Originally rejecting the offer of the AIEE's highest award, Tesla reconsiders and accepts after being encouraged by Bernard A. Behrend. During the introduction, Tesla disappears and is later found at the library feeding his beloved pigeons. He is persuaded to return and gives his acceptance speech.
Reported in the media as being suspected of being used by German spies, the tower was actually ordered to be destroyed to cover debts incurred by Tesla at the Waldorf Astoria where he lived for almost 20 years.
Tesla contracts with Pyle National on the perfection of his turbines. He moves into the Blackstone Hotel where he stays for the next 16 months.
In the August 1917 edition of "Electrical Experimenter" magazine, Tesla stated, "For instance, by their (standing electromagnetic waves) use we may produce at will, from a sending station, an electrical effect in any particular region of the globe; (with which) we may determine the relative position or course of a moving object, such as a vessel at sea, the distance traversed by the same, or its speed."
Even though Tesla had some minor successes, he continued to fall deeper and deeper into debt primarily due to his high overhead. He was called into the state supreme court for $935.00 in unpaid taxes on the Wardenclyffe property. Under oath before Justice Finch, Tesla revealed that he was essentially penniless and owned no real assets. "New York World" ran an embarrassing article exposing Tesla's financial crisis.
George Westinghouse died in New York City, at age 67. As a Civil War veteran, he was buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery, along with his wife Marguerite, who survived him by three months. Later to be called "The Perfect Partnership" there is little doubt about the impact Westinghouse and Tesla had upon the world.
Tesla moved his office from Metropolitan Tower to the Woolworth Building, then the world's tallest building, but fell behind in rent after only a few months and was forced to leave.
"The New York Times," followed by other prominent news sources, carried a story, based upon a Reuters dispatch from London, stating that Tesla and Edison were to share the Nobel Prize in physics. Both Tesla and Edison told reporters they had received no official notification of the award. A few days later the Nobel Committee announced that the prize for physics would, in fact, be shared by Professor William Henry Bragg of the University of Leeds, England and his son. The committee did not deny that Tesla and Edison were the first choices, but never made public the true reason for the change. Some speculate that either Tesla or Edison or both refused to share the prize with the other.
After leaving the Woolworth Building, Tesla relocates his office to 8W 40th St., which was directly across the street from Bryant Park and his beloved pigeons.
In order to keep a roof over his head, Tesla had given two mortgages on Wardenclyffe to George C. Boldt, proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria, to secure payment of hotel bills amounting to almost $19,000.00. Tesla requested that they not be recorded, fearing that all his projects would be destroyed if the matter became public. He was unable to make any payments at all, and was forced to sign the deed over to Waldorf-Astoria, Inc., through a silent intermediary.
John Jacob Astor was Tesla's wealthiest and most generous investor. He invested $100,000 in 1899 for Tesla to, as he understood it, further develop and produce a new lighting system. Tesla instead, used the money to fund his Colorado Springs experiments. Mr. Astor was understandably unhappy with Tesla's deception and avoided him for several years. They did later reconcile and worked together on aircraft and propulsion systems in 1908. Unfortunately, Mr. Astor and his wife were aboard the "Titanic" which began to sink after colliding with an iceberg. Mr. Astor was able to help his wife into a lifeboat but was unable to join her. His body was found a few days later and is buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City."
Westhinghouse, Church, Kerr & Company removed the machinery from the building, as part of their judgment of $23,500.