Electric Power to Cross Ocean

Tesla May Move English Wheels from Niagara.

PRIORITY OVER MARCONI

Local Inventor Asserts That He Was First to Work on Wireless Idea.

It may come to pass, although the principal party in interest declined to sanction the intimation or discuss the subject in any way, that a conflict will arise as to the priority of the invention of the system of wireless telegraphy. Nikola Tesla asserted last night that he was protected by letters patent in every civilized country in the world, except the Dominion of Canada, in this latest addition to the sum of electrical science, and that the transmission of messages was the most inconsequential part of the general scheme. If his ideas are carried to their ultimate conclusion, he will be able, he says, to send an electrical impulse across the Atlantic Ocean, and from the Falls of Niagara put machinery in motion in England without the use of wires. He declined to make any comment on the Marconi system, or to say whether or not he believed it to be an infringement on his own rights, on the ground that he was not conversant with the sort of coil employed by the young Italian electrician. His most remarkable statement, and which with characteristic modesty he begged should not be exploited publicly, was that wireless telegraphy could be used for industrial purposes between points separated by thousands of miles.

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY SIMPLE.

“I do not authorize any such publication,” said Mr. Tesla, “but I say that the sending of messages without wires is a matter so simple that it can be accomplished by any person who has the intelligence to press a button. My experiments in that direction were made years ago, and were successful. The ultimate use of the wireless system will be the supplying of power sufficient to run machinery in London with the power created at Niagara.”

As to the reported decision of the British Postmaster General, which makes it appear that the Marconi system is to be interfered with, Mr. Tesla said he could only repeat what he had said on Monday, which was that he presumed the British Admiralty in experimenting with the instruments installed on the warships found that they interfered with the government instruments.

“Many scientific men have fallen into the error,” said he, “that exclusive wireless telegraphy can be carried on by Hertzian rays. This kind of telegraphy is just like heliography, only the rays are invisible. The best that could be done would be to send a ray in a particular direction. This can be done with light, but the Hertzian rays have not the great penetrative force of light, and they spread out in all directions. So it comes that when a powerful oscillator, such as would be capable of carrying the electrical disturbance, is worked, all other wireless instruments are more or less affected.”

PRIVACY NOT INSURED.

Mr. Marconi was no more inclined to speak of Tesla than Tesla was of him. He endorsed this particular view, however, and said, “It is true, as Mr. Tesla says, that the British Admiralty is experimenting with the Hertzian rays, and that they cannot be used to insure privacy. They have a wide radiation, and a powerful oscillation might affect all other wireless instruments. My system, however, does not use these rays, so that the argument does not apply. I know nothing of Mr. Tesla’s inventions, and will not discuss them. He is the proper person to do that. I am ready at any time, however, to reply to any statement he may make concerning my system.”

“As to Lord Londonderry’s statement, I feel convinced that he has been misconstrued in the cable dispatches. I am at a loss to see how the law can interfere if the communications are between ships outside the jurisdiction of the Post Office Department — one league — and stations ashore. The Admiralty has jurisdiction only within that three-mile limit. There is no intention of disputing that right, because the sending of wireless messages within the limit would be of no practical value. It might be interesting to know, however, if a vessel within the line sent a message ashore, and so helped to save life, what punishment would be visited on the operator ashore.”

EXPECTS NO INTERFERENCE.

“I have no idea that the British Government intends to interfere with the establishment of wireless communication between England and America. The Canadian Government has entered into a preliminary agreement with me, which it would not be likely to do if the home government was hostile.”

Mr. Marconi will start for Cape Breton in a day or two to establish a long-distance wireless telegraph station to demonstrate the practicability of transmitting messages between the two hemispheres without the use of wires.