I shall dwell briefly on these
extraordinary experiences, on account of their
possible interest to students of psychology
and physiology and also because this
period of agony was of the greatest
consequence on my mental development and
subsequent labors. But it is indispensable
to first relate the circumstances
and conditions which preceded them and in
which might be found their partial
explanation.
From childhood I was compelled to
concentrate attention upon myself. This caused
me much suffering, but to my present view,
it was a blessing in disguise for it
has taught me to appreciate the inestimable
value of introspection in the
preservation of life, as well as a means of
achievement. The pressure of
occupation and the incessant stream of
impressions pouring into our
consciousness through all the gateways of
knowledge make modern existence
hazardous in many ways. Most persons are so
absorbed in the contemplation of the
outside world that they are wholly
oblivious to what is passing on within
themselves. The premature death of millions
is primarily traceable to this
cause. Even among those who exercise care,
it is a common mistake to avoid
imaginary, and ignore the real dangers. And
what is true of an individual also
applies, more or less, to a people as a
whole.
Abstinence was not always to my
liking, but I find ample reward in the agreeable
experiences I am now making. Just in the
hope of converting some to my precepts
and convictions I will recall one or
two.
A short time ago I was returning
to my hotel. It was a bitter cold night, the
ground slippery, and no taxi to be had.
Half a block behind me followed another
man, evidently as anxious as myself to get
under cover. Suddenly my legs went up
in the air. At the same instant there was a
flash in my brain. The nerves
responded, the muscles contracted. I swung
180 degrees and landed on my hands. I
resumed my walk as though nothing had
happened when the stranger caught up with
me. "How old are you?" he asked, surveying
me critically.
"Oh, about fifty-nine," I replied,
"What of it?"
"Well," said he, "I have seen a
cat do this but never a man." About a month ago
I wanted to order new eye glasses and went
to an oculist who put me through the
usual tests. He looked at me incredulously
as I read off with ease the smallest
print at considerable distance. But when I
told him I was past sixty he gasped
in astonishment. Friends of mine often
remark that my suits fit me like gloves
but they do not know that all my clothing
is made to measurements which were
taken nearly fifteen years ago and never
changed. During this same period my
weight has not varied one pound. In this
connection I may tell a funny story.
One evening, in the winter of
1885, Mr. Edison, Edward H. Johnson, the President
of the Edison Illuminating Company, Mr.
Batchellor, Manager of the works, and
myself, entered a little place opposite 65
Firth Avenue, where the offices of
the company were located. Someone suggested
guessing weights and I was induced
to step on a scale. Edison felt me all over
and said: "Tesla weighs 152 lbs. to
an ounce," and he guessed it exactly.
Stripped I weighed 142 pounds, and that is
still my weight. I whispered to Mr.
Johnson; "How is it possible that Edison
could guess my weight so
closely?"
"Well," he said, lowering his
voice. "I will tell you confidentially, but you
must not say anything. He was employed for
a long time in a Chicago slaughter-
house where he weighed thousands of hogs
every day. That's why."
My friend, the Hon. Chauncey M.
Dupew, tells of an Englishman on whom he sprung
one of his original anecdotes and who
listened with a puzzled expression, but a
year later, laughed out loud. I will
frankly confess it took me longer than that
to appreciate Johnson's joke. Now, my
well-being is simply the result of a
careful and measured mode of living and
perhaps the most astonishing thing is
that three times in my youth I was rendered
by illness a hopeless physical wreck
and given up by physicians. MORE than this,
through ignorance and
lightheartedness, I got into all sorts of difficulties, dangers and
scrapes from
which
I extricated myself as by enchantment. I was almost drowned,
entombed,
lost and
frozen. I had hair-breadth escapes from mad dogs, hogs, and other
wild
animals. I
passed through dreadful diseases and met with all kinds of odd
mishaps and that I am whole and
hearty today seems like a miracle. But as I
recall these incidents to my mind I feel
convinced that my preservation was not
altogether accidental, but was indeed the
work of divine power. An inventor's
endeavor is essentially life saving.
Whether he harnesses forces, improves
devices, or provides new comforts and
conveniences, he is adding to the safety
of our existence. He is also better
qualified than the average individual to
protect himself in peril, for he is
observant and resourceful. If I had no other
evidence that I was, in a measure,
possessed of such qualities, I would find it
in these personal experiences. The reader
will be able to judge for himself if I
mention one or two
instances.
