CHRISTMAS IN 1979

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 274, 20 December 1929, Page 8

CHRISTMAS IN 1979

A PEEP INTO THE FUTURE. .WHAI" WILL IHE NEXT 50 YEARS BR1NG ?

T\ Jicn oiic looks back ovor ihe past . fiffcy years and eonsiders ihe amazingj developments that have taken place I in all thiiigs scientilic and nieohanical ; it makes one wonder, perhajxs with a ! little apprehension, wliat the • future | holds in store for us and wliat un- i heard of wonders will he revealed to j our ever more sopliisticated minds j during tlie iil'tv years that streteh j ahead of ns before we, or perhaps ; our sons and daugbters, go Cliristnias ; shopping in 1979. AYhelher they will j go shopping at all is a moot pomt, i though it oould hardly be imagined I that the fairer sex would give np this i'orin of pleasure and opportunity to display tlieir latest creations, were cver so niany forms of mechamcal convenienee offered to do this part oi the year's routine for them. Xevertheless it is rathe.r interest- j ing to imagine the eonditions as they | will pertain to that period in ihe distant future, ro let us oommqjice and j give our hnagination full rein. Christmas Kve is dawning in 1979 I (this is quite oertain l'or nothing that ! man could invent oould very well interfere witli ihe course of the world on its orbit) and Brown awakes (als'o a fairly certain assumption) to gaze out over the bav. The Ividnappers gleain in the morning sunlight and the gannets stir restles.sly as a. gigantie bird swoops down froni 10.000 feet, roars over the oape and lands within a few sec-onds on tlie silent waters of the inner harhonr, for many years ago the ralue of that inland water as a spa .'plane and sea helieopter hase was reeognised and »ow it was solely devoted to this purpose. Tlie 'plane in queslion. a giant machine equipped witli multiple rotary engines driven hv cnerg>' gathered froni the atmospliere as she winged her wav t h rough tlie other several miles above the sea. had just arrived froin London in 45 hour-s •after a brief stop at A7aneouver for a 'xpell on land and a hearty meal for the aviator, who left his work in the -eity iii order to spend his Christmas witli relatives in Napier. Flving at 300 miles per .hour the 'plane was automatically eontrolled while a devine fitted to the c-ahin forward pertmited of clear vision even on the jdarkest nighfc and through tlie densest ! "eloud. Anotlier device also rendered eollision witli other craft of the air an impossibility, tlie Iplane's controls rescting to eleetrie waves created automaticallv hy anv other machine on the same path. Thus during the flight through tlie heavens, Smith was able to go to sleep without fear of waking np in the water. Having had a few liours of refreshing sleep Smith awoke to frad liimself still wifh some 2000 miles to go hefore his destination was reaclied. He eould tell his exaot position immediately for as the 'plane progressed a hand marked the prec-ise position oecupied on a large niap, indicating the course travelled and maiutaiaed. Thus tvhen some 50 miles from Napier Smith headed downward and in > ten minutes the 'plane reaclied to the i close proximity of the water beneath. j flatiened out and automaticallv set m ! motion the helieopter propeller which maintained the planp in a hover over the inner harbour. This automatie resistanc© was invented in thd year 1950 'after the principle of the eylindrical door pressure resister. Thus the ' 'plane, as the resistance hecame lighter, lowered itself gently on to the water. t A peep into the shopping area shows that the small trader lias given wav to huge stores, many storevs high and specially constructed to witlistand earthquakes, while all goods are delivrred hy fast monorail cars which, like the 'planes, flerive their motive power from tlie atom. Guests at parties arrive from all over the world. MoDonald arrives in time foivsupper in his giant helieopter with his wife and family, having popped over from Xew York. There are dancing and wireless pictures which can be turned 011 from all parts of the world at will. The festivities are kept up for a j week, for 110 one thinks of working imtil after Xew Year's I)ay. Christmas is as merrv as of yore, and when the guests depart they go. not to the froiit door, bufc to the flat roof-garden. where the "good-hyes" are said as the * helieopter cars soar up, but not into Ihe darkness, for the whole countryside is brightlv lit up bv eJectric liglits of tremendous power, placed on towers 1000 feet high. John, like a true Canuck, keeps his Christmas I)a.v at hqme, hut next day he perhaps takes his house party to the States for a little sunshine in his air-vacht. YeE John has his trouhles, for the cost of livmg has gone np. and the rate-collector comes round as regularlr as he did in dull old 1929, while Cupid may he relied 011 to plav his merry pranks as of yore, and stern parents Jiave just as much trouhle fn attemptbig to regulate the love affairs oi wayward sons and daugbters as ever they did ; for true love will alwavs run its own course and lovers will always look on the rosy side ohlivious of parental I'VicTc looks. Father Christmas, however, will still look with lenient eye on whai goes on under tlie mTstletoe. for tio syuthetic produot has yet beon rleyised to take-tlie place of the green twigs and gleaming berries of the i ever-popular mistletoe bough 1