The Time Machine - Chapter 8 - Explanation

The Time Traveller explores peculiar circular wells with a thud-thud-thud sound coming from them, and tall towers with a flicker of heat above them. He concludes that there is an extensive system of subterranean ventilation, but is unable to learn much more due to the gap between his own knowledge and that of the society he is visiting. He is also puzzled by the lack of cemeteries, elderly and infirm people, and machinery or appliances of any kind. He eventually discovers the cause of the wel...