini had asked his wife Rachele to also be on the highway at precisely 3:30 in the
afternoon. Marconi's device caused the electrical systems in all the cars, including Rachele's, to
malfunction for half an hour, while her chauffeur and other motorists checked their fuel pumps and spark
plugs. At 3:35 all the cars were able to start again. Rachele Mussolini later published this account in her
autobiography.
Mussolini was quite pleased with Marconi's invention, however it is said that Pope Pius XI learned about
the invention of the paralyzing rays and took steps to have Mussolini stop Marconi's research. According
to Marconi's followers, Marconi then took his yacht to South America in 1937, after faking his own death.
The Secret City in South America
A number of European scientists were said to have gone with Marconi, including Landini. In the 1937,
the enigmatic Italian physicist and alchemist Fulcanelli warned European physicists of the grave dangers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
of atomic weapons and then mysteriously vanished a few years later. He is believed to have joined
Marconi's secret group in South America.
Ninety-eight scientists were said to have gone to South America where they built a city in an extinct
volcanic cater in the southern jungles of Venezuela. In their secret city, financed by the great wealth they
had created during their lives, they continued Marconi's work on solar energy, cosmic energy and anti-
gravity. They worked secretly and apart from the world's nations, building free-energy motors and
ultimately discoid aircraft with a form of gyroscopic anti-gravity. The community is said to be dedicated
to universal peace and the common good of all mankind. Believing the rest of the world to be under the
control of energy companies, multi-national bankers and the military-industrial complex, they have
remained isolated from the rest of the world, working subversively to foster peace and a clean, ecological
technology on the world.
We have information on this astonishing high-tech city from a number of sources. In the South America
the story is a common subject among certain metaphysical groups. Says the French writer Robert
Charroux in his book The Mysteries of the Andes, (1974, 1977, Avon Books) "... the Ciudad Subterranean
de los Andes, is discussed in private from Caracas to Santiago." Charroux goes on to tell the story of
Marconi and his secret city, plus the story of a Mexican journalist named Mario Rojas Avendaro who
investigated the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes (Underground City of the Andes) and concluded that
it was a true story. Avendaro was contacted by man named Nacisso Genovese, who had been a student of
Marconi's and was a physics teacher at a High School in Baja, Mexico.
Genovese was an Italian by origin and claimed to have lived for many years in the Ciudad Subterranean
de los Andes. Sometime in the late 1950s he wrote an obscure book entided "My Trip To Mars." Though
the book was never published in English, it did appear in various Spanish, Portuguese and Italian editions.
Tesla Technology
Genovese claimed that the city had been built with large financial resources, was underground and had
better research facilities than any other research facility in the world (at mat time, at least). By 1946 the
city already using a powerful collector of cosmic energy, the essential component of all matter, according
to Marconi's theories, many of which he had derived from Tesla. "In 1952," according to Genovese, "we
traveled above all the seas and continents in a craft whose energy supply was continuous and practical
inexhaustible. It reached a speed of half a million miles an hour and withstood enormous pressures, near
the limit of resistance of the alloys that composed it. The problem was to slow it down at just the right
time."
According to Genovese, the city is located at the bottom of a crater, is mostly underground and is entirely
self-sufficient. The extinct volcano is covered in thick vegetation, is hundreds of miles from any roads,
and is at thirteen thousand feet in the jungle mountains of the Amazon.
The French author Charroux expressed surprise and disbelief to the statement that the city was on a jungle
covered mountain that was 13,000 feet high. Yet, the eastern side of Andean cordillera has many such
mountains, from Venezuela to Bolivia, spanning thousands of miles. Several such cities, and mountains,
could exist in this vast, unexplored, and perpetually cloud-covered region.
Yet, a secret city in a jungle crater was the least of the claims. Genovese claimed that flights to the Moon
and Mars were made in their "flying saucers." He claimed that once the technology had been conquered,
it was relatively simple to make the trip to the Moon (a few hours) or Mars (several days). Genovese does
not mention pyramids or what they did on Mars. Perhaps they created a Martian base in one of the
ancient, sand-blown pyramids of the Cydonia Region.
There have been many reports of UFOs in South America, especially along the edge of the mountainous
jungles of the eastern Andes, from Bolivia to Venezuela. Is it possible that some of these UFOs are anti-
gravity craft from the Ciudad Subterranean de los Andes?
In light of highly reliable sources who claim that a "Last Battalion" of German solders escaped via
submarine in the last days of WWII to Antarctica and South America, it is possible that the Germans may
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
have high tech super cities in the remote jungles of South America as well.
A number of military historians, such as Col. Howard Buechner, author of Secrets of the Holy Lance and
Hitler's Ashes, maintain that the Germans had already created bases in Queen Maud Land, opposite South
Africa during the war.
Afterwards, German U-Boats, in some reports as many as 100, took important scientists, aviators and
politicians to the final fortress of Nazi Germany. Two of these U-boats surrendered in Argentina three
months after the war. In 1947, the U.S. Navy invaded Antarctica, mainly Queen Maud Land with Admiral
Byrd in command.
The Americans were defeated and several jets from the four aircraft carriers were said to have been shot
down by discoid craft. The navy retreated and did not return until 1957.
According to the book, Chronicle of Akakor, a book first published in German by the journalist Karl
Brugger, a German battalion had taken refuge in an underground city on the borders of Brazil and Peru.
Brugger, a German journalist who lived in Manaus, was assassinated in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of
Ipanema in 1981. His guide, Tatunca Nara, went on to become Jacques
Cousteau's guide on the upper Amazon. In fact, photographs of Tatunca Nara appear in Cousteau's large
coffee-table book of color photographs called Cousteau's Amazon Journey. (For more information on
Tatunca Nara, Karl Brugger, Underground Cities and Germans see Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of
South America.)
While the secret cities of South America manufacturing flying saucers and battling the current powers of
the world from their hidden jungle fortresses may sound too much like the plot of a James Bond movie, it
appears to be based on fact!
Based upon the above scenario, it may not be totally fantastic to suggest, as some authors have, that Tesla
was picked up during the late 1930s by a flying saucer. Yet, it would not have been a flying saucer from
another planet, but one of Marconi's craft from the secret city in South America.
In the most incredible scenario so-far, and one that may well be true, Tesla was induced to fake his own
death, just as Marconi and many of the other scientists had done, and was taken, by special discoid craft,
to Marconi's high-tech super-city. Away from the outside world, the military governments, the oil
companies, the arms and aircraft manufacturers, Marconi and Tesla, both supposedly dead, continued
their experiments, in an atmosphere conducive to scientific achievement.
Who knows what they may have achieved? They were ten years ahead of the Germans and twenty years
ahead of the Americans in their anti-gravity technology. Could they have developed discoid spacecraft in
the early 1940s, and gone on to time travel machines and hyperspace drives? Perhaps Marconi and Tesla
went into the future, and have already returned to the past!
Time Travel experiments, teleportation, pyramids on Mars, Armageddon and an eventual Golden Age on
earth, may all have something to do with Tesla, Marconi and their suppressed inventions. While "UFO
experts" and "former intelligence agents" tell us that flying saucers are extraterrestrial and are being
currently retro-engineered by military scientists, Tesla, Marconi and their friends may be waiting for us at
their space base at the pyramids and Face on Mars.
Our government, Hollywood and the media have trained us to certain beliefs and prejudices that amazing
technology must be from extraterrestrials visiting our planet. To the scientist-philosopher who seeks
knowledge... sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A U.S. Patent for Guglielmo Marconi and his Wireless Telegraphy given on June 11, 1901. Marconi
was as much of a genius as Tesla. When Marconi saw Tesla beaten by the powerful World
Financiers, he hesitantly approached the Fascists of Italy with some of his inventions. After the
Pope condemed his death-ray, Marconi faked his own death in 1936 and left with more than 100
scientists to South America aboard his yacht Electro.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Above: Guglielmo Marconi, the Anglo-Italian inventor whose mentor was Nikola Tesla. In this photo,
Marconi is seen at Signal Hill, Newfoundland, in 1901, with the instruments that he used to receive the
first wireless signal across the Atlantic, sent to him from Polhu, Cornwall, England. Below: Mark
Carlotto's computer illustration showing a perspective view of the face on Mars and surrounding
pyramids, looking from the west, and well above the Martian surface. Many experts on Marconi, Tesla
and UFOs believe that Marconi and other scientists moved to a secret base in the Amazon jungle in 1937
and began making anti-gravity craft with which they reached Mars in the early 1950s or late 1940s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NASA frame 35A72 of Mars, showing the famous "Face" (a) with its protective metal helmet, while the
"city" (b) with its pyramids and the "D&M pyramid" (c) is farther to the lower right. Did Marconi and his
scientists actually travel to Mars in the early 1950s as was claimed by a number of Marconi's followers in
South America?
These four photos are from the U.S. Airforce Blue Book files and show a "French Flying Saucer Device"
that is alleged to be one of the craft used by Marconi and built at the secret city in South America. The
Photos clearly show a man-made discoid craft hovering, tilting and landing. Although the margin notes
state "Date Unk.--" the photos are known to have been taken in 1953. At first they were classified
SECRET, but were later "downgraded" and finally marked "unclassified." The initials ATIC (upside
down at bottom left) stand for Air Technical Intelligence Center, the parent military agency in the Air
Force hierarchy sponsoring Project Blue Book.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On April 24, 1959, Hello Augiar was driving along the Plata beach In Salvador, a beach in northern
Brazil, when his engine suddenly stopped. He then witnessed a flying saucer flying along the beach and
took four photos of it. It is interesting to note the symbols on the underside of the craft in this drawing.
The craft had four hemispherical protrusions in the center of the craft on the bottom and three ribs or
tubes on the top of the craft. This discoid vehicle is similar to the type of craft allegedly made at
Marconi's secret city, and is also similar to the Schriever-Habermohl flying disc made by Germany at the
BMW factory near Prague in 1944, and first flown on February 4, 1945 (German Jet Genesis by David
Masters, 1982, Jane's Books, London. Page 135).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After taking these photos on Plata Beach, Salvador, Brazil, (April 24, 1959) Hello Aguiar lost conciousness.
When he came to, he was clutching this message, written in his own hand: "ATOMIC EXPERIMENTS FOR
WARLIKE PURPOSES SHALL BE DEFINITELY STOPPED ... THE EQUILIBRIUM OF THE
UNIVERSE IS THREATENED. WE WILL REMAIN VIGILANT AND READY TO INTERFERE."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Polaroid photo taken In Peru on October 19, 1973 by architect Hugo Vega. Vega, who happened to
have a camera with him, was looking for a house of client about 34 miles east of Lima, the coastal capital
of Peru. He was looking out over the Rimac River valley when a discoid craft with portholes between the
domed top and main section, came into view. The craft flew along the valley and hovered for a few
seconds against the jungle background, which is when Vega got his Polaroid shot. The old-fashioned
design of the craft is noteworthy, with this 1973 saucer looking more like a 1950-type craft. Some UFO
experts believe that this craft is one of Marconi's manufacture at the underground city.
SUPREME COURT DOCUMENTS ON THE DISMANTLING OF THE WARDENCLYFFE TOWER
Appendix
Tesla maintained a residence at the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City from the spring of 1899
to 1915. He maintained by mortgaging the Wardenclyffe property and tower to the hotel and its owner,
George C. Boldt. Since the anticipated income from the Wardenclyffe project of transmitting messages
across the Atlantic was unrealized, Tesla was unable to repay the mortgages. Action was taken by the
mortgagees in 1915 to foreclose on the property, and a bill of sale offered to Lester S. Holmes, a
developer. The property would be sold to Holmes and the tower would be destroyed so that property
could be developed.
Tesla appealed the foreclosure judgment, and the case was heard by the Supreme Court of the State of
New York, Suffolk County. Tesla lost the case on appeal. Following the judgment on April 20, 1922,
Tesla vacated his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria and took up residence at the Hotel St Regis.
Though the 313 page transcript document largely contains the various lawyers arguing about the legal
instruments of mortgaging and foreclosure actions, portions of the testimony are interesting. During
Tesla's testimony, he give important information about the Wardenclyffe installation (transcript pages
163-181). Next is a portion of Ezra C. Bingham's testimony, chief engineer for the Waldorf-Astoria, in
which he describes how the tower had been vandalized, and how poor the condition of the plant was
(transcript pages 235-247). Tesla returns to the stand and gives more information on the purpose of the
plant (transcript pages 269-275), and finally is Exhibit B, Tesla's inventory of the plant(transcript pages
309-312).
Nikola Tesla for the Defendant p. 303 transcript pages 163-181.
Ezra C. Bingham for Plaintiff p. 323
transcript pages 235-247.
Nikola Tesla for the Defendant p. 337 transcript pages 269-275.
Defendant's Exhibit B p. 344
transcript pages 309-312
(inventory of plant)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nikola Tesla for Defendant--Direct.
A. Of course I had signed and the transaction was completed.
Q. And those papers were then in Mr. Hutchins' possession?
A. Yes those were almost his parting words.
Q. I think you said that conversation took place early in 1917 or late in 1916?
A. I think early in 1917, if I remember rightly, but my memory is a little--on account
of the concentration----
Mr. Hawkins: I do not recall the date of that deed.
Mr. Fordham: Why don't you let your witness complete his answer about his memory?
Mr. Hawkins: I assumed he had.
By Mr. Fordham:
Q. What were you saying?
A. I answered all the questions to the best of my ability.
Q. No, counsel interrupted you intentionally in the middle of a sentence----
Mr. Hawkins: That is not true, that I interrupted him intentionally.
Mr. Fordham: Well, strike out the word intentionally. You interrupted him in the mid-
dle of the sentence. He can say what he started to say about his memory in
connection with this transaction. The witness evidently thinks he does not need to
pay any attention to what I say. Will your Honor kindly instruct the witness to
complete his answer.
By the Referee:
Q. Had you completed your answer? A. Yes, those were the parting words of Mr.
Hutchins.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. As Mr. Fordham seems anxious to have you complete what you said, I heard what
you said----
Mr. Fordham: He says he has completed.
A. Yes/in regard to the memory of the exact date, 1 say that I cannot exactly remember
the dates on account of concentration on some other work that I am doing now, but
I can easily ascertain all the dates from documents.
Q. Now at the time that you delivered that document to Mr. Hutchins, I refer now to
the deed, will you please describe to the Court what there was upon the property?
A. Upon the property?
Q. Yes, described in the deed, which property is situated at Rocky Point
Mr. Fordham: That is objected to on the ground it is incompetent, immaterial and ir-
relevant at this point what there was on the property.
The Referee: I will take it,
Mr. Fordham: We except
The Referee: You mean structures, I suppose?
Mr. Hawkins: Yes, absolutely. Improvements, I had in mind, if there were any build-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ings there or structures.
Q. Tell the Court what there was there.
A. There was a brick building in which was located the power plant----
Q. Please describe the size of the brick building.
A. The "building forms a square about one hundred by one hundred feet wide and it is
one floor, rather high, with a roof covered with gravel, as they usually make them.
