Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens

Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens: The Friendship
Between Two Luminaries o f the Gilded Age
Bmtislav Stojiljkovic, Dragoljub A. Cucic, and Zoran Pajic

Belgrade and Pancevo , Serbia
Introduction
ikola Tesla (18561943) was an American scientist of Serbian origin.

His greatest contributions to the science and technological progress of
human civilization were the invention of the rotating magnetic field, induc
tion motor, polyphase alternating current, as well as the complete system of
generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. He constructed a gen
erator of high-frequency and high-voltage alternate currents, better known as
the Tesla transformer, coreless transformer, or Tesla coil. He made numerous
inventions and discoveries in the fields of lighting, radio technology, wireless
transmission, application of high-frequency currents in industry and medi
cine, as well as unusual but original inventions in mechanical engineering and
aviation. In I960 his name was given to the unit of magnetic induction in the
International System of Units.
Tesla was born on 10 July 1856 in Smiljan (Military Frontier of Austria,
today the Republic of Croatia) in a Serbian priest family. He received his
education in Austria and, later, in Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (founded on
29 May 1867). He started school in Smiljan in 1862. A year later, the family
moved to Gospic, after his father Milutin (1819-1879) was appointed pas
tor of the local Church of Saint George. There Nikola finished elementary
school (Hauptschule) between 1863 and 1867. After that he attended junior
high school (Unterrealschule) in Gospic (1867-1870) and senior high school
{Oberrealschule) in Karlovac (Carlstadt) (1870-1873). From 1875 to 1878 he
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was a student of the Polytechnic School (Technische Hochschule) in Graz,1and

in 1880 he enrolled in the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. In the Eu
ropean part of his life, he worked in Maribor, Budapest, Paris, and Strasbourg.
He moved to the United States in June 1884 so that he could develop and
materialize his inventive ideas more easily. He mosdy lived and worked in
New York, where he accomplished almost all of his inventions and discoveries.
Using Teslas inventions and discoveries as a background, we study him as
a person, a man with innovating gifts, comprehensive education and strong
charisma that helped him meet, collaborate, and socialize with some of the most
distinguished people of the time who profoundly influenced the contemporary
society. One of them was the famous American writer, Samuel Langhorne
Clemens (1835-1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain.
Their friendship lasted nearly twenty years, from the beginning of the 1890s
until Clemenss death in 1910. Although they worked hard and changed places
of residence, they did their best to keep the friendship and mutual respect.
This assertion is supported by John Joseph O Neill (18891953), a science
journalist for the New York Herald Tribune and the first biographer of Tesla,
who calls them close friends, as does David Fears, in his four-volume chro
nology of Clemenss life.2
Wondrous light effects, proficiently made by Tesla during his laboratory
experiments, deeply impressed the visitors who used to call him the master
of light or master of lightning. One of them was Clemens, who sincerely
appreciated the gift of inventiveness, mentioned in his book A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthurs Court. At one point he says that inventors are the
creators of this world after God,3naming among others Gutenberg, Watt,
Morse and Bell. His biographer Milton Meltzer says that despite the sorrows
that brought him, Mark couldnt root up his love for inventions,4this opinion
is shared by David Fears, who claims that various inventors often mesmerized
Clemens, and Tesla was a particularly brilliant and prescient one.5
By the end of August 1908 Clemens got a letter from an American ency
clopedist, Henry Ruoff, asking him to examine and expand the list of nearly
one hundred persons who have had the largest visible influence on the life
and activities of the race.6 In his reply7 dated 28 August, under Industry
section, Clemens penned a candidate described as The Wireless Man. Since
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Nikola Tesla was a vastly dominant figure in that area, it is highly likely that
he was just the man Clemens had in mind when writing these lines.
Many projects and scientific papers done to date have not explored as an
independent subject the friendship of Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens.
Their meetings are mentioned in almost all the books written about Tesla;
however, they are often depicted with sensationalism, with no clear intention
of the authors to further explore and analyze the events and in that way de
lineate what really happened, and what belongs to the mythology of the era.
In addition to the first version of this paper,8 the only dedicated research on
the subject was done by Katherine Krumme, a student of the University of
California at Berkeley, during a one-semester course on Tesla. She presented
her research results in an essay called Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla: Thunder
and Lightning.9 On the other hand, several major Clemens biographies (by
Justin Kaplan, Ron Powers, or, for instance, Jerome Loving) do not mention
Tesla at all.
The Beginning o f Friendship between Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens

Due to interesting circumstances, Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens began
their friendship many years prior to their first official meeting in New York.
From February to October 1919 Tesla published six autobiographic articles
in the Electrical Experimenter magazine. Fie wanted to use a renowned and
rather popular American periodical to present the events of his life, and thus
arouse the interest of young generations in science and scientific research. The
publisher and editor-in-chief and one ofTeslas great admirers, Flugo Gernsback
(1884-1967), confirmed this intention in his introductory article: Dr. Tesla
wants it expressly understood that he is undertaking this great work chiefly to
educate the young generation. He felt that he could not possibly reach such
a large electrically trained young manhood, save thru [sic] the medium of the
ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER. W ith its circulation above 100,000, all
enthusiastic experimenters, Tesla feels that his greatest mission in life, namely
to assist our rising generation, will come near fulfillment.10
In one of the articles, Tesla described his informal meeting with Clemens
and the circumstances that preceded it:
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I had hardly completed my course at the Real Gymnasium when I was

prostrated with a dangerous illness or rather, a score of them, and my condi
tion became so desperate that I was given up by physicians. During this period
I was permitted to read constantly, obtaining books from the Public Library
which had been neglected and entrusted to me for classification of the works
and preparation of the catalogues. One day I was handed a few volumes of new
literature unlike anything I had ever read before and so captivating as to make
me utterly forget my hopeless state. They were the earlier works of Mark Twain
and to them might have been due the miraculous recovery which followed.
Twenty-five years later, when I met Mr. Clements [rzc] and we formed a friend
ship between us, I told him of the experience and was amazed to see that great
man of laughter burst into tears.11
The events described by Tesla took place in July 1870, when, upon comple
tion o f the school year, he fell seriously ill. Lets try to determine which books
he had in mind.
Apart from the newspaper articles, until 1870 Twain published only a few
short stories and a travel book called The Innocents Abroad (1869). Several
reference bibliographies o f the German translations o f works by Twain and
other American authors12 show that the first Twain book in Germ any was
published in 1874; it was a collection13 that included a story The Celebrated
Jum ping Frog o f Calaveras Country, a num ber o f sketches and anecdotes, as
well as a travel book Roughing It, while The Innocents Abroad was published in
1875. However, none o f the bibliographies cover the period before 1871, so it
remains unclear which books were read by Tesla and which ones exactly helped
him recover. Naturally, it is possible that there are earlier Germ an translations
that havent been discovered yet.
Since in this period Tesla spoke Germ an (the official language in Austrian
and Austro-Hungarian schools) but not English, it follows that he couldnt
have read any originals. In his autobiographical account he clearly states to
have read a few volumes o f new literature: these could be short stories as
well as longer works, released by a Germ an or an Austro-Hungarian publisher.
There were other illnesses in this period. In Karlovac he caught malaria and,
according to his own words, suffered from fever for three years, despite huge
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am ounts o f ingested quinine. Furthermore, in 1873, after graduating from

high school, he headed home, disregarding his parents request, and contracted
cholera, which was raging in Gospic at the time. This period is also described
in detail in his article.
It is incredible how absolutely ignorant people were as to the causes of this
scourge which visited the country in intervals of from fifteen to twenty years.
They thought that the deadly agents were transmitted thru [] the air and filled
it with pungent odors and smoke. In the meantime they drank the infected water
and died in heaps. I contracted the awful disease on the very day of my arrival
and altho [nc] surviving the crisis, I was confined to bed for nine months with
scarcely any ability to move. My energy was completely exhausted and for the
second time I found myself at deaths door. In one of the sinking spells which
was thought to be the last, my father rushed into the room. I still see his pallid
face as he tried to cheer me in tones belying his assurance. Perhaps, I said,
I may get well if you will let me study engineering. You will go to the best
technical institution in the world, he solemnly replied, and I knew that he
meant it. A heavy weight was lifted from my mind but the relief would have
come too late had it not been for a marvelous cure brought about thru [sic] a
bitter decoction of a peculiar bean. I came to life like another Lazarus to the
utter amazement of everybody.14
Teslas articles were written almost fifty years after the events in question, so
it is also possible that his dating was inaccurate. However, based on numerous
vivid details, one m ight conclude that his boyhood and youth were precisely
described and clearly delineated, so it is likely that there was no oversight on
his part. H e explicitly described what had happened to him in those decisive
m om ents o f his life and what had been crucial for his recovery and continued
education.
The Interest o f Samuel Clemens in Teslas Induction Motors

