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Nikola Tesla for Defendant�Direct.
A. Yes. You see the underground
work is one of the most expensive parts of the
tower. In this system that I have invented
it is necessary for the machine to get a grip of
the earth, otherwise it cannot shake the earth.
It has to have a grip on the earth so that the
whole of this globe can quiver, and to do that
it is necessary to carry out a very expensive
construction. I had in fact invented
special machines. But I want to say this
underground work belongs to the tower.
By Mr. Hawkins :
Q. Anything that was there, tell us about.
A. There was, as your Honor states, a big shaft
about ten by twelve feet goes down about one
hundred and twenty feet and this was first
covered with timber and the inside with steel
and in the center of this there was a winding
stairs going down and in the center of the
stairs there was a big shaft again through which
the current was to pass, and this shaft was so
figured in order to tell exactly where the nodal
point is, so that I could calculate every point
of distance. For instance I could
calculate exactly the size of the earth or the
diameter of the earth and measure it exactly
within four feet with that machine.
Q. And that was a necessary appurtenance to your
tower?
A. Absolutely necessary. And then the real
expensive work was to connect that central part
with the earth, and there I had special machines
rigged up which would push the iron pipe, one
length after another, and I pushed these iron
pipes, I think sixteen of them, three hundred
feet, and then the current through these pipes
takes hold of the earth. Now that was a
very expensive part of the work, but it does not
show on the tower, but it belongs to the tower.