This building was divided inside in four compartments, two of which were very
large, one being the machine shop----
Q. How large was that?
A. That was one hundred feet by about thirty-five feet, I should say.
Q. Now tell how big the other compartments were.
A. The other one was about one hundred by thirty-five and then these other two
smaller ones where the engines were located on one side and the boilers on the
other were about thirty by forty, thirty one way and forty the other.
Q. I think you said the building was one story high?
A. Yes.
Q. It had one floor, did it?
A. One floor, yes.
Q. Further describe the building, if there is any further description, and tell the Court
whether there were any brick chimneys, outside chimneys?
A. Oh yes, right in the center of the building rose the chimney.
Q. How big was the chimney?
A. The chimney was four by four feet; it was calculated to give the proper speed to the
products of combustion under the boilers.
Q. Of what was the chimney composed?
A. Brick.
Q. How high was the building?
A. The building might have been, I think the extent of the walls on one side, the lowest
part of the roof might have been something like twenty-eight feet, I would say.
Q. Twenty-eight feet at the corners of the building?
A. Yes.
Q. And did it have a gable roof or a lantern roof?
A. Yes, as you call it in English--how is this roof called?
Q. I think it is a gable roof.
A. Gable roof. The building was resting on cement foundations and there were the
usual modern conveniences and----
Q. Tell what you mean by the usual modern conveniences?
A. I mean the channels for leading off the waste, the rain drips and all that, and then
attached to it was, of course, the water pump that pumped the water for the
building.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Fordham: I do not wish to interrupt counsel but what possible use can there be in a
detailed description of the building on this property?
The Referee: I do not know at this time.
Mr. Fordham: Neither do I. It does not seem to me that we should burden the record
indefinitely with these descriptive details.
The Referee: I will let him describe them.
Mr. Hawkins: It is a material part of the defense here.
The Referee: Go ahead. I will take it.
The Witness: I suppose what belongs to the buildings is the boiler plant, with two 300
horse power boilers on one side----
Q. That was two 300-horse power?
A. Two 300-horse power boilers, yes, and the pumps, injectors and other accessories,
and then there were big water tanks that wore placed around the chimney so as to
utilize some of the waste heat. These tanks had a capacity of about 16,000 gallons,
if I am correct.
Q. Of what were the tanks composed?
A. Of quarter inch thick sheet steel, galvanized.
Q. Those were all in one compartment, were they?
A. They were around the chimney under the roof, and for this purpose the room had an
extension upward there. This could be shown on a photograph if his Honor wishes
to see the photograph.
Q. Just a moment please. Now describe the other three compartments of the building.
A. Well, I have described the boiler plant Now right opposite to the boiler plant
lengthwise was a corresponding compartment and therein were located the engines.
Of these engines there was one 400-horse power Westinghouse reciprocating en-
gine, driving a directly connected dynamo which was specially made for my
purposes. Then there was a 35-kilowatt Westinghouse outfit also driving the
dynamo, which was for the purpose of lighting and other work, a permanent
attachment to the building to furnish all conveniences. There was then a high
pressure compressor which also formed an essential part of the equipment. And
then there was a low pressure compressor or blower. Then there was a high
pressure pump and a reciprocating low pressure pump. That was all----
Q. Water pumps?
A. Water pumps, yes. Those were all in that compartment, and of course this
compartment also contained the switches and the switchboard and all that which
goes with the equipment of the plant. Then there was a gallery on the top on which
certain parts were placed and arranged that were needed daily in the operation.
Q. Those were parts of what?
A. Well they were the tools, you know, that were needed in the plant.
Q. Please describe another compartment.
A. The compartment that was towards the railroad, that was the machine shop.
Q. Which part of the building was that, the north, south, east or west?
A. I cannot locate it----
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Referee: The north side.
The Witness: Towards the road, facing the road. That compartment was one hundred
by thirty-five feet with a door in the middle and it contained I think eight lathes.
The Referee: You are speaking now, when you said facing the road, that is on the
south side, the travel road or----
The Witness: Facing the railroad. It is just close on the railroad track, your Honor, this
building. That contained I think eight lathes ranging in swing from eight inches to
thirty-two, I believe. Then there was a milling machine and there was a planer, and
shaper, a spliner, a vertical machine for splining. Then there were three drills, one
very large, another medium and a third quite small one. Then there were four
motors which operated the machinery. Also a grinder and an ordinary grindstone, a
forge----
Q. Blacksmith's forge?
A. Yes, a blacksmith's forge. Then a special high temperature stove and the blower for
the forge. Of course the shop was full of counter shafting and there were a few
special tools which suited certain purposes which I contemplated there. I cannot at
present recall them exactly, but there were five or six of them.
Q. Were those stationary tools or hand tools?
A. No, -some of them were attachments to the ordinary lathes or milling machines,
suitable for certain work and others were of course portable.
Q. Now have you described the four compartments of the building?
A. No. Now the compartment opposite, that is facing further away from the railroad,
which also was one hundred feet, the whole length of the building, by about thirty-
five, there is where the real expensive apparatus was located. That contained also
the desks and the office accessories. Shall 1 describe now this one?
Q. Yes, describe any stationary fixtures there were in this other compartment.
A. Well, is machinery a stationary fixture? Q. Yes we call that a stationary fixture. A.
Right along the back wall that separated this compartment from the rest of the
building there were two special glass cases in which I kept the historical apparatus
which was exhibited and described in my lectures and scientific articles. There
were probably at least a thousand bulbs and tubes each of which represented a
certain phase of scientific development. Then close, beginning with these two glass
cases, there were five large tanks. Four of those contained special transformers
according to my design, made by the Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing
Company. These were to transform the energy for the plant. They were about, I
should say, seven feet high and about five by five feet each, and were filled with
special oil which we call transformer oil, to stand an electric tension of 60,000
volts. Then besides these four tanks there was another similar tank which was for
special purposes, containing a transformer. Then there were two doors, one door
that led to the other compartment and the other one led in the closets, and between
those two doors there was a space on which was placed my electric generating
apparatus. This apparatus I used in ray laboratory demonstrations in two
laboratories before, and I had also used it in the Colorado experiments where I
erected a wireless plant in 1889. That apparatus was precious because it could flash
a message across the Atlantic, and yet it was built in 1894 or 1895. That is a
complicated and very expensive apparatus.
Then beyond the door there were again four tanks, big tanks almost the same size as
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those I described. These four tanks were to contain the condensers, what we call
electric condensers, which store the energy and then discharge and make it go
around the world. These condensers, some of them, were in an advanced state of
construction, two, I think, and the others were not. They were according to a
principle of discovery. Then there was a very expensive piece of apparatus that the
Westinghouse Company furnished me; only two of this kind of apparatus were
made by the Westinghouse Company, one for me and one for themselves. It was
developed together by myself and their engineers. That was a steel tank which
contained a very elaborate assemblage of coils, an elaborate regulating apparatus,
and it was intended to give every imaginable regulation that I wanted in my
measurements and control of energy. Then on the last side, where I had described
the first four big tanks there was a special 100-horse power motor and this motor
was equipped with elaborate devices for rectifying the alternating currents and then
sending them into the condensers. On this apparatus alone I spent thousands of
dollars. The 100-horse power motor was specially constructed for me by the
Westinghouse Company, but the other parts were all made by myself and that took
a considerable portion of space there and it was a wonderful piece of apparatus. I
have photographs of these which will make this description very clear.
Then along the center of the room, I had a very precious piece of apparatus. That
was a boat which was illustrative of my discovery of teletaumatics; that is a boat
which was controlled without wire, which would do anything you wanted, but there
was no connection. This boat was exhibited by me on many occasions.
Q. The boat was not stationary, was it?
A. It was stationary, yes, on the supports. It was stationary on the supports but as I say
that boat was my wireless boat; that is a boat that you commanded it and it would
perform as many evolutions as you wanted, by just commanding it.
Q. Was that about all there was, generally speaking?
A. Oh, no, nowhere near. Then there were on each side long specially made, how do
you call them, not desks or shelves, but closets, I might say, which were specially
made to contain the apparatus, because I had accumulated for years hundreds of
different kinds of appliances which stand for a certain principle, and this apparatus
was stored in there, and on top of these I had again all full of apparatus, each
representing a different phase. And then on one side there were the desks and then
on the other side there were the drawing implements and tools. And then in the
corner, when you looked at the railroad side, on the right side in the corner there
was my testing room and that contained--there were two precious instruments
among these that Lord Kelvin made especially for me. He was a great friend of
mine. A device for measurement invented by him; it is called a breach; and another
a voltmeter of his. Both of these things were given to me and prepared for me by
his special instructions. There were a lot of other instruments, voltmeters,
wattmeters, ampere meters; in that small space there was a fortune in there.
Mr. Fordham: The last, that there was a fortune in there, calls for a conclusion as to the
salable value of the stuff and I think it should go out.
The Referee: Yes, strike it out.
Q. I think you said this building was constructed of brick, did you not?
A. Yes.
Q. How thick were the walls of it?
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A. That I cannot tell now exactly, but I should say about twelve inches.
Q. It was more than one brick thick, at any rate?
A. Oh, I should say so. I paid something----
Q. I presume this building had windows in it?
A. Oh yes there were large windows which were divided into panels.
Q. And what were the window sash made of, metal or wood?
A. Wood sashes.
Q. I show you a document, Defendant's Exhibit C, and call your attention to the
signature on that document, and ask you if that is your signature?
A. Yes sir, that is my signature.
Q. Do you recognize the instrument?
A. Yes sir, that was one of the----
Q. That is the deed which you delivered, is it not? A. Yes.
Q. I call your attention to the date of the deed, March 30, 1915.
A. 1915?
Q. Yes.
A. Well that was--1915?
Q. Yes.
A. I was under the impression it was a little later.
Q. Well that is the only deed which you delivered in the transaction to Mr. Holmes, is
it not?
A. Hutchins?
Q. Hutchins, yes.
A. So far as I know.
Q. Then would you like to change your testimony when you said it was in 1917? The
date of this in March 30. 1915.
A. I have stated that I was not sure about the dates, but I could ascertain it exactly by
looking at the documents.
Q. Well there is the document.
A. Well it must be so because it is there.
Q. It is 1915 then instead of 1917?
A. Yes, but my impression was that this was another attorney who had it first and it
was made to Mr. Hutchins later.
Q. I do not know what you mean by saying it was made to Mr. Hutchins. The grantee
in the deed is Lester K. Holmes.
A. Yes, Lester S. Holmes.
By the Referee:
Q. The transaction you had was with Mr. Hutchins?
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A. Yes that is all.
The Referee: I do not think there is any dispute about that.
Mr. Fordham: There was only one, I understand. The witness does not claim there
were two, one in 1915 and another in 1917.
The Witness: No.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. No there was only one and Mr. Holmes was the grantee in the deed which you gave
to Mr. Hutchins, was he not?
A. Yes, and I recall the transaction with Mr. Hutchins.
Q. Were there any other structures upon the property aside from the building?
By the Referee:
Q. Did you read that paper at the time you executed it?
A. Yes at the request of Mr. Hutchins.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Were there any other structures upon the premises other than that brick factory or
laboratory which you have just described?
A. Yes sir, there was the structure which in a certain sense was the most important
structure, because the power plant was only an accessory to it That was the tower.
Q. Please describe the tower as to dimensions and material and method of construction
and kind of construction?
Mr. Fordham: We renew our objection, if the Court please. This is entirely immaterial,
irrelevant and incompetent until after they have succeeded in establishing their
contention that the deed is a mortgage.
The Referee: I will take it.
Mr. Fordham: Exception.
A. The tower was 187 feet high from the base to the top. It was built of special timber
and it was built in such a way that every stick could be taken out at any time and
replaced if it was necessary. The design of the tower was a matter of considerable
difficulty. It was made in the shape of an octagon and pyramidal form for strength
and was supporting what I have termed in my scientific articles a terminal.
By the Referee:
Q. There was sort of a globe at the top?
A. Yes. That, your Honor, was only the carrying out of a discovery I made that any
amount of electricity within reason could be stored provided you make it of a
certain shape. Electricians even today do not appreciate that yet. But that construc-
tion enabled me to produce with this small plant many times the effect that could be
produced by an ordinary plant of a hundred times the size. And this globe, the
framework, was all specially shaped, that is the girders had to be bent in shape and
it weighed about fifty-five tons.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Of what was it constructed?
A. Of steel, all the girders being specially bent into shape.
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Q. Was the tower that supported it entirely constructed of wood or partly steel?
A. That part alone on top was of steel. The tower was all timbers and of course the
timbers were held together by specially shaped steel plates.
The Referee: Braces?
The Witness: Yes, steel plates. I had to construct it this way for technical reasons. The
Referee: We are not interested in that.
Q. Was the tower enclosed or open?
A. The tower, at the time of the execution of this deed, was open, but I have
photographs to show how it looked exactly and how it would have looked finished.
Q. After you delivered the deed was the tower ever enclosed?
A. No, it was just open.
Q. Now the dome or the terminal at the top, was that enclosed?
A. No sir.
Q. Never enclosed?
A. Never enclosed, no.
Q. Had that structure ever been completed?
A. The structure so far, if I understand the terms right, yes, the structure was all
completed but the accessories were not placed on it yet, For instance that globe
there was to be covered with specially pressed plates. These plates----
Q. That had not been done, had it?
A. That had not been done, although I had it. all prepared. I had prepared everything, I
had designed and prepared everything, but it was not done.
Q. Was the structure of the tower in any manner connected with the brick building or
power plant?
A. The tower was separate.
Q. I understand, but was there any connection between them?
A. There were of course two channels. One was for communicating, for bringing into
the tower compressed air and water and such things as I might have needed for
operations, and the other one was to bring in the electric mains.
By the Referee:
Q. In order to do that there was, as a matter of fact, was there not, a well-like shaft
going down right in the middle of the tower into the ground some fifty or sixty feet?
A. Yes. You see the underground work is one of the most expensive parts of the tower.
In this system that I have invented it is necessary for the machine to get a grip of
the earth, otherwise it cannot shake the earth. It has to have a grip on the earth so
that the whole of this globe can quiver, and to do that it is necessary to carry out a
very expensive construction. I had in fact invented special machines. But I want to
say this underground work belongs to the tower.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Anything that was there, tell us about.
A. There was, as your Honor states, a big shaft about ten by twelve feet goes down
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about one hundred and twenty feet and this was first covered with timber and the
inside with steel and in the center of this there was a winding stairs going down and
in the center of the stairs there was a big shaft again through which the current was
to pass, and this shaft was so figured in order to tell exactly where the nodal point
is, so that I could calculate every point of distance. For instance I could calculate
exactly the size of the earth or the diameter of the earth and measure it exactly
within four feet with that machine.
Q. And that was a necessary appurtenance to your tower?
A. Absolutely necessary. And then the real expensive work was to connect that central
part with the earth, and there I had special machines rigged up which would push
the iron pipes, one length after another, and I pushed these iron pipes. I think
sixteen of them, three hundred feet, and then the current through these pipes takes
hold of the earth. Now that was a very expensive part of the work, but it does not
show on the tower, but it belongs to the tower.
