A high-profile and very popular figure, dubbed by the press as a contemporary wizard, conducts gruesome experiments to discredit his chief rival – a troubled genius who ultimately wins a heated public battle for a nation’s and civilization’s rise to modernity…
Her name was Topsy. Exotic by almost every measure, the unique twenty-eight-year-old circus performer hailed from Asia and mesmerized countless crowds for nearly half a decade. Now, deemed unsavable by her trainer, a mean, drunken individual who routinely beat her, despite her unwavering obedience and desire to please, a death condemnation awaited after killing a man named James Fielding Blount, who drew her ire by throwing sand in her face and maliciously burning her with a cigar on a most sensitive spot.
This wouldn’t be an easy task. She stood about 10 feet tall and weighed around 5 tons. What’s more, she gained a truly unearned reputation as a bad elephant, due to a string of yellow journalism coverage and sensationalized headlines.
Her fate was left in the hands of people wanting to profit off her death. A tragic end to a rather tragic, short life. Captured in the wild in 1875 when just a baby by unscrupulous traders, the young pachyderm was smuggled to the United States and sold into captivity to Adam Forepaugh, the owner of the Forepaugh Circus. It was a key acquisition, meant to rival the prestige of the largest circus in the country, Barnum & Bailey. Topsy performed from 1877 to 1902, and now, in early January 1903, her end would come.
Fed carrots laced with 460 grams of potassium cyanide, Topsy endured 6,600 volts of alternating current. It was meant to electrocute but park officials weren’t certain the administered shock was enough. So, they looped a large noose around her throat, cinched it as tight as it would go, and strangled her for ten minutes straight.
“There, that ought to do it!”
“Yep, no ways she could survive after all that, I reckon!”
“You there, get that thing out of here. But, be sure to take plenty of photos…we can sell them for a premium!”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Thompson, we’ll do!”
“And, get the film ready. We may be able to charge admission for people to see the biggest spectacle of our time in the theater tent!”
“All right, Mr. Dundy.”
“How on earth are we gonna get her body out of here and clean this mess up?”
“I don’t know. Seems to me bosses Thomspon and Dundy only thought about separating folks from their hard-earned money and not about what would happen after to this poor, tortured girl.”
“Perhaps we can hook her up to a tractor. I’m not sure the one we have will be able to move this large of a carcass, though.”
“Well, whatever we do, we better get it done quickly because Misters Dundy and Thomspon aren’t exactly patient or understanding men.”
“Let’s go ahead and get a couple/few chains around her feet and see if we can drag the body to somewhere out of sight.”
“That’s a good idea. If we dispose of her corpse right here, out in the open, the bosses will want to set up a ticket booth and charge people to watch. Ya know, she wasn’t a bad girl; sure is a shame it had to end like this for her.”
Topsy wasn’t the first animal put to death by electrocution. Though, she was among the most notorious. For months prior, rumors ran rampant in the press about the Asian elephant. Some even claimed she killed as many as twenty-one men. But, none of it was true. Topsy was actually a victim. A victim of cruelty and a publicity stunt meant to raise attendance at an amusement park known as Luna Park on Coney Island, New York.
Although, this wasn’t the only case of callus, insatiable greed. One of the most high-profile personalities of the time also electrocuted helpless animals – dogs, calves, and even horses. All in an effort to put his system of delivering power to businesses and homes alike ahead of his most threatening competition.
It was a matter of being the most well-known, the largest cult of personality. His desire for notoriety and fame was so great, that there was practically no length to which he wouldn’t go. That very desperate attitude would be sadly and undeniably born out in the coming War of the Currents. An unwinnable campaign against a superior power delivery system he publicly savaged and dismissed for years.
At the time, the Wizard of Menlo Park had gained a reputation for being one of the greatest inventors of all time. A moniker he personally dismissed, saying once, “I am quite correctly described as more of a sponge than an inventor.” Thomas Edison wasn’t being modest or facetious when he uttered those words.
