Suggestive of the Poppy

The name of Nikola Tesla has been for the greater part of two decades one with which to conjure. His achievements in the field of invention, especially in the utilization of what is known as the alternating electric current, have brought him both fame and fortune. Mr. Tesla has devoted much of his time and energy to the solution of the problem of the economical long-distance transmission of power. It is by means of his theories, practically applied some ten years ago, that it has been made possible to transmit a matter of from 10,000 to 20,000 horse power from Niagara Falls as far as Buffalo, twenty-five miles distant.

Granting all that has been achieved in connection with the commercial utilization of the energy of the Falls of Niagara, it is in no quarter claimed that the promises which seemed so roseate in the early nineties have been fulfilled. Not that enormous and profitable enterprises have not been built up in the immediate vicinity of the cataract; but the truth remains that long-distance economical transmission of energy in the form of electricity remains to be accomplished. Capital has been invested lavishly in power-producing plants, and more is being invested. Yet strenuous efforts are now making to extend the zone of transmission and thereby broaden the market for the output. Such is the situation to-day, nearly fifteen years after the appliances wrought out by Nikola Tesla were adopted.

Now comes the Hungarian electrician, in an interview in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, with a statement which makes his promises of 1892 regarding Niagara pale to insignificance. If put into practice it would hammer the copper market in a way which would shock even Mr. Lawson, and close down the great aluminum industry. Mr. Tesla is quoted as saying:

Let us suppose I have my plant at Niagara and you are running a sugar factory in Australia; by my discoveries it will be possible to send you a 100, 500 or a 1,000 horse power for your factory, and to supply the same regularly by the force furnished from Niagara Falls. Suppose you are traveling in the wilds of the Andes and make your camp on the shores of Lake Titicaca. By the outcome of this principle you may have telegraphed to you there instantaneous reports of the news of the world as it happens from time to time. You may cook your dinner over an electric fire thus transmitted, and you may have the same at will, and send power from place to place at will, and that at such a small cost that it will be industrially profitable. * * * The design which I have adopted will have a transmitter which will emit a wave complex of a total maximum activity of 10,000,000 horse power, 1 per cent. of which is enough to girdle the globe. This enormous rate of energy delivery — it is twice as much as the force of Niagara Falls — is obtainable only by the use of certain artifices which I shall make known some time in the future. * * * By this invention every live part of Mother Earth’s body would be brought into action. Energy will be collected all over the globe in amounts small or large, as it may exist, ranging from a fraction of one to a few horse power or more. Every waterfall can be utilized, every coal field made to produce energy to be transmitted to vast distances and every place on earth can have power at small cost. One of the minor uses might be the illumination of isolated homes. We could light houses all over the country by means of vacuum tubes operated by high frequency currents. We could keep the clocks of the United States going and give every one exact time; we could turn factories, machine shops and mills, small or large, anywhere, and I believe could also navigate the air.

It would be delightful indeed if to ordinary mortals were vouchsafed the privilege of inhaling some of these new fumes of the poppy which seem to be monopolized by the dreamer within the precincts of the Waldorf-Astoria, where dwelleth Nikola Tesla.