Culled from Contemporaries.
Page 17
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A Selected Collection of Extracts from the British and Foreign Press.
The Horseless King.
After the Oil King, the Wheat King, the Sugar King, and the other weftknown monarchs of the New World, comes the Flax King. His name is R. Smith, and his kingdom comprises a vast stretch of plains in North Dakota. A curious feature of his dominion is that there is not. a horse on the estate, except a saddle-horse which Mr. Smith himself uses for riding. All the operations in connection with the growing of the flax, from ploughing to harvesting, are carried ou by gasolene engines.—" The Westminster Gazette."
A New Position for Wheels.
The garden-seat omnibus has never even been tried by the Paris Omnibus Co. The motor omnibus of the future will have one drawback, that of taking up more room in the roadway, but, thanks to the improvements in motors, it is expected to be easily manageable and much less noisy than its predecessor. The elimination of the " imperiale " will also enable the builders to use more flexible springs, and as the wheels will no longer have to be placed outside the body, mud should be distributed over passers-by with less generosity than at present.— " Financial Times.'''
The G.W.D. Motor Fleet.
Although the car establishment has in the nature of things grown more rapidly than, the repairing facilities, the vehicles have been kept up to a high condition of efficiency. All the earlier cars have been unproved by the substitutiou of ball hearings for the original metalled ones, more efficient brakes have been fitted and ether alterations made from time to time. Most of the first 30 cars have now run from 60,000 to 70,000 miles, and, although the five years' life originally estimated for them 'has expired, they are still equal to several more years of effective service as passenger vehicles. After they have been displaced in this duty by more modern types, they will, as far as can be seen, still be available for further service as goods lorries.—" G.W.R. Magazine."
Enlightened Borough Councils.
Although the motor-bus has long been with WI, we have not yet adapted ourselves to it. Indeed, we have not yet adapted ourselves to motor-traffic as a whole. Roads are still repaired with gradients not only perilously steep hut in the wrong direction—towards instead of away from the pavement. However, much thought seems to be given to the subject from time to time ; one day it may blossom, The Metropolitan Borough Councils' Delegates attended a little while back a conference to deal with some of the more serious nuisances caused by motor-buses, and yesterday they met again, and dismissed several points of imbIic interest. . . Possibly these deliberations will lead to nothing. but at least we have evidence that the motorbus does not steal along unperceived -wen by the official eye.—" The Evening Stendard." London.
Did It With One Hand, Too.
An American motorist attended the army inanceuvres in Germany. He was especially impressed with the German motor ambulances. As the tourist watched the matatuvres from a seat under a tree, the axle of one of the motor ambulances broke. Instantly the man leapt out, ran into the village, returned in a jiffy with a new axle, fixed it in place with wonderful skill, and tenfredteuffed off again almost as good as new.
" There's efficiency for you," said the American, admiringly. " There's German efficiency for you. No matter what breaks, there's always a stock at hand from which to supply the needed part." And praising the remarkable instance of German efficiency he had just witnessed, the tourist returned to the village and ordered up his car. But he couldn't use it. Tho axle was missing.—" The Idler."
Tips for Taxicab Users.
If a cab be licensed to carry four passengers, and four passengers travel in it, 1 du not see any real reason why extra should be charged. I have often been charged Is. 8d. for a journey of half a mile to dinner or the theatre, on account of four people. It is cheaper to take two cabs and split the party up ! . . .
The idea of the taximeter cab was to abolish tipping. The theory is excellent, but it has not worked out well in practice, and the taxi-driver is the first to expect his tip. I admit being a bad offender myself. If a man be decent and drive me well, just as much as if he shave mci well, or wait on me well. T find a pleasure in the token of personal appreciation. If the contrary, he may look a long while for that. tip, and I fancy 50 per cent, of the public are the same. Of the other 50 per cent, half are mean, and. to use a euphemism, lack the sense of personal appreciation; the other half can be bullied into a tip from a lack of moral courage.—Gerald Rigs, in " The Stand ard." •
Unpronounceable Ca outchouc.
Rubber came in as a toy. Tt was, indeed, as a toy that Columbus and his men saw it in Hayti, bringing back the story of the game which the Indians played with a wonderful hall made of the juices of a tree, a ball which bounced better than anything in the Spanish toyshops. Strangely enough, it was not until far into the nineteenth century that the English boy was given his rubber ball. In the eighteenth century the artists found that caontchonc would rub out the lines of a pencil sketch. and that busy heretic, Mr. Priestley. writing noon the Theory and Practice of Perspective, recommended the little half-inch cakes which sold for three shillings apiece. Thenceforward gum-elastic became iudiarubber for Ene,liehmen. Our tongues would not twist round such a. word as caoutehoue. The cubes that rubbed out pencil marks were india-rubber. and india-rubber the guns has remained in our
conservative speech, although the usi a of the gum have been multiplied by a tnousand things all more important thee pencil Aketche&—" The Evening Nee s," London.
Motor Fire-engines for Small Towns.
During the last two years three of the smaller tawns of southern California have purchased and operated motor-propelled fire apparatus, and, after a thorough test of the efficiency and cost of the apparatus, the experiments have proven that, for towns from 2,000 to 25,000 inhabitants at least, the self-propelled apparatus is a. success. The cost of maintenance, it was shown in all instances, was lees than 75 per cent, of the expense caused by horsedrawn apparatus, the radius of action was larger and the efficiency, measured by the speed with which the motor apparatus would reach the scene of a fire, left the performance of the old style machines far in the rear. These results appertain only to combination chemical engines and hose wagons, however, no self-propelled pump having seen service in the towns in question, though one of them, encouraged by the success of the chemicals, is preparing to add a pumping engine to its equipment.—" The Horselees Age," New York.
The Stage-coach Nuisance.
Lots of people think motor omnibuses should be forbidden by law to travel on the roads. They had their counterparts in the good old days of Charles II, when the following petition was sent to the Home Secretary :— "To the Right honourable the Lard Arlington, one of his Majesty's most honeurable Privy Councell and principle Secretary of State the humble petition of William Warde, solicitor for several towns in the several counties of England against the stage coaches. Humbly sheweth that since the last, hearinge at the Cornwell table about the stage coaches the complaints of the country are exceedingly increased against them by reasons the several stage coachmen are growed more confident and insolent and the stage coaches more numerous and their servants very abusive in all places to those tradesmen, farmers, innkeepers, etc., that petitioned against them to the great discouragement of his Majestye'a subjects, decay of trade, and impoverishinge of divers fainilyes. etc.
" Therefore humbly desire your honour to supplicate his Majeetye for an order against them that if any be tolerated it may be but one a weeke to each of the long stages to Dover, Portsmouth, Norwich, Yorke. Chester, Bristol, and Exeter, and these by lyeence from your honour or whom else his Majestye shall thinke fitt ; which will be greate joy and courage to many thousands of his Majestye's subjects, who with greate expectation hearken for an order against them, and will ever pray for his Maiestye's Long Life and happy reigne. And your petitioner shall ever pray for your honour."--" The Western Daily Mercury," Plymoul h.