Nikola Tesla and His Works - On the Occassion of the Eightieth Anniversary Page 8

capital, but he failed. “That wonderful man,” Tesla says, “wanted to help me in every possible way, and, in fact, he pointed out assistance, albeit not financial, but no less appreciated by me. In 1870, when the Germans penetrated into France, Mr. Bozen buried a large quantity of wine from St. Estephe dating back to 1801, so during my stay in Strasbourg, he came to the conclusion that he did not know a worthier person than me with whom he could share that precious liquid.”

“Returning to Paris in the spring of 1884, I was filled with pleasant expectations. One of the company directors promised me a great reward if I succeeded in fixing the power plant in Strasbourg. At the same time, the factory wanted to show appreciation for the improvements I made to their machines. The company had three directors at that time, whom I will name A, B, and C for simplicity. When I went to Director A, he told me that for such matters, B was above him. This gentleman thought that C alone could decide, but the latter was completely sure that only A had executive power in that matter. Since I toured this circulus viciosus several times, it became clear to me that my reward was an illusion.” [1].

Thus, Tesla lost his last hope of obtaining the necessary funds to realize his discoveries. Indeed, at that time, it was challenging to break through with inventions of this kind. In France, Marcel Deprez, with his famous experiments, was the first to prove that electrical energy could be transmitted over long distances. Marcel Deprez, who had the opportunity to convince everyone of this, was himself convinced that transmitting energy had significance only with direct current.

In such circumstances, Tesla left Europe and went to America, to the “land of golden promise.”

IV Tesla’s Work in America

1. Machines for Direct Current

In the early years, Tesla worked in Edison’s factory in New York. With his skill and inventive talent, he quickly stood out. Here is what he himself narrates about it: “At that time, the fastest passenger ship was the Oregon; both lighting machines suddenly broke down on it, and because of that, the journey had to be postponed. It was impossible to transport the machines due to numerous objects placed around them later. The situation was serious and caused Edison a lot of worry. One evening, I went to the ship and stayed there all night. The machines were damaged in several places and were in very bad condition. However, I managed to repair and put them into operation with my workers. Returning with