For many years, Edison took bits and pieces of other people’s work, progress, and patents, fitting them together, like an unsolved puzzle. He toiled through trial and error, not necessarily through scientific methodologies. Credited with the creation of the phonograph in 1877, the incandescent light bulb in 1879, and the motion picture camera in 1893, Thomas Alva Edison amassed an impressive 1,093 patents before he died on October 18th, 1931.
Though Edison was inextricably linked to the death of Topsy the elephant on January 4th, 1903, he did not play a direct role. The much-hailed inventor did not even attend the macabre event. But, his name would remain intertwined for decades to come because of the method of the pachyderm’s death. After all, the public remembered another gruesome execution – one that Edison hyped for his own personal gain about thirteen years prior. At the time, it was all the famed inventor could do to discredit his formidable rival, Nikola Tesla.
“Mr. Edison? Mr. Edison?”
“Yes. What is it I can do for you, mister? Uh, mister?”
“Tesla, Nikola Tesla.”
“Okay, then, Mr. Tesla, how can I help?”
“Mr. Edison, I have a letter here from my supervisor at your facility in Paris.”
“This is a ringing endorsement. Apparently, this particular manager is quite fond of your work, Mr. Tesla. And, your travel from so far away does demonstrate you are motivated. But, I must say, it does not in any way incline me to hire you, or even entertain your ideas. Although, I do have a brief – a very brief – moment.”
“Thank, you Mr. Edison!”
“Now, what is it, Mr. Tesla, that you can for the Edison Electric Lamp Company? How would you be an asset?”
“Well, Mr. Edison, I am an inventor, like you, sir.”
“I appreciate the flattery, but I’m not necessarily a traditional inventor. You see, I lead a team of bright individuals. I call them, my ‘muckers.’ Anyway, you’re an inventor – what else can you do, Mr. Tesla?”
“I can also fix things.”
“Is that so? What things may I inquire, might you be able to fix?”
“Just about anything – I can fix almost anything that’s broken, Mr. Edison.”
“Hmmm. Let me see. Do you have any experience with dynamos or generators, perhaps?”
“Yes, quite a bit of experience.”
“Then, Mr. Tesla, I have a challenge for you.”
“What kind of a challenge, Mr. Edison?”
“We’ve installed a cutting-edge generator on a ship – the SS Oregon. The passenger liner first put to sea in June of last year. We equipped it with a new dynamo only a few months ago. It’s in port right now, on the East River, here in New York.”
“Impressive.”
“It would be if we could get it to work. So, Mr. Tesla, are you willing to fix it?”
“Sure, Mr. Edison, I’ll get right on it.”
Nikola shook Edison’s hand and promptly walked out the door, making his way straight to the East River and aboard the SS Oregon. The immigrant inventor spent hours toiling away, first diagnosing the problem, then set about fixing it. After working by lantern light well into the night, just before dawn, Tesla pinpointed the issue and got the one-of-a-kind generator up and running.
This was a common test. Edison didn’t just hire people without a challenge. Before he committed to bring someone into his company, Edison gave them difficult problems to solve. If the candidate succeeded, a bright future and endless career possibilities opened up. Serving under the famed Wizard of Menlo Park meant obtaining an advantage over their peers, and attaining a new level of respect in the ranks of inventors and scientists.
Edison established the Edison Electric Lamp Company about six years ago, in 1878. Now, in mid-1884, the inventor was busy electrifying anything and everything he could, including installing a generator on a passenger ship – one plagued with problems. Problems that Edison could not solve himself, nor could any of his muckers. But, where everyone else failed, Tesla succeeded.
“Mr. Tesla, I’m surprised to see you back so soon!”
“Well, I fixed the generator on the SS Oregon. It was a short circuit causing some of the armature coils to burn out – an easy fix, Mr. Edison.”
“Then, you’re hired, Mr. Tesla. Now, let’s get to work on something a bit more perplexing!”