U pon his arrival to New York, Tesla got a job with Edison M achine Works,
where he worked until the end o f 1884. By the beginning o f the next year, he
founded his first company, The Tesla Electric Light & M anufacturing Com -
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pany, based in Rahway, New Jersey, which existed until 1886. In this period
he developed automatic DC arc lamps and the generators with auxiliary power
regulation brushes, as well as special commutators with damped sparks. In 1887
he constructed his first generators, transformers and polyphase AC motors.
Between 1887 and 1891 Tesla approached the US Patent Office and legally
protected several inventions, including the asynchronous electromagnetic
motor, various types of synchronous motors and generators, the construction
of machine elements, the combinations of generators, transformers and mo
tors, as well as the application of the rotating magnetic field in remote power
transmission. His results and findings were presented before the American In
stitute of Electrical Engineers at Columbia University in his first public lecture
called A New System of Alternate Current Motors and Transformers, held
on 16 May 1888. O n 7 July the same year, inventor and industrialist George
Westinghouse (18461914) obtained the rights to use seven ofTeslas patents,
which represented the missing link in the contemporary system of generation,
transmission and distribution of alternating current.
From 1888 to 1889, in Pittsburgh, Tesla worked with Westinghouse Electric
Company engineers on the practical realization of these patents. The commercial
production of his motors required two parameters to be agreed upon: current
frequency and current type. In 1891, the frequency of 60 Hz was accepted as
the Westinghouse standard, and in 1893 a consensus was reached on the use
of the polyphase alternating current in public power distribution in the USA.
Samuel Clemens noted the famous scientist and inventor in a period of
intense media coverage Tesla got after the aforementioned lecture in which he
introduced the induction motors and generators based on the application of
the rotating magnetic field. Clemens thought very highly ofTeslas creativity
and recognized his importance early on, when the latter presented his polyphase
alternating current system, as illustrated by these words:
Nov. 1, 1888. I have just seen the drawings & descriptions of an electrical
machine lately patented by a Mr. <Teska> Tesla, & sold to the Westinghouse
Company, which will revolutionize the whole electric business of the world. It
is the most valuable patent since the telephone. The drawings & description
show that this is the very machine, in every detail which Paige invented nearly
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4 years ago.151 furnished $1,000 for the experiments, & was to have half of the
invention. We tried a direct current & failed. We wanted to try an alternating
current, but we lacked the apparatus. The $1,000 was exhausted, & I would
furnish nothing more because I was burdened in the 3 succeeding years with
vast expenses on the Paige type-setting machine.16<Teska> Tesla (& Thompson?)
tried everything that we tried, as the drawings & descriptions prove; & he tried
one thing morea thing which we had canvassed the alternating current. That
solved the difficulty & achieved success.17
At the time, many people in the US and Europe were researching different
types of D C or AC motors. Clemens, although a writer, was very well informed
about technical and technological developments of the contemporary electrical
machines and equipment, and was interested in investing his money in their
perfection and production. During 1887 he invested in an electromagnetic
motor being developed by inventor James W. Paige (1842-1917). In a biog
raphy called Tesla: Master o f Lightning, authors Margaret Cheney and Robert
Uth state that Clemens asked Tesla for help and advice regarding investments
in Paiges motor. The reply was negative, with a clear explanation that Paiges
conception was outdated and that there were new, better, and more efficient AC
models. Although the authors speculate this could have been the occasion for
the first meeting of the two men, there is no material evidence for such claims.18
The Players Club a Place o f Socializing between Tesla and Clemens

On the last day of 1888, in a prestigious part of New York City, there was
a formal opening of the Players Club, the first mens club in America. It was
the idea ofEdwin Thomas Booth (1833-1893), a famous Shakespearean actor,
who while in London visited the Garrick Club and decided to make a similar
rendezvous for actors in his own country.19 Besides Booth, the founders were
Samuel Clemens, Joseph Jefferson, General William Sherman (1820-1891)
and a dozen other people.20 The club occupied a renovated town house with
a private park, the interior of which was designed by the famous New York
architect Stanford White (18531906). In the vicinity many famous people
lived: Clemens, White, Richard Watson Gilder, Augustus Saint-Gaudens,
Thomas Alva Edison (18471931), and others.21
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(
Stanford White, the designer of numerous monuments and buildings that
became New York landmarks and today represent a glorious testimony to a
great and dynamic era, wanted Tesla to join the club, because he thought the
renowned scientist would like the character of other members, and also that
the two of them would have the opportunity and the pleasure of meeting there
from time to time. He expressed his intention in a letter to the Players Club
Board of Directors at the beginning of 1894: Nikola Tesla is one of the great
geniuses and most remarkable men who have ever had anything to do with
electricity. . . It is as much of an honor to propose him for membership as his
membership would be an addition to the club.22
A warm welcome was expressed by William Bispham, the club treasurer,
who sent a letter to Tesla on 14 May 1894:
Dear Sir,
I have the honor of notifying you that at a meeting of the Board of Directors
of The Players you were elected a member of the Club . 23
Tesla asked White that their mutual friend Robert Underwood Johnson
(18531937) also be proposed for membership, which was gladly accepted.24
Margaret Cheney, author of a biography called Tesla: Man out o f Time, cites
a message Clemens sent to Tesla by courier. According to Cheney, the letter
is preserved on a microfilm in the Library of Congress in Washington, and
reads: If you do not have more exciting plans for the evening, perhaps you
will join me at the Players Club.25Teslas reply was brief: Alas, I must work.
But if you will join me in my laboratory at midnight, I think I can promise
you some good entertainment.26 Here, however, Cheney offers no reference
whatsoever to confirm the existence of the said letter.
TeslaClemens Letters and Documents Testify to Their Friendship

Exploring the relationship between Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens, the
authors reviewed the available archival documents and consulted a number
of books, newspapers, journals, technical and historical articles, which helped
them obtain evidence and systematize all the documents pertaining to their
friendship and present them in a synoptic table.
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33
The Nikola Teslas Legacy at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Serbia contains
four original documents (two short messages, a letter, and a formal invitation)
sent by Clemens and marked with an asterisk in the Table 1. The messages were
handwritten on the stationery of the Players Club and probably forwarded
by courier. A short letter of interesting content, written on the paper of the
Hotel Krantz (today the Hotel Ambassador) in Vienna was sent by Clemens
in 1898 during his stay in the Austrian capital. The fourth document was a
formal invitation to the wedding ceremony of his daughter Clara, sent to Tesla
in September 1909. No letters in the opposite direction were found.
Table 1
Date
7 Feb. 1894
15 Feb. 1894
2 March 1894
2 March 1894*
(orig. undated)
4 March 1894*
Writer
Addressee/Publication
Origin
Samuel Clemens
Nikola Tesla
Olivia Langdon Clemens

Robert Underwood Johnson
Samuel Clemens
Samuel Clemens
Olivia Langdon Clemens

Nikola Tesla
New York
New York
New York
Samuel Clemens
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
5 March 1894
26 April 1894
27 April 1894
Nikola Tesla
Francis M. Crawford
17 Nov. 1898*
Samuel Clemens

Elizabeth Crawford
Nikola Tesla
undated27
undated,
unconfirmed28
Samuel Clemens
Nikola Tesla
New York
Nikola Tesla
Samuel Clemens
New York
15 Feb. 1907
New York Times

reporter
New York Times
New York
30 April 1907
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
New York Times

New York Times
Nikola Tesla
New York
27 Oct. 1907
6 Oct. 1909*
Samuel Clemens
Vienna
New York
Redding, CT
Immediate testimony of their friendship can be found in the text of a letter

sent by the author to his wife Olivia Langdon (1845-1904) in Paris, wherein
he describes the evening and the night of 6/7 February 1894.29 After several
games of billiards, Clemens spent the rest of the evening and early morning
hours (until 4 a.m.) in the studio of the painter Robert Lewis Reid (1862-1929),
socializing with famous painters, scientists, actors and other artists. Among
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Vol . 52, No. 2
them was Nikola Tesla, the world-wide illustrious electrician. Also present,
he reported were
Coquelin;
Richard Harding Davis;
Harrison, the great out-door painter;
Wm. H . Chase, the artist;
Bettini, inventor of the new phonograph.
Nikola Tesla, the world-wide illustrious electrician; see article about him in
Jan. or Feb. Century? 0
John Drew, actor;
James Barnes, a marvelous mimic; my, you should see him!
Smedley the artist;
Zorn
"
"
Zogbaum
Reinhart
Metcalf
Ancona, head tenor at the Opera;
Oh, & a great lot of others. Everybody there had done something & was in
his way famous.31
In addition to socializing in the Players Club, Tesla and Clemens also met
in the famous New York restaurant Delmonico, the scientists laboratories, and
in the home of their mutual friends, Robert Underwood Johnson (18531937)
and his wife Katharine (?1855-1924).Theirhouseon327 Lexington Avenue
was a pleasant and romantic place where lavish dinners took place and many
celebrities of the time got together, mostly artists, writers, poets, composers,
singers, painters, and other American and European socialites. The guest list
included sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (18481907), poet and editor of
the Century Magazine Richard Watson Gilder (1844-1909), naturalist John
Muir (1838-1914), childrens writer Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905), poet
Leonora Speyer (1872-1956), actor Joseph Jefferson (18291905), and US
Navy Rear Admiral Richmond Pearson Hobson (18701937); the Europeans
were represented by the composers Edward Elgar (18571934) and Ignacy
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Jan Paderewski (18601941), conductor Wilhelm Gericke (18451925),

pianists Katharine Goodson (1872-1958), Adele Aus der Ohe (1864-1937)
and Vasily Safonov (1852-1918), violinist Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931), opera
singers Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938), Milka Ternina (1863-1941) and
E m m ajuch (1861-1939), actors Tommaso Salvini (1829-1915), Eleonora
Duse (1858-1924), Alla Nazimova (1879-1945) and Helena Modjeska
(1840-1909), writers Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) and John Galsworthy
(1867-1933), and many others. Among them was also Ossip Gabrilowitsch
(1878-1936), a Russian pianist, who won the heart of Mark Twain as well
as of Clara Clemens.32
In the Johnson residence the famous scientist met various significant people
and built many friendships. In a biography called Tesla: Spirit, Work, Vision,
the author Branimir Jovanovic states that this was the place where Tesla met
Clemens for the first time, but does not provide any proof for this claim.33
The Photographic Sittings at Teslas Laboratory on South Fifth Avenue

