Interurban Queen by R.A. Lafferty

This peice or writing by Lafferty takes a look at the beggining of the car industry and how it would effect the world. It is very intresting however because its story is written as if the car industry never was succesful and infact crashed right away. It gives a completely different perspective on the story and a what if factor that keeps a reader intrested. It begins in 1907 when a man attains a considerable inheritance. He was determining what to do with the money and decided to either invest in the auto industry or an interurban railway stock. He asked wise men which he should invest into. Many of the men said that the auto industry destroyed a part of themselves, said it will destroy a part of the society. Another says that the car will never be able to be a main form of transportation because it wont be able to transfer cattle and won't be able to perform the same type of functions as a train. Another rich man who owned many cars himself said "No the automobile will never be anything but a rich man's pride" Another person said that the car wont be succesful because it can't be compared to the man on horse. A man on a horse has a sense of arogance about himself just like a man in a car. That is why the automobile will be so dangerous, "The kindest man in the world assumes an incridible arrogance when he drives". He is saying that the car will make every man so independent and arogant that they will become tyranical. All these men believe that the auto industry wont be succesful for all these differant reasons. In the story the man still invests in the automobile and loses all of his money.