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Chapter 3
Chapter 4, The Discovery of the Tesla Coil and Transformer
For a while I gave myself up entirely to the intense enjoyment of picturing
machines and devising new forms. It was a mental state of happiness about as
complete as I have ever known in life. Ideas came in an uninterrupted stream and
the only difficulty I had was to hold them fast. The pieces of apparatus I
conceived were to me absolutely real and tangible in every detail, even to the
minutest marks and signs of wear. I delighted in imagining the motors constantly
running, for in this way they presented to the mind's eye a fascinating sight.
When natural inclination develops into a passionate desire, one advances towards
his goal in seven-league boots. In less than two months I evolved virtually all
the types of motors and modifications of the system which are now identified
with my name, and which are used under many other names all over the world. It
was, perhaps, providential that the necessities of existence commanded a
temporary halt to this consuming activity of the mind.
I came to Budapest prompted by a premature report concerning the telephone
enterprise and, as irony of fate willed it, I had to accept a position as
draughtsman in the Central Telegraph Office of the Hungarian Government at a
salary which I deem it my privilege not to disclose. Fortunately, I soon won the
interest of the Inspector-in-Chief and was thereafter employed on calculations,
designs and estimates in connection with new installations, until the Telephone
exchange started, when I took charge of the same. The knowledge and practical
experience I gained in the course of this work, was most valuable and the
employment gave me ample opportunities for the exercise of my inventive
faculties. I made several improvements in the Central Station apparatus and
perfected a telephone repeater or amplifier which was never patented or publicly
described but would be creditable to me even today. In recognition of my
efficient assistance the organiser of the undertaking, Mr. Puskas, upon
disposing of his business in Budapest, offered me a position in Paris which I
gladly accepted.
I never can forget the deep impression that magic city produced on my mind. For
several days after my arrival, I roamed through the streets in utter
bewilderment of the new spectacle. The attractions were many and irresistible,
but, alas, the income was spent as soon as received. When Mr. Puskas asked me
how I was getting along in the new sphere, I described the situation accurately
in the statement that "The last twenty-nine days of the month are the toughest."
I led a rather strenuous life in what would now be termed "Rooseveltian
fashion." Every morning, regardless of the weather, I would go from the
Boulevard St. Marcel, where I resided, to a bathing house on the Seine; plunge
into the water, loop the circuit twenty-seven times and then walk an hour to
reach Ivry, where the Company's factory was located. There I would have a wood-
chopper's breakfast at half-past seven o'clock and then eagerly await the lunch
hour, in the meanwhile cracking hard nuts for the Manager of the Works, Mr.
Charles Batchellor, who was an intimate friend and assistant of Edison. Here I
was thrown in contact with a few Americans who fairly fell in love with my
because of my proficiency in Billiards! To these men I explained my invention
and one of them, Mr. D. Cunningham, foreman of the Mechanical Department,
offered to form a stock company. The proposal seemed to me comical in the
extreme. I did not have the faintest conception of what he meant, except that it
was an American way of doing things. Nothing came of it, however, and during the
next few months I had to travel from one place to another in France and Germany
to cure the ills of the power plants.
On my return to Paris, I submitted to one of the administrators of the Company,
Mr. Rau, a plan for improving their dynamos and was given an opportunity. My
success was complete and the delighted directors accorded me the privilege of
developing automatic regulators which were much desired. Shortly after, there
was some trouble with the lighting plant which had been installed at the new
railroad station in Stra§burg, Alsace. The wiring was defective and on the
occasion of the opening ceremonies, a large part of a wall was blown out through
a short-circiut, right in the presence of old Emperor William I. The German
Government refused to take the plant and the French Company was facing a serious
loss. On account of my knowledge of the German language and past experience, I
was entrusted with the difficult task of straightening out matters and early in
1883, I went to Stra§burg on that mission.
Some of the incidents in that city have left an indelible record on my memory.
By a curious coincidence, a number of the men who subsequently achieve fame,
lived there about that time. In later life I used to say, "There were bacteria
of greatness in that old town." Others caught the disease, but I escaped!" The
practical work, correspondence, and conferences with officials kept me
preoccupied day and night, but as soon as I was able to manage, I undertook the
construction of a simple motor in a mechanical shop opposite the rail-road
station, having brought with me from Paris some material for that purpose. The
consummation of the experiment was, however, delayed until the summer of that
year, when I finally had the satisfaction of seeing the rotation effected by
alternating currents of different phase, and without sliding contacts or
commutator, as I had conceived a year before. It was an exquisite pleasure but
not to compare with the delirium of joy following the first revelation.
