THE HENRY.i 



By T. (J. jMendenhall. 



Oil the 21st of August, 1893, there assembled iu Chicago an Interna- 

 tional Congress of Electricians, the transactions of Avhich. while largely 

 technical and scientific in their character, were in all respects impor- 

 tant, and in some respects of great interest to the intelligent American 

 public. 



Tlie organization of the congress and preparations for holding it in 

 connection with the World's Columbian Exposition were well under way 

 before the conception, or at least the publication, of the scheme for 

 a series of so-called '' World's Congresses," the proceedings of which 

 were brought prominently to the attention of the reading public during 

 the past summer. The xVmerican Institute of Electrical Engineers was 

 l)r()bably the lirst body to take action in reference to an Electrical Con- 

 gress. Cordial cooperation existed between it and the Exposition 

 authorities, and a large and representative advisory committee, embrac- 

 ing nearly all of the leading American electricians, together with many 

 of the iirst rank from foreign countries, was organized, with Dr. Elisha 

 Gray, of Chicago, as chairman. 



It is not intended, in this article, to give an account of the congress 

 and its doings, but to refer to its organization and personnel only so 

 far as is necessary to throw liglit upon the full intent and meaning of a 

 single sentence in its proceedings. 



The number of representatives of foreign governments ]>resent was 

 unexpectedly large, and the delegates were of the highest character. 

 To one who has some familiarity with tlie literature of electricity it will 

 suftice to mention the names of Von Ilelmholtz, Mascart, Preece, Row- 

 land, kSilvanus Thompson, Ferraris, Ayrton, and Hospitaller, among 

 the many who took part in the deliberations of the congress. The 

 honorary president was Dr. II. von Ilelmholtz, whose splendid contri- 

 butions to science cover so wide a tield that he would have been easily 

 tirst in congresses devoted to the consideration of several departments 

 of human knowledge quite distinct and apart from that of electricity. 



In its internal constitution the congress differed in some particulars 

 from all others held in Chicago, and a part of its work had more of an 



' From the Atlantic Monthly, May, 1894, Vol. LXXIII, No. 439. 



141 



