t hiotorcab
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Topics.
We reproduce, on page 539 of this issue, a further selection of interesting -extracts from our contemporaries, with regard to various aspects of the taxicab situation.
The annual report of the British Consul at Odessa says that taxicabs belonging to a British company now ply for hire in the streets of that city, and that they are becoming poptilar.
According to recent returns, the number oi taximeters tested at Twiek. enbam last year was 7,895; this total including both new and repaired instruments. This year the average has been about 900 a month.
Still Using Some Horses.
During the past six years, the number of licensed horse-drawn public'vehicles in Cardiff has suffered hardly any change ; the tutal-120--is now what it was in 1904. There are 28 taxicabs lieensed for service.
Prevention of Cruelty to Chassis.
The International Correspondence Schools. Ltd., has initiated a new course of instruction for would-be motorcab-drivers. The subjects, which are to he taught, have been chosen with a view to the teaching of the men to treat their machines intelligently.
Sharing the Extras.
Of the numerous suggestions which have been put forward recently, with a view to the solution of the "extras' difficulty in the taxicab business, One of the most-promising is that of the correspondent. of a morning paper. His selteme is to attach to each
of the " extra " fold-up seats inside a cab, an automatic lock which would only render a seat available after sixpenee had been inserted in a suitable slot. In this way all " extras " for additional passengers would accrue to the owner of the cab, and a suitable compromise might be effected by allowing the driver to retain all extras for the carriage of luggage. There is considerable merit in this scheme; means would have to be adopted, however, to ensure that each
seat should be folded again, after it had been vacated by an " extra " passenger.
Hot-headed Oratory.
At a meeting of the drivers of the W. and G. du Cros cabs at Acton last week, over which Mr. George du Gros presided, various speakers endeavoured to lay the blame for the attention which the taxicab has lately drawn upon itself on the Press, the police, and the proprietors in turn. One driver said that be was glad that " Mr. du Cros was the first member of the Masters' Federation who had come forward to deny these lying statements." Continuing, he said that the Masters' Federation was endeavouring to crush the drivers. Mr. du Oros called the speaker to order.
Possible Female Cabdrivers.
Our Berlin correspondent writes: " Berlin's new cab regulations provide that, henceforth, the granting of a licence can be made dependent on the actual necessity ' for increasing the number of cabs. Passengers are also requested not to spit in the cab ' nor to put their feet on the cushions,' both practices, like that of shovelling food into one's mouth with a knife, being obviously common in Berlin. A paragraph sharpens the regulations respecting the noiselessness of petrol cabs. Possible female cab-drivers and chauffeurs—one must reckon with them—are severely informed that they will lose their licences should their moral conduct give rise to suspicion.'
Taxicab Arson.
During the past twelvemonth, so many motorcabs have been practically destroyed by fire in Berlin that the criminal department of the Polizeipraesidium, informed by the insurance companies, determined to probe the circumstances of the several fires, and it was discovered that, as a rule, old, out-of-date cabs perished in the flames. That fact easily led to a suspicion of wilful destruction on the part of several owners, and two proprietors are already on the list for prosecution on this count. One insured his cab last March for £400, declaring it to be a 1909 make, whereas its age was at least sit years. Evidence showed that the vehicle had been worked by several owners before getting into the hands of the proprietor in question, so that he probably paid £100 at the outside for the " crouk." The second ease is analogous.