Among my new friends was the former Mayor of the city, Mr. Sauzin, whom I had
already, in a measure, acquainted with this and other inventions of mine and
whose support I endeavoured to enlist. He was sincerely devoted to me and put my
project before several wealthy persons, but to my mortification, found no
response. He wanted to help me in every possible way and the approach of the
first of July, 1917, happens to remind me of a form of "assistance" I received
from that charming man, which was not financial, but none the less appreciated.
In 1870, when the Germans invaded the country, Mr. Sauzin had buried a good
sized allotment of St. Estephe of 1801 and he came to the conclusion that he
knew no worthier person than myself, to consume that precious beverage. This, I
may say, is one of the unforgettable incidents to which I have referred. My
friend urged me to return to Paris as soon as possible and seek support there.
This I was anxious to do, but my work and negotiations were protracted, owing to
all sorts of petty obstacles I encountered, so that at times the situation
seemed hopeless. Just to give an idea of German thoroughness and "efficiency," I
may mention here a rather funny experience.
An incandescent lamp of 16 c.p. was to be placed in a hallway, and upon selected
the proper location, I ordered the "monteur" to run the wires. After working for
a while, he concluded that the engineer had to be consulted and this was done.
The latter made several objections but ultimately agreed that the lamp should be
placed two inches from the spot I had assigned, whereupon the work proceeded.
Then the engineer became worried and told me that Inspector Averdeck should be
notified. That important person was called, he investigated, debated, and
decided that the lamp should be shifted back two inches, which was the placed I
had marked! It was not long, however, before Averdeck got cold feet himself and
advised me that he had informed Ober-Inspector Hieronimus of the matter and that
I should await his decision. It was several days before the Ober-Inspector was
able to free himself of other pressing duties, but at last he arrived and a two
hour debate followed, when he decided to move the lamp two inches further. My
hopes that this was the final act, were shattered when the Ober-Inspector
returned and said to me, "Regierungsrath Funke is particular that I would not
dare to give an order for placing this lamp without his explicit approval."
Accordingly, arrangements for a visit from that great man were made. We started
cleaning up and polishing early in the morning, and when Funke came with his
retinue he was ceremoniously received. After two hours of deliberation, he
suddenly exclaimed, "I must be going!," and pointing to a place on the ceiling,
he ordered me to put the lamp there. It was the exact spot which I had
originally chosen! So it went day after day with variations, but I was
determined to achieve, at whatever cost, and in the end my efforts were
rewarded.
By the spring of 1884, all the differences were adjusted, the plant formally
accepted, and I returned to Paris with pleasing anticipation. One of the
administrators had promised me a liberal compensation in case I succeeded, as
well as a fair consideration of the improvements I had made to their dynamos and
I hoped to realise a substantial sum. There were three administrators, whom I
shall designate as A, B, and C for convenience. When I called on A, he told me
that B had the say. This gentleman thought that only C could decide, and the
latter was quite sure that A alone had the power to act. After several laps of
this circulus viciousus, it dawned upon me that my reward was a castle in Spain.
The utter failure of my attempts to raise capital for development was another
disappointment, and when Mr. Bachelor pressed me to go to America with a view of
redesigning the Edison machines, I determined to try my fortunes in the Land of
Golden Promise. But the chance was nearly missed. I liquefied my modest assets,
secured accommodations and found myself at the railroad station as the train was
pulling out. At that moment, I discovered that my money and tickets were gone.
What to do was the question. Hercules had plenty of time to deliberate, but I
had to decide while running alongside the train with opposite feeling surging in
my brain like condenser oscillations. Resolve, helped by dexterity, won out in
the nick of time and upon passing through the usual experience, as trivial and
unpleasant, I managed to embark for New York with the remnants of my belongings,
some poems and articles I had written, and a package of calculations relating to
solutions of an unsolvable integral and my flying machine. During the voyage I
sat most of the time at the stern of the ship watching for an opportunity to
save somebody from a watery grave, without the slightest thought of danger.
Later, when I had absorbed some of the practical American sense, I shivered at
the recollection and marvelled at my former folly. The meeting with Edison was a
memorable event in my life. I was amazed at this wonderful man who, without
early advantages and scientific training, had accomplished so much. I had
studied a dozen languages, delved in literature and art, and had spent my best
years in libraries reading all sorts of stuff that fell into my hands, from
Newton's "Principia" to the novels of Paul de Kock, and felt that most of my
life had been squandered. But it did not take long before I recognised that it
was the best thing I could have done. Within a few weeks I had won Edison's
confidence, and it came about in this way.
