stencil the customer's name and address into the handle, place a
triangular packet-post stamp on the box and drop it into a chute beside
the counter. It was carried down into the _Packet-Post Conveyor_,
which was from seventy-five to one hundred feet below the level of the
street, where it landed on a belt-like arrangement moving at the rate
of five miles an hour. The action was entirely automatic and the chute
was arranged with an automatic shutter which would only open when there
was no package immediately below on the moving belt. This precluded
the possibility of packages tumbling on top of each other and in this
way blocking the conveyor tube.
When the package had landed on the conveyor belt it traveled to the
nearest _distributor office_, where the post office clerk would take it
from the belt and see if it was franked correctly. The stamp was then
machine cancelled and after the clerk had noted the address he routed
it to the sub-station nearest to the addressee's home. Next he clamped
onto the package an automatic metal "rider" which was of a certain
height, irrespective of the size of the package.
The package with its rider was placed on an express conveyor belt
traveling at the rate of 25 miles an hour. This express belt, bearing
the package, moved at an even speed, and never stopping, passed
numerous sub-stations on the way. At the correct sub-station the rider
came against a contact device stretching across the belt at right
angles, at a certain height. This contact arrangement closed the
circuit of a powerful electromagnet placed in the same line with the
contact, a few feet away from the express belt. The electromagnet acted
immediately on the metal package (Alohydrolium is a magnetic metal),
drawing it in a flash into the sub-station from the belt. If there was
another package right behind the one so drawn out, it was handled in
the same manner.
After the package had arrived at the sub-station it was despatched
to its final destination. Another rider was attached to it and the
package placed on a local conveyor belt passing by the house to which
it was addressed. On arriving at the correct address its rider would
strike the contact overhead, which operated the electromagnet, pulling
the package into the basement of the house, where it fell on the
platform of an electric dumb-waiter. The dumb-waiter started upward
automatically and the package was delivered at once.
By this method a package could be delivered in the average space
of forty minutes from the time of purchase. Some packages could be
delivered in a much shorter time and others which had to travel to the
city limits took much longer.
"How wonderful!" Alice exclaimed after Ralph had explained the system.
"It must have taken decades to build such a stupendous system."
"No, not quite," was the reply. "It was built gradually by an enormous
number of workers. The tubes are even now extended almost daily to keep
pace with the growth of the city."
From the stores Ralph took his guests to the roof of an aerocab stand
and they boarded a fast flyer.
"Take us about 10,000 feet up," Ralph instructed the driver.
"You haven't much time," the man answered, "at 12 o'clock all cabs must
be out of the air."
"Why?"
"Today is the 15th of September, the night of the aerial carnival, and
it's against the law to go up over New York until it's all over. You
have twenty-five minutes left, however, if you wish to go up."
"I forgot all about this aerial carnival," said Ralph, "but twenty-five
minutes will be time enough for us if you speed up your machine."
The aerial flyer rose quickly and silently. The objects below seemed to
shrink in size and within three minutes the light became fainter.
In ten minutes an altitude of twelve thousand feet had been reached,
and as it became too cold, Ralph motioned to the driver not to rise
further.
The spectacle below them was indescribably beautiful. As far as the
eye could see was a broad expanse studded with lights, like a carpet
embroidered with diamonds. Thousands of aerial craft, their powerful
searchlights sweeping the skies, moved silently through the night, and
once in a while an immense transatlantic aerial liner would swish by at
a tremendous speed.
Most beautiful of all, as well as wonderful, were the _Signalizers_.
Ralph pointed them out to his guests, saying:
"In the first period of aerial navigation large electric lamps forming
figures and letters were placed on housetops, and in open fields
that the aerial craft above might better find their destinations.
To the traffic flying 5,000 feet or higher such signals were wholly
inadequate, as they could not be correctly read at such a distance.
