I love Tesla stuff and have heard of the reaction to his attempts to sell his inventions to the US military. Not the most forward looking bunch of folks. Just ask Billy Mitchell!
A favorite Tesla story dates to his time in NY city, living at, I think, the Waldorf. He was a popular figure among the NY rich, intelligentsia and arts crowd. He was a popular guest at the swankiest parties and made friends with a wide range of famous people. One of his better friends at the time was Sam Clemens (Mark Twain).
Tesla had a large lab in the city and often brought by his rich and famous friends for very popular demonstrations. One of the favorites was a platform he had rigged to run high frequency current through the people standing on it (safely). It gave them a fantastic tingling sensation, caused their hair to stand up from the electrical discharge, etc. He always limited people to only a short time on the platform before he shut it down and made them get off. Clemens (Twain) insisted that he was up to an extended time and insisted that Tesla leave the current on, despite repeated (though non specific) warnings. Tesla relented and left Clemens on the platform longer than his normal time. What he hadn’t spelled out for his guests was that high frequency electricity has a... ummmm.... laxative effect.
Twain made it off the platform (safely) and to the bathroom just in time, according to his version of the story. Good thing since he always wore white suits. ;^>
I guess that also explains the famous Mark Twain hair-do.