The S.S. Oregon, the fastest passenger steamer at that time, had both of its
lighting machines disabled and its sailing was delayed. As the super-structure
had been built after their installation, it was impossible to remove them from
the hold. The predicament was a serious one and Edison was much annoyed. In the
evening I took the necessary instruments with me and went aboard the vessel
where I stayed for the night. The dynamos were in bad condition, having several
short-circuits and breaks, but with the assistance of the crew, I succeeded in
putting them in good shape. At five o'clock in the morning, when passing along
Fifth Avenue on my way to the shop, I met Edison with Bachelor and a few others,
as they were returning home to retire. "Here is our Parisian running around at
night," he said. When I told him that I was coming from the Oregon and had
repaired both machines, he looked at me in silence and walked away without
another word. But when he had gone some distance I heard him remark, "Bachelor,
this is a good man." And from that time on I had full freedom in directing the
work. For nearly a year my regular hours were from 10:30 A.M. until 5 o'clock
the next morning without a day's exception. Edison said to me, "I have had many
hard working assistants, but you take the cake." During this period I designed
twenty-four different types of standard machines with short cores and uniform
pattern, which replaced the old ones. The Manager had promised me fifty thousand
dollars on the completion of this task, but it turned out to be a practical
joke. This gave me a painful shock and I resigned my position.
Immediately thereafter, some people approached me with the proposal of forming
an arc light company under my name, to which I agreed. Here finally, was an
opportunity to develop the motor, but when I broached the subject to my new
associates they said, "No, we want the arc lamp. We don't care for this
alternating current of yours." In 1886 my system of arc lighting was perfected
and adopted for factory and municipal lighting, and I was free, but with no
other possession than a beautifully engraved certificate of stock of
hypothetical value. Then followed a period of struggle in the new medium for
which I was not fitted, but the reward came in the end, and in April, 1887, the
TESLA Electric Co. was organised, providing a laboratory and facilities. The
motors I built there were exactly as I had imagined them. I made no attempt to
improve the design, but merely reproduced the pictures as they appeared to my
vision and the operation was always as I expected.
In the early part of 1888, an arrangement was made with the Westinghouse Company
for the manufacture of the motors on a large scale. But great difficulties had
still to be overcome. My system was based on the use of low frequency currents
and the Westinghouse experts had adopted 133 cycles with the objects of securing
advantages in transformation. They did not want to depart with their standard
forms of apparatus and my efforts had to be concentrated upon adapting the motor
to these conditions. Another necessity was to produce a motor capable of running
efficiently at this frequency on two wire, which was not an easy accomplishment.
At the close of 1889, however, my services in Pittsburgh being no longer
essential, I returned to New York and resumed experimental work in a Laboratory
on Grand Street, where I began immediately the design of high-frequency
machines. The problems of construction in this unexplored field were novel and
quite peculiar, and I encountered many difficulties. I rejected the inductor
type, fearing that it might not yield perfect sine waves, which were so
important to resonant action. Had it not been for this, I could have saved
myself a great deal of labour. Another discouraging feature of the high-
frequency alternator seemed to be the inconstancy of speed which threatened to
impose serious limitations to its use. I had already noted in my demonstrations
before the American Institution of Electrical Engineers, that several times the
tune was lost, necessitating readjustment, and did not yet foresee what I
discovered long afterwards, Ð a means of operating a machine of this kind at a
speed constant to such a degree as not to vary more than a small fraction of one
revolution between the extremes of load. From many other considerations, it
appeared desirable to invent a simpler device for the production of electric
oscillations.
In 1856, Lord Kelvin had exposed the theory of the condenser discharge, but no
practical application of that important knowledge was made. I saw the
possibilities and undertook the development of induction apparatus on this
principle. My progress was so rapid as to enable me to exhibit at my lecture in
1891, a coil giving sparks of five inches. On that occasion I frankly told the
engineers of a defect involved in the transformation by the new method, namely,
the loss in the spark gap. Subsequent investigation showed that no matter what
medium is employed, Ðbe it air, hydrogen, mercury vapour, oil, or a stream of
electrons, the efficiency is the same. It is a law very much like the governing
of the conversion of mechanical energy. We may drop a weight from a certain
height vertically down, or carry it to the lower level along any devious path;
it is immaterial insofar as the amount of work is concerned. Fortunately
however, this drawback is not fatal, as by proper proportioning of the resonant,
circuits of an efficiency of 85 percent is attainable. Since my early
announcement of the invention, it has come into universal use and wrought a
revolution in many departments, but a still greater future awaits it.
When in 1900 I obtained powerful discharges of 1,000 feet and flashed a current
around the globe, I was reminded of the first tiny spark I observed in my Grand
Street laboratory and was thrilled by sensations akin to those I felt when I
discovered the rotating magnetic field.
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Chapter 5