Hence the signalizers. These are powerful searchlights of the most
advanced type, mounted on special buildings. They are trained skyward
and shoot a powerful shaft of light directly upward. No aerial craft
is allowed to cross these light shafts. Each shaft gives a different
signal; thus the signalizer in Herald Square is first white; in ten
seconds it changes to red and in another ten seconds it becomes yellow.
Even an aerial liner at sea can recognize the signal and steer directly
into the Herald Square pier, without being obliged to hover over the
city in search of it. Some signalizers have only one color, flashing
from time to time. Others more important use two searchlights at one
time, like the one at Sandy Hook. This signalizer has two light shafts,
one green and one red; these do not change colors, nor do they light
periodically."
From on high Ralph's guests marveled at these signalizers, which
pierced the darkness all around them. It was a wonderful sight and the
weird beauty of the colored shafts thrilled Alice immeasurably.
"Oh, it is like a Fairyland," she exclaimed. "I could watch it forever."
But presently the aerocab was descending rapidly and in a few minutes
the strong light from below had obliterated the light shafts. As
the craft drew closer the streets could be seen extending for miles
like white ribbons and the brilliantly lighted squares stood out
prominently. They landed, at the stroke of twelve, and Ralph found
three unoccupied chairs on the top of one of the public buildings and
only then did they notice that hundreds of people were seated, watching
the sky expectantly.
At the last stroke of twelve, all the lights below went out and
simultaneously the light shafts of all the searchlights. Everything was
plunged in an utter darkness.
Suddenly overhead at a great height the flag of the United States in
immense proportions was seen. It was composed of 6,000 flyers, all
together in the same horizontal plane. Each flyer was equipped with
very powerful lights on the bottom, some white, some red, others blue.
Thus an immense flag in its natural colors was formed and so precisely
did the flyers co-operate that, although they all were at least 50 feet
from each other, the appearance to those below was that of an unbroken
silk flag, illuminated by a searchlight. The immense flag began to
move. It passed slowly overhead, describing a large circle, so that the
entire population below obtained a perfect view.
Everyone applauded the demonstration. Then as suddenly as it had
appeared the flag vanished and all was once more in darkness. Ralph
explained to his guests that the lights of each one of the aerial
flyers had been shut off simultaneously in preparation for the next
spectacle.
All at once there was seen an enormous colored circle which revolved
with great rapidity, becoming smaller and smaller, as though it were
shrinking. Finally it became a colored disc, whirling rapidly on its
axis. In a few seconds, the edge opened and a straight line shot out,
the disc unrolling like a tape measure. After a few minutes more, there
remained nothing of the disc. It had resolved itself into a perfectly
straight many-hued line, miles long. Then the lights went out again.
The next spectacle was a demonstration of the solar system. In the
center a large sun was seen standing still. Next to the "sun" a small
red round globe spun rapidly about it, representing the planet Mercury.
Around both the sun and the "planet" Mercury revolved another globe,
blue in color; this was Venus. Then followed a white orb, the "Earth"
with the moon turning about it. Next came the red planet Mars with
its two small moons, then green Jupiter and its moons, and Saturn in
yellow. Uranus was orange and lastly came Neptune in pink, all globes
and their moons traveling in their proper orbits around the "sun."[5]
While the spectacle was in progress a white "comet" with a long tail
traveled across the paths of the planets, turned a sharp corner around
the "sun," its tail always pointing away from that body, recrossed the
orbits of the "planets" again on the other side and lost itself in the
darkness.
Several other spectacles were presented, each more superb than the one
preceding it. The carnival closed with a light-picture of the Planet
Governor. This was exhibited for fully five minutes during which time
the applause was continuous.
"We have never seen such a marvelous spectacle," James 212B 422
declared. "You Americans still lead the world. Upon my word, the old
saying that 'Nothing is impossible in America,' still holds good."
It was after one when they reached the house, and Ralph suggested a
light lunch before they retired for what remained of the night. The
others assented and Ralph led the way to the _Bacillatorium_.