One of the fields Tesla was interested in was alternate currents of high
frequencies. On the basis of experiments with asynchronous motors and gen
erators of polyphase alternating current, starting in 1889 he began to develop
high-frequency generators. The first devices were mechanical and produced
only high-frequency current, but in 1891 came the discovery of the oscilla
tory transformer (better known as the Tesla coil), which produced electricity
of both high voltage and high frequency. Its basic structure (a high-frequency
coreless transformer with a spark gap) was protected by two patents, System
of Electric Lighting (No. 454,622 of 23 June 1891) and Method of and
Apparatus for Electrical Conversion and Distribution (No. 462,418 of 3
November the same year). W ith this device he was able to produce continu
ous and undamped high-frequency currents, and by changing their frequency,
voltage, and power in a wide range he came to fundamental discoveries that
would determine the direction of his future research.
Working on the development and improvement of high-frequency oscilla
tors, the scientist simultaneously researched the application of high-frequency
currents. In 1890 he published the results of their physiological effects, and on
20 May 1891 before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers he delivered
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a lecture called Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency,

and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination. From 1891 to
1896 he applied for patents on the spark oscillator coupled with a resonant
transformer, which substituted the Hertz oscillator and the Ruhmkorff inductor
in his researches. He also applied for numerous patents for various auxiliary
equipment circuit breakers, capacitors, etc.
His research on high-frequency currents marked the beginning of the second
stage of developing the radio. This phase was characterized by application of
continual AC current for wireless transmission, and the application of reso
nance, which enabled selective sending and receiving of messages, increased
sensitivity of the receiver and the transmission of continual messages. With
his system of four circuits in resonance he showed that the aerial, connection
with the ground, and resonance were three essential elements of every receiver
and transmitter in wireless telegraphy, thus paving the way for the invention
of modern radio.
Teslas laboratory at 3335 South Fifth Avenue (today LaGuardia Place)
near Bleecker Street was used not only for scientific work and experiments,
but also for meetings with friends like Robert Johnson, Thomas Commerford
M artin (1856-1924), Samuel Clemens, Joseph Jefferson, Stanford W hite,
and others. The visitors were able to learn about the incredible inventions,
fascinating experiments, and wondrous devices demonstrated by Tesla while
he explained his latest research. It was a memorable event for his guests:
scientists, engineers, journalists, financiers, partners and dear friends. The
experiments were described by Robert Johnson in his memoir Remembered
Yesterdays:
W hen we first met him, his laboratory, in South Fifth Avenue, was a place of
absorbing interest. We were frequently invited to witness his experiments, which
included the demonstration of the rotating magnetic field, and the production of
electrical vibrations of an intensity not before achieved. Lighting-like flashes of
electrical fire o f the length of fifteen feet were an every-day occurrence, and his
tubes of electric light were used to make photographs of many of his friends as
a souvenir of their visits. He was the first person to make use of phosphorescent
light for photographic purposes not a small item of invention in itself. I was
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one of a group consisting of Mark Twain, Joseph Jefferson, Marion Crawford,

and others who had the unique experience of being thus photographed.34
The photographic sittings were initiated by Johnson, associate editor of the

Century Magazine, who wanted to present Teslas laboratory and his experiments
with the new revolutionary cold light. There were at least three sessions in
January, 4 March, and 26 April 1894, and in addition to Tesla and his afore
mentioned friends, there was also present the official photographer, Dickenson
Alley, of the New York studio Tonnele, who made all the photographs based
on Teslas instructions.
The testimony of their gatherings is found in the Century article by
Thomas Commerford Martin, published in April 1895.35 Even today, more
than a hundred years later, this piece is a valuable and immediate record of
Teslas work, because it presents not only his various inventions and predic
tions, but also photographs of the contemporary celebrities. It contains
fourteen photographs and a technical drawing, showing several devices and
a number o f specifically designed and manufactured phosphorescent light
bulbs, as well as several friends of Tesla who took part in his experiments
with high-frequency currents.
The first photographs show Tesla and Clemens and are dated January
1894. Teslas photograph is explained in detail, with a note saying it is the
first ever taken by phosphorescent light. The source of light was one of his
phosporescent bulbs, and the time of exposure was eight minutes. The second
photograph shows Clemens, by the same phosphorescent light bulb, but the
exposure time was ten minutes. Martin says that this photograph was taken a
few weeks later, which means that Tesla was photographed at the beginning,
and Clemens at the end of the month.
O n 15 February 1894 Tesla wrote a letter to Johnson:
My dear Mr. Johnson,
I have been hard at work to-day repairing and adjusting. I think we can m a k e
some trials to-morrow.
I have prepared a tube for you and expect that it will show up well. If you can
imitate Jove I can his lightning. We may try to get a photo of the magnificent
Vol . 52, No. 2
profile of Mr. Clemens. I have not yet communicated with the photographers
because I have to try something in the morning. I shall immediately let them
know if everything is all right. The best time to come would be 4 P. M.
Sincerely yours,
N Tesla
The letter is kept in the Bakken M useum library in Minneapolis, along with
Clemenss photograph from a sitting in Teslas laboratory. In it Clemens is hold
ing the wire loop with three lamps that are lit by the induced high-frequency
current, and in the background, on the left, there is a vague appearance of
Tesla. This photograph was apparently taken in one o f the later sittings, but
for some reason was not included in the selection for M artins article.
From the beginning, Tesla wanted to present the photographs to potential
investors in this technology. M artin disagreed and suggested that the top prior
ity was to publish the news o f the discovery in a daily newspaper, lest someone
else try to misappropriate Teslas success. His idea was explained by M artin
in a short note, w ritten on the original stationery o f The Electrical Engineer (a
journal edited by M artin) and sent to Tesla on 17 February 1894:
I think we ought to have a little talk about giving to the daily newspapers a
hint that Mr Tesla has succeeded in taking photo by phosphorescence. Just for
[the] record. It will leak out somehow and then some other fellow will be first
in the papers with it, with the customary annoyance of a stem cash to get your
priority established. I think R. U. Johnson feels the same way.36
In the following letter, sent on 3 M arch 1894 M artin asked the scientist
for a copy o f the group photo, with exact participants and time o f origin un
known: Any number o f people inquired for you at the Washn. Convention
and were sad because you were not there. D id you say you had a copy for me
o f the group photo? O r has Johnson one?37
Clemenss letter to his wife Olivia, dated 2 M arch 1894, reveals that a
photograph from a previous sitting was not o f sufficient quality for printing
(or at least that Clemens was not satisfied w ith the result): In the meantime,
I have added an appointm ent to to-m orrows list to let the electrician Tesla
Fall
z o i
39
Phosphograth o f Twain, Tesla Laboratory, New York, 1894, Century

Magazine, February 1894. (Courtesy o f Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade,
Serbia)
do my photograph again [our italics] for the Century.38

At the beginning of March 1894, Clemens sent Tesla two short messages,
which d e a ry ndicate there was another portrait sitting in the scientists lab.
In the first message, due to an urgent obligation, the author had to cancel
this appointment, and sent his apology: A matter of unavoidable business has
intruded itself & bars me from coming down tomorrow afternoon. I am very
very sorry. E'c forgive me.39
The message is not dated, and some researchers state that it was written on
9 March. However, from the letter Clemens sent to his wife on 15 February
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Vo l . 52, No. 2
189440 it is clear that he was to sail for Europe on 7 March, so he could not have
been in New York two days later. Furthermore, Clemens stated that he wrote
the message on Friday, at midnight, and that a certain obligation prevented
him from coming tomorrow afternoon. His next message (see the following
paragraph) shows that another sitting was scheduled for 4 March. When all is
taken into account, it can be said with certainty that the note in question was
written on the night between 2 and 3 March, on the premises of the Players
Club. This is confirmed by David Fears.41
In his next message of 4 March 1894, Clemens addressed the following
words to his dear friend Tesla regarding his presence for the photographic
sitting: If I can possibly manage it Ill be there by 4 pm, but I am dreadfully
pushed for time, & you mustnt depend on me .42
It seems that the famous writer managed to complete what he had to do
and make it to the laboratory at the appointed time. However, it is highly
likely that his photograph was a failure, since a day later Tesla sent the follow
ing words to Robert Johnson: Very sorry that we cannot get Mr. Clemens
once more [our italics]. I understood him to say that he is leaving tomorrow .43
Clemens didnt sail on 6 March, but a day later on the New York steamer,
bound for Southampton and Le Havre. He spent less than a month in Paris
with his family, and on 7 April, in Southampton, he boarded the same ship
and, together with several celebrities, participated in one of the fastest Atlantic
crossings in wintertime. The journey took 6 days, 21 hours and 51 minutes .44
His return made it possible for another photographic sitting to take place,
as confirmed by two original letters. The first one, dated 26 April 1894, is
addressed to Robert Johnson:
Dear Johnson,
I look to the pleasure of seeing Mess, [sic] Jefferson and Clemens at half past
three. Hope we shall succeed in taking the pictures.
Sincerely yours
N. Tesla
P. S. Please arrange for the photographers to come in time.45
The second letter, dated 27 April, was sent by the poet Francis Marion
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Tesla and Twain, Tesla Laboratory, New York, 1894, Century Magazine,
April 1895. (Courtesy of Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade, Serbia)
Crawford (1854-1905) to his wife Elizabeth. Describing the photography