By Mr. Fordham :
Q. Was the hole really one hundred and twenty feet deep, did you say?
A. Yes, you see the ground water on that place is about one hundred and twenty feet.
We are above the ground water about one hundred and twenty feet. In the well we
struck water at about eighty feet.
By the Referee :
Q. What you call the main water table? A. Yes the main well we struck at eighty feet,
but there we had to go deeper.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Tell the Court generally, not in detail, the purpose of that tower and the equipment
which you have described connected with it?
Mr. Fordham: How is that material? The Referee: I will take it. Mr. Fordham: We
except.
A. Well, the primary purpose of the tower, your Honor, was to telephone, to send the
human voice and likeness around the globe.
By the Referee:
Q. Through the instrumentality of the earth.
A. Through the instrumentality of the earth. That was my discovery that I announced
in 1893, and now all the wireless plants are doing that. There is no other system
being used. And the idea was to reproduce this apparatus and then connect it just
with a central station and telephone office, so that you may pick up your telephone
and if you wanted to talk to a telephone subscriber in Australia you would simply
call up that plant and the plant would connect immediately with that subscriber, no
matter where in the world, and you could talk to him. And I had contemplated to
have press messages, stock ({notations, pictures for the press and these
reproductions of signatures, checks and everything transmitted from there
throughout the world, but----
liy Mr. Hawkins:
Q. The purpose then briefly was for wireless communication to various parts of the
world?
A. Yes and the tower was so designed that I could apply to it any amount of power and
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I was planning to give a demonstration in the transmission of power which I have
so perfected that power can be transmitted clear across the globe with a loss of not
more than five per cent, and that plant was to serve as a practical demonstration.
And then I was going to interest people in a larger project and the Niagara people
had given me 10,000-horse power----
Q. What do you mean by power, energy?
A. Yes, power in any amount.
Q. Were there any other structures upon the premises?
A. No, just these two big structures.
Q. I call your attention, Mr. Tesla, to Defendants Exhibit A which I characterize as a
bill of sale and ask you to notice the signature there.
A. That is my signature, sir.
Q. Now the date of this document is the 30th day of March, 1915?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Is that the bill of sale that was delivered the same time the deed was delivered?
A. Yes.
Q. I do not wish to repeat this, but when you stated that that was also on or about the
early part of 1917 you had in mind this document which you delivered in March,
1915?
A. Yes, but what stands out in my mind strongest is the construction of the tower, and
that is the reason I have that in mind, the construction of the tower.
Q. Do you recall the testimony of Mr. Hutchins, that the Waldorf entered possession
of the property?
A. Of Hutchins?
Q. Do you recall the testimony of Mr. Hutchins?
A. Yes, I recall something of that which he suited.
Q. And when was that done, in 1917, before or subsequent to the destruction of the
tower?
A. It was done some time before the actual destruction of the tower.
Q. Do you recall when the tower was destroyed?
A. It was about in 1917, as near as I can recall, but I can .ascertain----
Q. When was the tower erected?
A. The tower was erected from 1901 to 1902.
Q. What had you done to it to preserve it?
A. I spent considerable money on it by painting all the metal parts over three times, I
think, each time at a cost of about a thousand dollars.
Q. Was there anything done to preserve the wooden portion of the structure?
A. Oh yes, we carefully watched everything, and----
Q. I know, but did you apply anything to it? A. No not to the wood.
Q. Did not paint it?
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A. No. not the wood.
Q. Had the wood been treated in any manner prior to being put in the construction, to
preserve it?
Mr. Fordham: How is this material, your Honor? All this detail of preliminary work?
The Referee: I want to give counsel much latitude, but I suggest, to be just as brief as
you can about it
Mr. Hawkins: Yes. My idea is this, if the wood had been creosoted or treated in any
way to preserve it that was part of its value.
Mr. Fordham: Not unless it could have been sold for more money. It is absolutely
immaterial.
The Referee: I will let him state if it had been treated.
A. No, but it was the finest timber.
Q. What was the timber? A. Pine.
Q. What kind of pine?
A. I cannot tell you, there are so many kinds of pine in America.
The Referee : I think it was yellow pine. The Witness: I could ascertain exactly. The
Referee: Timbers of that sort generally are.
Q. Now prior to the time when the tower was taken down did you have a conversation
with Mr. Hutchins concerning that?
A. Concerning the tower?
Q. Concerning the destruction of the tower?
A. Concerning the destruction of the tower?
Q. Yes.
A. No. certainly not. He gave me a friendly assurance that nothing would be done in
an unfriendly way.
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The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
Mr. Fordham: Yon may proceed, Mr. Bingham.
A. What is the question again, please?
The question was read as follows: Have you had any experience, and if so what, in the purchase and sale of
machinery?
A. Weil, I have not had any in a great many years no, sir. either direct purchase or selling.
Q. Well, have you had any experience so that you are qualified to speak as to the value of machinery?
A. Only partially, I think.
Q. I call your attention to the testimony of the defendant Tesla. which appears on pages 88 to 161 of the record here
inclusive, at the hearing on January 26, 1922, and ask you if you have read that testimony?
A. Yes, sir, 1 read that whole paragraph through.
Q. Are you acquainted with the premise referred to in the complaint in this action and the deed which is in evidence
of the premises of the defendant Tesla?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as immaterial, irrelevant and incompetent.
The Referee. Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When did you first visit those premises?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection. The Referee: Same ruling. Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Well, it is hard for me to state just when I first----
Q. (Interrupting.) Well, as near as you recall?
A. I would say about 191.'}.
Q. What was the occasion of your visit then?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection.
The Referee: Same ruling.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Mr. Boldt held a mortgage on this property and he sent me down there to check up and go over the
condition of it and see what condition it was in.
Q. Yes; and how many times were you there?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection. The Referee: Same ruling. Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Oh, up until the time that I received that notice from Mr. Hutchins, I presume twenty times.
Q. The notice to which you refer is the letter of July -'0, 1915, of which I show you a copy?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection.
The Referee: Same ruling.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You haven't the original letter in your possession, have you?
A. No, sir; I have not.
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Q. This is a correct copy?
A. Yes, sir.
The Referee: May I see that, Mr. Fordham? I do not just bear it in mind.
Mr. Fordham: Yes. I offer this letter in evidence.
Mr. Hawkins: Objected to as incompetent irrelevant and immaterial and further on the ground that it is a
self-serving declaration: and I further object to it because it is not the original document.
The Referee: I will take it.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
(Letter marked Plaintiffs' Exhibit Xo. 8.
Q. Mr. Bingham, between the time you first went there to the property in 1913 and July 20, 1915, so far
us you recall, how many visits did you make to the property?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection.
The Referee: Same ruling.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. I could not say. I used to go there on an average of once or twice a month.
Q. During that period?
A. During that period.
Q. Will you please fell the Court what you found on the property during those visits?
Mr. Hawkins: Objected to as incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant and certainly can have no bearing
upon the question as to whether these instruments were delivered as absolute conveyances or as security.
The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. The first time I went down there I found the windows--well, I should say there was half a dozen of
them that were wide open, and in the big room such as was used for experimenting and things of that,
kind there was probably a dozen or fifteen desks in there and a great many wardrobes, that is closets and
things of that kind, and among them was a--what you would call a model submarine. Well, this place had
practically been wrecked.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Yes, strike out the "practically been wrecked." Just describe its condition.
A. There had been a desk that the drawers had been opened, pulled out and thrown on the floor and all the
tops of the desks--they were roll-tops desks--they had been ripped off and thrown on the floor, the doors
were ripped off the closets and the books and emit that was in there, I would say there was four truckloads
of that thrown all over this big room, and I came back and made a report to Mr. Holdt of the condition we
found things.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: No, the fact that he made a report, let it stand.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. (Continuing.) And in two or three days I took a couple of carpenters and we went down there and
nailed up the windows.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out
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Q. (Interrupting.) Well, Mr. Ringham, bear in mind the question I was asking you; the first time you went
there in 1913 you did not go down and nail up windows, did you?
A. I did in two or three days.
Mr. Hawkins: Is the last part of that answer stricken out on ray motion? The Referee: Yes.
A. (Continuing.) And put in some light pieces of board, such as "Compo" board where the glass was gone
out, so as to kind of protect the place, as at his suggestion he thought I better do that.
Mr. Hawkins: 1 ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Strike out the last part.
Mr. Hawkins: And also that they nailed up boards.
The Referee: No, I will let that stand.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
Q. Proceed. What did you then discover?
A. About two weeks later I went down again and I found these things all ripped open again and the doors
open, and I came hack and locked them up the best I could and went over to see the station agent and they
didn't know anything about what had happened or anything of that kind.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Granted.
A. (Continuing.) And in the meantime there had been some of these desks that was in there that was
completely smashed up and taken away, I should say there was about half of them gone.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. (Continuing.) And I went down, I would not say just how soon again, but probably within a month
because I had to go there that often, Mr. Holdt insisted on my going down there and keeping a check on it
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out. The Referee: Strike that out.
Q. You may say what you did? A. I continually kept going down there up until the time I received this
notice from Mr. Hutchins.
Up until that time----
The Referee (interrupting) : That is the exhibit that has just been offered.
Mr. Fordham: Yes, Exhibit 8, dated July 20, 1915.
Q. Proceed.
A. Up until that time they had practically stripped the place of everything: they had stolen off all the
railings and everything that might pertain to brass of any description, even the boiler feed pumps they had taken
the tops off and taken the valves and valve seats out; all the toilets, they had taken off the toilets and taken all the
lead pipe back of the toilet and everything that could be possibly sold that could be drawn in any kind of a wagon
had been taken away, I suppose for junk, that is the only thing they could possibly use it for.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out. The Referee: The supposition strike out.
A. (Continuing) The boilers were there, simply the headers and tubes; everything that pertained to them were gone,
they had stolen and dragged away; the dynamos were still there, the main part.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask the part of the answer in effect had been stolen be stricken out.
The Referee: Yes, the characterization stolen we will strike out. The fact that they were not there we will let stand.
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Q. Proceed.
A. Well, that had been taken away.
The Referee: Well, they were gone?
The Witness: They were not taken for ornaments ; they were gone.
The Referee: Yes.
The Witness: The engines, the main part of the engines were there, that is the foundation and the fly wheels,
because they could not take them away; and some of the big part of the machinery, the different lathes and milling
machines and the main drill-press; all small lathes and motors and everything of that kind were gone. What had
become of them I could not say, but I would say they were stolen. And when I got this notice from Mr. Hutchins I
went down then and got the notice the same as today. I made the signs up and went down tomorrow and put up the
signs, and in about a week or ten days from then I took a couple of hacks and went down there and brought the big
machinery away
Q. Just what did you bring away?
A. I brought away a large drill-press, milling machine, planer and two lathes.
Q. Do you know the value of those articles which you brought away?
A. I do not know exactly the value of those things. I have everything yet at the Waldorf, with the exception of the
milling machine.
Q. Well, was the value a few hundred dollars or was it a great many thousand?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to on the ground the witness is not qualified.
The Referee: Objection sustained.
Mr. Fordham: We except.
Q. You have the things now, with the exception of the milling machine?
A. I have, with the exception of the milling machine, yes, sir.
Q. Do you know what became of that?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as immaterial.
The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. That was sold; I don't know just now who it was.
Q. You don't know?
A. No. but I could find out. I could look the book up and find out who did buy it, but I don't remember.
Q. Do you know what was received for it?
A. No, I do not
Q. I show you Defendants' Exhibit A, a certain bill of sale, and call your attention to the schedules setting
forth the various items purporting to have been conveyed by that bill of sale, and ask you to look over
those items and to tell the Court what, if any of them, were on the property on July 20, 1915?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.
The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. You want me to start at the top of it?
Q. Yes, and go right through it. if you please?
A. No. Westinghouse Compound Engine was there.
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Q. What was its condition? Describe its condition.
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as immaterial.
The Referee: I will take it.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. The compound engine was there without any trimming, as I have stated before, everything was
stripped.
Q. Yes, but----
A. (Interrupting.) There wasn't anything left on it.
Q. Yes, but repeat your statement as it applies to each of those items?
A. Both numbers, 1, the Westinghouse Alternating and the Westinghouse Compound Engine were there,
that is the bodies of the engine; and the direct connected double current generator was there, the 25 kwt
the 15 horsepower motor, and No. 1 item here, 16235, was not there; the transformers were not there; the
tank was not there; the truck was not there; Fairbanks Scale was not there; Laidlaw-Dunn-Gordon Pump
was there, but the inside was out of it; Westinghouse Electric Motor was not there; milling machine was
not there; lathe No. 1 was not there, there was no tools of any description left there; the work benches
were still there, but nothing on them; vises were gone; Westinghouse Type C 2-horsepower motor was
gone; Westinghouse Type C inducting motor was gone; Westinghouse Type C 5-horsepower motor was
gone; Westinghouse Motor about one-quarter horsepower was gone; the three lathes that he mentions
here, only two could have been there at most at that time, the two that I have; I don't know the names of
them.
Mr. Hawkins: 1 ask that be stricken out. Only two could have been there.
The Referee: Well, you only got two, is that what you mean?
The Witness: Yes, sir.
Q. How many were there?
A. I don't know how many there was, quite a good many the first time I looked in there, but I know at the
time we took possession from the time I went there, they were all carted away, some truck came in there
for some place around there one day it and I asked the agent there, and he said Mr. Tesla told this
fellow--he runs a garage over there -- that he could have them and he took a lot of stuff of that class.
Q. When was that?
A. 1 think that was along about a year before 1 got that notice.
Q. Proceed, please, with the other items.
A. Planer made by the Headley people, I see no planer there; planer made by Pedrick, no planers at all; no
drill-press; that was gone; one large drill-press that I have; 36 lockers, they were all ripped to pieces; one
testing fan motor----
Q. Hawkins (interrupting) : I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. (Continuing.) That was gone; telephone and bell wire gone; quantity of lead cable gone; 4 radiators,
they were gone; drills, bits, reamers, taps and all tools for milling machines and lathes at present time in
storeroom located inside workshop, that was all gone; oil tanks, they were ripped up and they evidently
had torn them apart because they wanted to get something inside of them, either lead or copper, I don't
know which.
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to.
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The Referee: Strike it out.
Q. Leave out your conclusions about why they did it; what was the condition of them?
A. Just ripped to pieces; all the meters and starting boxes and switches had all been stripped off, only the
bare slates left there; 2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, everything but the shell and tabes were gone, and feed
pumps, just the housing was left; one hand----
The Referee (interrupting) : What do you mean by that?
The Witness: Well, it is made out of cast iron, and the insides are brass, that is the valve seats and valves,
they are always brass. They had been taken out. One hand blacksmith's forge was gone; toilets, urinals,
wash basins, all ripped to pieces; 7 rheostats, desks, safes, 3 meters, all those things were gone; one set of
storage batteries, tanks, submarine boat, Westinghouse Motor 28292, Westinghouse Motor Type C 5-
horsepower No. 62320, Westinghouse Motor Type C 5-horsepower No. 22070; 4 high-tension
transformers in tanks and switchboards, wiring drums, drafting boards and tools all gone. Chairs, there
was two or three old chairs left there, was all; clocks, no clocks; radiators, no radiators at all.
