Alfred Speer (who sold wine) proposed a moving elevated sidewalk that would have cost 5 cents to alleviate congestion at his store. The proposal for the first "endless-travelling sidewalk" was patented and published in the Scientific American in 1871. It was suggested that boring "stop 'n' chats" would become a thing of the past as one would just have to "step on the passing sidewalk to be carried rapidly beyond sight or hearing of his tormentor." Cause of death on this one: no financial backer. It got support from Horace Greeley.Speer believed that because of the perpetual motion of the platform, problems of overcrowding that existed in railway cars could be avoided. However, the project never got enough financial backing to get off the ground
