THE Pittsburgh Press newspaper told baffled American readers in July 1902 that the eccentric electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla had built a “large power house” at Wardenclyffe (Long Island), and was busy creating other strange towers across the USA. His “World Telegraphy” system, Tesla told journalists, was designed to work with at least one other overseas tower in Scotland.
Tesla’s Scottish project was completely unknown until I made a public presentation on two pivotal 1902 headlines from the Dubuque Telegraph Herald and Toledo Sunday Bee. Both newspapers proudly reported that “Mr. Tesla asserted that there is a similar powerhouse in Scotland and said that this one is almost entirely completed”. A third newspaper (the Babylon Signal) repeated Tesla’s assertion a few weeks later in August 1902.