Q. What did you find the condition of the tower to be?
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that the entire testimony of this witness concerning the items mentioned in the
Defendants' Exhibit A, I think it was, be stricken from the record as incompetent, irrelevant and
immaterial, especially because that testimony bears no weight upon the question as to whether that bill of
sale was delivered as a security or as an absolute conveyance.
The Referee: Denied:
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
Mr. Fordham: Read the last, question.
The question was read by the stenographer.
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.
The Referee: I will let him describe what he found. Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. The tower was badly rotted, the main supports going up where the stairs were, the great big timbers
were rotted out, they were half gone and it is a wonder they could stand up.
Mr. Hawkins: I move to strike that out.
The Referee: Yes, the wonder they ever
Mr. Hawkins: Yes.
The Witness: The stairs leading up to the top of the ball were half rotted away so that we could not get up
to the ball. I wanted to see what the ball was made out of and I took a man down there, a rigger, and lie
went up about two-thirds of the way, climbing up over it, and he was so afraid he came back.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: That he was afraid and came back. yes. I will let the fact stand that he did not go on up.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask the other be stricken out, that the rigger was sent up there.
The Referee: Denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception. And I also move that it be stricken out on the ground that it is in no sense
rebuttal.
The Referee: Motion denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
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Q. You may tell what the rigger did?
A. This big ball on top of the tower, you could not tell what it was made out of. whether it was brass or
steel, as the ends of the wires where it had been grounded had rusted out and blown away, and there was a
thousand and one little wires sticking out in every direction, so you could not see what it was made up of.
The Referee: You could not get up?
The Witness: You could not get up. You could get up so you could see the fibres of everything up there,
you could see it plain enough, but the tower was rotted in no end of places, it had never been taken care
of, nothing had ever been done to it.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that that be stricken out
The Referee: Yes. granted as to the last part.
Mr. Fordham : What is granted?
The Referee: He said nothing had been done to it.
Mr. Hawkins: And I ask also that it be stricken out that the tower had not been taken care of.
The Referee: Granted. Describe its condition.
Q. Yes, you may tell the condition of the tower, Mr. Ringham. Was the condition secure or insecure?
A. Insecure. There was none of the woodwork that have ever been painted, all that held it together was
the big steel plates on the sides of it.
Q. As I understood, you say the woodwork was badly rotted out?
A. Rotted away, yes, sir.
Q. So that the tower in that condition was a menace to anybody passing near it, in view of its insecurity?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as calling for a conclusion and a speculation. The Referee: I think so.
Mr. Fordham : Not a speculation. The man is an expert in his own line.
The Referee: Objection sustained.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that it be stricken out.
The Referee: Stricken out.
Q. Tell the Court from your own knowledge of structural materials, as an engineer, whether the tower was
safe or unsafe, as you found it at that time?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to.
A. Absolutely unsafe.
The Referee: Have you sufficiently qualified
Q. (Interrupting.) Yes or no.
Mr. Fordham: Just a moment If the Court please, I object to this on the ground that no foundation has
been laid to qualify this "witness.
The Referee: I will let him answer that question. Overruled.
Mr. Fordham: Exception.
A. Yes.
Q. At that time, to what use could the property be put?
Mr. Fordham: That is objected to, if the Court please, on the ground that it calls for the conclusion of an
expert witness, and that there has no foundation been laid to qualify Mr. Tesla as an expert on real
property value
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Mr. Hawkins: No, I have not asked him the value in that respect
The Referee: I will take it
Mr. Fordham : We except
(The question was read.)
A. The property was expressly built for the transmission of wireless impulses.
The Referee: I do not think you understand the question, do you, Doctor? The question was to what use it
was fitted, is that right?
Mr. Hawkins: Yes.
Mr. Fordham: I move to strike out this answer.
The Referee: Yes, strike it out.
Mr. Hawkins: I will formally except.
The Referee: I thought he misunderstood it.
A. The use it was built----
Q. (Interrupting.) No. Tell to what use it could be put at the time that deed was made?
A. At the time that deed was made it could have been lined as a receiving wireless station.
The Referee: Yes.
The Witness: Pardon me for adding, it could also have been made use of as a transmitting station, but not
to the extent that it could in the fully developed plant.
Q. But although it was not fully developed or permanently equipped, it could at that time have been used
as a transmitting station?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And us a receiving station?
A. As a receiving station.
Q. And there is now a large station of a similar kind very near your premises at Rocky Point, is there not?
Mr. Fordham: That is objected to, if the Court please, as immaterial and irrelevant. The Referee:
Overruled. Mr. Fordham: Exception.
A. Yes, sir, there is, but it is of incomparably smaller power than mine.
Q. Are you familiar with the equipment and structures for the purpose of the receiving and transmission
of wireless messages?
A. Yes, sir, I am.
Q. What has been your experience in that line, Doctor?
A. I have worked for thirty years on the art and have given all of the fundamental principles to it; and'
during at least twenty years I have been making apparatus of that kind and experimenting with it.
Q. Have you been making apparatus of that kind for sale?
A. Yes and no. 1 did attempt to start manufacturing several times, but could not find sufficient
encouragement, because at the time that I started the art was not sufficiently developed for the general
public to have faith in it. I was ahead of the time, and that was the only reason why it was impracticable
to start manufacturing.
Q. Have you invented and put on the market electrical apparatus for use in connection with wireless
operations?
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A. Yes, sir.
Q. At the time the deed was given, what was the value of the premises at Rocky Point in their condition at
that time for the purpose of wireless receiving and transmitting uses?
Mr. Fordham: I object to that, if the Court please, on the ground there is no proper foundation laid to
qualify this witness to speak of the commercial or financial value of the property at that time or at any
other time. As to the scientific value or possibilities of it, he has already been interrogated. And it is
objected to, if that is the point of the question, that is objected to on the ground it is needless repetition.
Mr. Hawkins: I submit, if your Honor please, the witness is qualified to answer this specific question, and
has shown it by his testimony here.
The Referee: I don't understand, Mr. Hawkins. Are you asking him to testify as to the value of the land?
Mr. Hawkins: No, sir; 1 am asking him to testify as to the value of the entire premises, including the land
and the buildings, but particularly the buildings.
Mr. Fordham: Well, commercially and financially what is their value? And he knows nothing about it.
The Referee: I will overrule your objection and take it.
Mr. Fordhani: Well, we except, if the Court please. I particularly call your Honor's attention to the fact
that the testimony shows that the witness could not have known, because he had not been there for
months before.
The Referee: I will take it for what it is worth.
Mr. Fordhani: We except.
The Referee: Answer the question, Mr. Tesla, if you can.
A. At the time the deed was given a fair estimate of the value of the property would have been something
like $350,000, because the income----
Q. Never mind all that, you have answered my question.
The Referee: You mean by that, taking in the land and your scientific development on it?
The Witness: No; I estimate it on the basis of earning power as a transmitting and receiving plant for the
purpose for which it was made.
The Referee: Had it ever earned anything at that time?
The Witness: Yes, but because I was carrying on the plan which would ultimately have yielded 25,000 a
day income, but at that time----
Q. (Interrupting.) Never mind, don't go on with that.
Mr. Fordham: I move to strike out the answer on the ground that the witness' explanation shows he is not
qualified to make an estimate, and that his estimate as made is not based on any sound financial or legal
or other ground.
The Referee: I am inclined to agree with you, but--I don't see, Mr. Hawkins, that that is admissible.
Mr. Hawkins: I submit that that is admissible. The man shows he has worked in that line of business for
many years and knows the value of that equipment for that purpose.
The Referee: If you want it to stand, I will let it stand.
Mr. Hawkins: Yes, sir I do.
Mr. Fordham: We except.
The Referee: The objection is overruled.
Mr. Fordham: Our motion is denied to strike out?
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The Referee: Yes, motion denied.
Mr. Fordham: We except.
Q. Did that condition which you have just described, and those values, obtain at the time the bill of sale
was given?
A. Oh, at the time the bill of sale was given the property was very much more valuable, it was worth--it
could have earned at least five times as much as the Tuckerton plant on Long Island, and they had an
income of something like forty thousand or fifty thousand dollars a year.
The Referee: Well, it could have earned if it had been completed. Now, was it in that position to earn?
The Witness: I must explain it. If it had been completed, it could have earned $25,000 a day, but in that
time in the state it was, if it had not been for my pushing the plant to come one hundred thousand or one
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars a year.
The Referee: What was it earning at that time?
The Witness: It was earning nothing.
Mr. Fordham: If the Court please, I move to strike out this last answer on the ground that it is
contradictory to former testimony, because it appears that the deed and bill of sale were both given the
same day, and it is impossible there could have been a wide difference in value between the few minutes
when the deed was given and the bill of sale was given.
The Referee: I will let it stand. The Witness: May I explain?
Q. Yes, explain.
A. Pardon me then, I did not understand the question. When I was asked when the deed was given, I had
in mind when I first placed the property with Mr. Boldt, that was the valuation at that time.
Q. That was the first mortgage, wasn't it?
A. Oh, at the time the deed was given, now I understand better. Yes, that was 1915, the property was
worth very much more because the art had been developed, the power stations had multiplied, the
receivers had multiplied and where I would have had a hundred customers, then I would have thousands.
Q. Doctor, when you speak of the value; at the time the bill of sale was given, do you mean the value at
the time you first made a mortgage to Mr. Boldt?
A. No, sir, I mean at the time that the deed was given, the property was worth more than $350,000.
Q. Yes, but what did you have in mind as the value when you spoke of the value as of the time the bill of
sale was given?
A. I had in mind the value at the time I gave the mortgage to Mr. Boldt.
Q. Yes, the first mortgage?
A. Yes, the first mortgage.
Q. Upon the property to Mr. Boldt?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Doctor, the property was developed for the purpose and use of a commercial wireless station, was it
not?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And so far as you know, it had no particular value for any other purpose, did it?
A. Yep, it might have been used for an electrical power plant for distribution.
Q. Yes.
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A. In fact, the proposition was made to me at one time for that purpose.
Q. But looking at the situation from the local real estate market, it had no particular market value for any
other purpose than that of wireless telegraphy, did it?
A. It might have as a factory building.
Q. But you are predicating your statement of values upon its uses for the purposes of wireless telegraphy,
are you not?
A. For the purposes of the wireless art, yes.
Q. Wireless art?
A. Yes, in all its numerous applications.
Q. Do you remember Mr. Bingham saying that he went down to the property?
A. Yes, sir, I remember.
Defendants' Exhibit B.
Know all Men by these Presents, That I, William N. Hallock, of the City, County and State of New York,
party of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of One Hundred and more dollars, lawful money
of the United States, to me in hand paid, at or before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, by
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Company, party of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged,
have bargained and sold, and by these presents do grant and convey, unto the said party of the second
part, its successors and assigns, all and several the chattels located in the brick factory building near
Skeleton Tower on premises owned or heretofore owned by Nikola Tesla, immediately adjoining on the
southerly side the railroad tracks of the Long Island Railroad at Shoreham Station, Long Island, in the
Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, including but not limited to the chattels specifically set
out on the Schedule hereto annexed.
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same unto the said party of the second part, its successors and assigns
forever. And I do for my heirs, executors and administrators, covenant and agree to and with the said
party of the second part, to warrant and defend the sale of the said chattels hereby sold unto the said party
of the second part, its successors and assigns against all and every person and persons whomsoever.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the eighth day of April in the year one
thousand nine hundred and fifteen.
WILLIAM N. HALLOCK.
[L. S.]
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SCHEDULE OF FOREGOING BILL OF SALE.
IN THE GENERATING ROOM.
1 Westinghouse auto compound No. 1497, size 16 by 27 by 16,
1 direct connecting Westinghouse alternating current generator 200 Kw., Serial No. 155407, complete
with lubricator, gauge, Rheostat, switchboard and switches,
1 Westinghouse engine. No. 4750, size 81/2 by 8, with direct connected double current generator, 25 kw.,
Serial No. 1G8362, complete with lubricator, gauge, Rheostats, switchboard and switches,
1 15 H. P. Westinghouse motor, No. 162315,
4 Westinghouse transformers, 15 kw. type O. D.,
1 tank manufactured by Stoutenborough,
1 truck,
1 Fairbank's scale
1 Laidlaw Dunn-Gordon pump. No. 16473.
IN THE WORKSHOP.
1 Westinghouse electric motor, used for power to drive machine shop, type C, induction motor, 6 H. P.,
No. 162319,
1 Milling machine with tools complete, made by Brown & Sharp Manufacturing Company,
1 lathe made by Pond Machine Tool Company, No. P-3040, with tools, belting and shafting,
11 work benches, 4 vises,
1 Westinghouse, type C, 2 H. P. induction motor, No. 162278,
1 Westinghouse, type C, induction motor,
2 H. P. Serial No. 162272
1 Westinghouse. type C, induction motor, 5 H. P., No. L-74487
1 Westinghouse motor, about 1/4 H. P., No. 22190
3 lathes made by F. E. Reed of Worcester, Mass. with shafting, belting and tools,
1 plainer made by Hendey Machine Co., with shafting, belting and tools.
1 plainer made by Pedrick & Ayr, with shafting, belting and tools.
1 F. E. Reed, hand drill press, shafting, belting and tools,
1 large drill press by Prentice Brothers, with shafting, belting and tools
36 lockers containing miscellaneous supply of valves, joints, lubricators, fittings, scales, switches, single
and double pole, socket, wrenches, fuses and plugs,
1 testing fan motor,
A quantity of telephone and bell wire,
A quantity of lead cable material,
4 radiators,
A quantity of drills, rose bits, reamers, taps, and all tools for milling machine and lathes, at present
time in store room located in said workshop,
2 oil tanks,
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1 testing motion by Crocker Wheeler, 1/2 H.P. with Rheostat, No. 1000.
1 submarine boat,
1 clock
All of the aforesaid motors with starting boxes and switches.
BOILER ROOM.
2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers with steam gauges and water columns and with Metropolitan injector and
Worthington feed pump,
1 other feed pump
1 hand blacksmith and forge
7 toilets,
1 1 urinal, all adjoining boiler room.
6 wash basins, J
TESTING OR LABORATORY ROOM.
7 Rheostats, 4 desks,
2 safes,
3 motors,
1 set of storage batteries and tanks
1 submarine boat,
1 Westinghouse motor, No. 28292
1 Westinghouse motor, type C, 5 H.P. No. 62320
1 Westinghouse motor, type C, 5 H.P. No. 22070,
4 high-tension transformers in tanks; and switchboards Wiring drums Drafting boards and tools,
24 chairs
2 clocks
14 radiators
STATE OF NEW YORK.
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
On this eight day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifteen before me the
undersigned personally came and appeared WILLIAM N. HALLOCK to me known and known to me to be
the individual described in and who executed the foregoing instrument, and he acknowledged to me that
he executed the same.
