Of course the boy jumped at the opportunity, for what real boy would miss a chance to find out all about a new and powerful engine?
"Is it a gasoline engine?" he asked.
"No, it is a steam turbine, but if you know anything at all about turbines you will see that it is entirely different from any you ever have seen, for Doctor Tesla has used a principle as old as the hills and one which has been known to men for centuries, but which never before has been applied in mechanics."
After a little more talk the scientist promised to arrange with Tesla to take the young man over to the great Waterside power-house, New York, where the inventor is testing out his latest invention. We will follow them there and see what this wonderful little turbine looks like.
Picking his way amid the powerful machinery and the maze of switchboards, the scientist finally stopped in front of a little device that seemed like a toy amid the gigantic machines of the power-house.
"This is the small turbine," says Tesla. "It will do pretty well for its size."
The little engine looked like a small steel drum about ten inches in diameter and a couple of inches wide, with a shaft running through the centre. Various kinds of gauges were attached at different points. Outside of the gauges and the base upon which it was mounted, the engine almost could have been covered by a derby hat. The whole thing, gauges and all, practically could have been covered by an ordinary hat box.
Yet when Tesla gave the word, and his assistant turned on the steam, the small dynamo to which the turbine shaft was geared, instantly began to run at terrific speed. Apparently the machine began to run at full speed instantly instead of gradually working up to it. There was no sound except the whir of well-fitted machinery. "Under tests," said Tesla, "this little turbine has developed 110 horsepower."
Just think of it, a little engine that you could lift with one hand, giving 110 horsepower!
"But we can do better than that," added the inventor, "for with a steam pressure of 125 pounds at the inlet, running 9,000 revolutions per minute, the engine will develop 200 brake-horsepower."