session, he stated that everything went fine, until the flash added to the
phosphorescent bulbs for better lighting blew up witn a terrific explosion.
Fortunately, no one was inj arid, only Johnson had a bad shock to his nerves.
After that, they were photographed by daylight, and in the end were shewn
various marvellous [sic\ experiments.45
Some twenty years later, the photographs from tlrese gatherings will be the
subject of a new correspondence, this time between Johnson and Tesla. While
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preparing his memoir, Johnson asked his dear friend for help. In a letter dated
5 March 192347he wondered ifTesla had saved some of the group photographs
taken in his laboratory, asking for permission to take a look at them and make
a selection for the book, which should be completed by 1 May the same year.
From Teslas personal archives he chose two, showing Clemens and Crawford
during the experiments.
Among the archive material in Teslas Legacy are eleven original photographs
from these sittings. O n the front side Tesla wrote short descriptions about the
image-taking, thus proving their authenticity. Unfortunately, his notes do not
contain the exact dates when the images were made.
Comparing these photographs to those published in Martins article and
Johnsons memoir, it is obvious that they are not identical, although there is
a degree of similarity in the way of shooting, ambience, and certain details,
as well as in the experiments that were performed on these occasions. Only a
photograph of Tesla, taken in January 1894 as the first of its kind, was identi
cal to that published in the Century Magazine. This leads to a conclusion that
during the prepress arrangements for Martins article and Johnsons memoir
the printers used photographs from Teslas personal collection, that were never
returned to Tesla after the publication and therefore do not form part of his
final collection.
From Teslas Laboratory: A Vibration-induced Physiological Effect

John J. O Neill wrote that Tesla had a remarkable ability for carrying on
simultaneously a number of widely different lines of scientific research. While
pursuing his studies of high-frequency electrical oscillations with all of rami
fications from vacuum lamps to radio, he was also investigating mechanical
vibrations; and he had a rare foresight into the many useful applications to
which they could be put, and which have since been realized. 4 8
Getting the correct high-frequency currents with multipole generators4 9
depended on the regularity of the rotation of certain mechanical parts and
it often varied from case to case. Therefore, the operation of his generators
was based on the oscillatory, and not the rotational movement of the moving
parts. He was interested in the problem of resonance both in electrical and
mechanical engineering.
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Twain a n d actor Joseph Jefferson holding up ends o f the wtre loop during
experiments with high frequency currents in Teslas laboratory, New York,
1894, Century Magazine, A pril 1395. (Courtesy o f Nikola Tesla Museum,
Belgrade, Serbia)
First he designed and developed several constructions of mechanical oscil_atory generators. Although their original purpose was to generate electricity of
certain cnaracteristics, he also examined the possibility c f using them in purely
mechanical terms, for therapeutic purposes, in geophysics, or as part of the
motors c f various purposes. During 1893 and 1894 he received three patents
regarding principles of creation of isochronous mechanical oscillations. These
oatents were titled Electric Generator, Reciprocating Engine, and Steam
Engine.30At the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in August 1893,
ne gave t. lecture called Mechanical and Electrical Oscillators and conveyed
:o the sr.entifk community the results of his work.
O n 13 Marc.i 1895 a large fire completely destroyed Teslas laboratory on
the South Fifth Avenue, along with a number of motors, transformers and
44
Mark Twain J ournal
Vol . 52, N o. 2
oscillators, as well as copious documentation (books, letters, experimentation

notes). Tesla took it hard, because the flames devoured years of hard work
and research, stopping him on the brink of many other discoveries. This is
described at the beginning of 1908 by Isabel Lyon (1863-1958), Clemenss
secretary, who conveys the writers words in her diary: The King [Clemens]
walked down 5th Ave with Tesla, who he said once gave promise of being a
mighty man. He had a wireless telegraph method all ready for demonstration
years ago but a disastrous fire destroyed all the devices & years of research notes
& all formulas & he has never rallied his forces.51
Despite the misfortune that befell him, Tesla continued his research on
mechanical oscillators. In July 1895 he opened a new laboratory on 46-48 East
Houston Street, just below Greenwich Village, near Chinatown. The premises
occupied one of the higher floors of a loft building on the north side of the
street. The following year, he decided to perform an experiment and affixed a
small mechanical oscillator to a pillar of the building. During the operation,
the frequency of excitation coincided with the natural frequency of the build
ing, which caused resonance and resulted in a small earthquake that was felt
in several adjacent blocks.52 This event was the immediate cause for further
research on the possibilities of mechanical power transmission through the
ground. Subsequent work on mechanical oscillators (from 1910 onwards) was
mostly directed at developing turbine generators and car engines.
During the work on electromechanical oscillators between 1892 and 1895,
Tesla discovered mechanical therapy. He built a small mechanical oscillator
driven by compressed air and mounted it on the underside of a platform. It so
happened that he stepped on it during its operation and found the vibrations
pleasant. He asked his assistants to try it themselves, and the result was the
same. After a long research, he published his results, mainly in newspapers.
His observations mostly regarded peristaltic movements, stimulated by oscil
lations, but also reported improvements in liver, spleen, kidneys, bladder and
the functions of other organs.
The effect of such a device initiated an interesting anecdote involving Clem
ens during one of his many visits to Teslas laboratory, as described by O Neill:
Tesla had been playing with his vibratory mechanism for some time, and
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had learned a good deal about the results that followed from varying doses of
vibration, when one evening Clemens dropped in.
Clemens, on learning about the new mechanism, wanted to experience its
vitalizing vibrations. He stood on the platform while the oscillator set it into
operation. He was thrilled by the new experience. He was full of adjectives. This
gives you vigor and vitality, he exclaimed. After he had been on the platform
for a while Tesla advised him: You have had enough, Mr. Clemens. You had
better come down now.
Not by a jugfull, replied Clemens. I am enjoying myself.
But you had better come down, Mr. Clemens. It is best that you do so,
insisted Tesla.
You couldnt get me off this with a derrick, laughed Clemens.
Remember, I am advising you, Mr. Clemens.
Im having the time of my life. Im going to stay right up here and enjoy
myself. Look here, Tesla, you dont appreciate what a wonderful device you
have here to give a lift to tired humanity. Clemens continued along this line
for several minutes. Suddenly he stopped talking, bit his lower lip, straightened
his body and stalked stiffly but suddenly from the platform.
Quick, Tesla! Where is it? snapped Clemens, half begging, half demanding.
Right over here, through that little door in the corner, said Tesla. And
remember, Mr. Clemens, I advised you to come down some time ago, he called
after the rapidly moving figure.
The laxative effect of the vibrator was an old story to the members of the
laboratory staff.53
Tesla him self described the treatm ent in an essay entitled Mechanical
Therapy, which was not dated, and it is not known if it was published or
where. However, based on certain indications in the text and the article in the
New York Times (see below), it can be concluded with high probability that
it was written in July 1938 around Teslas birthday. The article, among other
things, states:
When I began to practice with my assistants MECHANICAL THERAPY
we used to finish our meals quickly and rush back to the laboratory. We suf-
M ark Twain Journal
46
Vol. 52, No. 2
fered from dyspepsia and various stomach troubles, biliousness, constipation,

flatulence and other disturbances, all natural results of such irregular habit.
But only after a week of application, during which I improved the technique
and my assistants learned how to take the treatment to their best advantage,
all these forms of sickness disappeared as by enchantment and for nearly four
years, while the machine was in use, we were all in excellent health. I cured a
number of people, among them my great friend Mark Twain whose books saved
my life. He came to the laboratory in the worst shape suffering from a variety
of distressing and dangerous ailments but in less than two months he regained
his old vigor and ability of enjoying life to the fullest extent.54
The scientist goes on to say that his laboratory was destroyed shortly af
terwards in a great fire, which means that the amusing event took place by
the end o f 1894 or the beginning o f 1895 in the laboratory on 3335 South
Fifth Avenue.
Margaret Cheney took the anecdote from O Neill, but presented it some
w hat differently. According to her, the first one to visit Tesla was an English
journalist called Chauncey McGovern, followed by Samuel Clemens and
Joseph Jefferson;55 and the reference in her book implies that the experiment
was reported on in McGoverns article published in May 1899.56 However,
upon comparing the texts, at least two discrepancies emerge: firstly, O Neill
never m entioned McGovern or Jefferson; and secondly, McGoverns article was
published only four years later and didnt contain a single word about Clem
ens, the mechanical oscillator, or the event. It remains unclear why Cheney
m entioned him in this context.
In his next laboratory Tesla also used the mechanical therapy device, as
evidenced in the article entitled Teslas Health Giver, published in the D etroit
Free Press on 18 January 1896. The new model, in addition to mechanical os
cillations, also em itted weak but fast electrical impulses, which were described
as a pleasant tingling by the persons treated. Teslas friend and former Mayor
o f New York, Abram Stevens H ewitt (18221903), came in complaining o f
liver problems; after only one brief treatment, he seemed an entirely changed
man. . . . And, as to his illness, Mr. H ew itt acknowledged that it seemed to
have entirely vanished.
Fall 2 0 1 4
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The New York Times o f 10 July 1938 ran an article titled Dr. Tesla, 82
Today, Postpones Party, showing that the scientist was still researching mechani
cal oscillations by the end o f his life. The reception for journalists regularly
held for his birthday in the previous ten years was postponed so he could
complete a mechanical therapy device for public dem onstration: it was an
improved version o f the device that was tried several decades earlier by Clem
ens. H e estimated that the device would be ready for public dem onstration in
the following two weeks. However, a search o f New York Times archives has
offered no confirmation that his intention was fulfilled.
Laboratory Experiments with X-rays and A Photographic Sitting

