Finally he prevailed upon his worthy but
reluctant sire to send him to Gratz in Austria to finish his studies
at the Polytechnic School, and to prepare for work as professor of
mathematics and physics. At Gratz he saw and operated a Gramme machine
for the first time, and was so struck with the objections to the use
of commutators and brushes that he made up his mind there and then to
remedy that defect in dynamo-electric machines. In the second year of
his course he abandoned the intention of becoming a teacher and took
up the engineering curriculum. After three years of absence he
returned home, sadly, to see his father die; but, having resolved to
settle down in Austria, and recognizing the value of linguistic
acquirements, he went to Prague and then to Buda-Pesth with the view
of mastering the languages he deemed necessary. Up to this time he had
never realized the enormous sacrifices that his parents had made in
promoting his education, but he now began to feel the pinch and to
grow unfamiliar with the image of Francis Joseph I. There was
considerable lag between his dispatches and the corresponding
remittance from home; and when the mathematical expression for the
value of the lag assumed the shape of an eight laid flat on its back,
Mr. Tesla became a very fair example of high thinking and plain
living, but he made up his mind to the struggle and determined to go
through depending solely on his own resources. Not desiring the fame
of a faster, he cast about for a livelihood, and through the help of
friends he secured a berth as assistant in the engineering department
of the government telegraphs. The salary was five dollars a week. This
brought him into direct contact with practical electrical work and
ideas, but it is needless to say that his means did not admit of much
experimenting. By the time he had extracted several hundred thousand
square and cube roots for the public benefit, the limitations,
financial and otherwise, of the position had become painfully
apparent, and he concluded that the best thing to do was to make a
valuable invention. He proceeded at once to make inventions, but their
value was visible only to the eye of faith, and they brought no grist
to the mill. Just at this time the telephone made its appearance in
Hungary, and the success of that great invention determined his
career, hopeless as the profession had thus far seemed to him. He
associated himself at once with telephonic work, and mad