ISIDOR W. MULLER Notary Public No. 45, Bronx County Certificate filed New York County No. 85
Register's No. 6216 Commission expires March 30th, 1916
Tesla maintained a residence at the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City from the spring of 1899
to 1915. He maintained by mortgaging the Wardenclyffe property and tower to the hotel and its owner,
George C. Boldt. Since the anticipated income from the Wardenclyffe project of transmitting messages
across the Atlantic was unrealized, Tesla was unable to repay the mortgages. Action was taken by the
mortgagees in 1915 to foreclose on the property, and a bill of sale offered to Lester S. Holmes, a
developer. The property would be sold to Holmes and the tower would be destroyed so that property
could be developed.
Tesla appealed the foreclosure judgment, and the case was heard by the Supreme Court of the State of
New York, Suffolk County. Tesla lost the case on appeal. Following the judgment on April 20, 1922,
Tesla vacated his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria and took up residence at the Hotel St Regis.
Though the 313 page transcript document largely contains the various lawyers arguing about the legal
instruments of mortgaging and foreclosure actions, portions of the testimony are interesting. During
Tesla's testimony, he give important information about the Wardenclyffe installation (transcript pages
163-181). Next is a portion of Ezra C. Bingham's testimony, chief engineer for the Waldorf-Astoria, in
which he describes how the tower had been vandalized, and how poor the condition of the plant was
(transcript pages 235-247). Tesla returns to the stand and gives more information on the purpose of the
plant (transcript pages 269-275), and finally is Exhibit B, Tesla's inventory of the plant(transcript pages
309-312).
Nikola Tesla for the Defendant p. 303 transcript pages 163-181.
Ezra C. Bingham for Plaintiff p. 323
transcript pages 235-247.
Nikola Tesla for the Defendant p. 337 transcript pages 269-275.
Defendant's Exhibit B p. 344
transcript pages 309-312
(inventory of plant)
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Nikola Tesla for Defendant--Direct.
A. Of course I had signed and the transaction was completed.
Q. And those papers were then in Mr. Hutchins' possession?
A. Yes those were almost his parting words.
Q. I think you said that conversation took place early in 1917 or late in 1916?
A. I think early in 1917, if I remember rightly, but my memory is a little--on account
of the concentration----
Mr. Hawkins: I do not recall the date of that deed.
Mr. Fordham: Why don't you let your witness complete his answer about his memory?
Mr. Hawkins: I assumed he had.
By Mr. Fordham:
Q. What were you saying?
A. I answered all the questions to the best of my ability.
Q. No, counsel interrupted you intentionally in the middle of a sentence----
Mr. Hawkins: That is not true, that I interrupted him intentionally.
Mr. Fordham: Well, strike out the word intentionally. You interrupted him in the mid-
dle of the sentence. He can say what he started to say about his memory in
connection with this transaction. The witness evidently thinks he does not need to
pay any attention to what I say. Will your Honor kindly instruct the witness to
complete his answer.
By the Referee:
Q. Had you completed your answer? A. Yes, those were the parting words of Mr.
Hutchins.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. As Mr. Fordham seems anxious to have you complete what you said, I heard what
you said----
Mr. Fordham: He says he has completed.
A. Yes/in regard to the memory of the exact date, 1 say that I cannot exactly remember
the dates on account of concentration on some other work that I am doing now, but
I can easily ascertain all the dates from documents.
Q. Now at the time that you delivered that document to Mr. Hutchins, I refer now to
the deed, will you please describe to the Court what there was upon the property?
A. Upon the property?
Q. Yes, described in the deed, which property is situated at Rocky Point
Mr. Fordham: That is objected to on the ground it is incompetent, immaterial and ir-
relevant at this point what there was on the property.
The Referee: I will take it,
Mr. Fordham: We except
The Referee: You mean structures, I suppose?
Mr. Hawkins: Yes, absolutely. Improvements, I had in mind, if there were any build-
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ings there or structures.
Q. Tell the Court what there was there.
A. There was a brick building in which was located the power plant----
Q. Please describe the size of the brick building.
A. The "building forms a square about one hundred by one hundred feet wide and it is
one floor, rather high, with a roof covered with gravel, as they usually make them.
This building was divided inside in four compartments, two of which were very
large, one being the machine shop----
Q. How large was that?
A. That was one hundred feet by about thirty-five feet, I should say.
Q. Now tell how big the other compartments were.
A. The other one was about one hundred by thirty-five and then these other two
smaller ones where the engines were located on one side and the boilers on the
other were about thirty by forty, thirty one way and forty the other.
Q. I think you said the building was one story high?
A. Yes.
Q. It had one floor, did it?
A. One floor, yes.
Q. Further describe the building, if there is any further description, and tell the Court
whether there were any brick chimneys, outside chimneys?
A. Oh yes, right in the center of the building rose the chimney.
Q. How big was the chimney?
A. The chimney was four by four feet; it was calculated to give the proper speed to the
products of combustion under the boilers.
Q. Of what was the chimney composed?
A. Brick.
Q. How high was the building?
A. The building might have been, I think the extent of the walls on one side, the lowest
part of the roof might have been something like twenty-eight feet, I would say.
Q. Twenty-eight feet at the corners of the building?
A. Yes.
Q. And did it have a gable roof or a lantern roof?
A. Yes, as you call it in English--how is this roof called?
Q. I think it is a gable roof.
A. Gable roof. The building was resting on cement foundations and there were the
usual modern conveniences and----
Q. Tell what you mean by the usual modern conveniences?
A. I mean the channels for leading off the waste, the rain drips and all that, and then
attached to it was, of course, the water pump that pumped the water for the
building.
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Mr. Fordham: I do not wish to interrupt counsel but what possible use can there be in a
detailed description of the building on this property?
The Referee: I do not know at this time.
Mr. Fordham: Neither do I. It does not seem to me that we should burden the record
indefinitely with these descriptive details.
The Referee: I will let him describe them.
Mr. Hawkins: It is a material part of the defense here.
The Referee: Go ahead. I will take it.
The Witness: I suppose what belongs to the buildings is the boiler plant, with two 300
horse power boilers on one side----
Q. That was two 300-horse power?
A. Two 300-horse power boilers, yes, and the pumps, injectors and other accessories,
and then there were big water tanks that wore placed around the chimney so as to
utilize some of the waste heat. These tanks had a capacity of about 16,000 gallons,
if I am correct.
Q. Of what were the tanks composed?
A. Of quarter inch thick sheet steel, galvanized.
Q. Those were all in one compartment, were they?
A. They were around the chimney under the roof, and for this purpose the room had an
extension upward there. This could be shown on a photograph if his Honor wishes
to see the photograph.
Q. Just a moment please. Now describe the other three compartments of the building.
A. Well, I have described the boiler plant Now right opposite to the boiler plant
lengthwise was a corresponding compartment and therein were located the engines.
Of these engines there was one 400-horse power Westinghouse reciprocating en-
gine, driving a directly connected dynamo which was specially made for my
purposes. Then there was a 35-kilowatt Westinghouse outfit also driving the
dynamo, which was for the purpose of lighting and other work, a permanent
attachment to the building to furnish all conveniences. There was then a high
pressure compressor which also formed an essential part of the equipment. And
then there was a low pressure compressor or blower. Then there was a high
pressure pump and a reciprocating low pressure pump. That was all----
Q. Water pumps?
A. Water pumps, yes. Those were all in that compartment, and of course this
compartment also contained the switches and the switchboard and all that which
goes with the equipment of the plant. Then there was a gallery on the top on which
certain parts were placed and arranged that were needed daily in the operation.
Q. Those were parts of what?
A. Well they were the tools, you know, that were needed in the plant.
Q. Please describe another compartment.
A. The compartment that was towards the railroad, that was the machine shop.
Q. Which part of the building was that, the north, south, east or west?
A. I cannot locate it----
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The Referee: The north side.
The Witness: Towards the road, facing the road. That compartment was one hundred
by thirty-five feet with a door in the middle and it contained I think eight lathes.
The Referee: You are speaking now, when you said facing the road, that is on the
south side, the travel road or----
The Witness: Facing the railroad. It is just close on the railroad track, your Honor, this
building. That contained I think eight lathes ranging in swing from eight inches to
thirty-two, I believe. Then there was a milling machine and there was a planer, and
shaper, a spliner, a vertical machine for splining. Then there were three drills, one
very large, another medium and a third quite small one. Then there were four
motors which operated the machinery. Also a grinder and an ordinary grindstone, a
forge----
Q. Blacksmith's forge?
A. Yes, a blacksmith's forge. Then a special high temperature stove and the blower for
the forge. Of course the shop was full of counter shafting and there were a few
special tools which suited certain purposes which I contemplated there. I cannot at
present recall them exactly, but there were five or six of them.
Q. Were those stationary tools or hand tools?
A. No, -some of them were attachments to the ordinary lathes or milling machines,
suitable for certain work and others were of course portable.
Q. Now have you described the four compartments of the building?
A. No. Now the compartment opposite, that is facing further away from the railroad,
which also was one hundred feet, the whole length of the building, by about thirty-
five, there is where the real expensive apparatus was located. That contained also
the desks and the office accessories. Shall 1 describe now this one?
Q. Yes, describe any stationary fixtures there were in this other compartment.
A. Well, is machinery a stationary fixture? Q. Yes we call that a stationary fixture. A.
Right along the back wall that separated this compartment from the rest of the
building there were two special glass cases in which I kept the historical apparatus
which was exhibited and described in my lectures and scientific articles. There
were probably at least a thousand bulbs and tubes each of which represented a
certain phase of scientific development. Then close, beginning with these two glass
cases, there were five large tanks. Four of those contained special transformers
according to my design, made by the Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing
Company. These were to transform the energy for the plant. They were about, I
should say, seven feet high and about five by five feet each, and were filled with
special oil which we call transformer oil, to stand an electric tension of 60,000
volts. Then besides these four tanks there was another similar tank which was for
special purposes, containing a transformer. Then there were two doors, one door
that led to the other compartment and the other one led in the closets, and between
those two doors there was a space on which was placed my electric generating
apparatus. This apparatus I used in ray laboratory demonstrations in two
laboratories before, and I had also used it in the Colorado experiments where I
erected a wireless plant in 1889. That apparatus was precious because it could flash
a message across the Atlantic, and yet it was built in 1894 or 1895. That is a
complicated and very expensive apparatus.
Then beyond the door there were again four tanks, big tanks almost the same size as
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those I described. These four tanks were to contain the condensers, what we call
electric condensers, which store the energy and then discharge and make it go
around the world. These condensers, some of them, were in an advanced state of
construction, two, I think, and the others were not. They were according to a
principle of discovery. Then there was a very expensive piece of apparatus that the
Westinghouse Company furnished me; only two of this kind of apparatus were
made by the Westinghouse Company, one for me and one for themselves. It was
developed together by myself and their engineers. That was a steel tank which
contained a very elaborate assemblage of coils, an elaborate regulating apparatus,
and it was intended to give every imaginable regulation that I wanted in my
measurements and control of energy. Then on the last side, where I had described
the first four big tanks there was a special 100-horse power motor and this motor
was equipped with elaborate devices for rectifying the alternating currents and then
sending them into the condensers. On this apparatus alone I spent thousands of
dollars. The 100-horse power motor was specially constructed for me by the
Westinghouse Company, but the other parts were all made by myself and that took
a considerable portion of space there and it was a wonderful piece of apparatus. I
have photographs of these which will make this description very clear.
Then along the center of the room, I had a very precious piece of apparatus. That
was a boat which was illustrative of my discovery of teletaumatics; that is a boat
which was controlled without wire, which would do anything you wanted, but there
was no connection. This boat was exhibited by me on many occasions.
Q. The boat was not stationary, was it?
A. It was stationary, yes, on the supports. It was stationary on the supports but as I say
that boat was my wireless boat; that is a boat that you commanded it and it would
perform as many evolutions as you wanted, by just commanding it.
Q. Was that about all there was, generally speaking?
A. Oh, no, nowhere near. Then there were on each side long specially made, how do
you call them, not desks or shelves, but closets, I might say, which were specially
made to contain the apparatus, because I had accumulated for years hundreds of
different kinds of appliances which stand for a certain principle, and this apparatus
was stored in there, and on top of these I had again all full of apparatus, each
representing a different phase. And then on one side there were the desks and then
on the other side there were the drawing implements and tools. And then in the
corner, when you looked at the railroad side, on the right side in the corner there
was my testing room and that contained--there were two precious instruments
among these that Lord Kelvin made especially for me. He was a great friend of
mine. A device for measurement invented by him; it is called a breach; and another
a voltmeter of his. Both of these things were given to me and prepared for me by
his special instructions. There were a lot of other instruments, voltmeters,
wattmeters, ampere meters; in that small space there was a fortune in there.
Mr. Fordham: The last, that there was a fortune in there, calls for a conclusion as to the
salable value of the stuff and I think it should go out.
The Referee: Yes, strike it out.
Q. I think you said this building was constructed of brick, did you not?
A. Yes.
Q. How thick were the walls of it?
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A. That I cannot tell now exactly, but I should say about twelve inches.
Q. It was more than one brick thick, at any rate?
A. Oh, I should say so. I paid something----
Q. I presume this building had windows in it?
A. Oh yes there were large windows which were divided into panels.
Q. And what were the window sash made of, metal or wood?
A. Wood sashes.
Q. I show you a document, Defendant's Exhibit C, and call your attention to the
signature on that document, and ask you if that is your signature?
A. Yes sir, that is my signature.
Q. Do you recognize the instrument?
A. Yes sir, that was one of the----
Q. That is the deed which you delivered, is it not? A. Yes.
Q. I call your attention to the date of the deed, March 30, 1915.
A. 1915?
Q. Yes.
A. Well that was--1915?
Q. Yes.
A. I was under the impression it was a little later.
Q. Well that is the only deed which you delivered in the transaction to Mr. Holmes, is
it not?
A. Hutchins?
Q. Hutchins, yes.
A. So far as I know.
Q. Then would you like to change your testimony when you said it was in 1917? The
date of this in March 30. 1915.
A. I have stated that I was not sure about the dates, but I could ascertain it exactly by
looking at the documents.
Q. Well there is the document.
A. Well it must be so because it is there.
Q. It is 1915 then instead of 1917?
A. Yes, but my impression was that this was another attorney who had it first and it
was made to Mr. Hutchins later.
Q. I do not know what you mean by saying it was made to Mr. Hutchins. The grantee
in the deed is Lester K. Holmes.
A. Yes, Lester S. Holmes.
By the Referee:
Q. The transaction you had was with Mr. Hutchins?
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A. Yes that is all.
The Referee: I do not think there is any dispute about that.
Mr. Fordham: There was only one, I understand. The witness does not claim there
were two, one in 1915 and another in 1917.
The Witness: No.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. No there was only one and Mr. Holmes was the grantee in the deed which you gave
to Mr. Hutchins, was he not?
A. Yes, and I recall the transaction with Mr. Hutchins.
Q. Were there any other structures upon the property aside from the building?
By the Referee:
Q. Did you read that paper at the time you executed it?
A. Yes at the request of Mr. Hutchins.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Were there any other structures upon the premises other than that brick factory or
laboratory which you have just described?
