THE SAN SUNDAY, Tesla`s Latest Wondernikolateslasecrets.in/gallery/electric power tranmission through balloons.pdfTesla`s Latest Wonder ... miles away, and besides Nikola Tesla says

Tesla`s Latest WonderTKSLA'S

latest electrical wonderis out. It Is out because he ba.«just received patents on It in

this and other countries.What Tesla proposes to do

now is to transmit almost any amountof power almost any distance withoutwires, and without loss. Althoughmoving ships at sea may use the sys-

tem for propulsion it is mainly intend-ed for use on land.

To illustrate the anticipated resultsin the most concrete form it is pro-posed, for instance, that water power

shall generate a great quantity ofelectricity on the lower courses ofstreams coming from the Sierras; thatthis electricity shall be conducted to aballoon arrangement floating a mile ortwo above the earth; that there shallbe in San Francisco a similar balloonhigh above the city and that all theel-'itrical energy conducted to the firstballoon shall pass without loss andwithout wires to the balloon over thecity, from which it shall descend toturn wheels and light lamps, etc.

A secondary result would seem to bethat ships minus boilers and minuscoal shall plow their way from theGolden Gate to Puget Sound, theirchurning propellers being driven bymotors which draw their energythrough the air from stations arrangedevery hundred miles or so along theshore.

This may seem a crazy idea to somepeople, but then it was a more crazyidea once that a man's voice shouldbe heard 2000 miles away and that awaterfall should turn a mill a hundredmiles away, and besides Nikola Teslasays so and he is acknowledged as oneof the very best electric experts in thecountry.

In one sense Tesla is a greater wizardthan Edison. They are twin wizardsin the wondrous field of electrical sci-ence, but they are whollyunlike. Edi-son is whollypractical and he cares fornothing that he cannot make a com-mercial BUCO6S& His spur is not devo-tion to science as it was with FYank-Ifn, Faraday, Volta, Galvani and therest. Tesla is rather Edison's reverseas a genius. He plunges into electricalmystery and seeks scientific facts, phe-nomena, laws and principles ratherthan patents though he looks uut forthe patents when they are in sight.

Young Tesla has startled the worldabout as much as has Edison, but youd^n't find his name on the patent platesof as many machines about town. Hemade electrical engineers marvel bysmilingly passing a milliun volts ofelectricity through his body and heshowed them how to lighta room bril-liantly with a simple empty glass tubewhich he held In his hand or laid onthe table without any connecting wires.

In various ways he has led the sci-entific world far toward the final mys-tery of this "form of radiation." Thislatest advance of his is both scientificand practical.

"Tesla's Bystem of electric powertransmission through natural media"is the descriptive title of this latest in-vention of his.

This at once suggests the new tele-graphy without wires, which promisesto be a commercial feature of everydaylife to-morrow or next day, but the onesystem is whollydifferent from theother.

In the wireless telegraphy an appar-atus sends out in all directions throughair, buildings, earth and water a seriesof "Hertzian waves

"as a lighthouse

lamp sends out light waves Thelength and frequency are regulatedand the receiving apparatus, if adapt-ed to these waves, responds as onetuning fork will to its like. In thiscase the electrical phenomena proceedin all directions like sound or ripplesfrom where a stone strikes in thewater.

Tesla, however, proposes to generateenergy at one point and pass it all

Illustrating the method by Which Electric Power Is Conducted From One Place toAnother Without Wares, The Balloons Act as the Poles of the Dynamos and the Current

Flashes Across Through the Rarefied Air,

without loss through the air direct toa distant point, where it may be usedfor light or power. A comprehensionof his invention depends upon an un-derstanding of "voltage."

An electric current may be large inquantity and low in intensity or smallin quantity and high in intensity as astream of water be large in volume andslow of motion or may be small andrapid. A stream of water an inch indiameter will exert more power than asmall river if the pressure is greatenough:

In handling electricity quantity is re-duced to intensity and the reverse bymeans of "transformers." Inlong-dis-tance transmission of power the energyis transformed to a high intensity orvoltage and then sent over the wires,

and where it is received it is again

transformed to a lower voltage andgreater quantity for use.

