Debentures to the value of) £66,680 in the General M.3tor
Page 11
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Cab Co., Ltd., have now been redeemed during the present year.
At Worthing Petty Sessions it has been decided that a taxicabby is infringing no regulation if he carries seven or more passengers in his licensed vehicle.
Blackpool is still wondering if it is good policy to bolster up its oldfashioned horsed-landau .public service. It has been wondering for two years, to date.
Bournemouth taxi-drivers petitioned the Town Council that certain ranks should be allocated to them separately from the horsed vehicles. The Council has intimated that it is not. at present prepared to give these facilities.
An official inquiry is being held in New York with regard to the tissu rn pti on by the big hotels of the monopoly in taxicab stands opposite their premises. The Waldorf Astoria, for instance, gets 30,000 dollars a year from the taxicab company which has a stand in front of this hotel.
L.C.DT.U. Sports.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 people attended these sports at Stamford Bridge on Bank Holiday. Mr. ison Dalziel, M.P., presented the prizes. Among the events which were of particular interest were a tire-fitting competition and a tug-of-war between teams from the principal London motorcab garages.
In the first contest, six teams took part : the "W. and G.," the " National," the " British," the "General (Farm Lane)," the " F.I.A.T ," and the " General (Brixton)." Three Unic chassis, supplied by Messrs. Mann and Overton, were placed facing the grand stand, and each team of four men had to remove a tire, to replace it. with a new tire and tube, and to give it 40 downward strokes of the pump and finally to tighten all the security bolts and nuts. In the first heat, between three teams, the times were as follow : "W.
nd G.," 5 min., " National," 8 min. 54 sec.," " British," 8 min. 33 sec. Second heat : "Farm Lane," 4 min. 54 sec., " F.I.A.T.," 5 min. 41 sec., " Brixton," 7 min. 3 sec. Final : " W. and G." team finished in 4 min, 83 sec., but the " United " men won on points, as ::some of the security bolts on the " W. and G." chassis were loose. The tug-of-war was won by the " W. and G." team ; four garages competed.
At Hampstead.
The Works Committee of the Hampstead Borough Council has given instructions for the attention of the police authorities to be called to the excessive number of cabs which, it is stated, stand on the rank at Heath Drive in that suburb.
Sorry ! It's Our Mistake.
Some few days ago a Lowestoft motorcabman was prosecuted for having acted as a driver of a licensed hackney carriage, without first having obtained a licence. He produced a licence, which, however, the Town Clerk stated was one which had been sent in mistake by a junior clerk. The magistrates, recognizing that a mistake had been made, dismissed the case, but warned the defendant to be careful !
Hire-Purchase Licences.
Further legal procedure has now taken place with regard to the right to refuse licences, on the part of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, to rnotorcabs which are acquired on the hire-purchase system.
In this latest action an appeal was heard in the Court of Appeal from a decision of the Divisional Court, which had ordered the discharge of a rule nisi addressed to the Commissioner, calling on him to show cause why a writ should not issue connnanding him to grant a cab licence, etc. The important question which was raised on this appeal was with regard to the exercise of the discretion of the Commissioner of Police with regard to the granting of licences for stage carriages within the metropolis. The applicant in this appeal, Rex v. Commissioner, claimed that Sir Alexander Bruce had not in effect exercised his discretion in his particular case when refusing a licence. Mr. Sankey was heard for the appellant and Mr. Danckwerts spoke for the Commissioner. The Master of the Rolls, in giving judgment, said that the first of three grounds of the appeal was that the Commissioner had not the general discretion to grant or to refuse licences. Ills Lordship considered that the Commissioner could not make regulations, he could only adopt the conditions prescribed by the Secretary of State. He was of opinion that the Commissioner had not the dis• cretion which he claimed. L.JJ. Farwell and Kennedy concurred.
The Rogers Taximeter.
We have received from Motormeters, Ltd., the company which is now manufacturing the Englishbuilt taximeter which is known as the Rogers instrument and is named after the inventor, Mr. F. Heron Rogers, of Broad Sanctuary Chambers, Westminster, S.W., a number of interesting particulars of the latest type of this fareregistering instrument, which is now being placed on the market in all parts of the world. The Rogers taximeter has already seen much service, especially in the Colonies, and the company is particularly proud of one useful testimonial, which records 11,000 miles of service for one instrument without any fault or trouble of any kind. The standard London machine no-,.• embodies all the latest requirements of Scotland Yard and of the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. The indicating figures are I-in. square, and these are larger than those of many meters in use in this country.
A well-drawn-up handbook of this British-made instrument contains much information that will interest cabowners throughout this and other countries, and we strongly advise those of our readers who are interested in fare-registering machines to send for a copy of this booklet. Amongst other interesting points embodied in this pamphlet are certain hints to drivers, and we cull the following interesting extracts therefrom.
" Do not handle your taximeter roughly ; it cannot hit back. If it was not for taximeters you probably would not have your present job, so that it does not owe you anything. "Do not tie baggage to the flexible shaft pipe ; it was not intended for this purpose.
"If you go to lunch and leave the cab, slip a padlock on the flag. The fixing is there for you."
We only have to add that the Rogers taximeter, amongst many features which recommend it, has special provision for the use of inset seals. It has no separate genrbox and the clock mechanism will indicate for 18 hours, so thet the driver never needs to touch the winding key.