A. Yes sir, there was the structure which in a certain sense was the most important
structure, because the power plant was only an accessory to it That was the tower.
Q. Please describe the tower as to dimensions and material and method of construction
and kind of construction?
Mr. Fordham: We renew our objection, if the Court please. This is entirely immaterial,
irrelevant and incompetent until after they have succeeded in establishing their
contention that the deed is a mortgage.
The Referee: I will take it.
Mr. Fordham: Exception.
A. The tower was 187 feet high from the base to the top. It was built of special timber
and it was built in such a way that every stick could be taken out at any time and
replaced if it was necessary. The design of the tower was a matter of considerable
difficulty. It was made in the shape of an octagon and pyramidal form for strength
and was supporting what I have termed in my scientific articles a terminal.
By the Referee:
Q. There was sort of a globe at the top?
A. Yes. That, your Honor, was only the carrying out of a discovery I made that any
amount of electricity within reason could be stored provided you make it of a
certain shape. Electricians even today do not appreciate that yet. But that construc-
tion enabled me to produce with this small plant many times the effect that could be
produced by an ordinary plant of a hundred times the size. And this globe, the
framework, was all specially shaped, that is the girders had to be bent in shape and
it weighed about fifty-five tons.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Of what was it constructed?
A. Of steel, all the girders being specially bent into shape.
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Q. Was the tower that supported it entirely constructed of wood or partly steel?
A. That part alone on top was of steel. The tower was all timbers and of course the
timbers were held together by specially shaped steel plates.
The Referee: Braces?
The Witness: Yes, steel plates. I had to construct it this way for technical reasons. The
Referee: We are not interested in that.
Q. Was the tower enclosed or open?
A. The tower, at the time of the execution of this deed, was open, but I have
photographs to show how it looked exactly and how it would have looked finished.
Q. After you delivered the deed was the tower ever enclosed?
A. No, it was just open.
Q. Now the dome or the terminal at the top, was that enclosed?
A. No sir.
Q. Never enclosed?
A. Never enclosed, no.
Q. Had that structure ever been completed?
A. The structure so far, if I understand the terms right, yes, the structure was all
completed but the accessories were not placed on it yet, For instance that globe
there was to be covered with specially pressed plates. These plates----
Q. That had not been done, had it?
A. That had not been done, although I had it. all prepared. I had prepared everything, I
had designed and prepared everything, but it was not done.
Q. Was the structure of the tower in any manner connected with the brick building or
power plant?
A. The tower was separate.
Q. I understand, but was there any connection between them?
A. There were of course two channels. One was for communicating, for bringing into
the tower compressed air and water and such things as I might have needed for
operations, and the other one was to bring in the electric mains.
By the Referee:
Q. In order to do that there was, as a matter of fact, was there not, a well-like shaft
going down right in the middle of the tower into the ground some fifty or sixty feet?
A. Yes. You see the underground work is one of the most expensive parts of the tower.
In this system that I have invented it is necessary for the machine to get a grip of
the earth, otherwise it cannot shake the earth. It has to have a grip on the earth so
that the whole of this globe can quiver, and to do that it is necessary to carry out a
very expensive construction. I had in fact invented special machines. But I want to
say this underground work belongs to the tower.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Anything that was there, tell us about.
A. There was, as your Honor states, a big shaft about ten by twelve feet goes down
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about one hundred and twenty feet and this was first covered with timber and the
inside with steel and in the center of this there was a winding stairs going down and
in the center of the stairs there was a big shaft again through which the current was
to pass, and this shaft was so figured in order to tell exactly where the nodal point
is, so that I could calculate every point of distance. For instance I could calculate
exactly the size of the earth or the diameter of the earth and measure it exactly
within four feet with that machine.
Q. And that was a necessary appurtenance to your tower?
A. Absolutely necessary. And then the real expensive work was to connect that central
part with the earth, and there I had special machines rigged up which would push
the iron pipes, one length after another, and I pushed these iron pipes. I think
sixteen of them, three hundred feet, and then the current through these pipes takes
hold of the earth. Now that was a very expensive part of the work, but it does not
show on the tower, but it belongs to the tower.
By Mr. Fordham :
Q. Was the hole really one hundred and twenty feet deep, did you say?
A. Yes, you see the ground water on that place is about one hundred and twenty feet.
We are above the ground water about one hundred and twenty feet. In the well we
struck water at about eighty feet.
By the Referee :
Q. What you call the main water table? A. Yes the main well we struck at eighty feet,
but there we had to go deeper.
By Mr. Hawkins:
Q. Tell the Court generally, not in detail, the purpose of that tower and the equipment
which you have described connected with it?
Mr. Fordham: How is that material? The Referee: I will take it. Mr. Fordham: We
except.
A. Well, the primary purpose of the tower, your Honor, was to telephone, to send the
human voice and likeness around the globe.
By the Referee:
Q. Through the instrumentality of the earth.
A. Through the instrumentality of the earth. That was my discovery that I announced
in 1893, and now all the wireless plants are doing that. There is no other system
being used. And the idea was to reproduce this apparatus and then connect it just
with a central station and telephone office, so that you may pick up your telephone
and if you wanted to talk to a telephone subscriber in Australia you would simply
call up that plant and the plant would connect immediately with that subscriber, no
matter where in the world, and you could talk to him. And I had contemplated to
have press messages, stock ({notations, pictures for the press and these
reproductions of signatures, checks and everything transmitted from there
throughout the world, but----
liy Mr. Hawkins:
Q. The purpose then briefly was for wireless communication to various parts of the
world?
A. Yes and the tower was so designed that I could apply to it any amount of power and
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I was planning to give a demonstration in the transmission of power which I have
so perfected that power can be transmitted clear across the globe with a loss of not
more than five per cent, and that plant was to serve as a practical demonstration.
And then I was going to interest people in a larger project and the Niagara people
had given me 10,000-horse power----
Q. What do you mean by power, energy?
A. Yes, power in any amount.
Q. Were there any other structures upon the premises?
A. No, just these two big structures.
Q. I call your attention, Mr. Tesla, to Defendants Exhibit A which I characterize as a
bill of sale and ask you to notice the signature there.
A. That is my signature, sir.
Q. Now the date of this document is the 30th day of March, 1915?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Is that the bill of sale that was delivered the same time the deed was delivered?
A. Yes.
Q. I do not wish to repeat this, but when you stated that that was also on or about the
early part of 1917 you had in mind this document which you delivered in March,
1915?
A. Yes, but what stands out in my mind strongest is the construction of the tower, and
that is the reason I have that in mind, the construction of the tower.
Q. Do you recall the testimony of Mr. Hutchins, that the Waldorf entered possession
of the property?
A. Of Hutchins?
Q. Do you recall the testimony of Mr. Hutchins?
A. Yes, I recall something of that which he suited.
Q. And when was that done, in 1917, before or subsequent to the destruction of the
tower?
A. It was done some time before the actual destruction of the tower.
Q. Do you recall when the tower was destroyed?
A. It was about in 1917, as near as I can recall, but I can .ascertain----
Q. When was the tower erected?
A. The tower was erected from 1901 to 1902.
Q. What had you done to it to preserve it?
A. I spent considerable money on it by painting all the metal parts over three times, I
think, each time at a cost of about a thousand dollars.
Q. Was there anything done to preserve the wooden portion of the structure?
A. Oh yes, we carefully watched everything, and----
Q. I know, but did you apply anything to it? A. No not to the wood.
Q. Did not paint it?
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A. No. not the wood.
Q. Had the wood been treated in any manner prior to being put in the construction, to
preserve it?
Mr. Fordham: How is this material, your Honor? All this detail of preliminary work?
The Referee: I want to give counsel much latitude, but I suggest, to be just as brief as
you can about it
Mr. Hawkins: Yes. My idea is this, if the wood had been creosoted or treated in any
way to preserve it that was part of its value.
Mr. Fordham: Not unless it could have been sold for more money. It is absolutely
immaterial.
The Referee: I will let him state if it had been treated.
A. No, but it was the finest timber.
Q. What was the timber? A. Pine.
Q. What kind of pine?
A. I cannot tell you, there are so many kinds of pine in America.
The Referee : I think it was yellow pine. The Witness: I could ascertain exactly. The
Referee: Timbers of that sort generally are.
Q. Now prior to the time when the tower was taken down did you have a conversation
with Mr. Hutchins concerning that?
A. Concerning the tower?
Q. Concerning the destruction of the tower?
A. Concerning the destruction of the tower?
Q. Yes.
A. No. certainly not. He gave me a friendly assurance that nothing would be done in
an unfriendly way.
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The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
Mr. Fordham: Yon may proceed, Mr. Bingham.
A. What is the question again, please?
The question was read as follows: Have you had any experience, and if so what, in the purchase and sale of
machinery?
A. Weil, I have not had any in a great many years no, sir. either direct purchase or selling.
Q. Well, have you had any experience so that you are qualified to speak as to the value of machinery?
A. Only partially, I think.
Q. I call your attention to the testimony of the defendant Tesla. which appears on pages 88 to 161 of the record here
inclusive, at the hearing on January 26, 1922, and ask you if you have read that testimony?
A. Yes, sir, 1 read that whole paragraph through.
Q. Are you acquainted with the premise referred to in the complaint in this action and the deed which is in evidence
of the premises of the defendant Tesla?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as immaterial, irrelevant and incompetent.
The Referee. Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When did you first visit those premises?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection. The Referee: Same ruling. Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Well, it is hard for me to state just when I first----
Q. (Interrupting.) Well, as near as you recall?
A. I would say about 191.'}.
Q. What was the occasion of your visit then?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection.
The Referee: Same ruling.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Mr. Boldt held a mortgage on this property and he sent me down there to check up and go over the
condition of it and see what condition it was in.
Q. Yes; and how many times were you there?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection. The Referee: Same ruling. Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Oh, up until the time that I received that notice from Mr. Hutchins, I presume twenty times.
Q. The notice to which you refer is the letter of July -'0, 1915, of which I show you a copy?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection.
The Referee: Same ruling.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You haven't the original letter in your possession, have you?
A. No, sir; I have not.
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Q. This is a correct copy?
A. Yes, sir.
The Referee: May I see that, Mr. Fordham? I do not just bear it in mind.
Mr. Fordham: Yes. I offer this letter in evidence.
Mr. Hawkins: Objected to as incompetent irrelevant and immaterial and further on the ground that it is a
self-serving declaration: and I further object to it because it is not the original document.
The Referee: I will take it.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
(Letter marked Plaintiffs' Exhibit Xo. 8.
Q. Mr. Bingham, between the time you first went there to the property in 1913 and July 20, 1915, so far
us you recall, how many visits did you make to the property?
Mr. Hawkins: Same objection.
The Referee: Same ruling.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. I could not say. I used to go there on an average of once or twice a month.
Q. During that period?
A. During that period.
Q. Will you please fell the Court what you found on the property during those visits?
Mr. Hawkins: Objected to as incompetent, immaterial and irrelevant and certainly can have no bearing
upon the question as to whether these instruments were delivered as absolute conveyances or as security.
The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. The first time I went down there I found the windows--well, I should say there was half a dozen of
them that were wide open, and in the big room such as was used for experimenting and things of that,
kind there was probably a dozen or fifteen desks in there and a great many wardrobes, that is closets and
things of that kind, and among them was a--what you would call a model submarine. Well, this place had
practically been wrecked.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Yes, strike out the "practically been wrecked." Just describe its condition.
A. There had been a desk that the drawers had been opened, pulled out and thrown on the floor and all the
tops of the desks--they were roll-tops desks--they had been ripped off and thrown on the floor, the doors
were ripped off the closets and the books and emit that was in there, I would say there was four truckloads
of that thrown all over this big room, and I came back and made a report to Mr. Holdt of the condition we
found things.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: No, the fact that he made a report, let it stand.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. (Continuing.) And in two or three days I took a couple of carpenters and we went down there and
nailed up the windows.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out
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Q. (Interrupting.) Well, Mr. Ringham, bear in mind the question I was asking you; the first time you went
there in 1913 you did not go down and nail up windows, did you?
A. I did in two or three days.
Mr. Hawkins: Is the last part of that answer stricken out on ray motion? The Referee: Yes.
A. (Continuing.) And put in some light pieces of board, such as "Compo" board where the glass was gone
out, so as to kind of protect the place, as at his suggestion he thought I better do that.
Mr. Hawkins: 1 ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Strike out the last part.
Mr. Hawkins: And also that they nailed up boards.
The Referee: No, I will let that stand.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
Q. Proceed. What did you then discover?
A. About two weeks later I went down again and I found these things all ripped open again and the doors
open, and I came hack and locked them up the best I could and went over to see the station agent and they
didn't know anything about what had happened or anything of that kind.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Granted.
A. (Continuing.) And in the meantime there had been some of these desks that was in there that was
completely smashed up and taken away, I should say there was about half of them gone.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. (Continuing.) And I went down, I would not say just how soon again, but probably within a month
because I had to go there that often, Mr. Holdt insisted on my going down there and keeping a check on it
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out. The Referee: Strike that out.
Q. You may say what you did? A. I continually kept going down there up until the time I received this
notice from Mr. Hutchins.
Up until that time----
The Referee (interrupting) : That is the exhibit that has just been offered.
Mr. Fordham: Yes, Exhibit 8, dated July 20, 1915.
Q. Proceed.
A. Up until that time they had practically stripped the place of everything: they had stolen off all the
railings and everything that might pertain to brass of any description, even the boiler feed pumps they had taken
the tops off and taken the valves and valve seats out; all the toilets, they had taken off the toilets and taken all the
lead pipe back of the toilet and everything that could be possibly sold that could be drawn in any kind of a wagon
had been taken away, I suppose for junk, that is the only thing they could possibly use it for.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out. The Referee: The supposition strike out.
A. (Continuing) The boilers were there, simply the headers and tubes; everything that pertained to them were gone,
they had stolen and dragged away; the dynamos were still there, the main part.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask the part of the answer in effect had been stolen be stricken out.
The Referee: Yes, the characterization stolen we will strike out. The fact that they were not there we will let stand.
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Q. Proceed.
A. Well, that had been taken away.
The Referee: Well, they were gone?
The Witness: They were not taken for ornaments ; they were gone.
The Referee: Yes.
The Witness: The engines, the main part of the engines were there, that is the foundation and the fly wheels,
because they could not take them away; and some of the big part of the machinery, the different lathes and milling
machines and the main drill-press; all small lathes and motors and everything of that kind were gone. What had
become of them I could not say, but I would say they were stolen. And when I got this notice from Mr. Hutchins I
went down then and got the notice the same as today. I made the signs up and went down tomorrow and put up the
signs, and in about a week or ten days from then I took a couple of hacks and went down there and brought the big
machinery away
Q. Just what did you bring away?
A. I brought away a large drill-press, milling machine, planer and two lathes.
Q. Do you know the value of those articles which you brought away?
A. I do not know exactly the value of those things. I have everything yet at the Waldorf, with the exception of the
milling machine.
Q. Well, was the value a few hundred dollars or was it a great many thousand?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to on the ground the witness is not qualified.
The Referee: Objection sustained.
