Nikola Tesla's Latest - He Has a Scheme Which May Assure Peace Between All Nations

NEW YORK, Nov. 8. — Nikola Tesla, whose original discoveries in electrical science during the last 10 years have made him recognized as one of the world’s greatest inventors, made public yesterday his latest discovery and invention, which he believes is also his greatest one. In brief, Mr. Tesla believes that this invention will not only answer many useful purposes in ordinary life, but that it would make war so terrible, as well as expensive, as to make it prohibitory, and thus to assure peace between all the nations.

Mr. Tesla’s latest innovation consists of a combination of his devices for producing and projecting into the air currents of electricity of enormous voltages which will reach out for many miles, and a means for using electric waves thus projected for controlling the driving, steering and other machinery of a moving body. By fitting out a vessel, a balloon or a wagon with his special mechanical devices, Mr. Tesla can control their movements on land or sea by the projection without wires of currents of electricity to great distances. If desirable that such a vessel should carry great quantities of explosives, bombs or other destructive devices, the operator at the distant point can direct, discharge and explode them at will.

The idea of the invention came to Mr. Tesla years ago, and he has never lost sight of it since, but it was not until the war with Spain came and stirred him with patriotism, for Mr. Tesla is American to the backbone, that the scheme took final shape. The idea completely possessed and gave him no rest until the problem was worked out in its entirety.

In his laboratory stands the working model of a vessel whose every movements Mr. Tesla can control by the simple turning of a crank in another part of the room, with no other connection between him and the vessel than that formed by the air or the wooden floor. At one turn of the crank the vessel’s screw begins to revolve, her rudder swings until it is in whatever position Mr. Tesla desires, and then with another touch the rudder remains fixed while the screw drives away. Another touch and the rudder moves either way, little or much as desired, and at the will of the operator signal lights flash out from staffs on the vessel to tell just what position the rudder is in. Air, earth or water are all that are needed to make the connection between the operator and the moving mechanism, be it vessel, wagon or anything capable of propulsion. In the model which Mr. Tesla has the power which controls the moving mechanism is electricity, and Mr. Tesla declares that he can exercise the control from as far away as a telescope could enable the operator to keep watch of the vessel. With devices which any expert mechanic could make, the same control could be exercised by the notes of a whistle or by other means which would produce measurable vibrations. Electricity is, however, the necessary agent. In the model vessel, Mr. Tesla uses a combination of strong batteries and clockwork to produce the movements. Balloons can be controlled and directed as readily as any other vessel and sent hither and yon at will, or caused to drop explosives whenever the operator might desire and yet be free from earth.

The possibilities of the new invention are thus described by Mr. Tesla in the application for a patent which he filed at the patent office at Washington on July 1. It was when Cervera’s fleet took refuge in Santiago harbor that the invention assumed form in Mr. Tesla’s mind. He was about to lay a proposition before the President to blow up Cervera’s fleet when Admirals Sampson and Schley did the job. Mr. Tesla declares that almost every part of the working devices for putting afloat a fleet of automatic vessels of war can be bought in the markets and that in case of a war one fast, unarmored vessel without a gun aboard her, but supplied with a fleet of little vessels whose movements could be controlled by an operator on the big vessel, could destroy the fleet of any enemy without even coming anywhere within the range of any of the destructive engines of present warfare, or could send vast quantities of explosives into a hostile harbor where their explosion would be almost as destructive as an earthquake. If war came it would be a war with machines on none of which was there a man.

An attempt to interfere with their operations by others would be like the attempt of a burglar to find the combination of a safe lock.