The Minneapolis Morning Tribune *

Electric Show Ready for Week of Triumph

Nikola Tesla, the Man Who “Dreamed,” to Be Paid Homage Today.

Following one of the most successful opening nights in the history of the Northwestern Electric Show association, and an entire Sunday spent in perfecting and arranging belated exhibits, the third annual Northwest Electrical Exposition will again be thrown open to the public at 10 o'clock this morning.

Electrical experts from all over the country are present and some of the most noted speakers in the electrical world will address the four electrical conventions which are being held in connection with the show.

Nikola Tesla Honored

Nikola Tesla, the man who “dreamed” of the wireless telegraph and announced its possibilities to the world more than 10 years before the time of Marconi, the man who proved his ability to wreck tall buildings by the vibrations of an electric machine of his own invention, the “dreamer” who declared he was able to split the earth in two by similar vibration, is the man honored by the electrical exposition today. Today is named Tesla day after him.

Mr. Tesla gave to the world the alternating current, without which long distance transmission of power would have been impossible. He now is working on the transmission of power by wireless and says if he cannot accomplish his purpose he is willing to lay his head upon the block. He is again “dreaming” but his dreams are well founded as those he previously made public, the next 10 years will show an electrical revolution which will far outshine anything to date.

Demonstrations of Tesla's wonderful coils and inventions will be the order of the day, and his message to the people will be received by Archbishop John Ireland.

Archbishop Praises Electric Exposition

Messages Exchanged With Tesla, Who Makes Prophecies for Future.

Archbishop John Ireland, of St. Paul, put his stamp of approval on the Northwestern Electrical Exposition yesterday by presiding at the opening of the afternoon show and receiving in person the message of the great inventor, Tesla, which he read from the rostrum.

Mr. Tesla's message, which was directed personally to Archbishop Ireland, made great promises for the future of electricity. He said in part: “Mysterious as ever before, nature yields her precious secrets more readily and the spirit of man asserts his mastery over the physical universe. The day is not distant when the very planet which gave him birth will tremble at the sound of his voice; he will make the sun his slave; harness the inexhaustible and terribly intense energy of micro-cosmic movement; cause atoms to combine in predetermined form; he will draw the mighty ocean from its bed, transport it through the air and create rivers and lakes at will; he will command the wild elements; he will push on and on to greater deeds, until with his intelligence and force he will reach out to spheres beyond the terrestial.”

The American Institute of Electrical Engineers opened their convention at the Armory yesterday afternoon when Miller Reese Hutchinson delivered a paper on the “Edison Storage Battery.”

* A re-creation of two articles which appeared in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune for March 18, 1912 (left) and March 19, 1912. The material seen here are excerpts from the original reports.