“Indeed! Thank you, Mr. Edison, for the opportunity, you won’t be disappointed!”
“Don’t thank me yet. I have much more difficult problems to solve.”
“I am up for any challenge!”
The challenge was precisely as big a one as Edison described. It involved improving the direct current or DC generators supplying power to the most exclusive customers of Edison’s power company. At the time, technology for delivering electricity was in its infancy. It was also extraordinarily limited and the reason Tesla was so keen on developing alternating current or AC power. However, there weren’t sufficient ways to control the latter. The former, though much less powerful, was far safer. Although, it was only effective for about a half-mile range.
This meant having to install generators everywhere to supply DC power. As a result, Edison doubled down on his system, dismissing AC as too dangerous and having too many unknowns to make it practical. Tesla wouldn’t let this dissuade him from proving his theory about alternating current and continued to work on plans to supply power through an AC system. When he made a breakthrough in 1885, Tesla immediately took his findings to Edison.
“What have you got for me now, Mr. Tesla?”
“Well, Mr. Edison, I have details, intricate plans, that would deliver an enormous amount of power, a lot more than our current dynamo system!”
“Is that so? Tell me about your idea.”
“It’s a generator. But, one delivering something other than DC power.”
“Other than DC? What could that be, Mr. Tesla?”
“It uses alternating current. It would generate…”
“It would generate power, sure. Enough power to burn down the entire city!”
“But, Mr. Edison, I know how to…”
“How to what? Put out the fires and rebuild the charred ashes of the buildings set ablaze by alternating current!”
“I think I can make alternating current safe. Even safe enough to deliver a lot more power over a much greater distance!”
“I’ve told you and everyone else – alternating current is dangerous. It’s playing with uncontrollable fire. You’ll electrocute anything it touches. If you really want to impress me, Mr. Tesla, make the system we already have more efficient. If you can do that, then you’ll win the $50,000 prize!”
Tesla, not one to shy away from such a test, took Edison’s challenge seriously. He worked tirelessly to improve the dynamos. After going over all the details and examining every aspect of the system, found a way to make the generators substantially more efficient. Nikola discovered that by shrinking the magnetic cores, the output actually grew larger. With the right ratio, the generators could deliver three times the output.
Tesla carefully put all his notes together and drew up plans demonstrating how he improved Edison’s dynamo system, confident his work would pay big dividends. By tripling the output of the machines, the Edison company could provide more power and increase its revenues.
“Mr. Edison, I have the solution. This is how we can make the dynamos more efficient!”
“Yes, I see. Good work, Mr. Tesla!”
“Thank you!”
“You’re welcome!”
“Now, when do I get the bonus?”
“Bonus? What bonus?”
“The $50,000 you promised.”
“Oh, that! I was joking!”
“I don’t understand. How is that a joke?”
“It’s something we Americans just say.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you don’t really understand.”
“Understand what, Mr. Edison?”
“Our unique American sense of humor, Mr. Tesla.”
Tesla was enraged. He quit Edison Electric and attempted to start a company of his own – the Tesla Electric Light Company. But, he soon discovered the difference between an idea and making it into a practical reality. A hard lesson his now-former boss, Thomas Edison also learned the hard way seven years earlier. It was at that time, in 1878, the inventor of the phonograph set out to bring artificial light into every business and home in America.
In the late nineteenth century, companies and houses alike relied on a much more crude method of lighting their indoor spaces. Oil lanterns and wax candles were still the only sources of illumination once the sun went down. But, these produced noxious fumes and were costly to burn. What’s more, they didn’t light up very much space. So, many were needed just to light a single room. The more burning, the higher the fire risk. And, the more heat produced. This, at a time well before interior climate control, something that wouldn’t come for another four-plus decades, when Willis Carrier first invented the air conditioner.