On one occasion, when about
fourteen years old, I wanted to scare some friends
who were bathing with me. My plan was to
dive under a long floating structure
and slip out quietly at the other end.
Swimming and diving came to me as
naturally as to a duck and I was confident
that I could perform the feat.
Accordingly I plunged into the water and,
when out of view, turned around and
proceeded rapidly towards the opposite
side. Thinking that I was safely beyond
the structure, I rose to the surface but to
my dismay struck a beam. Of course,
I quickly dived and forged ahead with rapid
strokes until my breath was
beginning to give out. Rising for the second time, my head came again
in contact
with a
beam. Now I was becoming desperate. However, summoning all my energy,
I
made a third
frantic attempt but the result was the same. The torture of
suppressed breathing was getting
unendurable, my brain was reeling and I felt
myself sinking. At that moment, when my
situation seemed absolutely hopeless, I
experienced one of those flashes of light
and the structure above me appeared
before my vision. I either discerned or
guessed that there was a little space
between the surface of the water and the
boards resting on the beams and, with
consciousness nearly gone, I floated up,
pressed my mouth close to the planks
and managed to inhale a little air,
unfortunately mingled with a spray of water
which nearly choked me. Several times I
repeated this procedure as in a dream
until my heart, which was racing at a
terrible rate, quieted down, and I gained
composure. After that I made a number of
unsuccessful dives, having completely
lost the sense of direction, but finally
succeeded in getting out of the trap
when my friends had already given me up and
were fishing for my body. That
bathing season was spoiled for me through
recklessness but I soon forgot the
lesson and only two years later I fell into
a worse predicament.
There was a large flour mill with
a dam across the river near the city where I
was studying at the time. As a rule the
height of the water was only two or
three inches above the dam and to swim to
it was a sport not very dangerous in
which I often indulged. One day I went
alone to the river to enjoy myself as
usual. When I was a short distance from the
masonry, however, I was horrified to
observe that the water had risen and was
carrying me along swiftly. I tried to
get away but it was too late. Luckily,
though, I saved myself from being swept
over by taking hold of the wall with both
hands. The pressure against my chest
was great and I was barely able to keep my
head above the surface. Not a soul
was in sight and my voice was lost in the
roar of the fall. Slowly and gradually
I became exhausted and unable to withstand
the strain longer. Just as I was
about to let go, to be dashed against the
rocks below, I saw in a flash of light
a familiar diagram illustrating the
hydraulic principle that the pressure of a
fluid in motion is proportionate to the
area exposed and automatically I turned
on my left side. As if by magic, the
pressure was reduced and I found it
comparatively easy in that position to
resist the force of the stream. But the
danger still confronted me. I knew that
sooner or later I would be carried down,
as it was not possible for any help to
reach me in time, even if I had attracted
attention. I am ambidextrous now, but then
I was left-handed and had
comparatively little strength in my right arm. For this reason I did
not dare to
turn on
the other side to rest and nothing remained but to slowly push my
body
along the dam.
I had to get away from the mill towards which my face was
turned,
as the
current there was much swifter and deeper. It was a long and
painful
ordeal and
I came near to failing at its very end, for I was confronted with
a
depression in the
masonry. I managed to get over with the last ounce of my
strength and fell in a swoon when
I reached the bank, where I was found. I had
torn virtually all the skin from my left
side and it took several weeks before
the fever had subsided and I was well.
These are only two of many instanced, but
they may be sufficient to show that had it
not been for the inventor's instinct,
I would not have lived to tell the
tale.
Interested people have often asked
me how and when I began to invent. This I can
only answer from my present recollection in
the light of which, the first
attempt I recall was rather ambitious for
it involved the invention of an
apparatus and a method. In the former I was
anticipated, but the later was
original. It happened in this way. One of
my playmates had come into the
possession of a hook and fishing tackle
which created quite an excitement in the
village, and the next morning all started
out to catch frogs. I was left alone
and deserted owing to a quarrel with this
boy. I had never seen a real hook and
pictured it as something wonderful, endowed
with peculiar qualities, and was
despairing not to be one of the party.
