In a message dated 98-02-17 10:24:10 EST, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< I may be wrong on this, but I think Tesla was the big proponent of DC

Sorry Kevin. Edison was the proponent of DC current. DC current was not
considered viable, Edison, who had a big ego, could not handle it, so he went
around electrocuting dogs, and invented the electric chair as a result. The
Christ Scientist Church up in the 90's of Manhattan still has it's DC wiring
in place.

Tesla sailed to America in 1884, arriving in New York City with four cents in
his pocket, a few of his own poems, and calculations for a flying machine. He
first found employment with Thomas Edison in New Jersey, but the two
inventors, were far apart in background and methods, and their separation was
inevitable.

In May 1885, George Westinghouse, head of the Westinghouse Electric Company in
Pittsburgh, bought the patent rights to Tesla's polyphase system of
alternating-current dynamos, transformers, and motors. The transaction
precipitated a titanic power struggle between Edison's direct-current systems
and the Tesla-Westinghouse alternating-current approach, which eventually won
out.

A controversy between alternating-current and direct-current advocates raged
in 1880s and 1890s, featuring Tesla and Edison as leaders in the rival camps.
The advantages of the polyphase alternating-current system, as developed by
Tesla, soon became apparent, however, particularly for long-distance power
transmission.

Westinghouse used Tesla's system to light the World Columbian Exposition at
Chicago in 1893. His success was a factor in winning him the contract to
install the first power machinery at Niagara Falls, which bore Tesla's name
and patent numbers. The project carried power to Buffalo by 1896.

Tesla was also quite eccentric.

][<en Follett (formerly Sparky, raised by a tribe of crazy electricians)