To make his own and further enhance his reputation, Edison bought up several light bulb patents, some decades old. The Wizard of Menlo Park certainly wasn’t the first to conceive of an artificial light source. Humphry Davy invented the first electric light in 1802 by inventing a battery. He connected his battery to carbon and it produced artificial light, known then as the electric arc lamp. But, it was too bright and burned out quickly.
British scientist Warren de la Rue invented another light bulb in 1840 by enclosing coiled platinum filament inside a glass vacuum tube. When de la Rue electrified it, the light illuminated. However, the design wasn’t ideal and the high cost of platinum made it impractical to produce at scale. Joseph Wilson Swan did much the same in 1850, but it also burned out in too short a time to be practical.
Although Swan made a number of improvements, Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans filed a patent in Canada in July of 1874. The men tried to commercialize their product but did not succeed. Edison bought their patent about five years later in 1879 – a year after his famous 10,000 failures had forced him to obtain new technologies.
It was in 1878 that Edison turned his attention to the problematic light bulb. On October 14th of that same year, the Wizard of Menlo Park filed a patent application titled, “Improvement In Electric Lights.” But, Edison wasn’t the only one working to develop a practical, long-lasting, and cost-effective light bulb. When news traveled another inventor was about to unveil a working unit, Edison leaped into action.
He immediately invited a number of journalists to his workshop, proclaiming he solved all the problems plaguing the light bulb and had finally built one that worked like none before it. Edison sectioned off a small part of his laboratory with a curtain, letting one news reporter at a time see his newest invention. But after just a few minutes, he’d usher out the journalist, disappear behind the curtain momentarily, and then bring another reporter in to see it.
Edison did this repeatedly until all the invited journalists saw his light bulb burning and took notes. Then, he bid them all a good day as they walked out the door, back to their offices. What none of the eager reporters knew is their stories about the world’s first truly practical light bulb were nothing more than vaporware – a product announced or advertised as existing, even when it didn’t. It would take two more years of experimenting and making excuses for Edison to actually build a practical model.
When he did find the right combination of hardware, Edison filed a patent and by 1880, his team perfected a bulb that burns for 1,200 hours or about 50 days. A triumph that led to one of his most famous quotes, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
But, this huge success wasn’t nearly large enough. Edison would soon be engaged in a much bigger fight. One that would come to be known as the War of the Currents. And, it would begin in 1887, when Nikola Tesla, after months of digging ditches for the Edison company, earning just $2 per day, would finally get his big break.
“Hand me that pick, over there, would you fellow?”
“Here you go, sir…name’s Nikola Tesla.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tesla. I’m the supervisor for this project, so if you need anything or have a better way of doin’ this, just let me know!”
“Thank you, sir. I hate to say, but this is a real shame.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, sir, by the time we’re done here, the whole system will be totally out of date.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, sir, it is. These cables, the ones we’re burying, will only carry current a half-mile. Truly pathetic when you consider a system I’ve worked on before can carry it one hundred times further, maybe even more, and for only a fraction of the installation and operational costs.”
“Really?”
“Yes, sir, really.”
“And where did you work on such a system?”
“In my laboratory. I’m an inventor. But, I haven’t found the right people to invest yet.”
“If that’s true, Mr. Tesla, then you need to meet a couple of acquaintances of mine. Now, these gentlemen are high-brow, high-finance types, you see?”
“Yes, I follow, sir.”
“Good. Because they’re gonna expect you to wow them, really impress. If you can do that, you just might have the backers you need to build this system you’re talking about.”
“No problem, you can count on me.”
“Well, it’s all on you, Mr. Tesla. Because if you don’t dazzle these gentlemen, I can assure you, you’ll be right back here digging ditches again!”
Tesla takes the chance to heart. He realized there was no good way to explain his alternating current system to the layperson. So, he worked diligently to create a demonstration – a rotating egg-shaped object that would twirl when he turned on his AC machine. And when Tesla showed the two financiers how his system worked, they happily agreed to finance his company. The opportunity couldn’t come at a better time.