Here is another preparatory Illustra-tion. Most people have seen electricsparks Jump from one brass ball toanother in electrical apparatus. Thedistance these sparks will jump de-pends not on the amount of electricitygenerated but on its Intensity or volt-age.

Now, there are two things whichmainly underlie Tesla's new scheme.One is the production of voltages be-fore hardly dreamed of, ani the otheris the increased conductivity of the air,when it is rarefied as it is at high alti-tuftes.

Up to date 15,000 volts has been themeasure of the intensity at which elec-tric power has been transmitted overcopper wires, though now they aretalking of doubling it. Tesla proposesto transmit it without wires at 2,500,000volts or more. At this voltage a givenquantity transmitted would produceabout 200 times the ordinary amount ofpower when reduced with transform-ers. .It Is a well-known laboratory fact

that rarefied air is a conductor of elec-tricity, though one of much resistance.The Crookes tubes of X ray fame de-pend on this principle. "With one sweep

C I—Primary1—

Primary coll-A1

—Secondary coil.

0 i Receiving terminal supported by balloon.LM—Lamps and motors energized by transmitted

current.

Tesla takes this principle from thelaboratories where, only, men have put

it to use, and goes up to the cloudswith it He produces a wonderful volt-age that will Jump an enormous dis-tance in every-day air, and proposes to

take it inballoons up to where the air isa sort of natural Crook.es tube. In auchan altitude it will Jump long distancesto another terminal, he says, the layer

of heavy air below being a non-con-

ductor and resisting It like the rubberwrapping of a wire, for ordinary air isnot a good conductor.

Tesla is the pioneer of high voltages.

Some time ago he invented an "oscilla-tor

"a purely Tesla contrivance, for

this purpose. He has been making

them bigger and bigger and his last onegets up to 2,500,000 volts. The accom-panying illustration shows his latest

oscillator in action.The diagrams illustrate the theory of

the apparatus. Inthe transmitting ap-paratus A is an insulated high tensioncoll about a magnetic core. C is asecond coil of larger wire. The ter-minals of both coils are shown. G isthe generator or source of current. Dis a balloon acting as a terminal itselfor a terminal supported by a balloonto which the current passes. The cur-rent is supposed to pass through therarefied upper air from D to Dl, a re-ceiving balloon at a great distance.The primary and secondary coils of thereceiving apparatus are the reverse ofthe transmitter. L and M indicatelamps and motors to be energized bythe transmitted current.

In the long descriptive text accom-

Tesla's model transformeror "oscillator" in action whjencreating an effective elec-trical pressure of two and ahalf million volts. The ac-tual width of space traversedby the luminous streams fron)the single terminal is oversixteer) feet.

panying the inventor's application fora patent it is said that the inventioncomprises a novel method for thetransmission of electrical energy with-out the employment of metallic lineconductors, but the results arrived atare of such character and magnitudeas compared with any heretofore se-cured as to render indispensable theemployment of means and the utiliza-tion of effect! essentially different intheir chara .eristics and actions fromthose before used or investigated.

The systems depend, he says, on "ex-clusively high pressures," but he hasdevised means to generate with safetyand ease pressures measured by mil-lions of volts. Then he states some-thing that electrical engineers knowmighty little about. He says:

"F^rst, that with electrical pressuresof the magnitude and character whichIhave made itpossible to produce, theordinary atmosphere becomes, ina measure, capable of servine as a true,conductor; se-nd, that the conduc-tivityof the air increases so materi-ally with the increase of electricalpressure and degree of rarefaction thatit becomes possible to transmitthrough even moderately rarefiedstrata of the atmosphere electrical en-ergy up to practically any amount andto any distance."If Tesla can bring electrical energy

through the air in "any amount and toany distance" he can get a big contractout here in California next week. Butfor all anybody knows we will soon besending up balloons about the bay tocatch the thunderbolts hurled fromballoons away in the mountains, andbe laughing at the poor colliers thatwill have to go into the lumber trade.

