I remember reading this something like 40 years ago. At the time, I thought for sure it must be one of the surviving artifacts of the golden age of science fiction--what with its ruined earth (which must have been because of atomic war) nd vivid depictions of airplanes (complete with stewardesses) and videoconferencing.<p>Its just now I noticed that it was written in 1909. Ye gads. It could have been written yesterday, or in the plague year of 2020. I've read some pretty prescient science fiction, but this guy must have had a time machine.