The Two Towers: Main

by G. Stanley Hall (president of Clark University). There were electrical demonstrations of "labor saving devices" such as electric irons, ovens, dryers, and vacuum cleaners--the latter "much cheaper and easier to operate than the old carpet sweeper." Wireless telephony had also been discussed and the wireless receiving station in the tower of Boynton Hall thoroughly inspected. William W. Bird had presented his theories about transmission of power by leather belting. There had been an illustrated talk with lantern slides in natural colors by a professor of M.I.T. "Nothing of this kind has ever been seen in Worcester," declared the impressed reporter. Within the month, Harold B. Smith used a hundred similar slides to illustrate his lecture on "High Voltage Power Transmission."

No subject received so much public interest, however, as did Charlie Allen's "Gasoline: Its Uses and Abuses." Punctuating his remarks with appropriate flame and explosion, Professor Allen advised caution and respect. He also predicted that an automobile using kerosene would be on the market within a few years.

Professor Allen was always well equipped with props and tools, which he kept in bulging pockets lined with leather. "How many of you have a jackknife in your pocket?" he would ask his students on their first day in class. Usually the collection was small and the professor would admonish: "Always carry your tools. The least a good engineer should have with him is a jackknife."

Among the props for his lectures, Professor Allen had cans of gasoline and kerosene and a stack of freshly laundered hand towels. As part of his routine he would pick up one of these towels, dramatically shake it out, then deftly smother the flames his gasoline vapor had made. There was one occasion when the flames went completely out of control. Nonchalantly he shook out his towels and went through the motions of calmly smothering one fire after another. Everyone thought it was part of his act, and only afterwards did Professor Allen admit he "had been scared to death."

For many years Professor Allen gave his lecture at a ridiculously varied assortment of functions. He accepted every invitation as eagerly as if it were for a scientific convention. Probably the only time he wished he hadn't bothered was at a fraternity house where the boys had connected his metal-topped table to an electrical current. Professor Allen leaned against the table during his talk and for the rest of his life bore deep scars on his thighs as a reminder of the experience.

Again and again the bottom of Tech's treasury barrel was scraped in an effort to adopt the innovations of the early 1900's. Occasionally unexpected gifts came from unexpected sources. But there were other instances when the school's expectations did not materialize, chiefly when Stephen Salisbury III died in 1905.

When Mr. Salisbury resigned from the presidency of Tech's board a few months before his death, he tempered the break by a gift of $100,000. In his will there was a provision for $200,000

By radio there is also promise that if will be practical to transmit motion pictures, to permit remote vision, in extension of the present transmission of photographs by electrical means
      --Tech Circular, 1905