J.P. Morgan sends Nikola Tesla a letter informing him that, at this time, he is unwilling to further fund Tesla’s research and development. Frustrated and angry, Tesla turns up the voltage on his antenna in Wardeclyffe. Neighbors report thunder and lightning throughout the night, news that will also appear in the New York Times the next morning: “Tesla’s neighbors witnessed all sorts of lightning from the tall tower.” When questioned in the following days about the phenomenon, Tesla explains that it has to do with wireless telegraphy… The reality of Morgan’s withdrawal likely has to do with his own concerns about a speculative bubble in the wireless business. This bubble is indeed real, but largely created by Lancelot E. Pike’s American Wireless Telephone & Telegraph Company, which promises easy money to investors. Another contender is Abraham S. White’s American DeForest Telegraph Company, based on the inventions of Lee DeForest, with a glass-walled laboratory on the top floor of 17 State Street, just steps from Wall Street in Manhattan. Morgan is also under attack from the American administration of Teddy Roosevelt and doesn’t want to take any further risks.
