From Our Berlin Correspondent.
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The postmaster of office "50 " in Berlin was recently obliged to call in the aid of petrol taxicabs to get off his mail bags in time for the evening trains, as the electric-driven van which serves this office broke down.
"Silver " Taxicabs in Berlin.
The brisk competition goiug on amongst. Berlin taxi-owners is evolving vehicular types. which, from the double standpoint of luxury and attractiveness, I question whether any other city can equal. Every week brings some novelty or another. The very latest assumes the form of a "
silver" taxicab, and it is a perfect dazzler. I closely inspected this as it stood on a west-end rank, surrounded by inquisitive taxi-drivers who were taking stock of its points. Judging by the nonchalance of the driver, good business had been done. The newcomer belongs to the landaulet type, and the panels are painted silver-grey, relieved by lines of red and gold ; and all the metal-work, comprising bonnet, hooter, lamps, acetylene-generator and what not, is of burnished or dull .aluminium. Even the long steps are of this metal and the internal fittings are not a whit behind the external decorations, for the rear seat is luxuriously sprung and upholstered in crim
son plush, while the two folding seats attached to the panel behind the driver also present that elegance of design usually seen in private carriages. The chassis is a Bianchi, fitted with a four-cylinder engine, working with a quiet purr ; indeed, most of the sew taxi-engines—Adlers, Opels, etc.—run so quietly that they can scarcely be distinguished from the electromotors of the Bedags. Apropos of electric cabs, be it. here chronicled that their owners are displaying a tendency to paint and fit up the cabbodies in the style of the " petrels."
The Turkish Army and "Heavies." Are English makers doing anything with petrol lorries in Turkey? If not, why not German specialists, particularly those who have gained the plaque and the money grant from the Kriegsministerium, are there, pushing their interests with the Turkish War Office. It may possibly not have occurred to the German War Office authorities that, by awarding plaques for reliability in severe trials, they were giving home makers a tremendous
pull " over foreigners in the international market; but that I take to be one effect of the subvention system. Germany possesses the finest army in the world, and what she approves of from a military standpoint is
suinething over which other nations cannot afford to pass. This being so, a maker, whose productions have received the Kriegsministerium's stamp of approval, goes into the international market with a prestige which is tolerably sure to result in definite business. Be can say to the potential buyer : " This type of vehicle was good enough for the German War Office, who, as you really ought to know, don't stultify themselves by subsidizing rubbish ; it should be good enough for you." I send you some illustrations [These are reproduced.—En.] of a Ger man lorry at work, transporting forage and various types of guns, under the surveillance of Turkish officers and men. One of the pictures serves to show that the art of road-making leaves something to be desired in Turkey. But some improvement has already been effected in the Turkish high roads, and more may be expected when the Grecians cease from troubling and the Cretans are at rest_ At present, the Young Turks have their bands too full to devote much attention to the sorely-needed improvement of roads, which is, of course, the sine qua non of a decent motor business in Turkey, or elsewhere, for the matter of that. Still, roads or no roads, our German competitors are out there.