From Our Australian Correspondent.
Page 9
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During the last two weeks, ended the 12th April, I have been "on tour" and have visited various public-motor services in the northern parts of this State (New South Wales) and in Queensland. The main point with
hich I was struck was the fact that nearly everybody is thoroughly imbued with the idea that they have only got to start using private motorcars commercially and they are bound to pay. Thus, in a place called Muswellbrook, an excellent Austin car is to be found, to be let on hire, for private purposes, and more particularly for taking commercial travellers to places off the line of the railway. In Glen limes, I found an old Clement-Bayard car, fitted with a heavy enclosed limousine body, being used as a taxicab, whilst another car of the same make is on regular service between that town and Inverell—a distance of 42 miles, and of which I shall have more to say anon. Similar cases existed in Queensland, and these in towns of two or three thousand inhabitants, which suggests that people are quite alive to the possibilities of the motor, but -in their haste and ignorance rush off and purchase a car without stopping to consider what they want, or what is likely to pay them best. If one mentions commercial motors to any of these people, they laugh at the idea and say that they cannot be used ; at any rate, the tour through these places has proved to me conclusively that the taxicab is an accepted fact, and it is only " a matter of asking tor it " to obtain the money to run them in and around any town in Australia. and a town means any place with 2,000 inhabitants and up
wards.
Some of these taxicab services are being started without any spare parts, and without satisfactory arrangements for the supply of petrol or for other contingent requirements, and there is no doubt that, where a mechanic who knows what he is about takes to this class of work, he stands a very good chance of reaping a handsome profit. Nearly every " town " in Australia is a centre for a. district, and perhaps one of the first things with which a. visitor is struck is the number of hotels in the place; a town of sonic 2,000 inhabitants may have some seven or eight houses where comfortable accommodation for man and beast can he obtained. 'When one has got established in the " town," one finds that there is a continual stream of coinmercial travellers coming and going, and these gentlemen travel regularly from each of these centres to the outlying towns, which may be anything up to 100 or even 150 miles from the centre. It will readily be appreciatd, therefore, that,when one has to choose between a private conveyance and a coach charging from 4d. to Gd. a mile, and travelling at about the Nfi me number of miles per hour, the private conveyance, if it be mechanically propelled, will be infinitely preferred, even if considerably more has to be paid for the hire of it. Hence, the fortunate owners of these vehicles will find themselves able to command prices of Od. and 8d. per passenger per mile, and at that rate to carry several passengers at the same time. The main argument used in these places is that these cars are light and can slip along over the roads when they are bad, whilst the commercial vehicle is bound to get into trouble. Now, at such prices, and with a limited traffic, and where the owner is prepared to write off 50 per cent. per annum for depreciation, these ears will undoubtedly pay well
enough. The unfavourable part of the business is when " commercials " come along, and in boarding the car are found to have six or seven bags of samples. which by hook or by crook must be arranged on the car. On one occasion, I watched one of these cars start (and it was a 12 h.p. car) with four full-sized passengers and about 12 pieces of luggage, comprising anything from a small handbag to a largessized Gladstone, and in addition to this there was one baby, the driver and a four-gallon tin of paraffin which had to be delivered at a point on the
way.
On the taxicab side of the business of these " towns," the business appears to he lucrative enough, as people are quite prepared to order a taxi. or even to go to the depot for quite short journeys, as two or three shillings is usually of little account., and the happy owners of these vehicles. charge back fares for any distance in excess of one mile from the depot. It may well be gathered, therefore, that the motor movement is this great sub-continent is going ahead apace, and is likely to assume proportions, great enough to please the heart of the most-enthusiastie motor sup porter.
At the time of writing, I see from " The Sydney Morning Herald "that several articles have recently been devoted to the subject of dustless roads, and that the Editor has now seen fit to devote a leading article to the subject. His summary of the matter is, that city and suburban roads must be properly made up and waterproofed, whilst country roads will have to be left as they are for the present. He considers that tar is the material for water-proofing until rubber becomes sufficiently cheap to be available for road-making purposes. In the concluding sentences, it is stated that "it is not difficult to conceive a time when the main roads will require, and will receive, as systematic attention as is given at present to,
railway tracks." Such an article, twelve months ago, would have been impossible: it is a sure sign of the. awakening of Australia to the possibilities and necessities of the commercial motor which is now making rapid and undoubted progress in all parts. of this vast country.