O n 3 and 4 February 1892, in London, Tesla gave a lecture entitled Ex
periments with Alternate Currents o f H igh Potential and H igh Frequency.
In front o f em inent scientists and electrical engineers o f Great Britain he said,
among other things, that his high-frequency oscillators cause substances to
emit three kinds o f vibrations: the ordinary visible, and two kinds o f invisible
waves: that is, the ordinary dark waves o f all lengths and, in addition, waves
o f a well-defined character.57
H e explored this phenom enon in detail by the end o f 1894, while perform
ing experiments w ith phosphorescent and fluorescent bodies as a light source.
A high-frequency oscillator was used to feed a Crookes tube, as well as tubes
o f his own construction with one electrode or w ithout them. D uring their
operation he noticed that the tubes caused different effects on photographic
plates, which were then stacked and leaned against the walls o f the laboratory
in the South Fifth Avenue laboratory. The illuminated plates presented different
shades and stains whose origin could be attributed to an unknown effect o f the
radiation. Tesla intended to use Lenard tubes instead o f Crookess, expecting
to get stronger effects. However, before he could listen to his extraordinary
intuition, the great fire broke out and destroyed the lab. As a result, his work
and further research were halted and the emergence o f another m omentous
discovery prevented.
By the end o f December the same year, at the meeting ofW iirzburg PhysicoMedical Society, professor W ilhelm Konrad Rontgen (18451923) announced
the discovery o f X-rays, pointing out that they pass through different materi-
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als and affect the photographic plates. The news of the discovery stirred the
world scientific community, and the contemporary newspapers said that the
rays penetrate organic matter and other opaque substances just as ordinary
[light] rays penetrate glass, stating that Rontgen was already using them to
photograph broken limbs and bullets in human bodies.58
Having learned of Rontgens research, Tesla compared it to his own ex
perimental results and concluded that he himself was on the verge of a great
discovery. Not wanting to deny priority to the German professor, he completed
the experiments in this area and published the results between 11 March 1896
and 11 August 1897 in a series of letters to the Electrical Review journal.59Instead
of Ruhmkorffs coil or electrostatic generators, he used his own, far more pow
erful high-frequency oscillatory transformers to feed various Crookes, Lenard,
and his own tubes and got stronger radiation, which could be registered at a
distance of more than forty feet. The images of the body parts were excellent.
O n 6 April 1897 before the New York Academy of Sciences he gave a
lecture entitled The Streams of Lenard and Roentgen and Novel Apparatus
for their production, wherein he presented the operation of his X-ray produc
ing devices as well as numerous details of his research in this area, which has
remained overshadowed by other great results.
Investigations in this field of science initiated another encounter of Tesla
and Clemens, this time in the laboratory at 46-48 East Houston Street, in the
middle of 1895. The man who brought them together was their mutual friend
Edward Ringwood Hewitt (1866-1957), inventor, chemist and skilled fisher
man, the son of Abram Hewitt and brother of Peter Cooper Hewitt, also an
inventor. As stated in his memoir, in 1895 Hewitt and his wife Mary lived on
Ninth Street, near Fifth Avenue, and often sawTesla, who had a laboratory below
Washington Square. At the time, the scientist was performing experiments,
among other things, with Geissler tubes, which piqued Edwards interest, as his
brother (who would invent the mercury-vapor lamp in 1901) also worked with
them. Upon hearing ofTeslas intention to take some photographs using these
tubes as a light source, he recommended Clemens as subject, probably knowing
that the famous writer had already participated in similar experiments. After
Teslas consent, he arranged for the author to come to the laboratory. About
the photographic sitting, as well as the events that followed, Tesla never talked
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to anyone. H e w itts m em ories, w ritten dow n an d published m any years later,

are the only an d therefore invaluable testim ony ab o u t this event:
One day Tesla remarked to me that he ought to take some photographs,

using these tubes as a source of light. I suggested that Mark Twain would be an
excellent subject to photograph by the new light. I promised to bring him over
next day, as he was coming to lunch with us. Mark Twain readily consented.
After lunch, we all walked down to Teslas laboratory.
It had been arranged that my wife was to read to Twain while the exposure
was being made, as this was sure to take some time, because of the weakness of
the light. As I remember it, the exposure time was fifteen minutes. Mark Twain
sat perfectly still, with his head supported by a head-rest.
Two days later I went down to see Tesla, to find out how the picture had
turned out. He said that it had been a complete failure so much so that he
had thrown it aside in the dark room. I asked to see the plate. But Tesla said it
had been completely spoiled.
About two months later, the discovery of the X-ray was announced by
Roentgen. I again went down to see Tesla and begged him to get out the plate
and let me look at it. He brought it out of the dark room and held it up to the
light. There I saw the picture of the circle of the lens, with the adjusting screw
at the side also round dots, which represented the metal wood screws in the
front of the wooden camera.
Tesla gave one look. Then he slammed the plate on the floor, breaking it into
a thousand pieces, exclaiming, Damned fool! I never saw it.
I dont suppose that I would have recognized what we had photographed,
and the enormous value o f the discovery, any more than he had. But I certainly
would have liked at least to have had the chance to look in time. So far as I
know, Tesla never mentioned this incident to anyone during his lifetime, and
I have been very careful about mentioning it for fear of hurting his feelings. It
was the opportunity of a lifetime. We both missed it.60
H ew itts m em oir was published nearly fifty years later, so his dating o f events
(two m o n th s before R oentgens public presentation, i.e., O cto b er-N o v em b er
1895) was n o t quite accurate. D avid Fears gives enough inform ation about
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No.
Clemenss whereabouts in this period so that one may come to a clearer con
clusion regarding the possible date o f the photographic sitting. D uring 1895
Clemens stayed in New York for a mere twenty days in March, M ay and July.
The sitting could not have taken place in March, because in this period Tesla
was only moving into the new lab. Two possible periods remain, between 18
and 23 May, and 11 and 13 July. After that, Clemens left America and would
not return until m id-1896, while Tesla continued his experiments in the field
o f wireless signal and energy transmission, which resulted in the discovery
o f radio-waves and enabled the sending o f information to a distance, remote
control, and other technical achievements.
Clemenss Letter from Vienna and Invitation to His Daughter s Wedding

In the spring o f 1898 America declared war on Spain because o f the turmoil
in Cuba. In a fit o f patriotic fervor, wealthy Americans offered their services to
the country, and they were soon joined by inventors. Tesla made a statem ent
to the New York Times, saying he had invented a new device which could
produce electrical vibrations o f enormous power and be used for various
purposes, particularly in warfare .61 Like the others, he offered his invention
and knowledge to the U.S. government w ithout compensation.
Clem ens lived w ith his family outside o f America between 1891 and
1900, except for occasional returns to regulate his business obligations.
D uring his stay in Vienna, on 17 November 1898 he sent a letter to Tesla
and offered to represent him in selling the patent for said device to certain
European countries:
Have you Austrian & English patents on that destructive terror which you have
been inventing? & if so, wont you set a price upon them & commission me
to sell them? I know cabinet ministers of both countries & of Germany, too;
likewise William II. . . .
Here in the hotel the other night when some interested men were discussing
means to persuade the nations to join with the Czar & disarm, I advised them
to seek something more sure than disarmament by perishable paper-contract
invite the great inventors to contrive something against which fleets & armies
would be helpless, & thus make war thenceforth impossible. I did not suspect
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that you were already attending to that, & getting ready to introduce into the
earth permanent peace & disarmament in a practical & mandatory way.62
There are no records of Teslas reply to Clemens, or their cooperation based on
the writers well-intentioned proposal.
Two men were bonded by sincere and long-lasting friendship, as evidenced
by an invitation to the wedding ceremony of Clemenss daughter Clara.63 It
seems that Tesla didnt show up for some reason. This is corroborated by a
report that was published by New York Times the next day. In the article, the
journalist described the ceremony and other details of the wedding, without
mentioning the name of Nikola Tesla among the numerous attendees.64
Tesla and Clemens in the News