Urged by necessity, I somehow got hold of
a piece of soft iron wire, hammered the end
to a sharp point between two stones,
bent it into shape, and fastened it to a
strong string. I then cut a rod,
gathered some bait, and went down to the
brook where there were frogs in
abundance. But I could not catch any and
was almost discouraged when it occurred
to me dangle the empty hook in front of a
frog sitting on a stump. At first he
collapsed but by and by his eyes bulged out
and became bloodshot, he swelled to
twice his normal size and made a vicious
snap at the hook. Immediately I pulled
him up. I tried the same thing again and
again and the method proved infallible.
When my comrades, who in spite of their
fine outfit had caught nothing, came to
me, they were green with envy. For a long
time I kept my secret and enjoyed the
monopoly but finally yielded to the spirit
of Christmas. Every boy could then do
the same and the following summer brought
disaster to the frogs.
In my next attempt, I seem to have
acted under the first instinctive impulse
which later dominated me, -- to harness the
energies of nature to the service of
man. I did this through the medium of May
bugs, or June bugs as they are called
in America, which were a veritable pest in
that country and sometimes broke the
branches of trees by the sheer weight of
their bodies. The bushes were black
with them. I would attach as many as four
of them to a cross-piece, rotably
arranged on a thin spindle, and transmit
the motion of the same to a large disc
and so derive considerable 'power.' These
creatures were remarkably efficient,
for once they were started, they had no
sense to stop and continued whirling for
hours and hours and the hotter it was, the
harder they worked. All went well
until a strange boy came to the place. He
was the son of a retired officer in
the Austrian army. That urchin ate May-bugs
alive and enjoyed them as though
they were the finest blue-point oysters.
That disgusting sight terminated my
endeavors in this promising field and I
have never since been able to touch a
May-bug or any other insect for that
matter.
After that, I believe, I undertook
to take apart and assemble the clocks of my
grandfather. In the former operation I was
always successful, but often failed
in the latter. So it came that he brought
my work to a sudden halt in a manner
not too delicate and it took thirty years
before I tackled another clockwork
again.
Shortly thereafter, I went into
the manufacture of a kind of pop-gun which
comprised a hollow tube, a piston, and two
plugs of hemp. When firing the gun,
the piston was pressed against the stomach
and the tube was pushed back quickly
with both hands. the air between the plugs
was compressed and raised to a high
temperature and one of them was expelled
with a loud report. The art consisted
in selecting a tube of the proper taper
from the hollow stalks which were found
in our garden. I did very well with that
gun, but my activities interfered with
the window panes in our house and met with
painful discouragement.
If I remember rightly, I then took
to carving swords from pieces of furniture
which I could conveniently obtain. At that
time I was under the sway of the
Serbian national poetry and full of
admiration for the feats of the heroes. I
used to spend hours in mowing down my
enemies in the form of corn-stalks which
ruined the crops and netted me several
spankings from my mother. Moreover, these
were not of the formal kind but the genuine
article.
I had all this and more behind me
before I was six years old and had passed
through one year of elementary school in
the village of Smiljan where my family
lived. At this juncture we moved to the
little city of Gospic nearby. This
change of residence was like a calamity to
me. It almost broke my heart to part
from our pigeons, chickens and sheep, and
our magnificent flock of geese which
used to rise to the clouds in the morning
and return from the feeding grounds at
sundown in battle formation, so perfect
that it would have put a squadron of the
best aviators of the present day to shame.
In our new house I was but a
prisoner, watching the strange people I saw
through my window blinds. My
bashfulness was such that I would rather
have faced a roaring lion than one of
the city dudes who strolled about. But my
hardest trial came on Sunday when I
had to dress up and attend the service.
There I met with an accident, the mere
thought of which made my blood curdle like
sour milk for years afterwards. It
was my second adventure in a church. Not
long before, I was entombed for a night
in an old chapel on an inaccessible
mountain which was visited only once a year.
It was an awful experience, but this one
was worse.
