Gryphon 1957 - Adm.monash.edu.au

• SOUNDS OF THE NIGHTFifth Form EssaysThere are no signs of activity; thecity seems silent. The street is empty;the nearby houses are barely visible inthe enveloping darkness. The soft purrof a small car is heard as it turns thecorner, stopping in front of a silenthouse. Its lights are dimmed and oncemore silence reigns.The rapping of shoes on the concretepavement disturbs the quiet. A man approachesfrom the end of the street,turning as he reaches his house. Thereis a crunching sound as he walks up th igravel path; he trips over the garbagecan, and the clatter of tin on bricksawakens the neighbours. Lights flick on,a neighbour appears at the fence, butthe disturber has gone. There is a momentarysilence, broken by the bang of adoor as it is slammed. and the cursingneighbour goes back to bed.Then, as if th is lone man was a forerunnerof what was to come, the niqhtair is filled with voices. Voices, talkin:;Jof the mystery film which is showing atthe local theatre, or remarking on theexce Ilence of the donce band wh ich waspresent at the dance . The street is illuminatedas the lights in the houses areswitched on. Ten, maybe fifteen, minutespass before the street is againplunged into darkness. The door of thesmall cor slams, and the sound of agirl's feet Iightly tap the path as shehurries inside. The lights of the corflick on, the roar of the engine follow sas it is "gunned", reaches its acme andfalters as the cor moves off.At the fire station around the cornerthe bell ring s frantically, the doors swingopen, and the huge red machine venturesforth into the gloom. There is thescreech of brakes as it turns a corner.The new tyres, with their high tread.whirr along the rood. There is a reverberatingclang as the bell rings andeventually the red tail lights disappearinto the gloom.Knock, knock, knock. The watchm::mat the factory hears this, and, on investigating,finds a door shaking in thewind. There is a scatter of tiny feet asthe mice race across the floor pursuedby a cot. A dog barks, and the tinkle ofthe milkman's bottles mingles with thepot-pot of a dripping tap. These are allsounds of the night .John Davies, 5B.• PROGRESSLook carefully reader; this is the year2000 A.D . Are you surprised becausethere are no buildings? Obviously thepeople must live in ultra-modern undergroundcities to save the precious earthon which to grow things. No; for as foras the eye can see there is no siqn ofcultivation. People must, then, be livingon scientific foods and dehydrated pills.No doubt all the machinery is underground,operated by super-electronicbrains,and automation is in its moreadvanced stages. Yet one hears nonoises, except those of nature. Insulationmust surround the production units;but what drives them - atomic energy- solar energy - cosmic energy - orsome new source of power undreamt ofin the 1950's;J The desolation frightensyou , for you are sure that where the bushand forest reign supreme, great citiesshould tower in a world of unsurpassedmagnificence, majesty and grandeur.But there is nothing, nothing but thebeauty of nature, no civiliation, exceptthe ants. What has happened to thegreat cities that once stood here, herewhere there is nothing but the infiniteexpanse of dreary monotony, unbrokenby even a single vestige of what shouldha ve been a great notion?But wait, another idea occurs to you;with the use of scientific knowledge, de ­centralization could have been modepossible; people might be living in isolationbeing able to produce everythingthey need. But what of the populotion?According to sta t ist ic ia ns the number ofpeople in Au'strolia should exceedtwenty mill ions. Where a re they? Per­38