September, 1912 
ourselves to their broader 
horizon and provide things 
agreeable for them to look 
down upon as they flit over- 
head. 
It is not unlikely that the 
roof will become an object 
of utilitarious solicitude. The 
ubiquitous advertiser of 
breakfast foods may find it 
to his advantage to pro- 
claim the merits of his prod- 
ucts on tar paper and tin. 
Just as the railway tourist 
is forever reminded by fleet- 
ing signboards mounted in 
meadows that no man can 
call himself clean who does 
not use Fulton’s Soap, so the 
eye in the air will not be spared the announcement that the 
Isabel Monoplane is the fastest in the world or that the 
aerial garage of Hutchins lies six miles to the north, or 
that Pinkman makes the only trustworthy aeroplane motor. 
Roof signs may indeed be absolutely indispensable in order 
to guide the aviator. Hovering over a sea of red tin roofs 
how can he tell which is his? Some system of identification 
is obviously required. Even streets must be indicated. At 
night time electric lights of contrasting colors must be in- 
stalled to guide the man in the air to his garage. It may 
be doubted whether the glare of our present towering 
electric signs will be tolerated. A locomotive engineer could 
hardly guide his train in safety if he were confused by 
thousands of electric bulbs, flashing rythmically as they 
proclaim the virtues of a new mineral water. In the inter- 
a DR BD 
Only from the ‘‘down-view’’ can one gain an adequate idea of a city’s plan 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
View of an aerodrome taken from a dirigible balloon 
397 
ests of safety, then, it is not 
impossible that the electric 
roof signs at least must be 
dispensed with. 
Since the roof is destined 
to become as important as 
the ground floor, we may ex- 
pect to find in the hotel of 
the future, clerks and bell- 
boys posted on the top 
floor ready to attend to the 
immediate wants of tour- 
ists who have just arrived 
by aeroplane. On the roof 
itself will be found the usual 
retinue of liveried servants. 
Porters in the uniforms of 
rear-admirals will assist aero- 
plane arrivals in alighting. 
Aerial taxicabs will circle like vultures over the hotel, wait- 
ing for a doorman to signal one of them to alight and pick 
up a departing guest. 
The aerial garages of the future will not be unlike pres- 
ent automobile garages. They will be taller, perhaps, and 
even more generously proportioned; for a spread of wing 
of forty feet is by no means unusual in a flying machine. 
Elevators of corresponding size will convey the machines 
to and from the roof. The platforms of the elevators will 
have to be painted some distinctive color, so that those in 
the air may know what part of the roof is stable and what 
part is more like the trap-door of a stage. 
The giant dirigible of the future, comparable in size with 
a Lusitania, will make great demands upon the ingenuity 
(Continued on pare 336) 
ARAN NEE SCE EN 
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OSES 