There was a wealthy lady in town,
a good but pompous woman, who used to come to
the church gorgeously painted up and
attired with an enormous train and
attendants. One Sunday I had just finished
ringing the bell in the belfry and
rushed downstairs, when this grand dame was
sweeping out and I jumped on her
train. It tore off with a ripping noise
which sounded like a salvo of musketry
fired by raw recruits. My father was livid
with rage. He gave me a gentle slap
on the cheek, the only corporal punishment
he ever administered to me, but I
almost feel it now. The embarrassment and
confusion that followed are
indescribably. I was practically ostracized until something else
happened which
redeemed me in the estimation of the community.
An enterprising young merchant had
organized a fire department. A new fire
engine was purchased, uniforms provided and
the men drilled for service and
parade. The engine was beautifully painted
red and black. One afternoon, the
official trial was prepared for and the
machine was transported to the river.
The entire population turned out to witness
the great spectacle. When all the
speeches and ceremonies were concluded, the
command was given to pump, but not a
drop of water came from the nozzle. The
professors and experts tried in vain to
locate the trouble. The fizzle was complete
when I arrived at the scene. My
knowledge of of the mechanism was nil and I
knew next to nothing of air
pressure, but instinctively I felt for the suction hose in the water
and found
that it
had collapsed. When I waded in the river and opened it up, the
water
rushed forth
and not a few Sunday clothes were spoiled. Archimedes running
naked
through the
streets of Syracuse and shouting Eureka at the top of his voice
did
not make a
greater impression than myself. I was carried on the shoulders
and
was hero of the
day.
Upon settling in the city I began
a four years course in the so-called Normal
School preparatory to my studies at the
College or Real-Gymnasium. During this
period my boyish efforts and exploits as
well as troubles, continued.
Among other things, I attained the
unique distinction of champion crow catcher
in the country. My method of procedure was
extremely simple. I would go into the
forest, hide in the bushes, and imitate the
call of the birds. Usually I would
get several answers and in a short while a
crow would flutter down into the
shrubbery near me. After that, all I needed
to do was to throw a piece of
cardboard to detract its attention, jump up
and grab it before it could
extricate itself from the undergrowth. In this way I would capture as
many as I
desired.
But on one occasion something occurred which made me respect them.
I
had caught a fine
pair of birds and was returning home with a friend. When we
left the forest, thousands of
crows had gathered making a frightful racket. In a
few minutes they rose in pursuit and soon
enveloped us. The fun lasted until all
of a sudden I received a blow on the back
of my head which knocked me down. Then
they attacked me viciously. I was compelled
to release the two birds and was
glad to join my friend who had taken refuge
in a cave.
In the school room there were a
few mechanical models which interested me and
turned my attention to water turbines. I
constructed many of these and found
great pleasure in operating them. How
extraordinary was my life an incident may
illustrate. My uncle had no use for this
kind of pastime and more than once
rebuked me. I was fascinated by a
description of Niagara Falls I had perused,
and pictured in my imagination a big wheel
run by the falls. I told my uncle
that I would go to America and carry out
this scheme. Thirty years later I was
my ideas carried out at Niagara and
marveled at the unfathomable mystery of the
mind.
I made all kinds of other
contrivances and contraptions but among those, the
arbalests I produced were the best. My
arrows, when short, disappeared from
sight and at close range traversed a plank
of pine one inch thick. Through the
continuous tightening of the bows I
developed a skin on my stomach much like
that of a crocodile and I am often
wondering whether it is due to this exercise
that I am able even now to digest
cobble-stones! Nor can I pass in silence my
performances with the sling which would
have enabled me to give a stunning
exhibit at the Hippodrome. And now I will
tell of one of my feats with this
unique implement of war which will strain
to the utmost the credulity of the
reader.
I was practicing while walking
with my uncle along the river. The sun was
setting, the trout were playful and from
time to time one would shoot up into
the air, its glistening body sharply
defined against a projecting rock beyond.
Of course any boy might have hit a fish
under these propitious conditions but I
undertook a much more difficult task and I
foretold to my uncle, to the minutest
detail, what I intended doing. I was to
hurl a stone to meet the fish, press its
body against the rock, and cut it in two.
It was no sooner said than done. My
uncle looked at me almost scared out of his
wits and exclaimed "Vade retra
Satanae!" and it was a few days before he
spoke to me again. Other records,
however great, will be eclipsed but I feel
that I could peacefully rest on my
laurels for a thousand
years.
