Motorcab Topics.
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Leeds is the most recent provincial city to inaugurate taxicabs.
The West London Taxicab Company, Limited, with an authorised capital of i".3,000 in ,f,:t shares, and with its registered office at the Garage„Ansdell Street, Kensington, W., appears in the March lists at Somerset House, Taximeters tor Horse Cabs.
In spite of the apparent unanimity of the owners of horse-drawn cabs with regard to the request to the Home Secretary to make the fitting of taximeters on horse-drawn cabs compulsory in I..ondon, a proportion of the members of the Federation of London Cab Proprietors is covertly opposed to the issue of an Order to this effect by N1r. Gladstone. We are inclined to think that the opposition will prevail.
Darracq Cabs.
Apropos the announcement on another page in this issue, by the Darracy Company, we are interested to learn that one of its 8-mh.p. cars recently travelled 1,865 miles, throughout New South Wales and a large part of Queensland, in 18 days. This is believed to be the longest over-land journey yet undertaken by so moderately-powered a car. The Darracq had to travel over many sandy and other difficult tracks, not a few of which were made exceptionally trying by previous rainfalls.
Efforts are being made to secure a standing for rnotorcabs in St. Peter's Square, Manchester, as well as in Albert Square. The former square is handy for the Midland Railway Hotel and several theatres.
At Bath.
Applications have recently been before the Sanitary Committee of the Bath Town Council in respect of 31 licenses for taxicabs, and it has been decided to issue the number of licenses which may be thought to be necessary. The most recent application, for 12 licenses, came from the Bristol Carriage and Tramways Co.
A Birmingham Promotion.
In the King's Bench Division, before Mr. Justice Coleridge, Mr. Henry Hartley, an engineer, of Birmingham, has secured judgment in respect of an action to recover 4:4,000 on an agreement for the promotion of a company to take over various contracts which he had secured. It appears that Mr. Hartley entered into certain agreements, one of which was with \Vest, Limited, and another was in respect of leasehold premises in Birmingham, with a view to the promotion of a company. At this stage, a representative of Messrs. Gatlin, Henderson and Bennett, of London, persuaded him to amalgamate his proposals with certain others which they had in hand, in consequence of which the several agreements were assigned, and in consideration for this Mr. Hartley was to receive £4,000. In the end, the proposed large company did not go to allotment, and the defendants consequently took the view that they were not liable.
A stay of execution was granted, on terms, in view of an appeal.
Nice for the Springs.
Motor vehicles of every description were much in evidence at the Croydon election on the tiolling day (last Monday). The various newspapers employed their delivery vans to very good purpose, and taxie.abs were pressed into service to carry officials and would-be voters about the constituency. One long-suffering taxicab was seen to be carrying no less than eleven passengers including the driver !
The New Taximeter Reguiationb.
A revised set of regulations, which deal with the construction and fixing of taximeters for use en London motorcabs, has now been issued by the Commissioner of Police, Sir E. R. Henry. Inasmuch as the new schedule contains a number of stipulations which will necessitate considerable structural alteration to several of the various types of instrument that are now in use, we propose to draw attention to fresh points. The first few paragraphs consist of instructions with regard to the general approval of type, and to the testing of individual instruments; these remain much as in the previous notice (issued on 4th June, 1907); the charge, however, for the testing of a single instrument of an "approved m type has now been reduced to ss. Paragraphs 4, 12, and 14 deal with certain new stipulations with regard to the indication of the fares and other notices on the face of the instrument. Under Section 3, paragraph 4, it is now laid down that every taximeter, in addition to the " Fares " and " Extras " slots, shall have another in which the position of the flag lever
is clearly indicated. This: third slot shall show :—
" The words 'For hire' when the flag arm is vertical, the word ' Hired ' when the flag is depressed and the time and distance gearing in engagement, and the word 'Stopped' for the intermediate position of the 'ever before bringing it to the vertical position.'