The Bacillatorium, invented in 2509 by the Swede 1A 299, was a small
room, the walls and bottom of which were composed of lead. On each of
the four sides were large vacuum bulbs on pedestals. These tubes, a
foot in height and about six inches thick and two feet in diameter,
were each equipped with a large concave Radio-arcturium cathode. The
glass of the tube in front of the cathode had a double wall, the space
between being filled with helium gas.
The rays emanating from the cathode, when the tube was energized with
high oscillatory currents, were called _Arcturium Rays_ and would
instantly destroy any bacilli exposed to them for a few seconds.
Arcturium Rays, like X-rays, pass through solid objects, and when used
alone burned the tissue of the human body. It was found, however, that
by filtering arcturium rays through helium no burns would result, but
any germ or bacillus in or on the body would be killed at once.
The Bacillatorium was prescribed by law and each citizen ordered to
use it at least every other day, thus making it impossible for the
human body to develop contagious diseases. As late as the 20th century
more than half the mortality was directly attributable to diseases
communicated by germs or bacilli.
The Bacillatorium eradicated such diseases. The arcturium rays,
moreover, had a highly beneficial effect on animal tissue and the
enforced use of the Bacillatorium extended the span of human life to
between one hundred and twenty and one hundred and forty years, where
in former centuries three score and ten was the average.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3: Since this was written a national playground has actually
been created at Montauk, L.I. A rather strange coincidence.]
[Footnote 4: At the time this was written, no illuminated, night time
sports fields existed.]
[Footnote 5: In 1911 the outer planet Pluto had as yet not been
discovered.]
6
"GIVE US FOOD"
The following day was set aside for a visit to the Accelerated Plant
Growing Farms. It had been known for hundreds of years that certain
plants, such as mushrooms, could be fully developed in a few days.
Plant or vegetables grown under glass and the temperature within kept
at a high point, would grow at great speed and be ready for the market
long before those grown in the open.
But only recently, as Ralph explained to Alice, had it been possible
to do this on a large scale. To be sure, certain vegetables, like
asparagus, lettuce, peas, etc., had been produced in hothouses for
hundreds of years, but these, after all, were rather luxuries, and
could not be classed as essentials.
When, about the year 2600, the population of the planet had increased
tremendously and famines due to lack of such essentials as bread and
potatoes had broken out in many parts of the world, it was found
vitally necessary to produce such necessities on a larger scale and
with unfailing regularity. These farms became known under the term of
Accelerated Plant Growing Farms and were located in every part of the
world. The first (and now obsolete) European and African farms were
built along the lines of the old-fashioned hothouses. The European
farms were simply horizontal steel-latticed roofs, with ordinary glass
panes, permitting the sunlight to penetrate to the soil beneath. While
covering huge acreages, they were not heated artificially, using only
the sun's rays to accelerate plant growth. As compared with Nature's
single crop of wheat or corn, two could be made to grow in the same
season by means of these super hothouses.
Similar farms were used in America until Ralph undertook their study
and approached the subject from a scientific angle. One of his first
efforts was to obtain greater heat for these huge hothouses. One of
these hothouses is about three miles long and the same width. Ralph
took the existing hothouses, which were simply oblong steel and glass
boxes, and built a second hothouse box covering each of them, thus
creating a double-walled, air-locked hothouse. The second glass-paneled
wall was about two feet inside the outer one. This left dead air locked
between the walls, and as air is a poor heat conductor, the heat in the
hothouse was retained longer, particularly during a cold night.
Ralph and Alice left early in the morning, winging their way in an
aeroflyer toward northern New York, where there were many Accelerated
Plant Growing Farms. When the farms came into view, the entire country
below, so far as the eye could see, appeared to be dotted with the
glass-covered roofs of the plants, reflecting the sunlight and
affording an unusual sight. Alice marveled at their number, for while
she had seen some of these farms in Europe, she had never seen so many
grouped together of such immensity.