On 15 February 1907 the New York Times ran an article, Keats-Shelley
Meeting Pleases, devoted to a literary and musical matinee that was held in
the main ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel a day earlier. The goal was
to raise funds for paying the mortgage and reconstructing the house in Rome
wherein John Keats lived and died, and which would become the KeatsShelley Memorial House. A few years earlier, the house had been purchased
at the instigation of Robert Underwood Johnson. In the literary part of the
event Samuel Clemens read selected verses of Keats and Shelley to numerous
distinguished guests, including Nikola Tesla.
In a letter titled Nikola Tesla Objects, published in the New York Times
on 2 May 1907 but composed two days earlier, Tesla responded to a piece
published in the paper on 21 April the same year. The scientist expressed his
dissatisfaction with the fact that one of his inventions had been attributed to the
Danish scientist Valdemar Poulsen (to whom he mistakenly refers as Valentine
Poulsen). Explaining the situation, he cited Twains story The Facts in the Case
of the Great Beef Contract (1870), a parodic examination of the terrifying
bureaucracy in the U.S. government institutions: I have not been discouraged
by the refusal of our Government to adopt my wireless system six years ago,
when I offered it, nor by the unpleasant prospect of my passing through the
experiences described by Mark Twain in his story of the beef contract, but I see
no reason why I should be deprived of a well-earned honor and satisfaction.
5*
Vol . 52, No. 2
Tesla cited Clemens once more, in a letter to the editor of the New York
Times of 27 October 1907, that was published the next day under the title
Teslas Wireless Patents.
Commenting on the report that his Wardenclyffe tower would be sold
to settle a minor debt, he again quoted Mark Twain and said the news was
greatly exaggerated.65 After that, he reminded the readers of his patents and
contributions to wireless transmission, transformation, and utilization of energy.
Teslas Life the Inspiration for No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger?
Twains last novel, No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger, was written over a long
period and with effort, in a time when the writer suffered the loss of his wife
and daughter. Three manuscripts survived, two incomplete (written between
1897 and 1900) and one complete (between 1902 and 1905, with a last chap
ter added in 1908). The work was published posthumously, in 1916, and was
edited by Albert Bigelow Paine (1861-1937), the writers official biographer
and literary executor, and Frederick Duneka (? 18601919), general manager
of Harper and Brothers. It was, however, a literary fraud, since their book was
a compilation of the first and third manuscripts, with numerous arbitrary
changes which were not recorded anywhere. Twains intention was fulfilled
only in 1969, when a critical edition was finally published.66
Set in 1490, the story begins with a description of a group of printers who
live and work in an old village castle in Austria. One day a young man named
Number 44 comes along, joins them in their work and begins performing
various miracles. He befriends August, a young printer, who is the only one
aware of his powers. In a seemingly casual manner, Number 44 tells him
about mans faults and weaknesses, the limitations of the human mind, the
conscious and the unconscious, and about fate and the essence of existence.
In the final chapter, Number 44 reveals the supreme truth: nothing exists,
everything we see, even life itself, is actually a dream, a vision, a fiction; not
even man exists hes simply a thought wandering the endless emptiness,
always and forever.
The existing critical body offers different interpretations as to the source of
Twains inspiration. Margaret Cheney and Robert Uth in their book Tesla
Master of Lightning state an opinion that Twains last work might be based
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on the events from Teslas childhood in Austria-Hungary.67 This opinion is

