1925 was late to be predicting the escalator. Macy's in New York not only had escalators by then, they're still there and functioning. The first escalator dates back to the late 19th century. Moving sidewalks first appeared at the Paris Exposition in 1900, and that was probably the best implementation of the concept.

This article seems to be an ad for some genealogy service, picked up and copied into the Guardian as filler. It's a low point for a once renowned newspaper.