little fraternizing at MassEnergy, although people practically live here.”
She walked them out of the pod complex toward the large five-story administration building. Building schematics for the campus were filed with the Portland City Department of Building and Code. Lunsford had gotten a hold of them and required Luke to memorize the detailed plans. He knew where the offices and suites were but not who or what was located in them. This walk with Kathryn was helpful to fill in the blanks.
She gave Luke a cursory overview of the admin building. It housed company executives on the top floor, where one of her offices was located. The four floors below were filled with the typical assortment of departments, such as human resources, legal and accounting. The auditorium and several large conference rooms surrounded the public lobby and exhibit hall.
The exhibit hall was a huge room that held artifacts from the early 1900s that were collected to inspire employees and interest potential investors or other visitors. A 46-foot high wood and metal tower sat in the center of the room. A four-foot glass railing surrounded the tower to keep visiting school children from attempting to climb it. It was a quarter-scale replica of a famous Nikola Tesla project.
“I assume you recognize the tower?” she asked.
“Of course, in 1901 Tesla built his communications and electricity device, called the Wardenclyffe Tower in rural Long Island. The 15-story structure was intended to transmit wireless radio signals around the world. Funding for the Tesla Broadcasting System originally came from J.P. Morgan – the man – not the company. It was intended to deliver radio transmissions around the globe through the ionosphere.”
“And if he would have left his design at that, it might have actually been completed,” she said.
“Right, Tesla added to his design what he thought was the ability to wirelessly transmit electricity along with his communications signals. He called it ‘world wireless.’”
At the time electricity was used primarily for simple lighting at night, but was quickly spreading to industry and home convenience. He was attempting to turn his alternating current into a radio transmission that could be delivered anywhere.
Luke continued, although it seemed as though Kathryn already knew the story.
“Once J.P. Morgan learned that Tesla’s tower had the potential to provide free electricity to everyone on earth, he pulled his support, knowing that his investors would never go for such a giveaway. The Wardenclyffe tower was never completed and thus never tested. It was torn down a decade later.”
“Tesla had a vision, but could not gather enough support to see it through,” Kathryn said. “Sounds like MassEnergy so far.”
“He was ahead of his time,” Luke said. “He did not have the technical knowhow to accomplish what he intended to deliver, though he was far better prepared at the time than any of his contemporaries.”
Tesla’s plans influenced the development of modern day cellular tower networks and, no question, were the inspiration for Warren Evans to develop his proprietary wireless towers and stubs.
Luke looked up at the tower, which even on a small scale, was more than four stories high. It was wood, metal and copper and topped with a circular dome. The replica was made from pictures of the real tower.
On the exterior walls of the exhibit hall were large-scale reproductions of Tesla’s massive energy machine designs. Tesla coils, which looked like something out of a black and white Frankenstein movie were placed around the room. Images showed bolts of lightning shooting out from the devices. Several whitewashed wooden planks, which were said to be from the original Wardenclyffe Tower, were on display under a bright light.
“Why do you think StuTech and its public relations wing have so vehemently denied any association with Tesla?” Kathryn asked.
“Honestly, it’s because of Warren
She walked them out of the pod complex toward the large five-story administration building. Building schematics for the campus were filed with the Portland City Department of Building and Code. Lunsford had gotten a hold of them and required Luke to memorize the detailed plans. He knew where the offices and suites were but not who or what was located in them. This walk with Kathryn was helpful to fill in the blanks.
She gave Luke a cursory overview of the admin building. It housed company executives on the top floor, where one of her offices was located. The four floors below were filled with the typical assortment of departments, such as human resources, legal and accounting. The auditorium and several large conference rooms surrounded the public lobby and exhibit hall.
The exhibit hall was a huge room that held artifacts from the early 1900s that were collected to inspire employees and interest potential investors or other visitors. A 46-foot high wood and metal tower sat in the center of the room. A four-foot glass railing surrounded the tower to keep visiting school children from attempting to climb it. It was a quarter-scale replica of a famous Nikola Tesla project.
“I assume you recognize the tower?” she asked.
“Of course, in 1901 Tesla built his communications and electricity device, called the Wardenclyffe Tower in rural Long Island. The 15-story structure was intended to transmit wireless radio signals around the world. Funding for the Tesla Broadcasting System originally came from J.P. Morgan – the man – not the company. It was intended to deliver radio transmissions around the globe through the ionosphere.”
“And if he would have left his design at that, it might have actually been completed,” she said.
“Right, Tesla added to his design what he thought was the ability to wirelessly transmit electricity along with his communications signals. He called it ‘world wireless.’”
At the time electricity was used primarily for simple lighting at night, but was quickly spreading to industry and home convenience. He was attempting to turn his alternating current into a radio transmission that could be delivered anywhere.
Luke continued, although it seemed as though Kathryn already knew the story.
“Once J.P. Morgan learned that Tesla’s tower had the potential to provide free electricity to everyone on earth, he pulled his support, knowing that his investors would never go for such a giveaway. The Wardenclyffe tower was never completed and thus never tested. It was torn down a decade later.”
“Tesla had a vision, but could not gather enough support to see it through,” Kathryn said. “Sounds like MassEnergy so far.”
“He was ahead of his time,” Luke said. “He did not have the technical knowhow to accomplish what he intended to deliver, though he was far better prepared at the time than any of his contemporaries.”
Tesla’s plans influenced the development of modern day cellular tower networks and, no question, were the inspiration for Warren Evans to develop his proprietary wireless towers and stubs.
Luke looked up at the tower, which even on a small scale, was more than four stories high. It was wood, metal and copper and topped with a circular dome. The replica was made from pictures of the real tower.
On the exterior walls of the exhibit hall were large-scale reproductions of Tesla’s massive energy machine designs. Tesla coils, which looked like something out of a black and white Frankenstein movie were placed around the room. Images showed bolts of lightning shooting out from the devices. Several whitewashed wooden planks, which were said to be from the original Wardenclyffe Tower, were on display under a bright light.
“Why do you think StuTech and its public relations wing have so vehemently denied any association with Tesla?” Kathryn asked.
“Honestly, it’s because of Warren
Similar Books