shared by Velimir Abramovic, a philosopher and one of the best scholars of
the scientists life and work. In his article titled Tesla68 he recognized Twains
little village in Austria as Teslas birthplace Smiljan, and the words of Number
44 as Teslas conceptions.
Teslas Last M em ory o f Clemens
According to John O Neill, Tesla had a strange, supernatural experience in
his room at the New Yorker Hotel a few days before he died.
Early one morning he [Tesla] called his favorite messenger boy, Kerrigan, gave
him a sealed envelope, and ordered him to deliver it as quickly as possible. It
was addressed to Mr. Samuel Clemens, 35 South Fifth Ave., New York City.
Kerrigan returned in a short time with the statement that he could not deliver
the message because the address was incorrect. There is no such street as South
Fifth Ave., the boy reported; and in the neighborhood of that number on Fifth
Ave. no one by the name of Clemens could be located.
Tesla became annoyed. He told Kerrigan: Mr. Clemens is a very famous
author who writes under the name Mark Twain, and you should have no trouble
locating him at the address I gave you. He lives there.
Kerrigan reported to the manager of his office and told him of his difficulty.
The manager told him: O f course you couldnt find South Fifth Avenue. Its
name was changed to West Broadway years ago,69 and you wont be able to de
liver a message to Mark Twain because he has been dead for twenty-five years.70
Armed with this information, Kerrigan returned to Tesla, and the reception
accorded his announcements left him still further confused.
Dont you dare to tell me that Mark Twain is dead, said Tesla. He was in
my room, here, last night. He sat in that chair and talked to me for an hour. He
is having financial difficulties and needs my help. So you go right back to that
address and deliver that envelope and dont come back until you have done so.
(The address to which he sent the messenger was that ofTeslas first laboratory!)71
Kerrigan returned to his office. The envelope, not too well sealed, was opened
in the hope it would give some clue as to how the message could be delivered.
The envelope contained a blank sheet of paper wrapped around twenty $5 bills!
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Vol. 52, No. 2
When Kerrigan tried to return the money, Tesla told him, with great annoyance,
either to deliver the money or keep it.72
O Neill points out that there were several versions of this event, all of
them having a few details in common: Teslas belief that Clemens was alive,
his conviction that he had recently spoken to Clemens who was financially
distressed, and his urgent effort to send Clemens money to assist him. The
authors interpretation of the event is based on Teslas unusual ability to see
clearly the subjects of his thoughts as materialized objects. Since Tesla and
Clemens were very good friends, their socializing was filled with many pleasant
experiences that were deeply burned in Teslas memory. W hen he visualized
Clemens in his hotel room, those memories simply came to life and suppressed
the knowledge of the writers death some thirty years earlier.73 This interpreta
tion perhaps clarifies the reason for sending the message for his old friend to
the address of the laboratory that had been destroyed in 1895. It was the spot
where the two of them socialized among other luminaries of those decades as
they found amusement witnessing the genius of Teslas electrical experiments.
Conclusion
Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens, despite a significant difference in age,
social background and life choices, spent twenty years as close friends. Their
friendship is often described in mythological terms, based on retelling and with
out precise references. Certain details in this essay could not be based on clear
and convincing evidence, while others are historically and factually supported.
The research was based on the surviving letters and other documents stored
in the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade and several prominent American
institutions. We examined and analyzed the available newspaper articles from
the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, and
studied relevant works of their biographers and other researchers. Unfortu
nately, not all the necessary data could be reached, so the topic is likely to be
enhanced with further research.
The aim of this essay is to present all known details ofTesla-Clemens friend
ship, but also to produce and explain new, previously unknown incidents, like
the photographic sittings in Teslas laboratory at the beginning of 1894. It is
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interesting to note that Clemens in his records does not say a single word about
his participation in these events.
The famous scientist and inventor stood out because of his erudition, un
restrained research spirit, and a passion for solving the most complex technical
problems. On the other hand, Samuel Clemens, one of the most remarkable
figures of American literature, had outstanding eloquence and sharp intelligence
and loved the company of inventors, including Nikola Tesla. Such complemen
tarity of characters, as well as the colorful company they kept (writers, artists,
journalists, bankers), naturally resulted in a sincere and lasting friendship.
Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Tesla spent his freshman year in the College of Chemistry and Technology, but trans
ferred to Mechanical Engineering in his sophomore year.
David Fears, Mark Twain Day By Day, Vol. I I (1886-18% ) (Banks, OR: Horizon
Micro Distributors, 2009), 880.
Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court, ed. Bernard L. Stein (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1979), 369.
Milton Meltzer, Mark Twain Himself: A Pictorial Biography (New York: Bonanza Books,
1960), 201.
David Fears, Mark Twain Day By Day, Addenda et Errata - Vol. II (1886-1896),
last updated 22 May 2012, http://marktwaindaybyday.webs.com/addendavol2.htm.
Henry W. Ruoff to SLC, 25 August 1908, Buffalo, N.Y. MS, CU-MARK, UCLC
38002, Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Two
years later Ruoff published a book called Masters o f Achievement: The Worlds Greatest
Leaders in Literature, Art, Religion, Philosophy, Science, Politics and Industry (Buffalo,
NY: Frontier Press Company, 1910). In Part II a biographical dictionary o f four
thousand important creators he included entries on Tesla and Twain.
SLC to Henry W. Ruoff, 28 August 1908, Redding, CT. MS, CU-MARK, UCCL
08093, Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Dragoljub A. Cucic, Bratislav Stojiljkovic, Aleksandar S. Nikolic, Friendship between
Nikola Tesla &c Mark Twain (paper presented at the Fifth International Conference
o f the European Society for the History of Science, Athens, Greece, 1-3 November
2012).
9
Katherine Krumme, Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla: Thunder and Lightning (student
essay, University of California at Berkeley, 4 December 2000), http://www.nuc.berkeley.
edu/dept/Courses/E-24/E-24Projects/Krummel.pdf (page discontinued).
10 Hugo Gernsback, Nikola Tesla and His Inventions, Electrical Experimenter 6.9
(January 1919), 657.
11 NikolaTesla, My Later Endeavors, ElectricalExperimenter 6.12 (April 1919), 864-865.
12 Edgar Hemminghaus, M ark Twain in Germany (New York: Columbia University Press,
*6
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Vol . 52, N o. 2
1939); Robert M. Rodney, ed., Mark Twain International: A Bibliography and Inter
pretation o f His Worldwide Popularity (Westport, C T and London: Greenwood Press,
1982); Clement Vollmer, The American Novel in Germany, 18711913 (Philadelphia:
International Printing Company, 1918).
Mark Twain, Jim Smileys beriihmter Springfrosch und dergleichen wunderliche Kduze
mehr. Im SilberlandNevada (Leipzig: Moritz Busch/EW. Grunow, 1874).
Tesla, My Later Endeavors, 865.
Actually, the motor development started only in 1887, as evidenced by Franklin G.
W hitmore to SLC, 18 July 1887, Hartford, CT. MS, CU-MARK, UCLC 43707,
Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University o f California, Berkeley.
By making a series of bad investments in different inventions, Clemens lost a fortune.
Therefore he decided to go on a world tour and earn enough to pay his debts.
Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals, Vol. Ill, 18831891, eds. Robert Pack Browning,
Michael B. Frank, and Lin Salamo (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979), 431.
Margaret Cheney and Robert Uth, Tesla: Master o f Lightning (New York: Barnes &
Noble, 1999), 47.
John Tebbel, A Certain Club: One Hundred Years o f The Players (New York: Wieser &
Wieser, 1989), 11-20.
Actors John Drew, Lawrence Barrett, James Lewis, Henry Edwards and John A. Lane;
theater managers Albert M. Palmer and Augustin Daly; lawyers Joseph F. Daly and
Stephen H. Olin; businessman William Bispham; professor at Columbia University
Brander Matthews and writer Laurence Hutton.
Carole Klein, Gramercy Park: An American Bloomsbury (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1987).
22 Paul R. Baker, Stanny: The Gilded Life o f Stanford White (New York: Free Press, 1989),
137.
23 Nikola Teslas Legacy, Nikola Tesla Museum, CXXXVI, 170A.
24 Marc J. Seifer, Wizard: The Life and Times o f Nikola Tesla: Biography o f a Genius (Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press, 1996), 160.
25 Margaret Cheney, Tesla: Man out o f Time (New York: Touchstone, 2001), 20.
26 Cheney, 20.
27 Cheney, 20.
28 Cheney, 20.
29 The original letter wasnt dated accurately. However, consulting the calendar for 1894,
it was found that Wednesday was 7 February, so there is no ambiguity about the date.
Source: SLC to OLC, 7 February 1894, New York, NY. MS, CU-MARK, UCCL
04689, Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
30 Thomas Commerford Martin, NikolaTesla, Century Magazine 47-4 (February 1894):
582-585.
31 Benoit Constant Coquelin (1841-1909), French actor; Richard Harding Davis
(1864-1916), fiction writer and journalist; Lowell or Lovell Birge Harrison (1854
1929), landscape painter; William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), impressionist painter;
Fall 2 0 1 4
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
M a r k Tw a in J o u r n a l
57
Gianni Bettini (1860-1938), Italian inventor; John Drew Jr. (1853-1927), actor;
James Barnes (? dates), mimic; James Barnes (1866-1936), writer and journalist;
William Thomas Smedley (18581920), illustrator and painter; Anders Leonard Zorn
(1860-1920), Swedish painter and sculptor; Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum (1849-1925),
illustrator, journalist and writer; Charles Stanley Reinhart (1844-1896), painter and
illustrator; Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925), landscape painter, and Mario Ancona
(1860-1931), Italian opera singer. Letter quoted in Albert Bigelow Paine, M ark Twain:
A Biography (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1912), 977.
Seifer, 123; Robert Underwood Johnson, RememberedYesterdays (Boston: Little, Brown,
1923), 592-593.
Branimir Jovanovic, Tesla: Duh, delo, vizija (Belgrade: Freemental, 2001), 98.
Johnson, 400.
Thomas Commerford Martin, Teslas Oscillator and O ther Inventions, Century
Magazine A1) (April 1895): 916-933.
Nikola Teslas Legacy, N TM , CXXIV, 142A, 142B. The text of the letter is rendered
faithfully, but its meaning in one part is not entirely clear. We believe the sentence
This will somehow leak . . . should be preceded by a closer designation, such as If
you fail to do this . . . or Otherwise. . ..
Nikola Teslas Legacy, Nikola Tesla Museum, CXXIV, 143A, 143B.
SLC to OLC, 2 March 1894, New York, NY. MS, CU-MARK, UCCL 04702, Mark
Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University o f California, Berkeley.
Nikola Teslas Legacy, Nikola Tesla Museum, LXXXI, 525A.
SLC to OLC, 15 February 1894, New York, NY. MS, CU-MARK, UCCL 04693,
Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft Library, University o f California, Berkeley.
David Fears, Mark Twain Day By Day. Vol. I I (1886-1896), 894895.
Nikola Teslas Legacy, Nikola Tesla Museum, LXXXI, 522A.
Nikola Tesla to Robert Underwood Johnson, 5 March 1894. Robert Underwood
Johnson Papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Arrivals from Europe, New York Times, 15 April 1894.
Nikola Teslas Legacy, N T M , CXI, 4A.
Francis Marion Crawford to Elizabeth Christophers Berdan Crawford, 27. April 1894.
F. Marion Crawford Papers 18641967, MS Am 2206 (5), Houghton Library, Harvard
University.
Nikola Teslas Legacy, N TM , CXIII, 11A, 12A.
John J. O Neill, Prodigal Genius: The Life o f Nikola Tesla (New York: Ives Washburn,
1944), 155.
Teslas construction o f the multipole generators was protected by two patents. The first
one, entided Method o f Operating Arc-Lamps was submitted to the Patent Office
on 1 October 1890 under the number 366,734, and the other called Alternating
Electric Current Generator on 15 November 1890 under the number 371,554. Both
o f these were granted on 10 March 1891 under the numbers 447,920 and 447,921,
respectively.
58
M ark Twain Journal
Vol . 52, N o. 2
50 The patents entitled Electrical Generator and Reciprocating Engine were filed the
same day, 19 August 1893 under the numbers 483,562 and 483,563, respectively. The
Patent Office granted the first one on 2 January 1894 under the number 511,916, and
the second one on 6 February the same year under the number 514,169. The third
patent in this area was filed on 29 December 1893 under the number 495,079; it was
granted on 10 April 1894 under the number 517,900.
51 Isabel Lyons Journal, 9 January 1908, IVL TS 5-6, Mark Twain Papers, Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
52 O Neill, 159-162.
53 O Neill, 157-158.
54 Mechanical Therapy, undated, Nikola Tesla Papers, Rare Book & Manuscript Library,
Columbia University.
55 Cheney, 21.
56 Chauncey Montgomery M Govern, The New Wizard of the West, Pearsons Magazine
[US] 1.3 (May 1899): 291-297.
57 Nikola Tesla, Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High
Frequency, Journal ofthe Institution ofElectrical Engineers 21.97 (1892): 115.
58 Triumph of Science, The Sun (New York), 7 January 1896.
59 Tesla on Roentgen Rays, Electrical Review (hereafter cited as E R ) 28.11 (11 March
1896): 131, 135; Teslas Latest Results, ER 28.12 (18 March 1896): 147; Tesla on
Reflected Roentgen Rays, E R 28.14 (1 April 1896): 171, 174; Tesla on Roentgen
Radiations, 7? 28.15 (8 April 1896): 183,186; Teslas Latest Roentgen Ray Investi
gations, E R 28.17 (22 April 1896): 207, 211; Tesla Describes an Interesting Feature
oftheX -R sy Radiations, ER 29.2 (8 July 1896): 13-14; Roentgen Rays or Streams,
E R 29.7 (12 August 1896): 79, 83; Tesla on the Roentgen Streams, ER 29.23 (2
December 1896): 277, x; Tesla on the Hurtful Actions of Lenard and Roentgen
Tubes, ER 30.18 (5 May 1897): 207, 211; Tesla on the Source of Roentgen Rays
and the Practical Construction and Safe Operation of Lenard Tubes, ER 31.6 (11
August 1897): 67,71.
60 Edward Ringwood Hewitt, Those Were the Days: Tales o f a Long Life (New York: Duell,
Sloan and Pearce, 1943): 199-200.
61 Oscillators Use in War, New York Times, 27 April 1898.
62 Nikola Teslas Legacy, N TM , LXXXI, 523A.
63 Nikola Teslas Legacy, N TM , LXXXI, 524A.
64 Miss Clemens Weds Mr. Gabrilowitsch, New York Times, 7 October 1909.
65 While staying in London in 1897, Samuel Clemens met his relative James Ross Clem
ens. W hen the latter fell seriously ill, the British newspapers incorrecdy reported that it
was Samuel who was ill. Soon, the rumor spread that he was dying. After an American
journalist came to investigate the matter, the famous writer explained that it was a mis
take, that his relative had recovered and that the report of his (Samuels) death was an
exaggeration. Over time, the quote was somewhat distorted, and according to the most
common version, the news of the death was greatly exaggerated, as used by Tesla.
Fall 2014
59
66 Mark Twain, No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1982), 197-198.
67 Cheney and Uth, 118.
68 Velimir Abramovic, Tesla, New Energy Technologies 1.4 (January-February 2002):
13-14.
69 The name was changed in 1896, and its northern part (above Houston Street), where
Teslas laboratory was situated, was once again renamed LaGuardia Place in 1967, after
Fiorello LaGuardia (1882-1947), former Mayor of New York.
70 The managers dating is not precise, since at the moment Clemens had been dead for
more than thirty years.
71 The laboratory on 33-35 South Fifth Avenue was actually Teslas third laboratory in
New York. The first one was located at 89 Liberty Street, and the second one at 175
Grand Street (Civric, Nikola Tesla Museum, 89).
72 O Neill, 272-273.
73 O Neill, 273-274. The author does not specify what those versions were and where
he had heard or read about them. To our knowledge, all that was preserved was his
description, which was later retold in several different versions.
Works Cited
Abramovic, Velimir. Nikola Tesla : The Light That Never Goes Out. Novi Sad: Pravoslavna rec, 2009.
----------. Tesla. New Energy Technologies 1.4 (January-February 2002): 5-22.
Baker, Paul R. Stanny: The Gilded Life o f Stanford White. New York: Free Press, 1989.
Beckhard, Arthur J. Electrical Genius Nikola Tesla. New York: Julian Messner, 1959.
Carlson, W. Bernard. Tesla: Lnventor o f the Electrical Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 2013.
Cheney, Margaret. Tesla: Man Out o f Time. New York: Touchstone, 2001.
Cheney, Margaret and Robert Uth. Tesla: Master o f Lightning. New York: Barnes &
Noble, 1999.
Civric, Zorica, ed. Nikola Tesla Museum: 1952-2003. Belgrade: Nikola Tesla Museum,
2006.
Civric, Zorica, and Bratislav Stojiljkovic. Teslas WonderfulWorld o f Electricity. Belgrade:
Nikola Tesla Museum, 2011. Published in conjunction with the exhibition o f the
same name, shown at the Nikola Tesla Museum.
Cucic, Dragoljub, Bratislav Stojiljkovic, and Aleksandar S. Nikolic. Friendship
between Nikola Tesla & Mark Twain. Paper presented at the Fifth International
Conference o f the European Society for the History of Science, Athens, Greece,
1-3 November 2012.
Cverava, Grant Konstantinovic. Nikola Tesla: 1856-1943. Belgrade: Klub NT/Nikola
Tesla Museum, 1998.
6o
Vol . 52, N o. 2
Dolmetsch, Carl. Our Famous Guest: Mark Twain in Vienna. Athens: University of
Georgia Press, 1992.
Fears, David. M ark Twain Day By Day, Addenda et Errata Vol. I I (18861896). Last
updated 22 May 2012, http://marktwaindaybyday.webs.com/addendavol2.htm.
----------. Mark Twain Day By Day. Vol. I I (1886-1896). Banks, OR: Horizon Micro
Distributors, 2009.
Gernsback, Hugo. Nikola Tesla and His Inventions. Electrical Experimenter, 6.9
January 1919.
Hemminghaus, Edgar. Mark Twain in Germany. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1939.
Hewitt, Edward Ringwood. Those Were the Days: Tales o f a Long Life. New York: Duell,
Sloan and Pearce, 1943.
Johnson, Robert Underwood. Remembered Yesterdays. Boston: Little, Brown, 1923.
Jonnes, Jill. Empires o f Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the
World. New York: Random House, 2003.
Jovanovic, Branimir. Tesla: Duh, delo, vizija. Beograd: Freemental, 2001.
Kaplan, Justin. Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain: A Biography. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1966.
Klein, Carole. Gramercy Park: An American Bloomsbury. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1987.
Krumme, Katherine. Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla: Thunder and Lightning. Student
essay, University o f California at Berkeley, 4 December 2000, http://www.nuc.
berkeley.edu/dept/Courses/E-24/E-24Projects/Krummel.pdf.
Loving, Jerome. Mark Twain: TheAdventures o f Samuel L. Clemens. Berkeley: University
of California Press, 2010.
M Govern, Chauncey Montgomery. The New Wizard of the West. Pearsons Magazine
[US] 1.3 (May 1899): 291-297.
Martin, Thomas Commerford. Nikola Tesla. Century Magazine 47.4 (February 1894).
----------. Teslas Oscillator and O ther Inventions. Century Magazine 49.6 (April
1895).
Meltzer, Milton. Mark Twain Himself: A Pictorial Biography. New York: Bonanza
Books, 1960.
O Neill, John ]. Prodigal Genius: IheLifeofNikolaTesla. New York: Ives Washburn, 1944.
Pease, Jane Hanna. Romance Novels, Romantic Novelist: Francis Marion Crawford.
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2011.
Powers, Ron. Mark Twain: A Life. New York: Free Press, 2005.
Radojev, Vesna. Teslas Personal Library: Books with Inscriptions. Belgrade: Nikola Tesla
Museum, 2003. Published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name,
shown at the Nikola Tesla Museum.
Fall 2014
61
Rodney, Robert M., ed. Mark Twain International: A Bibliography and Interpretation
o f His Worldwide Popularity. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
Seifer, Marc J. Wizard: The Life and Times o f Nikola Tesla: Biography o f a Genius. Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press, 1996.
Tebbel, John. A Certain Club: One Hundred Years o f The Players. New York: Wieser
&Wieser, 1989.
Tesla, Nikola. Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High
Frequency. Journal o f the Institution o f Electrical Engineers 21.97 (1892): 51-163.
----------. My Inventions. Belgrade: Nikola Tesla Museum, 2007.
----------. My Later Endeavors. Electrical Experimenter 6.12 (April 1919): 864865.
----------. Roentgen Rays or Streams. Electrical Review (hereafter cited as ER) 29.7
(12 August 1896): 79, 83.
----------. Tesla Describes an Interesting Feature of the X-Ray Radiations. ER 29.2
(8 July 1896): 13-14.
----------. Tesla on Reflected Roentgen Rays. ER 28.14 (1 April 1896): 171, 174.
----------. Tesla on Roentgen Radiations. ER 28.15 (8 April 1896): 183, 186.
----------. Tesla on Roentgen Rays. ER 28.11 (11 March 1896): 131, 135.
----------. Tesla on the Hurtful Actions of Lenard and Roentgen Tubes. ER 30.18 (5
May 1897): 207, 211.
----------. Tesla on the Roentgen Streams. ER 29.23 (2 December 1896): 277, x.
----------. Tesla on the Source of Roentgen Rays and the Practical Construction and
Safe Operation of Lenard Tubes. AT2? 31.6 (11 August 1897): 67, 71.
----------. Teslas Latest Results. 7? 28.12 (18 March 1896): 147.
----------. Teslas Latest Roentgen Ray Investigations. ER 28.17 (22 April 1896):
207,211.
Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court, ed. Bernard L. Stein
(Berkeley: University o f California Press, 1979).
----------. The Facts in the Case of the Great Beef Contract. Galaxy 9.5 (May 1870):
718-721.
----------. Jim Smileys beriihmter Springfrosch und dergleichen wunderliche Kduze mehr.
Im Silberland Nevada. Leipzig: Moritz Busch / F.W. Grunow, 1874.
----------. Mark Twains Notebooks & Journals, Vol. Ill, 1883-1891, eds. Robert Pack
Browning, Michael B. Frank, and Lin Salamo (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1979).
----------. No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
Vollmer, Clement. The American Novel in Germany, 1871-1913. Philadelphia: Inter
national Printing Company, 1918.
6z
Vol . 52, N o. 2
Sources Consulted
Francis Marion Crawford Papers. Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Mark Twain Papers. Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.
The New York Times Archives (online).
Nikola Teslas Legacy. Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade.
Nikola Tesla Papers. Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Robert Underwood Johnson Papers. Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia
University.
The Bakken Museum Library, Minneapolis.
Acknowledgments
For the exceptional kindness, generous assistance and/or sending archival
material, we sincerely thank Neda Salem from the M ark Twain Papers, Bancroft
Library, University o f California at Berkeley; Milica Kesler from the Nikola
Tesla M useum in Belgrade; Thomas M cCutcheon from Colum bia University;
Emilie H ardm an from Harvard University; Rachel Howell from the Bakken
M useum in Minneapolis; Holger Kersten, professor at the University o f Mag
deburg; Jane Pease, retired professor at the University o f Maine; and Katharine
Leab from Bancroft-Parkman in W ashington.
O ur special thanks go to David Fears for assistance in interpreting certain life
aspects o f the great American writer; as well as M ilan Ciric, a retired researcher
at Vinca Institute, and Marc Seifer, Teslas biographer and graphologist, for
their assistance in deciphering certain archival documents.
Copyright of Mark Twain Journal is the property of Mark Twain Circular and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
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Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens: The Friendship

