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"Necessity is the mother of invention" was never more aptly applied than to the emergence of the moving stairway. The continuous conveyance of passengers by the elevator industry awaited the development of the underground railway that emptied hordes of passengers with the arrival of every train. The platforms had to be cleared for the next train's arrival. People poured into (and out of) the cores of the largest cities. They had to be quickly taken to the surface or, in the instance of the elevating railways, down to the street level. A number of entrepreneurs became engaged in a race to arrive at an obvious solution -- the continuous short-range conveyance of people. As in the elevator's exodus from the mines, once the initial problem was solved, the escalator sought other fields to conquer. The newly conceived and increasing popular innercity department stores were the next proving ground. If the merchandizing mart had a "bargain basement," the continuous conveyor found itself, once more of importance underground, moving passengers and their luggage longer distances, horizontally -- often beneath the wheels of aircraft, landing or taking off!
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