After five years of building power stations, Edison’s system struggled to keep up with demand by 1888. He simply could not build enough of the infrastructure to deliver enough direct current. This, even after spending huge amounts of his personal finances and that of his backers, like JP Morgan. But, Edison refused to give up on the DC network.
Meanwhile, Tesla faced another challenge. This time, building a working motor that could handle alternating current. A motor would make it possible to apply the power source to just about anything, including elevators, manufacturing equipment, medical devices, and eventually, home appliances. By July of that year, the immigrant inventor had solved the problem and developed a two-phase system. The news piqued the interest of one of the wealthiest men in America, railroad baron and financier George Westinghouse. He attended a lecture given by Tesla and the mogul who built the first AC power system near Boston to compete with Edison, arranged to meet the immigrant inventor.
When Westinghouse and Tesla strike a deal, the equivalent to more than $2 million dollars today, the inventor still has a huge obstacle to overcome – making alternating current safe. Fortunately, a new European device was just created, called a transformer. It allowed Tesla to step down alternating current to much lower levels, making it safe for a variety of applications.
“Mr. Edison?”
“Yes?”
“It’s Westinghouse. He and Mr. Tesla are all over the newspapers.”
“I’ve seen the articles.”
“Seems like their AC system can do a whole lot more, I’m sorry to say, Mr. Edison.”
“Not to worry.”
Edison wasn’t about to let his rivals get the better of him. He invited the press back to his Orange, New Jersey lab. The same press that reported he had invented the first practical light bulb.
“Mr. Edison, some people are saying alternating current is the future of electricity. What do you say to those predictions?”
“Alternating current is dangerous. It cannot be controlled and therefore, isn’t safe. On the other hand, my system, the system of the Edison Electric Company, is completely safe.”
“But, their system is spreading across the country faster than yours.”
“That may be true now, but it will be the source of tragedy in no time at all!”
“Are you sure about that, Mr. Edison?”
“Just as certain as death, Westinghouse will kill a customer within six months after he puts in a system of any size.”
But, as Westinghouse’s and Tesla’s alternating current systems begin to go online, the dire warnings issued by Edison don’t come true. Desperate to stop his competition from succeeding, the Wizard of Menlo Park and his muckers see no other choice but to go totally negative.
“Mr. Edison, we’ll have to round up some strays.”
“Okay, tell the neighborhood kids I’ll pay 25 cents per stray they bring to us.”
“All right. Anything else?”
“Yes. Invite the press. We’ll put on a demonstration. A demonstration they won’t soon forget.”
Edison’s team makes the necessary arrangements. They invite newspaper writers to their laboratory. When the press arrived, Edison waved a curved tin sheet in front of them, then filled it with water, and attached the metal to an AC power source. He led a dog into the room right after, directing the pooch to drink from the tin. The moment the canine’s mouth came into contact with the electrified metal bowl, it seized up and fell over dead.
“You see, you see! This is, beyond all doubt, more fatal than my continuous current system! This is what people can expect if they use Westinghouse’s and Tesla’s alternating current!”
But, that one demonstration wasn’t nearly enough to end Edison’s worry. He did not think a lone instance would make a long-lasting impression. An impression that would cause the public to completely abandon alternating current altogether. The famed inventor ordered his muckers to run fatal current through more dogs and film their electrocutions.
Meanwhile, Edison’s DC powerplants were the undeniable source of much more carnage. Commercial and residential buildings burnt to the ground, claiming the lives of countless people because the direct current system was not equipped or able to sensibly manipulate the voltage or amperage – what came from the source traveled directly, and the result could easily end in mass fatalities.
Regardless, Tesla’s and Westinghouse’s AC infrastructure continued to grow in size and popularity. This prompted Edison to join a New York committee tasked with researching the possibility of using any form of electricity to put prisoners to death. When the committee convened, Edison brought in young calves. He attached electrodes to the little bovines, then hit the unsuspecting farm animals with high-voltage AC, making sure the commission knew which form of electricity caused the calves’ untimely and gruesome deaths. For good measure, Edison also brought in a horse and ran more than enough amperage through the equine’s body to kill it on the spot. None of the innocent animals died quickly, but the commission got the point.