Between Two Luminaries o f the Gilded Age

Bmtislav Stojiljkovic, Dragoljub A. Cucic, and Zoran Pajic

ikola Tesla (18561943) was an American scientist of Serbian origin.

M ark Twain J ournal

Vol . 52, No. 2

was a student of the Polytechnic School (Technische Hochschule) in Graz,1and

M ark Twain J ournal

The Beginning o f Friendship between Nikola Tesla and Samuel Clemens

M ark Twain J ournal

I had hardly completed my course at the Real Gymnasium when I was

am ounts o f ingested quinine. Furthermore, in 1873, after graduating from

The Interest o f Samuel Clemens in Teslas Induction Motors

M ark Twain J ournal

The Players Club a Place o f Socializing between Tesla and Clemens

M ark Twain Journal

TeslaClemens Letters and Documents Testify to Their Friendship

Olivia Langdon Clemens

Olivia Langdon Clemens

Robert Underwood Johnson

Robert Underwood Johnson

New York Times

New York Times

New York Times

Immediate testimony of their friendship can be found in the text of a letter

M ark Twain J ournal

Vol . 52, No. 2

Jan Paderewski (18601941), conductor Wilhelm Gericke (18451925),

The Photographic Sittings at Teslas Laboratory on South Fifth Avenue

M ark Twain J ournal

a lecture called Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency,

M ark Twain J ournal

one of a group consisting of Mark Twain, Joseph Jefferson, Marion Crawford,

The photographic sittings were initiated by Johnson, associate editor of the

M ark Twain J ournal

Vol . 52, No. 2

M ark Twain J ournal

Phosphograth o f Twain, Tesla Laboratory, New York, 1894, Century

do my photograph again [our italics] for the Century.38

M ark Twain J ournal

Crawford (1854-1905) to his wife Elizabeth. Describing the photography

M ark Twain J ournal

From Teslas Laboratory: A Vibration-induced Physiological Effect

M ark Twain Journal

Mark Twain J ournal

oscillators, as well as copious documentation (books, letters, experimentation

M ark Twain J ournal

M ark Twain Journal

Vol. 52, No. 2

fered from dyspepsia and various stomach troubles, biliousness, constipation,

Laboratory Experiments with X-rays and A Photographic Sitting

Vol. 52, No. 2

M ark Twain J ournal

to anyone. H e w itts m em ories, w ritten dow n an d published m any years later,

One day Tesla remarked to me that he ought to take some photographs,

M ark Twain J ournal

Clemenss Letter from Vienna and Invitation to His Daughter s Wedding

M ark Twain J ournal

Tesla and Clemens in the News

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Vol . 52, No. 2

M ark Twain J ournal

on the events from Teslas childhood in Austria-Hungary.67 This opinion is

M ark Twain J ournal