Amazing Stories, Vol. 3, No. 2 — page 80: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“Yes,” Markham conceded, but .. .” “The duration of houses was halved by the con- stant vibration of passing trucks; the manufacturers, in feverish competition, were making the cars cheaper and cheaper, and more and more defective; forty percent of the men at the wheels were unfit to drive, yet did so, thanks to incompetent laws; the roads were choked with: gaudy hire-cars, called, I believe, taxicabs, driven by men who, lured by the profits, had obtained licenses after a minimum number of lessons and no experience whatever; men who after a day’s work were mere automatons and incapable of being entrusted with the human lives they were responsible for; was it not so?” “Yes, yes,’ agreed Markham. The facts were _all undeniable, yet it was the least bit irritating to have them served up to him in this gatling-gun fashion. His irritation, unknown to him, was based upon a human and excusable pride in his own times as contrasted with these. “Well,” continued Warren, “the eyes of the people, heretofore blinded to these abortive conditions, were opened to them by the chaos. The automobile no longer had the same significance; no longer seemed so necessary, or rather, so desirable in view of the conditions that accompanied it. The manufacture of the cars declined, ceased to be profitable, and in time stopped altogether. Today we have a form of surface vehicle, used solely for pleasure, one that you would hardly recognize. “Our ‘roads’ consist of parallel metal tracks, twenty feet apart, each a foot in width. The vehicles ate forty feet in length, fifteen in width, and gyro- scopic, balancing on two huge rubber-tired wheels. They are known colloquially as ‘capsules,’ for the body consists of a capsule-shaped unbreakable quartz glass. It is blown into the standard shape, and holes are pierced for entrance and ventilation. ‘The cars are comfortably furnished and _ self-operating, for they draw power by roller contacts and trolleys you might call them, from the metal track to which they are held by a sort of electro- -magnetism. Automatic safety devices step the car as soon as it comes within fifty feet of another. Anyone desiring to use one of the capsules goes across the Hudson to the depot and hires one. It bowls along over hill and dale, maintaining an even speed .of ‘fifty miles an hour.” “Fifty miles an hour!” exclaimed Markham. “Is at considered a proper speed for a pleasure ride?” > said Warren. “Tt is just the right responsibility and care of operation you forget that the world ad- dred years before your time, ee A VISITOR FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 175 one hundred stories in height, and contains all the executive, legislative, and judicial offices of the mu- micipal and state governments, and also the local branches of the various federal departments. ‘This may seem strange to you, but the duties of govern- ment have been considerably changed and reduced. The number of municipal ordinances, for instance, is only about one-third what it was in your time. The cellar of the Tower contains the Post Office, from which letters and packages are distributed by pneumatic tubes and tunnels to the branch Post Of- fices in each building.” He referred to his wrist-watch, a queer one- handed device. “Ah, yes. In a moment you will see something interesting. Watch the top of the Tower.” Markham watched. Soon he saw a gigantic af- fair, resembling a net, rise slowly into the air, lifted by four balloons. Taking shape, it resolved into a great square funnel of netted fabric, the open mouth of which was fully five hundred feet above the top of the tower, to which it was connected by a slender net-work chute. The balloons were at the corners. “Now,” said the guide, “look to the west.” From that direction a large stream-lined mono- plane was splitting the air in straight, unhalted flight. It flew faster than Markham had ever seen an air- plane go before. As it passed above the funnel, it released a large sack,.which dropped down through the chute into the building proper. The monoplane kept on toward the east, seeming to descend. “The Western Mail,” said Warren. “At present the flight from San Francisco takes ten hours, but that will be remedied within fifteen years, by which time the Transcontinental Pneumatic will be com- pleted. 2 * . the flight from San Francisco takes ten hours, but that will be remedied . . .” The phrase rang through Markham’s brain, moving him to alternate spells of laughter ard wonderment. These people seemed to have the most awful conception of time and speed. He now feared to comment or to express admiration for what Warren regarded as the com- monplace, lest he should reveal his “provincialism.” “Look. again,” cried Warren, “this time to the east.” a : Far off in the heavens a tiny silver shape, resemb- ling a minnow in a limpid pool, was darting toward them; descending as it came. In a few inutes Markham saw that it was a dirigible, much the same as those of his time, but somewhat larger. The’ cabin was a long structure that fitted snugly against the gas eS like a great keel. The ad anew lifting compoun ue Warren. that i