The Smear Campaign
Upon the usage of Tesla’s AC patents, a war erupted. Industrial development in the US was at stake. "You have Edison using direct current and Tesla who sells his patents to Westinghouse using alternating current which is a much better device. But people don’t know that." (Dr. Seifer) |
Edison launched a propaganda war upon the other form of electricity. Westinghouse said,
“I remember Tom [Edison] telling them that direct current was like a river flowing peacefully to the sea, while alternating current was like a torrent rushing violently over a precipice. Imagine that! Why they even had a professor named Harold Brown who went around talking to audiences... and electrocuting dogs and old horses right on stage, to show how dangerous alternating current was.”
- George Westinghouse
"[Edison] started to electrocute cats and dogs and even an elephant with the Tesla system trying to show that it was too dangerous to use, and of course, it wasn't too dangerous and he got it used in the electric chair." (Dr. Seifer)
"Meanwhile, a murderer was about to be executed in the first electric chair at New York's Auburn State Prison. Professor Brown had succeeded in illegally purchasing a used Westinghouse generator in order to demonstrate once and for all the extreme danger of alternating current. The guinea pig was William Kemmler, a convicted ax-murderer, who died horribly on August 6, 1890, in "an awful spectacle, far worse than hanging." The technique was later dubbed "Westinghousing." (PBS)
"Meanwhile, a murderer was about to be executed in the first electric chair at New York's Auburn State Prison. Professor Brown had succeeded in illegally purchasing a used Westinghouse generator in order to demonstrate once and for all the extreme danger of alternating current. The guinea pig was William Kemmler, a convicted ax-murderer, who died horribly on August 6, 1890, in "an awful spectacle, far worse than hanging." The technique was later dubbed "Westinghousing." (PBS)