Tesla's Startling Invention

If Nikola Tesla’s latest and most startling invention can do all he claims for it he has indeed revolutionized the naval methods of the world and practically made all warfare impossible. He asserts that he has discovered a means for propelling a vessel loaded with dynamite to any distance and in any direction, guiding its movements from the shore without the use of any connecting wire. The torpedo craft may be above or under water, and it may be loaded with any number of tons of explosive and it can be directed unerringly against any war vessel in sight, or even out of sight across the ocean. There will be no escaping it, and in its presence the mightiest battleship will become scrap iron. A device such as this is enough to make a naval nation shudder. In its presence the combined navies of the world would be as frail and useless as eggshells. It is a terrible, a Jove-like power that Tesla claims to hold in his hand. If this device proves as practically effective as the small model of it that he now is displaying in his New York laboratory it may be said that the late war with Spain was the last in which battleships did any fighting. In fact, so terrible are the possibilities of Tesla’s device that its prompt completion and distribution among the European nations might well prevent all future war. This is what the young inventor believes will come to pass, and he seems more elated over the idea of abolishing war than over any profit that he may make out of his discovery. The mechanism by which Tesla’s destroyer is to be guided at sea consists of a sensitive receiving apparatus that will respond to the faintest waves sent to it through the water or atmosphere from the corresponding apparatus under the operator’s hand on shore. The boat has a copper keel, connected with an electrical steering apparatus, and by varying the current it is made to steer to right or left at will. By turning on a heavier current the magazine of the destroyer is exploded and all is over with any ships in the vicinity. These are Tesla’s claims, and these things he can do with his working model. Whether or not he will be able to realize all his expectations on the ocean must still be seen. He at least believes thoroughly in his own powers, and says he was about to apply his invention upon Cervera when the latter came out of Santiago harbor and saved him the trouble. If he can substantiate his claims with the terrible facts his name and fame will be secure as the creator of a new era in warfare.