Mr. Fordham: We except.
Q. You have the things now, with the exception of the milling machine?
A. I have, with the exception of the milling machine, yes, sir.
Q. Do you know what became of that?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as immaterial.
The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. That was sold; I don't know just now who it was.
Q. You don't know?
A. No. but I could find out. I could look the book up and find out who did buy it, but I don't remember.
Q. Do you know what was received for it?
A. No, I do not
Q. I show you Defendants' Exhibit A, a certain bill of sale, and call your attention to the schedules setting
forth the various items purporting to have been conveyed by that bill of sale, and ask you to look over
those items and to tell the Court what, if any of them, were on the property on July 20, 1915?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.
The Referee: Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. You want me to start at the top of it?
Q. Yes, and go right through it. if you please?
A. No. Westinghouse Compound Engine was there.
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Q. What was its condition? Describe its condition.
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as immaterial.
The Referee: I will take it.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. The compound engine was there without any trimming, as I have stated before, everything was
stripped.
Q. Yes, but----
A. (Interrupting.) There wasn't anything left on it.
Q. Yes, but repeat your statement as it applies to each of those items?
A. Both numbers, 1, the Westinghouse Alternating and the Westinghouse Compound Engine were there,
that is the bodies of the engine; and the direct connected double current generator was there, the 25 kwt
the 15 horsepower motor, and No. 1 item here, 16235, was not there; the transformers were not there; the
tank was not there; the truck was not there; Fairbanks Scale was not there; Laidlaw-Dunn-Gordon Pump
was there, but the inside was out of it; Westinghouse Electric Motor was not there; milling machine was
not there; lathe No. 1 was not there, there was no tools of any description left there; the work benches
were still there, but nothing on them; vises were gone; Westinghouse Type C 2-horsepower motor was
gone; Westinghouse Type C inducting motor was gone; Westinghouse Type C 5-horsepower motor was
gone; Westinghouse Motor about one-quarter horsepower was gone; the three lathes that he mentions
here, only two could have been there at most at that time, the two that I have; I don't know the names of
them.
Mr. Hawkins: 1 ask that be stricken out. Only two could have been there.
The Referee: Well, you only got two, is that what you mean?
The Witness: Yes, sir.
Q. How many were there?
A. I don't know how many there was, quite a good many the first time I looked in there, but I know at the
time we took possession from the time I went there, they were all carted away, some truck came in there
for some place around there one day it and I asked the agent there, and he said Mr. Tesla told this
fellow--he runs a garage over there -- that he could have them and he took a lot of stuff of that class.
Q. When was that?
A. 1 think that was along about a year before 1 got that notice.
Q. Proceed, please, with the other items.
A. Planer made by the Headley people, I see no planer there; planer made by Pedrick, no planers at all; no
drill-press; that was gone; one large drill-press that I have; 36 lockers, they were all ripped to pieces; one
testing fan motor----
Q. Hawkins (interrupting) : I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: Denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. (Continuing.) That was gone; telephone and bell wire gone; quantity of lead cable gone; 4 radiators,
they were gone; drills, bits, reamers, taps and all tools for milling machines and lathes at present time in
storeroom located inside workshop, that was all gone; oil tanks, they were ripped up and they evidently
had torn them apart because they wanted to get something inside of them, either lead or copper, I don't
know which.
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Referee: Strike it out.
Q. Leave out your conclusions about why they did it; what was the condition of them?
A. Just ripped to pieces; all the meters and starting boxes and switches had all been stripped off, only the
bare slates left there; 2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, everything but the shell and tabes were gone, and feed
pumps, just the housing was left; one hand----
The Referee (interrupting) : What do you mean by that?
The Witness: Well, it is made out of cast iron, and the insides are brass, that is the valve seats and valves,
they are always brass. They had been taken out. One hand blacksmith's forge was gone; toilets, urinals,
wash basins, all ripped to pieces; 7 rheostats, desks, safes, 3 meters, all those things were gone; one set of
storage batteries, tanks, submarine boat, Westinghouse Motor 28292, Westinghouse Motor Type C 5-
horsepower No. 62320, Westinghouse Motor Type C 5-horsepower No. 22070; 4 high-tension
transformers in tanks and switchboards, wiring drums, drafting boards and tools all gone. Chairs, there
was two or three old chairs left there, was all; clocks, no clocks; radiators, no radiators at all.
Q. What did you find the condition of the tower to be?
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that the entire testimony of this witness concerning the items mentioned in the
Defendants' Exhibit A, I think it was, be stricken from the record as incompetent, irrelevant and
immaterial, especially because that testimony bears no weight upon the question as to whether that bill of
sale was delivered as a security or as an absolute conveyance.
The Referee: Denied:
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
Mr. Fordham: Read the last, question.
The question was read by the stenographer.
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.
The Referee: I will let him describe what he found. Overruled.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
A. The tower was badly rotted, the main supports going up where the stairs were, the great big timbers
were rotted out, they were half gone and it is a wonder they could stand up.
Mr. Hawkins: I move to strike that out.
The Referee: Yes, the wonder they ever
Mr. Hawkins: Yes.
The Witness: The stairs leading up to the top of the ball were half rotted away so that we could not get up
to the ball. I wanted to see what the ball was made out of and I took a man down there, a rigger, and lie
went up about two-thirds of the way, climbing up over it, and he was so afraid he came back.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that be stricken out.
The Referee: That he was afraid and came back. yes. I will let the fact stand that he did not go on up.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask the other be stricken out, that the rigger was sent up there.
The Referee: Denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception. And I also move that it be stricken out on the ground that it is in no sense
rebuttal.
The Referee: Motion denied.
Mr. Hawkins: Exception.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. You may tell what the rigger did?
A. This big ball on top of the tower, you could not tell what it was made out of. whether it was brass or
steel, as the ends of the wires where it had been grounded had rusted out and blown away, and there was a
thousand and one little wires sticking out in every direction, so you could not see what it was made up of.
The Referee: You could not get up?
The Witness: You could not get up. You could get up so you could see the fibres of everything up there,
you could see it plain enough, but the tower was rotted in no end of places, it had never been taken care
of, nothing had ever been done to it.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that that be stricken out
The Referee: Yes. granted as to the last part.
Mr. Fordham : What is granted?
The Referee: He said nothing had been done to it.
Mr. Hawkins: And I ask also that it be stricken out that the tower had not been taken care of.
The Referee: Granted. Describe its condition.
Q. Yes, you may tell the condition of the tower, Mr. Ringham. Was the condition secure or insecure?
A. Insecure. There was none of the woodwork that have ever been painted, all that held it together was
the big steel plates on the sides of it.
Q. As I understood, you say the woodwork was badly rotted out?
A. Rotted away, yes, sir.
Q. So that the tower in that condition was a menace to anybody passing near it, in view of its insecurity?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to as calling for a conclusion and a speculation. The Referee: I think so.
Mr. Fordham : Not a speculation. The man is an expert in his own line.
The Referee: Objection sustained.
Mr. Hawkins: I ask that it be stricken out.
The Referee: Stricken out.
Q. Tell the Court from your own knowledge of structural materials, as an engineer, whether the tower was
safe or unsafe, as you found it at that time?
Mr. Hawkins: That is objected to.
A. Absolutely unsafe.
The Referee: Have you sufficiently qualified
Q. (Interrupting.) Yes or no.
Mr. Fordham: Just a moment If the Court please, I object to this on the ground that no foundation has
been laid to qualify this "witness.
The Referee: I will let him answer that question. Overruled.
Mr. Fordham: Exception.
A. Yes.
Q. At that time, to what use could the property be put?
Mr. Fordham: That is objected to, if the Court please, on the ground that it calls for the conclusion of an
expert witness, and that there has no foundation been laid to qualify Mr. Tesla as an expert on real
property value
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Hawkins: No, I have not asked him the value in that respect
The Referee: I will take it
Mr. Fordham : We except
(The question was read.)
A. The property was expressly built for the transmission of wireless impulses.
The Referee: I do not think you understand the question, do you, Doctor? The question was to what use it
was fitted, is that right?
Mr. Hawkins: Yes.
Mr. Fordham: I move to strike out this answer.
The Referee: Yes, strike it out.
Mr. Hawkins: I will formally except.
The Referee: I thought he misunderstood it.
A. The use it was built----
Q. (Interrupting.) No. Tell to what use it could be put at the time that deed was made?
A. At the time that deed was made it could have been lined as a receiving wireless station.
The Referee: Yes.
The Witness: Pardon me for adding, it could also have been made use of as a transmitting station, but not
to the extent that it could in the fully developed plant.
Q. But although it was not fully developed or permanently equipped, it could at that time have been used
as a transmitting station?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And us a receiving station?
A. As a receiving station.
Q. And there is now a large station of a similar kind very near your premises at Rocky Point, is there not?
Mr. Fordham: That is objected to, if the Court please, as immaterial and irrelevant. The Referee:
Overruled. Mr. Fordham: Exception.
A. Yes, sir, there is, but it is of incomparably smaller power than mine.
Q. Are you familiar with the equipment and structures for the purpose of the receiving and transmission
of wireless messages?
A. Yes, sir, I am.
Q. What has been your experience in that line, Doctor?
A. I have worked for thirty years on the art and have given all of the fundamental principles to it; and'
during at least twenty years I have been making apparatus of that kind and experimenting with it.
Q. Have you been making apparatus of that kind for sale?
A. Yes and no. 1 did attempt to start manufacturing several times, but could not find sufficient
encouragement, because at the time that I started the art was not sufficiently developed for the general
public to have faith in it. I was ahead of the time, and that was the only reason why it was impracticable
to start manufacturing.
Q. Have you invented and put on the market electrical apparatus for use in connection with wireless
operations?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Yes, sir.
Q. At the time the deed was given, what was the value of the premises at Rocky Point in their condition at
that time for the purpose of wireless receiving and transmitting uses?
Mr. Fordham: I object to that, if the Court please, on the ground there is no proper foundation laid to
qualify this witness to speak of the commercial or financial value of the property at that time or at any
other time. As to the scientific value or possibilities of it, he has already been interrogated. And it is
objected to, if that is the point of the question, that is objected to on the ground it is needless repetition.
Mr. Hawkins: I submit, if your Honor please, the witness is qualified to answer this specific question, and
has shown it by his testimony here.
The Referee: I don't understand, Mr. Hawkins. Are you asking him to testify as to the value of the land?
Mr. Hawkins: No, sir; 1 am asking him to testify as to the value of the entire premises, including the land
and the buildings, but particularly the buildings.
Mr. Fordham: Well, commercially and financially what is their value? And he knows nothing about it.
The Referee: I will overrule your objection and take it.
Mr. Fordhani: Well, we except, if the Court please. I particularly call your Honor's attention to the fact
that the testimony shows that the witness could not have known, because he had not been there for
months before.
The Referee: I will take it for what it is worth.
Mr. Fordhani: We except.
The Referee: Answer the question, Mr. Tesla, if you can.
A. At the time the deed was given a fair estimate of the value of the property would have been something
like $350,000, because the income----
Q. Never mind all that, you have answered my question.
The Referee: You mean by that, taking in the land and your scientific development on it?
The Witness: No; I estimate it on the basis of earning power as a transmitting and receiving plant for the
purpose for which it was made.
The Referee: Had it ever earned anything at that time?
The Witness: Yes, but because I was carrying on the plan which would ultimately have yielded 25,000 a
day income, but at that time----
Q. (Interrupting.) Never mind, don't go on with that.
Mr. Fordham: I move to strike out the answer on the ground that the witness' explanation shows he is not
qualified to make an estimate, and that his estimate as made is not based on any sound financial or legal
or other ground.
The Referee: I am inclined to agree with you, but--I don't see, Mr. Hawkins, that that is admissible.
Mr. Hawkins: I submit that that is admissible. The man shows he has worked in that line of business for
many years and knows the value of that equipment for that purpose.
The Referee: If you want it to stand, I will let it stand.
Mr. Hawkins: Yes, sir I do.
Mr. Fordham: We except.
The Referee: The objection is overruled.
Mr. Fordham: Our motion is denied to strike out?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Referee: Yes, motion denied.
Mr. Fordham: We except.
Q. Did that condition which you have just described, and those values, obtain at the time the bill of sale
was given?
A. Oh, at the time the bill of sale was given the property was very much more valuable, it was worth--it
could have earned at least five times as much as the Tuckerton plant on Long Island, and they had an
income of something like forty thousand or fifty thousand dollars a year.
The Referee: Well, it could have earned if it had been completed. Now, was it in that position to earn?
The Witness: I must explain it. If it had been completed, it could have earned $25,000 a day, but in that
time in the state it was, if it had not been for my pushing the plant to come one hundred thousand or one
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars a year.
The Referee: What was it earning at that time?
The Witness: It was earning nothing.
Mr. Fordham: If the Court please, I move to strike out this last answer on the ground that it is
contradictory to former testimony, because it appears that the deed and bill of sale were both given the
same day, and it is impossible there could have been a wide difference in value between the few minutes
when the deed was given and the bill of sale was given.
The Referee: I will let it stand. The Witness: May I explain?
Q. Yes, explain.
A. Pardon me then, I did not understand the question. When I was asked when the deed was given, I had
in mind when I first placed the property with Mr. Boldt, that was the valuation at that time.
Q. That was the first mortgage, wasn't it?
A. Oh, at the time the deed was given, now I understand better. Yes, that was 1915, the property was
worth very much more because the art had been developed, the power stations had multiplied, the
receivers had multiplied and where I would have had a hundred customers, then I would have thousands.
Q. Doctor, when you speak of the value; at the time the bill of sale was given, do you mean the value at
the time you first made a mortgage to Mr. Boldt?
A. No, sir, I mean at the time that the deed was given, the property was worth more than $350,000.
Q. Yes, but what did you have in mind as the value when you spoke of the value as of the time the bill of
sale was given?
A. I had in mind the value at the time I gave the mortgage to Mr. Boldt.
Q. Yes, the first mortgage?
A. Yes, the first mortgage.
Q. Upon the property to Mr. Boldt?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Doctor, the property was developed for the purpose and use of a commercial wireless station, was it
not?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And so far as you know, it had no particular value for any other purpose, did it?
A. Yep, it might have been used for an electrical power plant for distribution.
Q. Yes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. In fact, the proposition was made to me at one time for that purpose.
Q. But looking at the situation from the local real estate market, it had no particular market value for any
other purpose than that of wireless telegraphy, did it?
A. It might have as a factory building.
Q. But you are predicating your statement of values upon its uses for the purposes of wireless telegraphy,
are you not?
A. For the purposes of the wireless art, yes.
Q. Wireless art?
A. Yes, in all its numerous applications.
Q. Do you remember Mr. Bingham saying that he went down to the property?
A. Yes, sir, I remember.
Defendants' Exhibit B.
Know all Men by these Presents, That I, William N. Hallock, of the City, County and State of New York,
party of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of One Hundred and more dollars, lawful money
of the United States, to me in hand paid, at or before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, by
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Company, party of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged,
have bargained and sold, and by these presents do grant and convey, unto the said party of the second
part, its successors and assigns, all and several the chattels located in the brick factory building near
Skeleton Tower on premises owned or heretofore owned by Nikola Tesla, immediately adjoining on the
southerly side the railroad tracks of the Long Island Railroad at Shoreham Station, Long Island, in the
Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, including but not limited to the chattels specifically set
out on the Schedule hereto annexed.
TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same unto the said party of the second part, its successors and assigns
forever. And I do for my heirs, executors and administrators, covenant and agree to and with the said
party of the second part, to warrant and defend the sale of the said chattels hereby sold unto the said party
of the second part, its successors and assigns against all and every person and persons whomsoever.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the eighth day of April in the year one
thousand nine hundred and fifteen.
WILLIAM N. HALLOCK.
[L. S.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCHEDULE OF FOREGOING BILL OF SALE.
IN THE GENERATING ROOM.
1 Westinghouse auto compound No. 1497, size 16 by 27 by 16,
1 direct connecting Westinghouse alternating current generator 200 Kw., Serial No. 155407, complete
with lubricator, gauge, Rheostat, switchboard and switches,
1 Westinghouse engine. No. 4750, size 81/2 by 8, with direct connected double current generator, 25 kw.,
Serial No. 1G8362, complete with lubricator, gauge, Rheostats, switchboard and switches,
1 15 H. P. Westinghouse motor, No. 162315,
4 Westinghouse transformers, 15 kw. type O. D.,
1 tank manufactured by Stoutenborough,
1 truck,
1 Fairbank's scale
1 Laidlaw Dunn-Gordon pump. No. 16473.
IN THE WORKSHOP.
1 Westinghouse electric motor, used for power to drive machine shop, type C, induction motor, 6 H. P.,
No. 162319,
1 Milling machine with tools complete, made by Brown & Sharp Manufacturing Company,
1 lathe made by Pond Machine Tool Company, No. P-3040, with tools, belting and shafting,
11 work benches, 4 vises,
1 Westinghouse, type C, 2 H. P. induction motor, No. 162278,
1 Westinghouse, type C, induction motor,
2 H. P. Serial No. 162272
1 Westinghouse. type C, induction motor, 5 H. P., No. L-74487
1 Westinghouse motor, about 1/4 H. P., No. 22190
3 lathes made by F. E. Reed of Worcester, Mass. with shafting, belting and tools,
1 plainer made by Hendey Machine Co., with shafting, belting and tools.
1 plainer made by Pedrick & Ayr, with shafting, belting and tools.
1 F. E. Reed, hand drill press, shafting, belting and tools,
1 large drill press by Prentice Brothers, with shafting, belting and tools
36 lockers containing miscellaneous supply of valves, joints, lubricators, fittings, scales, switches, single
and double pole, socket, wrenches, fuses and plugs,
1 testing fan motor,
A quantity of telephone and bell wire,
A quantity of lead cable material,
4 radiators,
A quantity of drills, rose bits, reamers, taps, and all tools for milling machine and lathes, at present
time in store room located in said workshop,
2 oil tanks,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 testing motion by Crocker Wheeler, 1/2 H.P. with Rheostat, No. 1000.
1 submarine boat,
1 clock
All of the aforesaid motors with starting boxes and switches.
BOILER ROOM.
2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers with steam gauges and water columns and with Metropolitan injector and
Worthington feed pump,
1 other feed pump
1 hand blacksmith and forge
7 toilets,
1 1 urinal, all adjoining boiler room.
6 wash basins, J
TESTING OR LABORATORY ROOM.
7 Rheostats, 4 desks,
2 safes,
3 motors,
1 set of storage batteries and tanks
1 submarine boat,
1 Westinghouse motor, No. 28292
1 Westinghouse motor, type C, 5 H.P. No. 62320
1 Westinghouse motor, type C, 5 H.P. No. 22070,
4 high-tension transformers in tanks; and switchboards Wiring drums Drafting boards and tools,
24 chairs
2 clocks
14 radiators
STATE OF NEW YORK.
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
On this eight day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifteen before me the
undersigned personally came and appeared WILLIAM N. HALLOCK to me known and known to me to be
the individual described in and who executed the foregoing instrument, and he acknowledged to me that
he executed the same.
ISIDOR W. MULLER Notary Public No. 45, Bronx County Certificate filed New York County No. 85
Register's No. 6216 Commission expires March 30th, 1916
COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY
NIKOLA TESLA:
COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Anderson, Leland I. Bibliography: Dr. Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) 2d enlarged edition. Minneapolis,
Tesla Society [1956].
2. Belgrad. Muzej Nikole Tesle. Centenary of the birth of Nikola Tesla,l 856-1956. Beograd, 1959.
3. Cheney, Margaret. Tesla Man Out of Time : Englewood CtiSs, N J.: Prentice-Hall, 1981.
4. Hunt, Inez. Lightning in his Hand: The Life Story of Nikola Tesla. Hawthorne, CA: Omni Publications,
1964.
5. Muzej Nikole Tesle. Tribute to Nikola Tesla. Presented in articles, letters, documents. Beograd, Nikola
Tesla Museum, 1961.
6. Nikola Tesla--Covek i Pronalazac.Elektrotehnicki fakultet, 1968.
7. O'Neill, John J. (John Joseph), 1889- Prodigal Genius: the Life ofNikola Tesla Angriff Press, 1981.
8. O'Neill, John Joseph, 1889- Nenadmasni genije, zwot Nikole TeslaPredgovor Sava N. Kosanovic.
Beograd, Prosveta, 1951.
9. Popovich, Vojislav, Nikola Tesla. Beograd, Tehnicka knjiga, 1951.
10. Ratzlaff, John T. Dr. Nikola Tesla bibliography: Ragusan Press, Palo Alto, Calif. 1979
H. Tesla Centennial Symposium (1984 : Colorado College) Proceedings of theTesla Centennial
Symposium, held at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America, August 9-
12,1984 editors, ElizabethAnn Rauscher and Toby Grotz. Colorado Springs, Colo.: International
TeslaSociety, 1985.
12. Tesla, Nikola. The Problem of Increasing Human Energy. High Energy Enterprises, 1989.
13. Proceedings of the 1990 International Tesla Symposium, 1990, International Tesla Society, Colorado
Springs.
14. Tesla, Nikola, 1856-1943. Moji pronalasci My inventions NikolaTesla; preveli Tomo Bosanac, Vanja
Aljinovic; pogovor napisao Tomo Bosanac-pogovor preveo na engleski Janko Paravic ; urednik
Branimira Valic. Zagreb: Skolska knjiga ; [New York: distributed by W. S.Heinman], 1977
15. Tesla, Nikola, 1856-1943. My Inventions : The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla edited, with an
introduction, by Ben Johnston. Hart Bros., 1982.
16. Walters, Helen B. Nikola Tesla, Giant of Electricity. Illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher. New York,
Crowell, 1961.
17. Bearden, T, E. Fer-De-Lance: A Briefing on Soviet Scaler Electromagnetic Weapons. Tesla Book
Co., 1986.
18. 43. Tesla, Nikola. Inventions, Researches, & Writings. Angriff Press
19. Corum, James F.: A Personal Computer Analysis of Spark Gap Tesla Coils. Corum & Associates,
Inc,. 1988
20. Johnston, Benjamin H. And in Creating Live : The Early life of Nikola Tesla. Hart Brothers
Publishing, 1990.
21. Martin, T. C. Inventions, Reaserches& Writings of Nikola Tesla. Gordon Press Publishers, 1986
22. Martin, Thomas Commerford, 1856-1924. The inventions, researches, and writing of Nikola Tesla,
with special reference to his work in polyphase currents and high potential lighting, by Thomas
________________________________________
Commerford Martin. Omni Publications, Hawthorne, CA.1977.
23. Commander X, Nikola Tesla, Free Energy and the White Dove, 1992, Abelard.
24. Proceedings of the 1988 International Tesla Symposium, 1988, International Tesla Society, Colorado
Springs.
25. Ratzlaff, John T., ed. Tesla: Complete Patents. Gordon Press Publishers,
26. Ratzlaff, John T. Tesla Said. Tesla Book Co., 1984.
27. Ratzlaff, John T. ed. Dr. Nikola Tesla-Selected Patent Wrappers from the National Archives. Tesla
Book Co., 1981.
28. Ratzlaff, John T. Dr. Nikola Tesla Bibliography. Ragusan Press, 1979.
29. Ratzlaff, John T. Dr. Nikola Tesla--Complete Patents. 2nd ed. Tesla Book ' Co.,
30. Michael X, Tesla, Man Of Mystery, 1992, Inner Light.
51. Tesla, Nikola. The Tesla Coil. Revisionist Press, 1991.
32 Tesla, Nikola. Catalogue of Patents: A Radmila. Vanous, Arthur, Co., " 1988.
33. Tesla, Nikola. Museum Catalogue -Museum. Vanous, Arthur, Co., 1987.
34 Tesla, Nikola. Expirements with Alternating Currents. Gordon Press Publishers, 1986
55. Tesla, Nikola. Nikola Tesla: Colorado Springs Notes 1899-1900. Gordon Press Publishers, 1986
56. Tesla, Nikola. My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. Hart Bothers Publishing. 1982.
37. Bearden, T E. Solutions to Tesla's Secrets & the Soviet Tesla Weapons with Reference Articles for
Solutions to Tesla's Secrets. Tesla Book Co., 1982.
38. Norman, Ruth E. Tesla Speaks. Unarms Publications, 1973.
39. Tesla, Nikola. Tribute to: Museum. Vanous, Arthur, Co., 1961.
40. Hayes, Jeffery A. Boundary Layer Breakthrough: The Bladeless Tesla Turbine. 1990, High Energy
Enterprises.
41. Tesla, Nikola. Colorado Springs Notes 1899 -1900. Angriff Press.
42. Tesla, Nikola. Experiments with A. C. & Transmission of Electric Energy Without Wires. Angriff
Press.
43. Anderson, Leland I. Nikola Tesla on his work with Alternating Currents.
International Tesla Society, Colorado Springs.
COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Anderson, Leland I. Bibliography: Dr. Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) 2d enlarged edition. Minneapolis,
Tesla Society [1956].
2. Belgrad. Muzej Nikole Tesle. Centenary of the birth of Nikola Tesla,l 856-1956. Beograd, 1959.
3. Cheney, Margaret. Tesla Man Out of Time : Englewood CtiSs, N J.: Prentice-Hall, 1981.
4. Hunt, Inez. Lightning in his Hand: The Life Story of Nikola Tesla. Hawthorne, CA: Omni Publications,
1964.
5. Muzej Nikole Tesle. Tribute to Nikola Tesla. Presented in articles, letters, documents. Beograd, Nikola
Tesla Museum, 1961.
6. Nikola Tesla--Covek i Pronalazac.
7. O'Neill, John J. (John Joseph), 1889- Prodigal Genius: the Life ofNikola Tesla Angriff Press, 1981.
8. O'Neill, John Joseph, 1889- Nenadmasni genije, zwot Nikole TeslaPredgovor Sava N. Kosanovic.
Beograd, Prosveta, 1951.
9. Popovich, Vojislav, Nikola Tesla. Beograd, Tehnicka knjiga, 1951.
10. Ratzlaff, John T. Dr. Nikola Tesla bibliography: Ragusan Press, Palo Alto, Calif. 1979
H. Tesla Centennial Symposium (1984 : Colorado College) Proceedings of theTesla Centennial
Symposium, held at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America, August 9-
12,1984 editors, ElizabethAnn Rauscher and Toby Grotz. Colorado Springs, Colo.: International
TeslaSociety, 1985.
12. Tesla, Nikola. The Problem of Increasing Human Energy. High Energy Enterprises, 1989.
13. Proceedings of the 1990 International Tesla Symposium, 1990, International Tesla Society, Colorado
Springs.
14. Tesla, Nikola, 1856-1943. Moji pronalasci My inventions NikolaTesla; preveli Tomo Bosanac, Vanja
Aljinovic; pogovor napisao Tomo Bosanac-pogovor preveo na engleski Janko Paravic ; urednik
Branimira Valic. Zagreb: Skolska knjiga ; [New York: distributed by W. S.Heinman], 1977
15. Tesla, Nikola, 1856-1943. My Inventions : The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla edited, with an
introduction, by Ben Johnston. Hart Bros., 1982.
16. Walters, Helen B. Nikola Tesla, Giant of Electricity. Illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher. New York,
Crowell, 1961.
17. Bearden, T, E. Fer-De-Lance: A Briefing on Soviet Scaler Electromagnetic Weapons. Tesla Book
Co., 1986.
18. 43. Tesla, Nikola. Inventions, Researches, & Writings. Angriff Press
19. Corum, James F.: A Personal Computer Analysis of Spark Gap Tesla Coils. Corum & Associates,
Inc,. 1988
20. Johnston, Benjamin H. And in Creating Live : The Early life of Nikola Tesla. Hart Brothers
Publishing, 1990.
21. Martin, T. C. Inventions, Reaserches& Writings of Nikola Tesla. Gordon Press Publishers, 1986
22. Martin, Thomas Commerford, 1856-1924. The inventions, researches, and writing of Nikola Tesla,
with special reference to his work in polyphase currents and high potential lighting, by Thomas
________________________________________
Commerford Martin. Omni Publications, Hawthorne, CA.1977.
23. Commander X, Nikola Tesla, Free Energy and the White Dove, 1992, Abelard.
24. Proceedings of the 1988 International Tesla Symposium, 1988, International Tesla Society, Colorado
Springs.
25. Ratzlaff, John T., ed. Tesla: Complete Patents. Gordon Press Publishers,
26. Ratzlaff, John T. Tesla Said. Tesla Book Co., 1984.
27. Ratzlaff, John T. ed. Dr. Nikola Tesla-Selected Patent Wrappers from the National Archives. Tesla
Book Co., 1981.
28. Ratzlaff, John T. Dr. Nikola Tesla Bibliography. Ragusan Press, 1979.
29. Ratzlaff, John T. Dr. Nikola Tesla--Complete Patents. 2nd ed. Tesla Book ' Co.,
30. Michael X, Tesla, Man Of Mystery, 1992, Inner Light.
51. Tesla, Nikola. The Tesla Coil. Revisionist Press, 1991.
32 Tesla, Nikola. Catalogue of Patents: A Radmila. Vanous, Arthur, Co., " 1988.
33. Tesla, Nikola. Museum Catalogue -Museum. Vanous, Arthur, Co., 1987.
34 Tesla, Nikola. Expirements with Alternating Currents. Gordon Press Publishers, 1986
55. Tesla, Nikola. Nikola Tesla: Colorado Springs Notes 1899-1900. Gordon Press Publishers, 1986
56. Tesla, Nikola. My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. Hart Bothers Publishing. 1982.
37. Bearden, T E. Solutions to Tesla's Secrets & the Soviet Tesla Weapons with Reference Articles for
Solutions to Tesla's Secrets. Tesla Book Co., 1982.
38. Norman, Ruth E. Tesla Speaks. Unarms Publications, 1973.
39. Tesla, Nikola. Tribute to: Museum. Vanous, Arthur, Co., 1961.
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