Ralph 124C 41+: A Romance of the Year 2660Gernsback, Hugo
Science
Ralph 124C 41+: A Romance of the Year 2660
Gernsback, Hugo
Science fiction
"The effect was of course horrible. Most of the time, nothing but a
Babel of voices and music could be heard; but once in a while a single
voice broke through the din, followed immediately by another one in a
different language. The funniest incident was when, at the 'Broadway,'
Juliet called: _Romeo, Romeo, where art thou, Romeo?_, and a heavy
comedian at the Berlin Theatre howled: _Mir ist's Wurst, schlagt ihn
tot!_
"Of course, everything on the stage was blurred most of the time, but
once in a while extremely ludicrous combinations resulted between some
of the actors at the various theaters, which were greeted with an
uproar by the youngsters."
As he concluded the anecdote the curtain rose once more, and the
audience of three settled back to enjoy the second act of the opera.
Later, when it was all over, they went down to the street floor at
Ralph's suggestion, where they put on their Tele-motor-coasters,
preparatory to seeing more of New York--this time by night.
The party proceeded to roll down Broadway, the historic thoroughfare of
New York. Despite the fact that it was 11 o'clock at night, the streets
were almost as light as at noonday. They were illuminated brilliantly
by the iridium spirals, hanging high above the crossings. These
spirals gave forth a pure, dazzling-white light of the same quality as
sunlight. This light moreover was absolutely cold, as all electrical
energy was transformed into light, none being lost in heat. Not a
street was dark--not even the smallest alley.
James 212B 422, as well as his daughter, lingered over the superb
displays in the various stores and they entered several to make a few
purchases. Alice was much impressed with the automatic-electric packing
machines.
The clerk making the sale placed the purchased articles on a metal
platform. He then pushed several buttons on a small switchboard, which
operated the "size" apparatus to obtain the dimensions of the package.
After the last button was pressed, the platform rose about two feet,
till it disappeared into a large metal, box-like contrivance. In about
ten to fifteen seconds it came down again bearing on its surface a neat
white box with a handle at the top, _all in one piece_. The box was
not fastened with any strings or tape, but was folded in an ingenious
manner so that it could not open of its own accord. Moreover, it was
made of _Alohydrolium_, which is the lightest of all metals, being
one-eighth the weight of aluminum.
The automatic packing machine could pack anything from a small package
a few inches square up to a box two feet high by three feet long. It
made the box to suit the size of the final package, placed the articles
together, packed them into the box which was not yet finished, folded
the box after the handle had been stamped out, stenciled the firm's
name on two sides and delivered it completely packed, all within ten to
fifteen seconds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account