Nikola Tesla

The New York Times quoted Tesla when reporting on the fire: 'I am in too much grief to talk. What can I say? The work of half my lifetime, very nearly all my mechanical instruments and scientific apparatus, that it has taken years to perfect, swept away in a fire that lasted only an hour or two. How can I estimate the loss in mere dollars and cents? Everything is gone. I must begin over again.'.

It started in the basement of the building and was so intense Tesla's 4th-floor lab burned and collapsed into the second floor. The fire not only set back Tesla's ongoing projects, but it also destroyed a collection of early notes and research material, models, and demonstration pieces, including many that had been exhibited at the 1893 Worlds Colombian Exposition. Tesla told The New York Times "I am in too much grief to talk. What can I say?" After the fire Tesla moved to 46 & 48 East Houston Street and rebuilt his lab on the 6th and 7th floors..

Mrs. Hearst kindly remembered me from the top of Pike's Peak. I sent a dispatch in reply but […] it failed to reach its destination. I agree with you that no honors are too great and too many for her. It is a pity that so very few of those who are able to help are conscious of the great opportunities they have for rendering themselves and their fellow beings happy." On September 2, 1897, Tesla filed a patent for a "wireless system of transmission of electrical energy," which invention he first demonstrated at the Gerlach (today known as the "Radio Wave Building")..

I have taken upon myself all of Mr. Warren's obligations and your brother [Ernest Clymer Hawkins, also employed at Wardenclyffe] need not pay any attention to the bills which might be presented to him, and for which he is in no way responsible [...]". - Tesla sends this letter from his offices in the City Investing Building at 165 Broadway, although on Tesla Laboratory letterhead with the iconic Wardenclyffe Tower at the top. Much of the letter addresses financial matters, which were a constant concern for Tesla and his employees. Nine years previously Tesla had met with J. P. Morgan to convince the financier that he would be able to use his resonant transformer technology (later dubbed the Tesla Coil) to be the first to broadcast messages across the Atlantic. Morgan eventually agreed to put up $150,000 in return for 51% of Tesla's patent rights. Tesla got to work as soon as the funds were disbursed, and construction began in September of 1901. However, the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) was also working on long-distance wireless communication, and would be successful before Tesla. When Tesla petitioned Morgan for additional funds to continue his project after Marconi's success, Morgan refused. Tesla spent the ensuing years continuing to revise his plans while he searched for additional investors and continued to pursue Morgan. By the time the present letter was written, Tesla had been hounded by creditors for several years and had begun to work on other projects such as his bladeless turbine in an attempt to generate funds to complete his Wardenclyffe plant. - Despite his difficulties, it is apparent that Tesla remained energetic and optimistic. His effusive final paragraph reads, "You will be glad to know that all of my inventions are turning out to be a splendid success and I am positively expecting not only to resume the work on my plant very shortly, but also to bring it to completion, all from my own resources. You may now expect from me favorable news at any moment". - Gently creased, otherwise in good condition..

You must therefore give us all the time you can [...]". - Tesla developed the first practical phosphorescent lamp, and would take the first photograph to be illuminated by phosphorescence - an image of Tesla himself holding the bulb in a rather dimly-lit room - in the weeks preceding this letter..