CHAPTER I WHEN I BEGAN TO THINK

 IN the panic of 1893 I was in the city of Los Angeles. I had received word from the East that my small fortune had vanished as a result of an ingenious Wall Street railroad “reorganization.” I had drawn¹ my last dollar from the bank and had spent it. I was out of a job. I didn’t know where or how to get one, for I had been troubled with eye strain all my life, and had little experience in the work of the world. The city was thronging² with experienced and trained workmen, out of work like myself. I did not know where the price of my next week’s board was coming from—in short, I was stranded³ in a stagnant⁴ world. It was Sunday afternoon.18 I was sitting on a rock on top of a hill in the heart of the city. The ground about me was vacant, yet I could have thrown a stone over the precipice⁵ into the principal street of the city. I began to think—I needed money—there was no opportunity to get a living by working with my hands. I grasped eagerly at any idea that had within it the possibility of creating value, wealth, money, bread, perhaps butter and a new suit of clothes. The ground where I was sitting was vacant and comparatively worthless. I asked why? The answer was, lack of transportation. There was no convenient way for people to get on top of the hill.

 

Time passed. I finally located in New York City and became a patent investigator⁶. I continued to think of transportation and its relation to land value.

 

How I Came to Invent Roadtown.

 

In my business as a dealer⁷ in patents I became acquainted with all manner of inventions and inventors. I found that most inventions were worthless, that a very few were practical19 and were promoted and utilized⁸ in the usual fashion. Another group I found to be practical and workable in themselves, but not available for use because their adoption⁹ would throw into the junk heap millions of dollars worth of old machines, and hence they were bought up and “shelved” by the vested interests. And still another group could not be utilized because they would require new franchises¹⁰ which men with little capital could not purchase of the political franchise¹¹ jobbers¹². To these were added a last lot of inventions that could not be utilized to anything like their full capacity because they could not be fitted into the crude mechanism¹³ of the present style of city construction.

 

So I began to dream of new conditions in which some of these shelved inventions might be utilized to ease the burden of life for mankind. One plan after another was abandoned until the idea occurred to me to lay the modern skyscraper¹⁴ on its side and run the elevators and the pipes and the wires horizontally instead of vertically¹⁵. Such a house would not be limited by the stresses and strains of steel;20 it could be built not only a hundred stories, but a thousand stories or a thousand miles—in short, I had found a workable way of coupling housing and transportation into one mechanism, and a human way for land-moving man to live—I would not cure the evils of congestion¹⁶ by perfecting congestion as is the case with the skyscraper—I would build my city out into the country. I would take the apartment house and all its conveniences and comforts out among the farms by the aid of wires, pipes and of rapid and noiseless transportation. I would extend the blotch¹⁷ of human habitations called cities out in radiating lines. I would surround the city worker with the trees and grass and woods and meadows and the farmer with all the advantages of city life—I had invented Roadtown.

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 thronging   

v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Architects from around the world are thronging to Beijing theacross the capital. 来自世界各地的建筑师都蜂拥而至这座处处高楼耸立的大都市——北京。 来自互联网
• People are thronging to his new play. 人们成群结队地去看他那出新戏。 来自互联网

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

5 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。

6 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

7 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

8 utilized   

v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

10 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

11 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

12 jobbers   

n.做零活的人( jobber的名词复数 )；营私舞弊者；股票经纪人；证券交易商

参考例句：

• Civil war may mean disaster for other businessmen, but stock-jobbers thrive on it. 别项生意碰到开火就该倒楣，做公债却是例外。 来自子夜部分
• Dupont strongly recommends Solar Simulator to its jobbers and paint shops. 杜邦公司强烈建议太阳模拟器的批发商和油漆店。 来自互联网

13 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

14 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

15 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

16 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

17 blotch   

n.大斑点；红斑点；v.使沾上污渍，弄脏

参考例句：

• He pointed to a dark blotch upon the starry sky some miles astern of us.他指着我们身后几英里处繁星点点的天空中的一朵乌云。
• His face was covered in ugly red blotches.他脸上有许多难看的红色大斑点。