What I find most amusing about this whole thing is the statement that it was too difficult to work with auditors in far-off California.
Heck, by 1867 (150 years ago) we had an intercontinental railroad and telegraph that made it possible to converse within a few hours and ship records across the country in less than a week. With the telephone, fax machines, pdf files and the internet ... not to mention overnight air delivery ... distance is no longer a significant issue unless you are delivering guaranteed hot pizza.
Let's face it, we live in an age where a designer can draw up a part on a CAD screen in one part of the world and almost instantaneously transmit it directly to a CNC machine on the shop floor on the opposite end of the planet.
Of course, compared to the claims that there was a 38% efficient, water lubricated, fully integrated, market ready steam power plant, this is small potatoes.
