Motorcab Topics.
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A 14-18 h.p. four-cylinder B.S.A. taxicab has made its appearance in Sydney. This is. the first of its type to get to work in Australia..
Aldershot's Settlement.
As we • have already recorded, the Aldershot District Council has been pressing the local manager of the Provincial Motor Cab Co., Ltd., to fix a rate for the hiring of taxicabs by the hour, This impracticable request has been abandoned, and the original draft for the by-laws has been adopted.
Berlin Motorcab Regulations.
From 1st April onwards Berlin motorcab-owners will have to illuminate the rear number, as in the case of private cars ; also light up their taximeter so that the fares can read it from either side and from the inside of the cab, The splashboard may be heightened by means of a divided pane of glass, adjustable in an upward direction, The Care of the Driver-Owner.
We illustrate on this page a good example of the driver-owned motorcab. The appearance of this machine, which is a Unic, indicates the amount of elaborate detail with which the driver-owner, nowadays, often likes to embellish his mntorcal. The cab in question, for example, is fitted with a full canopy, a neat form of folding windscreen and an overhead luggagecarrier ; moreover, the interior of the body is replete with every convenience. Evolving Regulations at Bristol.
The framing of a now series of bylaws to control the motorcab traffic in Bristol has, of late, occupied a great deal of the time of the Watch Com mittee and the City Council. The final schedule of regulations has not yet been approved.
Registered in August, 1909.
At an extraordinary general meeting of the members of The First Cooperative Taxicab Company (an unlimited company), which was recently held at the Althorpe Grove Garage, Battersea, it was decided to wind up the company voluntarily, and Mr. James Mareld Self e, of 783, Salisbury House, London Wall, was appointed The Sinews of War
The Australasian Motor Cab Co., Ltd., whose formal registration was recorded in our issue for the 13th of January. is. during this week, offering for subscription 191,000 £1 preference and 9,700 ordinary le. shares. Three of the directors of this concern are Messrs. Godfrey C. Isaacs, C. Wyndham-Quin (both of the General Motor Cab Co., Ltd.) and Charles Jarrott. The cabs to be used are four-cylinder Napiers; the company will pay for the chassis, complete with tires, etc., S2390 each, delivered in Australia. The registered offices are at FinsburyPavement House, London, E.C.
"Cabby's" Troubles in Leipzic.
Ely way of protest against too. harsh a handling on the part of the police, the Leipzio motorcab drivers recently struck," and drove back to their respective yards. The drivers complain bitterly of the high fines imposed for petty violations of the traffic regulations, and also of the funeral pace at which policemen, posted for controlling purposes, at short intervals in the leading thoroughfares, compel them to travel.
New Registrations.
-Mythic Motor Cab Company, Ltd., with an authorized capital of £2,000 in £1 shares, is the name of a new concern which is to carry on the business of proprietors of motoreabs and other vehicles moved by mechanical power. The first directors are: A. E. White, Twiss Grove, Mythic, Rent; C. G. MoIyneux, 1, St. Leonard's Road, Hythe. Kent; A. Worthington, The Avenue, Hythe. Kent; and H. Stainer, Cloormore, ilytho, Kent.
A private company, which is to be called John Dillon and Son. Ltd., has been registered to take over the business hitherto carried on by John Dillon at Crown Mews, Pembroke Road, Portsmouth, as jobmasters.
Both the above registrations have been effected by Messrs. Waterlow Bros. and Layton, Ltd., Birchin Lane, E.C.
Educating Ireland.
Approximately two years ago, we drew attention to the difficulties which would beset anyone desiring to intro.. duce public-service motor vehicles into Dublin. Last year, Dublin Corporation passed resolutions which practically boycotted motorca.bs. To this day, this city is with-out both motorcabs and motorbuses. Of the difficulties of introduction of the former, we wrote, in April, 1908, that the Irish jarvey would resent, in no uncertain tones, the introduction of the taximeter as a check upon his world-famed rapacity. It is of interest to note that Mr. B. .1. Mecredy, who is so
well-known in motoring circles, has taken pains to draw the attention of the members of the Corporation to those parts of the latest London Traffic Report which deal with the remark able growth of the motorcah industry in London. We hope the results of such perusal may be beneficial, and. that the official embargo may soon be removed. " Extras " Again.
In our issue for the 30th December, we published a description of a new taxicab recorder and ticket-delivery machine. Following our publication of these interesting particulars, a large number of notices with reference to the appliance appeared in the daily and weekly Press. In almost all these cases, the lay Press erroneously called the new instrument a new taximeter ; nor was this inaccurate description, which was clearly traceable to ignorance of the actual mechanism, missing from certain technical journals. The recorder is, of course, a separate and distinct instrument to the taximeter, although it is used in conjunction with it. A technical inaccuracy such as this, is, however, quite excusable in the case of the lay Press. In connection with this new instrument, and with our suggestion, on the
16th December, that every driver should pay in is. 6d. per day for ‘‘ extras," irrespective of the amount received, we sought the opinion, on these two innovations, of all the owners of motorcabs in the Metropolis. By tabulating the opinions of the large number of owners who replied, we find that, with regard to the suggested payment of is. 6d. as "extras," 56 per cent, were in favour of it, 27 per cent. were opposed to the idea and 17 per cent. were doubtful. Asked as to whether they considered that the Rogers recorder provided a better means than the other suggestion, 54 per cent. of the owners were favourable to the recorder, 27 per cent, were opposed to it, whilst 19 per cent. were doubtful. Bearing on the subject matter of this inquiry, several interesting suggestions were offered. A few owners were of opinion that drivers did not, on the average, take is. 6d. in extras. The majority complains of the difficulty of keeping track of "extras"payments, whilst one owner-driver considers that "knowing what I do, I think it would be best to let this matter remain as it stands at present." " I do not consider any machine will make a man honest, if he chooses to be otherwise," writes an owner with regard to the recorder, whilst another suggests that drivers should be made to pay in Is. 6d. extra for every 30s. worth of fares recorded, with 6d. in 10s. as a minimum. The secretary of a West London motorcab concern writes: " Numbers of drivers are very dishonest about these extras. As an inducement to make them honest, I give them half of all the extras they pay in. Even this has not the desired effect. In my opinion, the only way to overcome the evil is to request the Commissioner to have a small plate placed in each cab, informing the fare that no extras whatever are to be paid. unless recorded on the