Electrical Control of the Weather Will Soon Be an Accomplished Fact

"For more than eighteen years I have experimented with the atmospheric effects of electrical discharges of tremendous strength. In my latest plant I expect to get a maximum rate of electrical discharge approximating 1,000,000,000 horse-power. While I am not familiar with the experiments along this line of anyone else, I have no hesitancy in declaring that the next step in the mastery of man over Nature will be the absolute control of the weather."

This statement, made by Nikola Tesla admittedly one of the greatest electricians of the age, when told of the recent experiments looking toward the control of the weather by electricity made by John A. Grahme.

"Atmospheric effects, such as Mr. Grahme claims to be able to produce," continued Mr. Tesla, "necessitate the production of electrical discharges far beyond any that have yet been obtained by artificial means. That, however, is a mere detail. I am convinced that weather conditions are of electrical origin, and so must be susceptible of electrical control.

"I believe the day is near when man will not only forecast the weather with absolute accuracy, but will control it. Any one at all familiar with the fields opened up by recent experiments with high-tension electrical currents would hesitate to draw the line between the possible and the impossible.

"At present we are at the threshold of an era pregnant with tremendous possibilities. Every new discovery opens up new lines of thought and research; and despite the wonders that have been accomplished during the past half century, the surface has hardly been scratched.

"Of course, every man exploring in an undeveloped field is a butt for the ridicule of a skeptical public. Every announcement of a step forward in the fields of science and invention has been greeted with sneers and unbelief. Public opinion crucified Christ, imprisoned Galileo and branded Columbus a lunatic.

"I know nothing of the experiments of Mr. Grahme, but from my own work along similar lines, I am positive that the results he claims are possible of accomplishment and that this great problem will be solved in the very near future."