A PHANTASY OF 1950.
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Bus Salesman's Dream after a Strenuous and Tiring Hour with an Exacting Customer.
IT is as well that dreams usually magnify the depth of our trials and tribulations, and that nocturnal flights of fancy seldom prove accurate harbingers of forthcoming events, for, if the reverse was the case, motor manufacturers, highway engineers and others with the interests of the road transport imlustry at heart might well view the future with much trepidation after one glance at the brontosaurus of the bus world which is illustrated on this page.
The dreamer in our picture, we are told, is a bus salesman, and his imagination has so obliterated his mental stability that the monstrous multiwheeler is his fanciful conception of tile type of passenger vehicle we are likely to see in use in the year 1950. A prophecy which, we fear (fortunately), will go the way of many others !
Perhaps the comfort of the dreamer's position and _the sway of the hammock el the breeze have revived memories of the sea in his subconscious mind, for, in many respects, the dream-bus is conceived on the lines of an ocean-going passenger vessel. With its series of decks and its billiard-roena, turkish baths, swimming pool, barber's shop, dancing salon, and a host of ultramodern refinements, the bus is a veritable land-ship. " Ultra-modern " is certainly the correct expression to use, for it would be seen that in the intervening period between 1925 and 1950 the dress fashions for men and women.— particularly the latter—are to undergo violent change. Apparently, too, the helicopter will reach a stage of practical value, for, in his phantasy, the dreamer has thoughtfully provided a top deck from which airplane side trips" can be made, and these, we presume, will be indulged in to relieve the monotony of luxurious road travel, and, perhaps, while fuel supplies are being replenished.
It is obvious from the appointment of the vehicle that it is intended for longdistance work—it is presumed that the local, authorities will raise no objection to its use and not appeal for protection to the American (we should have said the stage was set in the States) equivalent of our Ministry of Transport—for many attractions and side-shows are there to interest and amuse the traveller.
We raise our hats to the designer for his efforts to steady the ship when under sail, although possibly the billiard novice may imagine, in his ignorance, that the castor wheels at the sides axe there to prevent side loll when the red is about to be potted. It is rumoured that all barbers "at your service" are skilled in their profession, and have taken their M.D. degrees, possibly at Philadelphia. If in the unlikely event of slight abrasion of the skin resultant upon temporary aberration of the operator, bandages, rolls of lint and other medical sundries are ready to hand.
The swimming pool is at the rear, and travellers should have no misgivings concerning the purity of the water, for this is changed at regular intervals. Cheek by jowl with it are the Turkish baths, to which all self-respecting tea
yellers pay periodic visits. The various decks are reached by way of:lifts, in which," Bewere of pickpockets" notices and advertisements for chewing gum are prominently displayed..
The crew of the land-ship was recruited from all walks of life, and exists mainly on tips, although a purser is carried aboard. The waiters are provided with bumpers, and they have been trained to ignore all requests for liquid -refreshments of the soft-drink order. The lounge is a roomy compartment on the third deck, and, unlike the dining room, is provided with hammocks.
The helmsman is separated from the passeligers (a feature which we have always advocated), and is enclosed in a cabin to which the unauthorized have no accese. This cabin has an einergeor.y exit at the rear.
Technical details of the bus are not vouchsafed by the I.n ternat ions! Motor Co., of New York, who sent us the sketch, but then some of the outstanding features, such as braking and sus pension arrangements, are probably " wropt in mystery," although we do hope, in. the former connection,, that the precepts of "safety first."have not been forgotten. Speed capabilities are not talked about, and any suggestion that the vehicle should be tried out at Indianapolis or Brooklands should be sternly rebuked. .
A dream dispelled into the silence of the mists; hut what a nasty shock for' the salesman upon awakening from his sleepy wanderings.