Some types of taximeter have always provided this additional indication; in other cases, 110 definite posi_ which the flag should be placed, during payment by the passenger, so that the " time " or " clock " part of the mechanism may be put out of action and may not continue to register against the hirer. .1. " payment " position is now to be definitely insisted upon, and in this connection we would suggest that the word ''payment " would be preferable to the word " stopped," which latter is the requirement under the new regulations. People unfamiliar with taximeter mechanism may consider " stopped " to indicate that the apparatus is out of order. in any case, the word " stopped " only refers to the clack mechanism. " Payment" would be less ambiguous. Section 7 contains the new regulation, which is undoubtedly a good one from the point of view of the user. It reads as follows :-
" The third position, showing the word Stopped,' must be such that the meter shall cease to record whilst a passenger is in the act of paying, but the amount of fare recorded must remain in the meantime visible."
The regulation which requires that, when the flag is raised, the indicators shall return to zero, or a disc or shutter shall obscure the initial fare, and which has hitherto been in abeyance, is now made compulsory. On one make of taximeter, at least, the initial eightpence has hitherto been exposed while the flag is up for hire.
Paragraph 13 is probably the particular new requirement which is causing most inconvenience to the makers of fare-registeringapparatus. It reads :—
" There must be no division between the tens and units figures of any discs which might render the reading unintelligible GImisleading, as 34/6 must not read 3/4/6, or 4/10 read 4/1/0, etc."
It is, of course, important to ensure that no misunderstanding as to payment demanded shall arise in the mind of the hirer, and, provided the word "shillings " appeared in bold letters over the combined figures, little confusion was likely to occur. On one type of instrument, however, the coin denomination was painted after the changeable figures, and, with this reading, the first of two " shilling " figures had occasionally been mistaken for " pounds." Double figures are exposed on separate discs, and it is a matler of some mechanical difficulty to allow these two discs to approach so close to each other as to show no interval.
Certain new stipulations are made which will, in future, ensure that the public will readily notice the exact nosition of the flag, even when viewed from a distance. For example :—
" The arm or lever which carries the flag must be of such length that when vertical the lower edge of the flag shall be above the highest part of the meter."
" The meter must be so constructed that when the vehicle is hired the flag shall be depressed, and as far as possible hidden from the public view, and, when the vehicle is for hire, the flag aria is vertical and the flag horizontal."
Paragraph 8 ensures that a driver cannot providing the flag be raised and lowered to the satisfaction of the hirer, proceed on another journey with a false initial fare registered on the taximeter. We quote :— " Every taximeter must be so constructed that when the flag lever is raised to a vertical position the previous record is cleared, and the various mechanisms are brought to their initial positions. It must also be so made that it cannot be again depressed until the full vertical position has been reached, and a positive stop made to ensure this being done." " No taximeter can he approved which does not in the opinion of the Commissioner and National Physical laboratory Authorities comply in all respects with this regulation " Provision is made for alternative methods of sealing. Makers may now have the instruments sealed with wire clips or with inset lead seals. The holes for these latter have to be deeply " undercut," and of no less than five-eighths of an inch (or 16 millimetres) diameter.
Throughout the regulations, the calibration of the taximeter drivingmechanism to suit road wheels of 'various sizes is now made to depend upon the effective circumference of the wheel, and not upon the nominal tire diameter. We have on several previous occasions pointed out that tire circumferences were liable to a number of variations, due to manufacture, inflation, and other causes.
Regulation 7 of the old schedule provided that the distance gearing should always be operated from a non-driving wheel. It will be remembered that, until the ist February this year, this requirement was allowed to remain in abeyance. All taximeters now have to be driven from a front wheel.
Paragraph 18 of the new schedule requires the enclosure of all the driv
ing gear, and its subsequent sealing. Substitution of a new piece of flexible shafting may now require the driver to stand by for a day and a half, under certain circumstances—until, in fact, the passing station is open to reseal the casings. 'Phis should be altered.
The lighting of taximeter dials has already been made the subject of an Order, and of various comments on our part ; this regulation is now embodied in the new schedule as paragraph 25 :—
"A separate approved lamp must be affixed in such a manner as to illuminate clearly the whole of the figures and letters on the dial or face of the taximeter." The only other two points which seem to be worthy of notice are contained in the two following extracts :
" Before a taximeter is used for public service it must be presented, properly affixed to the cab on which it is to be used, in order that it may be tested upon the road, and to determine whether the driving gear has been properly affixed. If the test proves satisfactory, the whole of the connections will be officially sealed, and no cab must be used until and unless these seals are intact."
"When presenting a machine for retest, the taximeter company or owner must state the reason for breaking the seal."