Akotorcab Topics.
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There are rumours of the flotation of a large co-operative motorcab company by the drivers themselves.
" The Financial News" gives currency to renewed rumours that the General Motor Cab Co., Ltd., is not likely to declare any dividend this year.
The taxicab formed the basis of an appeal, on Sunday last, by Bishop Welldon, in Manchester Cathedral. He asked for assistance in raising a fund of £100 to assist horsed-cab drivers, who were too old to learn the new business, and the younger men while they were learning.
A Safe Full of Licences.
On Thursday night of last week, motorcab was backed into a motorcab yard in Horseferry Road, Westminster, about 9 o'clock. The occupants of the cab entered an office and removed an iron safe, which was placed in the cab. The cab was then driven away. A short time afterwards a crash was heard in a side turning off Lupus Street, and it was seen that the safe had been deposited in the road. The contents of the safe, which were drivers' motorcab licences, were scattered round it. There was no money or valuable security of any kind deposited in the safe. An eyewitness states that the cab appeared to be a dark-green 'fink. No numbers appear to have been taken.
Licences Would Fail.
Renewed rumours are current in the motorcab trade that the London proprietors are about to suggest an alteration of the commission to a" .20 percentage."
There is little doubt that any such attempt would be strenuously opposed by the drivers and their trade organizations. It may not he generally known that, in the event of a cab remaining at rest for a period of 48 hours, for any reason which is not in direct relation to the conditions under which its licence is granted by the Commissioner of Police, it is no longer considered to be fit for public service, and the Commissioner has power immediately to remove the licence plates. Such a removal, as a temporary relief, would, we know, not be unwelcome to some of the smaller concerns.
Not Far Enough.
A Marathon race is being organized, by the W. and G." Athletic Club ; the competitors are to be cabmen from all the London gar ages. It is suggested that the course shall be from the Brixton garage to the one at Acton, 10 miles of ground being mapped out, but over auch a distance a race could not rightly be called a Marathon contest.
Belsize Extensions.
Important extensions at the factory of Belsize Motors, Ltd., Clayton, Manchester, were formally inspected by ninny interested visitors yesterday (Wednesday). By the courtesy of the directors, numbers of Belsize taxicabs picked up the company's guests, in Albert Square, opposite the Manchester Town Hall, in the forenoon ; the smooth running of these vehicles impressed all who took part in the trip. We shall describe the extensions next week.
Four in a Smash.
In the City of London Court. on Tuesday of last week, the F.I.A.T. Motor Cab Co., Ltd., sued the British Motor Cab Co., Ltd., for seven guineas as damages on account of a collision, on the Embankment, between motorcabs respectively belonging to the two companies. The plaintiffs contended that the defendant's driver was trying to overtake their taxicab, and that at Middle Temple Lane he drew in front of the plaintiff's cab. A collision occurred, and this is alleged to have caused
motorcar, belonging to Sir Frederick Eve, a medical specialist, which was proceeding in the opposite direction, to collide as well. Shortly afterwards a fourth collision occurred with a " W. and G." cabJudge Lumley, K.C. did not think that negligence had been proved, and he found for the defendants with costs.
Cab Turns a Somersault and Driver Will Recover.
Our Paris correspondent writes : • '' A striking example of the utter recklessness of the average Parisian taxicab driver is furnished by a sensational accident which occurred here on a recent evening. Driving up the Rue de Rome, in the direction of the centre of the city, an Italian, Jean Opezzo, suddenly swung his Renault taxi round with the evident intention of taking his place on the cab stand in that street. The Rue de Rome is very wide, in excellent condition, having been recently paved with wood blocks, and is bordered on one side by a row of dwelling houses and shops, and on the other by the main Western Railway line terminating at Si. Lazare Station. The railway is in a cutting about 50 ft. below the level of the road, and, in order to give greater width for the tracks, the ground has been entirely cut away under the footpath, this latter being supported by heavy stone work Protection to the public is afforded by very heavy iron railings, about six feet in height.
Time Italian driver swung round
to the left when travelling at far too high. a speed ; he skidded, mounted the footpath, charged the railings, and in a fraction of a second had disappeared from view, just in a similar way to that in which the Schneider motorbus dived into the River Seine only a short time ago. Fortunately the driver was alone on the cab at the time, and still more fortunately he fell clear of a temporary signal box containing three men. It was naturally supposed that the driver had been killed, for the cab had turned a complete somersault while in the air, landing with its four wheels uppermost, and being in a completely wrecked condition. He had, however, not even lost consciousness, and although severely injured, having several ribs broken, it was declared by the doctors that his life was not in clanger. The escape was almost miraculous, for, this being the main Western line, trains are passing in the early evening at intervals of one almost every two minutes. The driver was entirely to blame for the accident, conditions at this point being entirely favourable to mechanical vehicles. The street is wide, without camber, has a per
fectly smooth wood surface, being gently sloping is easily kept clean, and indeed is almost always free from mud, and the nearest cross street is one hundred yards away. This accident, following so soon after the motorbus fatality, is indeed calculated to terrify the Parisian public, especially as the Rue de Rome is on the line of route of some of the motorbuses. While the private motorcar driver is as skilled and as careful as those in any city, the taxicab men are a menace to the city. The necessity of more stringent driving regulations has long been pointed out, but nothing has been done by the authorities.'