5 4 1 tMotorcab Top ics.
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
News contributions are invited: payment will be made on publication.
Taxicab Finance.
A further editorial notice of the discussion, to which Ite have recently been giving considerable spice, with regard to the earnings of taxicab drivers, appears at the front of this issue.
De Dion in Australia.
A decidedly-handsome new de Dion taxicab has been put to work on the Sydney streets. It is owned by the driver, who specially learned motor driving in order to take up taxicab work. It is the first machine of the kind to ply for hire in Australia, and will doubtless give a good account of itself.
There are Others.
Ex-Private Hitch, V.C., whom we mentioned last week as the driver of a London taxicab, has refused to accept a contribution which was offered to him towards enabling him to purchase his own cab. "I don't want the worry of a taxicab of my own," he says. " I am quite comfortable, and not in need of any assistance."
Driver's View Obscured.
Attention has been drawn in the columns of "The Chronicle" to the difficulty which a motorcab driver experiences in seeing what is happening on his near side, when he has the luggage space piled lip with heavy trunks. It is pointed out that most taxicab collisions and other casualties take place on the near side of the machine.
A Serious Mishap.
At the time of going to press, news is to hand of a serious motorcab accident in the vicinity of Manchester. We regret to have to record that, as a. result, four of the passengers who were in the cab at the time of the disaster—there appear to have been four adults, not including the driver, and two children in the party—are dead, and the driver is seriously injured. Owing to the fact that there were very-few people in the neighbourhood at the time of the mishap, a definite explanation as to the cause of the trouble has not, at the time of writing, been forthcoming. It was at first reported that the disablement of the vehicle was accompanied by a violent explosion, but subsequent investigation seems to prove that the one or two witnesses who saw the smash from a distance imagined that an explosion had taken place, owing to the noise which was made by the impact of the cab with an electriclight standard. Until the inquest has been held, it would be inadvisable to endeavour to indicate the cause.
New Registration.
Beamnaris and District Motor Co., Ltd., with an authorized capital of S.;2,000 in Ns. shares, by A. H. Atkins, Ltd., of 7-8, Fetter Lane, E.C., to carry on the business of taxicab proprietors, carriers of passengers, haulage contractors, etc. Directors: R. E. Briercliffe, J. Roberts, J. Fraser, and E. R. Thomas.
Oldham's Inquiry.
On Tuesday of last week an inquiry was held at Oldham Town Hall into objections which had been lodged by certain interested parties against the ratification of the new by-laws which the Oldham Watch Committee has proposed to apply to taxicab traffic. In the course of the evidence, it was stated that, in place of the fare-and-ahalf which was now chargeable for all journeys after midnight, the cabowners desired to charge double fares.
Licence to "Smoke."
A Prussian court of appeal has delivered judgment to the effect that motor vehicles whose engines are provided with automatic lubrication do not involve their drivers in liability for excessive smoke given off in busy thoroughfares. The judgment was the issue of an action against a Berlin taxi-driver for having driven along the Invalidenstrasse—a busy main road in the northern district—a cab emitting a smoky exhaust. In delivering the decision, the judges held that, the system of lubrication being automatic, the driver could not be considered liable for what was obviously due to the necessity, under which he lav in consequence of the heavy traffic, of frequently applying the brake and re-starting, operations which tended to overheat the cylinders and, therefore, to engender excessive smoke. Motorists are, naturally, pleased with this decision : but we question whether it can be upheld from the standpoint of the general public, who have the right to protection against systems of lubrication which, under the given conditions, become a nuisance. Another Deputation.
Several points, with regard to the incidence of the petrol tax upon motorcab drivers, were brought to the notice of one of the Permanent Secretaries of the Home Office last Friday, by a deputation representing a section of the motorcab drivers of London.
Argyll Coachwork.
The coach-building department of Argylls, Ltd., has evolved a neat arrangement of tool-box which fits between the footboards and the frame of a motor chassis. It is suggested that such a device might be conveniently adapted for taxicab models. Argylls, Ltd., has registered the design, which is one of many useful coachwork improvements that this extensive department of the company has recently evolved.
Hackney Cabs and the Petrol Duty.
In the House of Commons on Wed
nesday of last week, Mr. Peto asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether duty on petrol used for cars owned by hotel-keepers and used exclusively for hire was charged at 3d, per gallon, and if so, why a distinction was drawn between such cars and motor-omnibuses and taxicabs. He inquired also whether the flys and cabs owned by hotel-keepers and used exclusively for hire are exempt from carriage licence; and if so, why petrol consumed in motorcars purchased and used to replace these vehicles was required to pay duty at 3d. per gallon, and was not allowed the rebate of lid. per gallon allowed by the Finance Act on petrol consumed for commercial purposes.
Mr. Hobhouse replied : " Flys and cabs owned by hotel-keepers, and used exclusively for hire, are not exempt fr8m carriage-licence duty. The duty on the petrol used for motorcars owned by hotel-keepers, and used exclusively for hire, depends upon whether the cars stand or ply for hire. If they stand or ply for hire, the duty charged is at the half-rate, and no distinction is drawn between the motorcars and motor-omnibuses and taxicabs. But if the motorcars do not stand or ply for hire, the duty at 3d. per gallon is chargeable."
Mr. Peto : " Do these rules apply exelusively to carriages plying for hire in the streets, or do they also apply to motorcars kept for hire, but put in ths most convenient place — the hotel yard? "
Mr. FIobhouse : " A motorcar in an hotel yard is not standing or plying for hire."