In 1921 a man Invents Generator That Takes Electricity From Air & Propels Automobile

This is a newspaper story about C. Earl Ammann and his 'atmospheric generator' powered car:

MONTROSE DAILY PRESS Denver Post - Monday, August 8, 1921
Denver Man Invents Generator That Takes Electricity From Air & Propels Automobile
Believes He has Apparatus that will Revolutionize Power & Lighting & Gives it a Test on Streets of City

Has an invention been made that will revolutionize the electrical world? Will the apparatus conceived by
a Denver man light buildings, run automobiles, battleships, power plants by the unlimited supply of electricity
in the air? Denver electrical experts say "yes", and the young inventor, C. Earl Ammann, Monday demonstrated his
invention by attaching it to an old automobile and running it about the city.

An atmospheric generator is the name of Ammann’s apparatus. It is a compact, cylindrical object with two small
brass spheres protruding from the top. Inside, Ammann says, is an arrangement of steel wires and minerals,
so fixed as to draw the electricity from the air, condense it and utilize it for driving power.
The automobile which Ammann used for his demonstration Monday was the body and chassis of an electric vehicle.
There are said to be no batteries in the car. It propelled itself with remarkable speed at the touch of the foot,
climbed hills and glided through a maze of traffic under easy control.

Careful To Conceal His Invention ~
When asked by skeptical persons if he had a storage battery concealed inside of the power cylinder, Ammann said:
"As badly as I would like to show the inside of my invention, I can’t, for I have not yet obtained the patent rights.
It would be exposing the result of seven years of work to open the cylinder. I leave for Washington this week to obtain
the patent rights. When I return I will gladly show everything and I can only say, wait until then and time will tell.
"I have bucked every law of the textbooks to perfect the invention. It appears on the order of the wireless telephone but
it is decidedly different, except that the electricity is derived from the air. It will run anywhere except under water.
The automobile is only a simple test. The generator will light buildings, do away with steam turbines, and, in fact,
propel any kind of engine motor".
J. N. Davis, the proprietor of the Davis Electric Garage company, at 921 East 14th Avenue, and one of the oldest
electrical men in Denver, made a thorough study of the generator.

Electrical Man Has Faith In It ~
"I believe that Mr. Ammann has at least made the invention which will revolutionize power", Mr. Davis said. "Of course,
we don’t know what is inside of the generator and the inventor would be foolish to show us. We have long known that
certain minerals exist, which if properly arranged together, would furnish power. That, in substance, according to the
blueprints of the invention, is the basis of the whole thing.
"If the generator has been perfected to the extent that it will propel an automobile, the rest of its work is assured.
It will be the greatest invention of the age. The electricity obtained from the air, first passing through the
generator, would be available for any use". So impressed was Mr. Davis that he offered the use of his building for
Mr. Ammann’s headquarters. Ammann, who is but 28 years old, came to Denver from Spokane, Washington.
He is an electrical engineer and lives at the Argonaut Hotel.