Amazing Stories, August 1927 — page 59: what you’re looking at

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

ELECTRO-EPISODED IN A.D. 2025 strata, with return privilege “under his own power,” starting “three minutes from moment of application.” He also demanded photographed copies of permit and necessary orders. “Permit, etc., scarcely needed at that altitude, especially as only one other ‘Electric-flash’ machine yet in existence; and that—,” the clerk attempted to expostulate. But Algernon peremptorily shut off the sluggish clerk’s remonstrances. “Cut advice-stunt about what I need,” he broke in, “and get busy with what I want, or I’ll call the chief. Do you realize whom you are dealing with? Now get busy, and SNAP TO IT!” And, seeing in his “Electro-visional” that the magic of his name had produced instant ‘‘snapping- to-it” activities on the part of the clerk, he con- nected up his “Radio Electro-photographing” cam- era, and turned his attention to the last necessary detail to be arranged before his departure. Slipping the plug of his ‘‘Radiophone” into the “E.V.R.” wavelength socket, he snapped the frame- work of its head-phone and microphone combina- tion over his face, and called softly: “Charlie Grant there?” “Yep! This is Charlie speaking,” his broker’s voice replied, with terse economy of words. Recognizing the voice, Algernon’s next question was to the point. “Anything doing on ’change?” he asked. “Quiet as a ‘chink’ funeral now—just over flur- ry,” his broker answered. “Two weeks ago rumor broadcast President sore about inefficiency of old Jim Macdonald—chief ‘National Law-enforcement Bureau’—and ‘National Bootlegger Consolidated’ dropped ten points. Two days later Jim resigned, and N.B.C. lost twenty points. Next day President appointed Wheeler Wayne (who has never taken a drink in his life, where anybody could catch him at it), and ‘N.B.C.’ hit the skids for fifty points. Wayne’s first move was to order your local boot- legger, Lippincott, raided and jailed, and the bot- tom fell clear out of ‘N.B.C.’ For nearly a whole day the Pit was stormed by a mob of the faint- hearted in a panic, begging anybody and everybody to take their ‘Bootlegger’ stock off their hands for anything they would give. I had inside tip that officers only found one quart in Lippincott’s pos- session, so I did the charitable act (in your name) by relieving them of ten millions. Would have plunged deeper but afraid of complicating other deals. Two days later old Jim Macdonald and Bill Jenkins (head National Bootlegger Trust) settled squabble about Jim’s demand for more dough; and the ‘evidence’ against Lippincott’ was ‘lost,’ he was turned loose, and ‘N.B.C.’ floated back to normal. With care can unload and clean up about two mil- lions, or can hang on—just as you say.” Turning to one side Algernon slipped a sheet of paper into, and switched the connection into what looked like a complicated development of the orig- inal typewriter; and then replied to his broker. “You did fine, Charlie,” he said. ‘Don’t forget that you double your regular percentage when I am ‘off the reservation’.” Then, after a momentary hesitation to consider, he continued: “Tell book read stat, diopho 473 graph’ connected. Unload ‘Bootlegger’ stock as soon as you can without sacrificing profits that you are sure of, as I don’t want my name publicly mixed in the business. And now listen, Charlie! I’m go- ing away for a bit—probably for only a day or so, if nothing unforeseen happens. If you want me, call on regular ‘EH.V.R.,’ but use ‘long distance,’ If you think it best to look for me, come over here and use my ‘Electro-visional.’ Will probably be in neighborhood of Mt. McKinley in 3670-mile circuit and ‘W.N.W.’ sector. Good-bye!” S Algernon ceased speaking, the silvery “ting” of a little bell on his “Radio Electro-photo- graphing” camera notified him of the receipt of the photographed copies of his government permit and the correlating orders issued; while the discontinu- ance of the rapid “tick-tick” of his ‘“Radioelectro- dictaphonotypograph” told him that his broker’s bookkeeper had completed his statement. From the former he extracted two slips of paper, and found them correct. But he studied the sheet of paper that he took from the latter for a moment, in a perplexed confusion at the phonetic simplicity of the spelling of the words. Then, reflecting that this mathematically-exact translation of oral sound would eventually assist in the elimination of the orthographic absurdities which always had bur- dened a language that is too complex at its best, he shoved this into an inside pocket along with the other two; and, pressing a button in the side-wall which opened a small door leading into a “one- person” sized compartment in a perpendicular pneumatic tube, he stepped within, and was shot to the roof, Going to the largest of the hangars that dotted the roof, he pushed a button—and the door flew open, and a glistening “Electro re-tempered’’ copper monstrosity trundled out on a truck. The best that could be said for its shape was that it looked like a gigantic beer bottle. Stepping to the mouth of the “bottle,” he pressed a button, and the stopper flew out with a loud report. Entering the narrow passage-way through the “neck,” he switched on the electric lights and found himself in a spacious, tempered-glass compartment “blown+into” the framework in such a way as to practically surround itself with a vacuum space, and with the few nec- essary contacts elaborately insulated. A yank ata lever started an “Oxygen Supply” apparatus (al- ready set at “One Person’) going, and a touched button caused the “stopper” to fly back into place with another loud report. From a mahogany wardrobe he took a bear-skin fur suit which was lined with finely-woven copper- wire cloth. Stepping into this, he set the “Interior Heat Regulator” at 65° Fahrenheit, adjusted the connection with the concealed storage battery, and pushed the spring which caused the suit to ‘“‘snap- to” and fasten. A shifted lever on a large keyboard set the “In- terior Temperature Regulator” of the compartment going at a “65°” adjustment, another started the “Electro-visional,” a third connected a_ small dynamo with the “Atomic-energy Reservoir” and i ing thi arati trifling elec-