"If there be high mountains in thevicinity," says Mr. Tesla, "the termin-als should be at a greater height."

Electrical engineers seen yesterdaydeclined to discuss this wonderful prop-osition for publication Just yet, but saidthat they had no doubt that somethingof the sort would be done one of thesudays. It is, in fact, quite likely thatfuture generations will look back withcurious interest on theße days wherepeople used poles and wires for elec-tricity and pictures and samples willbe stowed In museums like old armorand the first steam engines.

Mr. Tesla's Invention for handlingvessels at sea without there being any-body on board differs slightlyfrom the apparatus for trans-mitting power across land with-out the use of wires. In thelatter the principle of overcoming re-sistance by placing the electrode highInair where there is little resistance ismade use of. Just what principle isused In the movement of vessels is notclearly explained in the telegraphic re-ports from the Inventor, but it wouldappear to be some application of the

A—

Primary coil.C—Secondary coil.G

—Source of electrical energy.

D—

Terminal supported by balloon.

principle that causes an X ray to gloweven when removed several feet fromthe static machine. But whatever itis it is one of the greatest wonders ofthe age and surely destined to revolu-tionize warfare.

In speaking of his ship moving andhandling invention Tesla said:

"Hitherto the only means of control-ling the movements of a vessel from adistance have been supplied through

the medium of a flexible conductor,

such as an electric cable, but this sys-tem is subject to obvious limitations,

such as are imposed by the length,weight and- strength of the conductorwhich can be practically used; by thedifficulty of maintaining with safetythe high speed of the vessel or chang-ing the direction of her movementswith rapidity; the necessity of effect-Ing the control from a point which Ispractically fixed, and from many otherdrawbacks which are inseparably con-nected with such a system.

"The plan which Ihave perfected In-volves none of these obiections, for Iam enabled by the use of my inventionto employ any means of propulsion toimpart to the moving body or vesselthe highest possible speed, to controlthe operation of its machinery and to

direct its movements from either afixed point or from a body moving andchanging its direction, however rapid-ly, and to maintain this control overgreat distances without any artificialconnections between the vessel and theapparatus governing Its movements,

and without such restrictions as thesemust necessarily impose."

Generating Eiectric Energy by Water Power Out in tbe Mountains.

DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING PRINCIPLE OFTESLA'S RtCEIVER OF ELECTRICPOWER.

DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE PRINCIPLEOF TESLA'S TRANSMITTER OF ELEC-TRIC POWER.

Th« Saroe Force Made to Run Factories, Street Cars «r;d ElectrtqLights in a City Miles Away.

SIX POLAREXPEDITIONS.

Mr. Wellmon's Polar Expedition,

Mr. Welimun's ship, the Fridtjof, hasreturned from Franz Josef Land, bring-ing news of the expedition down to Au-gust 2. Writing to us on that date, theleader announced the landing of hisparty at Cape Tegetthoff, and his pro-posed start for the north a few dayslater. The voyage to Franz Josef Landhad been a successful one. After tendays in the ice Cape Grant was reachedon July 27, Cape Flora on the 28th. Herethe ship was turned back by ice, reach-ing Cape Tegetthoff on the 30th, afterwhich the tour of "Wilczek and Salmislands was made before the final land-ing was effected. A house, named"Harmsworth House," as the innershell was taken from Cape Flora, hadbeen erected at Cape Tegetthoff, but, Inspite of the temptation to winter there,Mr. Wellman hoped to be able to adhereto his original plan and push north-ward to Crown Prince Rudolf Land,wintering there in an improvised hut ofstones and snow. The house at CapeTegetthoff would be of use to fall backupon in case of need.