Despite the fact Edison personally opposed the death penalty, his ambition to discredit and derail Tesla and Westinghouse was just too great. The inventor teamed up with another DC supporter named Harold Brown. A man who also experimented with canine electrocution, through alternating current. The same individual the state of New York would later hire to work alongside Edison’s muckers to build the first electric chair.
“There, that should do it. What do you think, Mr. Brown?”
“I say it’s ready to go. We can run a few dry tests to make sure it works properly.”
“Did you hear about Edison’s court testimony, Harold?”
“Yes, yes I did…read a bit of it in the papers today, in fact.”
“You think it’s true?”
“What part?”
“Well, Edison telling the court that anyone put to death by electrocution would be totally painless.”
“Oh, you mean, ‘Westinghoused?’”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m getting at, Mr. Brown…’Westinghoused!’”
“I’m sure Edison is trying to cast alternating current as too dangerous to truly control.”
“The verdict will come once there’s an actual electrocution. After this electric chair is first put to use.”
That time wouldn’t be far off. The state of New York had already convicted second-generation German immigrant William Kemmler of murder, a man who after a drunken binge, killed his girlfriend with an ax in a rage, triggered over supposedly stealing his money and an alleged affair.
On Wednesday, August 6th, 1890 prison guards awakened the condemned man at 5 am. Kemmler quickly dress in a suit and tie, ate his breakfast, and said a prayer. At 6:38 am, Kemmler entered the execution chamber while warden Charles Durston looked on and seventeen witnesses settled into their seats.
Kemmler paused before sitting in the chair, saying, “Gentlemen, I wish you all good luck. I believe I am going to a good place, and I am ready to go.”
Kemmler did not resist. He did not cry, nor did he protest or scream. Instead, he calmly sat in the electric chair, remarking, “Take it easy and do it properly, I’m in no hurry.”
Warden Durston replied, “Goodbye, William,” then promptly ordered the switch be thrown.
For seventeen long, uncomfortable seconds, 1,300 volts coursed through Kemmler’s body, causing it to wildly gyrate, before falling limp in the chair. He was pronounced dead moments later, but the witnesses watched in horror as they could clearly see Kemmler was still breathing.
“Have the current turned on again, quick—no delay!”
Another 2,000 volts followed, causing Kemmler’s skin to suffer ruptures and freely bleed, as smoke began to rise from his body. An awful stench permeated the death chamber, due to the charred flesh and singed hair.
The next day, newspapers around the country reported in bold headlines Kemmler had been “Westinghoused” to death. Upon reading his local paper, the financier remarked to his partner Tesla, “They could have done better with an ax.”
But, the well-organized and barbaric smear campaign against alternating current didn’t quite work out as Edison hoped. Many people still associated him with the conception and construction of the electric chair. And, with his DC system being further strained to meet demand, his fortunes would change for the worse.
Regardless, Edison pressed on, doubling down on his power stations and even applying to the state of New York to be awarded a contract to install a powerhouse at Niagra Falls. Westinghouse and Tesla also submitted applications and won the contract in 1893, effectively winning the War of the Currents.
For Edison, it meant the end of a years-long journey, the desperate invention of vaporware, and the unnecessary cruelty in the pursuit of power. To the public, it represented the dark side of creating artificial light.
Despite his genius-level IQ, being a prolific inventor and technological visionary, Nicola Tesla died a penniless recluse at the age of 91 after giving up his rights to Westinghouse, worth millions of dollars. The once-celebrated figure patented hundreds of inventions. He lived out his last days in the Hotel New Yorker, in Manhattan, subsisting off of charity from friends and credit, dying on January 7th, 1943, in room 3327 on the 33rd floor.
Thomas Edison died on October 31st, 1931 at the age of 84. His estate was worth $12 million.
