We now came above a round court fringed around by private homes. Slowly descending, we landed on the roof of one of the houses, where Xora's family, who were expecting us, were waiting to receive us.
Xora introduced me to her mother, father, young sister and brother. All welcomed me with cordiality. There is no need for me to describe them. Nature had been kind to them.
As I was following them down to their living room, her father said, "Lieutenant Balmore, you must feel strange landing so suddenly on our planet, but we are your friends, and we will try our utmost to make you feel at home.
"Of course, since everything on Mars is unfamiliar to you, you must be anxious to see everything. Let me begin by showing you our home. It is large enough for our family and for guests. It is fully insulated; weather, water, fire, germ, and insect proof, outside and inside. We use concentrated sun rays for heat and light, and atomic energy for power and cooking. It is air conditioned. We get the desired temperature and humidity in all seasons; the inside temperature thermostat is set by our health officer, who does not allow too cold or over-heated living quarters. The house is thoroughly dust proof. The electronic dust catcher and dirt remover cleans our walls, floors, ceilings, and even our furniture, and frees the air of all foreign articles.
"Each room is fully exposed at different times of the day to full sunlight. Sun-ray health lamps are always operating in every room and within the air conditioning unit to destroy all microbes that happen to evade our other guards. These lamps are in every living, work and office room.
"The comforts of our home equal those in all the homes of our citizens from the first to the tenth grade degree. All the furniture, furnishings, clothes, even paper are fire-proof. By our process we fire-proof 100% all inflammable materials, including even the thickest of lumber. We take no risk of destruction by fire. We do not need a fire department, nor firemen. We do not allow conditions to exist to which Earth people are accustomed. I find that in your Brick and Clay Record Magazine, February 1947 issue:
"Last year you built in the United States a half million permanent homes, but at the same time 400,000 were burned down or damaged, and this situation is going to get worse. You are building tinder boxes and firetraps at the greatest rate in your history and with the encouragement of your government. And this is in the face of some of the worst fire disasters you have ever known.
"Your fire losses last year were up 30%. They cost 11,000 lives. They wasted $500,000,000. You burned to death 3,000 children in their homes. Yet your Federal Government is encouraging, even subsidizing the building of homes, virtually every part of which above the ground, including the interior wall finish, is combustible. When fire hits such homes they will burn so fast the occupants won't have time to save themselves, let alone the home."[15]
"New York (AP)—Fire losses in the United States reached an appalling all time high of $700,000,000 this year."[16]
He led me through their living room, bedrooms, library, fumigating and disinfecting closets, toilet and shower closets without bathtubs. When I asked him about the tubs, he said bathtubs were not used on Mars, as they were unsanitary and unsafe.