Germap Expedition to the Arctic Seas.The Heligoland, Captain Rudiger,

with the German Arctic expedition un-der Herr Theodor Lerner on board, re-turned in August to Hammerfest with-out having discovered any traces ofAndree's expedition. Some geographicalwork has been accomplished in theneighborhood of Kong Karls hand,which, according to published state-ments, was round to consist of threeislands, viz.: Swedish foreland, Jena

Island, and a third lyingin the centerj

which was named August Scherl, aftetfthe promoter of the expedition. This isat variance with the account of ArnoldPike, who, it willbe remembered, main-}tamed that there is but one island injaddition to Swedish foreland, whicffllast is not usually included under th«name of Kong Karls Land. In spite oZ.much ice and unfavorable weather, apassage was forced by fhe Heligoland}round the eastern coast of the islands,;and a latitude of 81 degrees 32 minuteajreached, via the east coast of North-Ieast Land, the pack ice then preventing]further advance. Successful dredgin*operations were carried out to the north)

and east in depths of over 600 fathom^In August Scherl Island, the breedinggrounds of the ivory gull, were meftwith.

Swedish Andres Search Expedition.Quoting from the Aftonbladet oi

Stockholm, the Mouvement Geograph-jique (August 21) announced the arrivaflof M. Stadllng, leader of the Andre*search expedition, at the mouth of th«Lena. The expedition had visited thaiNew Siberian Islands, as also th«neighborhood of the Anabara and Indi-jgirka rivers, without finding a trace o»the missing explorer. M. Stadling wasabout to proceed to the Taimyr Pen-insula, en route for the Yenesei. Thdsame paper also announced that thaNorwegian navigator, M. Braekmoe.had undertaken a journey to the Ne\*Siberian Islands in order to find ou<whether the provisions left by Baronyon Toll remain intact, but from a re-cent telegram it would seem that hahas returned without accomplishinghis object.

Lieutenant Peary's Expedition.

The steamer Hope, w.hich took coaland other supplies northward for Lieu-*tenant Peary's expedition, returned!from Greenland at the end of Augusthaving parted from the Windward a<Port Foulke, at the entrance to SmithSound. Lieutenant Peary, writing tous from Etah, August 13, states thatthe season as far north as Cape Sabinqis a late one; he was just starting fosthe attack on Kane Basin and thachannel above. So far his plans hadprogressed favorably. He had onboard ten picked Eskimo (five couples),about sixty dogs, and the carcasses oisixty walrus.

Polar Exploration With Ice Breakers.At a recent meeting of the Russian!

Geographical Society Admiral MakarofCsubmitted a proposal of reaching th«pole by means of powerful ice-breakers^Steamers specially built for breaking;the ice were first resorted to in Russia!in 1864 by the engineer, Britneff, fonbreaking the ice at Kronstadt. Lateljjice-breakers have been very much im^proved in the United States, where thahappy idea of providing steamers oflthat sort with twin screws at the stern,and a third screw at the stem, hasproved to considerably increase theiflbreaking powers. More recently power-Jful ice-breakers have been constructedin the States and in England by Arm-strong for Russia, for transporting thetrains of the Siberian railway acrossLake Baikal, and for keeping the portof Vladivostok clear of ice. Experliments were made with such steamers*and altogether the theory of ice*breakers was worked out. Itappear^that on the American lakes the ice-«breaker Ste. Marie, 3000 horsepower,armed with a screw at the stem, easilymakes her way through ice two and ahalf feet thick, and pierces, whennecessary, ice walls fifteen to twent^feet high; and Russian engineers havecalculated that, inorder to sail through)quite sound ice, twelve feet thick, anice-breaker of 52,000 horsepower wouldbe required.

Mr.Borchererinck's Expedition.

Mr. Borchgrevinck's Antartic expedi*

tlon sailed on August 22 on the Southsem Cross, and its safe arrival at StyVincent has since been announced.

25THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 189S.