Conditions and Openings in India.
Page 6
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(fly Our Own Correspondent in Calcutta.)
Private-Hire Schedules in India.
I am writing to you on Coronation Day, 22nd of June, and the day is being observed throughout India and Burma, not only as a general holiday, but as a day of outings-and rejoicings. In consequence, there has been a heavy demand on the few firms who, in the large cities, such as Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Karachi, and Rangoon, make a speciality of hiring out motors, and in this connection it may possibly Interest you to know what we exiles in fat-away India have to pay for the hire of a car for a few hours, to ba used it may be for a wedding, a dinner party in the suburbs, or for an evening spin along the banks of the Hooghly River.
The price list of a representative firm lies before me, and I quote from it a few particulars. The hire of a car from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. is Its. 15 or 21, the rupee being equal to is. 4d., though, in the muchregretted past, we used to obtain 2s. for it. However, the distance covered must not exceed 20 miles, or else an additional 8d. per mile becomes payable. From 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. the charge is Rs. 20 or 21 6s. 8d., and the mileage allowed is 30. From 8.30 p.m. to midnight the charge is £1, with an allowable mileage of 20. If you require a car for the whole day (12 hours), you can have one for £2 13s, 4d., with a 60mile limitation. The hire for a week (seven days)
comes to Rs. 200, or 6s. Bd., and the mileage allowed is 350. For a month the cost will be Rs. 600 or 140, but you are allowed to cover BOO miles in that time. So that the annual cost of running a motoroar on these terms is not less than 2480, and yet the firms who lay themselves out to cater in this direction seem to do excellent business, particularly in the cold season, when the various Governments return to the Presidency cities from their annual picnics in the hills .during the hot weather. I should add that the rates I have quoted include a driver for each car, petrol and other charges. It will very possibly interest many of your readers to compare the rates in vogue in India with those current in F.ngland and elsewhere.
li?rosene versus Petrol.
Not so long ago the advice usually given to motor manufacturers at home was that all motors intended for use in India should be built to burn kerosene. It was assumed in those days that the carriage of petrol in the great heat of the Indian plains would he highly dangerous, and the Government of India, acting on this assumption, made the transport of petrol in commercial quantities all but impossible. On the other hand, kerosene could be purchased n'early everywhere, and "The Indian Trade Journal," published by the Government of India, published a list of hundreds of towns where motorists could obtain an abundant supply of kerosene.
Since then conditions have changed considerably, and petrol may now be had at most large towns. Nevertheless., there are those who still favour heroeene, though, during a residence of over a quarter of a century in India, I do not remember a single case in which a petrol tank has been known to explode because of simple exposure to the tropical sun. but I am aware of many petrol accidents, several of them very severe, that have been brought about by ignorance or carelessness. At the same time there is no marked hostility to the use of petrol out here. But a factor in favour of the extended use of kerosene is the formation of the Burma Solid Fuel Co., Ltd., with a capital of Rs. M0,000 (Z50,000), which concern has just been registered in Rangoon. The report I have seen talks about the solidification of
crude. oil, presumably for use on steamers, and the combination of solidified oil with waste products. Presumably petrol will also be solidified as well, so that kerosene users will not have it all their own way—if it comes to anything.
Progress in Bengal.—Bullock-cart Cruelty.
Although not so rapid as some of us would like to see, the introduction of commercial motors into various parts of Bengal is making headway. I Bee that the Burma Oil Co. has a motor lorry at work in Calcutta, and the Government Mint has another. Several others are owned by private firms, and the tendency is for the motor lorry to take the place of the antediluvian bullock-cart service which still does nine-tenths of the entire transport work in the capital of India, and " ten-tenths " of it in most other Indian cities. The point in favour of the bullock-cart is that it is cheap, and its horrid slowness does not count for much in the East, where time is no object and where the people delight to consider that to-morrow or next week is as good as to-day. There is no hurry out this way, or the bullock-cart would have died a natural death ages ago, particularly so as its exceedingly-narrow iron tires cut up the public roads terribly and add considerably to the annual cost of road repairs. There is a proposal on foot just now to compel bullock-cart owners to use wider tires, but a better one would be to do away with bullock-carts altogether, not merely on account of their general unsuitability for transport purposes in the capital cAy of an Empire doing an enormous trade, but because the amount of cruelty of the basest kind that is meted out to the unfortunate bullocks by their brutal drivers, particularly during the long-drawn sweltering Indian summer, is truly appalling and has formed the theme of many an essay on the extraordinary cruelty of a people who regard, or pretend to regard, the bullock and the covas very sacred animals.
The Delhi Durbar.
As you are aware, the King is to be crowned as Emperor of India at Delhi in December next, and already quite a huge number of motor vehicles has been engaged at fancy prices for the use of the Government of India and their guests on that
auspicious occasion. The Durbar is officially estimated to cost a million sterling, and everyone seems to be hurrying up to get as much out of that sum as possible. Although the Durbar is six months away, the charges for practically everything are already exorbitant. Just to give a couple of examples: board and lodging in the official camp is to cost 1:8 per day, and the use of a motorcar at £6 or 17 per day is considered very reasonable. The Durbar will last for a week, and will directly or indirectly cost more nearly two millions than one. Only the very rich can afford to attend it, and I see that some of these are to bring out their own motors from home. I do not blame them, for by the time the Durbar comes round, they would have to pay very dearly for the use of a motor out here, and, moreover, might not be able to hire one at any price. I know one large firm, for instance, which has let out all tne motors it has to spare. or is likely to have to spare, to the Government of India for the purpose of the Durbar, and probably many other firms have done likewise in other towns.
The roads are to be oiled in Delhi during the festivities. I see that the Asiatic Petroleum Company, Ltd.. Calcutta, has obtained the contract for supplying the oil that will be required for this purpose. A. of C.