Within a few minutes, they landed near one of the giant hothouses. The
manager led them inside of the farm labeled No. D1569.
D1569 was exclusively a wheat growing farm. Where Mother Nature used
to grow one crop of wheat a year, Ralph's latest Accelerator made
it possible to grow four, and sometimes five crops a year. In the
old-fashioned European farms such as Alice knew, only two crops could
be grown.
"How is it possible," she asked, "that you can obtain three more crops
a year than we do in Europe?"
"In the first place," said Ralph, "it may be taken as an axiom that the
more heat you supply to plant growth, the quicker it will grow. Cold
and chilly winds retard plant growth. Electricity and certain chemicals
increase the ratio of growth, a fact that has been known for many
centuries. It is, however, the scientific application of this knowledge
that makes it possible to raise five crops a year. The European farms
use only the heat of the sun to stimulate plant growth, but during the
night, when the temperature drops, growth is practically nil.
"Notice that the top and sides of our hothouses have two walls. In
other words, one hothouse is built within another. The air locked
between the two hothouses is an excellent heat insulator and even
though the sun is low at 4 o'clock, the temperature is practically
unchanged in the hothouse, at 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening. Even in
the winter, when the sun sets about 4 o'clock and it is cold, we are
able to store up enough heat during the day to keep a high temperature
as late as 7 and 8 o'clock. If we did nothing between the hours of 8
in the evening and 8 in the morning, the temperature would continue to
fall to a point where no plant growth would be possible.
"Here in America we had to have a greater production to supply our
huge population. It was a pure case of necessity. So we had to employ
artificial heating during the night.
"If we start sinking a shaft into the earth, the heat increases rapidly
as we go down--more quickly in some parts of the world than others. On
an average, the temperature rises about one degree Fahrenheit each 100
feet of depth. We found it economic, therefore, to use the earth's own
heat to heat our farms.
"By means of high speed drills, we can cut a three-foot shaft 3,000
feet deep in the earth in less than a month. We go down until we strike
a temperature around 100 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Then we lower steel
tanks into the cavity and run pipes up to the surface. The tanks are
filled with water and two larger pipes run from each tank into the
circulating system of pipes, around the lower walls throughout the
length and breadth of the farms. The shafts are then closed at the top
and we have a circulating system that is both cheap and efficient. The
hot water continually rises into the pipes and circulates. As it cools,
it flows down again into the tanks, where it is reheated and rises
again. Thus the temperature of our farms is uniform all the year around
and plant growth is as rapid during the night as during the day.
"Heat alone, however, is not sufficient. We should still get only a
normal growth. We wanted five crops a year. I put my research forces
to work studying fertilizers. While the old nitrogen fertilizers were
excellent, they were not suitable for high pressure, high speed growing
methods. We evolved chemicals which were both cheap and easy to apply.
We found that small quantities of _Termidon_, when mixed with water and
sprayed over the field by overhead sprayers, which you will see running
along the ceiling, would accelerate the growth of the crops enormously.
"This liquid Termidon is sprayed over the entire length and breadth of
the field before planting time, so that the soil becomes well soaked.
The Termidon immediately turns the soil into a rich, dark strata, the
best soil for potatoes, wheat, or corn. No other fertilizer need be
used, the Termidon, applied after every growth, giving the soil all the
vitality necessary."
They were now in the field, when suddenly Alice asked:
"What is the peculiar tingling in the soles of my feet, I feel as we
walk along? You are using some electrical vibrations, I suppose."
"You guessed correctly," Ralph replied. "With all our artifice the
speed of the plant growth had not been accelerated sufficiently. I
therefore insulated the inside hothouse from the ground. The inside
hothouse rests upon glass blocks, and is electrified by high frequency
currents. The entire area is sprayed day and night with a high
frequency current, in the use of which we found was the real secret of
driving plant growth ahead at enormous speed. The theory of course is
nothing new, having been known for centuries. What is new, however, is
the way it is done. It makes all the difference in the world if the
current density is too high or too low, if it is direct or alternating
current, and many other details. I found that the quickest way to
accelerate plant growth by electricity was to send the current from
the growing plant toward the ceiling, and the current must be direct,
pulsating, but not alternating."
