Tesla, Electrical Genius, Dead

New York, Jan. 8. (U.P.) — Nikola Tesla, 86, the electrical genius who discovered the fundamental principle of modern radio, was found dead in his hotel room last night.

He died in bed sometime yesterday. The maid who cleaned his room daily found the body. Gaunt in his best years, he had lately been wasting away.

Tesla was never married. He had always lived along, and the hotel management did not believe he had any near relatives.

Despite his more than 700 inventions, he was not wealthy. He cared little for money, and so long as he could experiment was happy. Much of the time, he did not even have a laboratory, and worked where he lived.

He was the first to conceive an effective method of utilizing alternating current, and in 1888 patented the induction motor, which converted electrical energy into mechanically energy more effectively and economically than by direct current. Among his other principal inventions were arc lighting and the Tesla coil.