Exhibition of Electric Wonders

The Electric Exposition, to be held at the Grand Central Palace, next month, will have several features of almost sensational interest, and all the latest electrical marvels will be shown. The exposition, as a whole, will be modeled after that held in Philadelphia in 1884, and the general manager will be C. E. Stump, who was connected with the direction of the Philadelphia display. Although 12 years have elapsed, during which two world's fairs have been held, one at Paris and the other at Chicago, and although electricity has made immense strides since then, yet the Philadelphia exhibition still remains as the most satisfactory display in that department of science that has ever been made.

The coming exhibition will be what its Philadelphia predecessor was a complete exhibition, historically, scientifically, mechanically and commercially, of the development of electricity in all its applications down to the present hour. It will be opened by Governor Morton striking a golden key at Albany, and the electric current will be transmitted over Postal wires to San Francisco and back again to the hall of the exposition. The golden key used will be the same touched by President Cleveland in opening the Chicago Fair.

Both Edison and Tesla are taking a personal interest in the exhibition, and models of nearly all their inventions will be on view. Mr. Edison's exhibits filled 40 cases and includes four complete sets of apparatus for the examination of human bones and other objects under the Rontgen X rays. These will be set up in the Exposition so that every visitor can, in turn, have a look at the bones of his own hand. There will also be an interesting exhibit of Rontgen photographs.

Another popular feature of the show will be the transmission, over two Western Union wires, of the electric energy generated by the Niagara Falls. A model of the town of Niagara and of the turbines and dynamos operated by the water from the Falls will be exhibited, and the wheels of the model will be moved by the electricity transmitted direct from the Falls. As the Western Union wires can be used only in the evening, the electricity for the operation of the model during the day time will be stored in the batteries of the Electric Storage Battery Company of Philadelphia. The model used has been made by G. R. Allen, of Philadelphia.

The Electric Storage Battery Company will also exhibit an electric carriage and an electric launch. Other exhibitors will be the Cutter Manufacturing Company, the Partrick & Carter Company and the United Electric Improvement Company, all of Philadelphia; the Harrisburg Machine Company, the J. J. McEwen Company, of Ridgway; the Phoenix Iron Company, of Meadeville; the Standard Underground Cable Company, of Pittsburg; the Williamsport Pipe Company, the Wilkinson Manufacturing Company, of Bridgeport; and, of course, the Westinghouse Company, of Pittsburg.

One of the most valuable sections of the show will be the historical exhibit, which is being prepared by T. C. Martin, editor of the Electrical Engineer; E. L. Morse, son of the inventor of the Morse telegraph, and Dr. Park Benjamin. This exhibit will include Mr. Hammer's collection of 1,000 early lamps; 361 models from the Patent Office at Washington, illustrative of the progress of electric inventions; the three first electric railway motors of Davenport, Page and Colton: Dr. Benjamin's collection of rare books, containing the first mention of the various important developments of electricity as a science, the books being valued at $20,000; and a collection of electrical relics, comprising, among other things, all of the medals and decorations received by Prof. Morse.