Ralph asked for a discharge pole from one of the attendants. It was
a metal pole about seven and a half feet high. In the middle it had a
long glass handle which Ralph grasped. He then set the pole vertically
so that its top was about six inches from the glass ceiling. A roar of
fine sparks leaped from the steel frame of the ceiling to the top of
the pole.
"See," said Ralph, "there is the current we use in accelerating the
growth of our plants."
Removing the pole, Ralph continued: "The electrical current density per
square foot is not very high and the wheat does not get a very great
amount of electricity during the twenty-four hours. _The continuance of
the force applied is what counts._"
After luncheon, during which they ate some of the bread made from wheat
grown on the premises, they went to an adjoining farm, also a wheat
farm, where harvesting was in full progress. Machinery, suspended from
overhead tracks, cut the wheat rapidly with circular scythes. All
the wheat being of the same height, the machine cut the wheat almost
directly below the heads, dropped them on a conveyor, which carried
the real harvest to a central distribution point. Another machine
immediately followed the cutter, grasping the stalks that were still
standing, unerringly _pulled out the straw hulks_, roots and all.
Thus the roots were entirely removed and the soil loosened, obviating
plowing. Within a few hours following cutting, the last stem was out.
The field was then sprayed with the liquid Termidon from overhead.
Within another three hours, sowing began, also from overhead pipes.
Going to an adjoining plant, they saw a bare field with almost black
soil, ready to be sowed. An attendant, at Ralph's request, pulled a
switch and immediately Alice witnessed a seed rain from the overhead
pipes.
"The seed," Ralph explained, "is supplied to these tubes by means of
compressed air. The tubes are perforated, and when air pressure is
applied, the seed, flowing through the tubes is ejected evenly--just
so many seeds to a given area. Closing the openings of the pipes
automatically as the seeding proceeds, means only a given quantity
of seed will fall upon any given square foot of soil. This makes for
scientific planting, and we raise just the exact quantity of wheat we
want."
Alice watched the seed rain spellbound. Like a wall of rain it slowly
receded into the distance until finally it disappeared. "How long does
it take to sow this field?" she asked.
"From two to three hours, depending upon the size of the field. This
particular field is about eight miles long and three miles wide. The
process should be completed within about three and a half hours."
"And when will this crop be ready for the harvest?" Alice wanted to
know.
"In about seventy days from now the wheat will be ready to cut."
Alice walked along thoughtfully and then inquired whether the great
cost of such an undertaking would not make the growing of the
foodstuffs prohibitive.
"Quite the contrary," Ralph replied. "We are now growing wheat, corn,
potatoes, and many other foodstuffs, for a much lower price than
our ancestors did five or six hundred years ago. You see, it is the
installation of the hothouses and machinery that is costly, but these
glass and steel buildings will last for centuries with proper care.
The frames are made of non-rusting steel which needs no painting. The
glass lasts for hundreds of years. The labor we use in planting and
harvesting is a mere fraction of what was used in olden times. Thus,
for sowing and harvesting this plant, eight by three miles, we require
only twenty people. This is a very much smaller number than was used on
a small old-fashioned farm.
"We waste nothing. We have no poor crops, and we get three or four
times as much as our ancestors did."
They stepped up to a glass case containing samples of wheat grown for
hundreds of years, showing that a head of wheat grown in the year 1900
was about three inches long, while the present year's crop showed a
length of more than six inches, or twice as much flour content per
stalk. Ralph also pointed out to Alice that the modern wheat stalk
was much bigger in circumference than the ancient ones, which, he
explained, was attributable to the greater weight of the modern wheat.
The old stalks could not possibly have supported such a great weight of
grain, so it was necessary to cultivate bigger stalks.