Is the Popularity of the Taxicab Due Only to Speed ?
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By An Occasional Contributor.
(Inc has only to move about London with an observant to realize that not only is the taxicab immensely popidar, but that it is, to the Metropolitan traveller, an Ihil'et of vital necessity. At any hour of the day, and in any weather, hirers can be seen who refuse absolutelyto des I with the driver of a hansom or four-wheeler -hirers who will wait patiently in the rain for the advent of an empty motoreab, and this, too, when only a short journey, through a crowded thoroughfare, is contemplated, What is true in the case of the hursed-omnibusvonus the motorbus, namely, that, on short stages through the City, the point-to-point speeds of the two types of public conveyance differ but little, is true also of the hansom and the motorcab. Where the Strand, Fleet Street, Holborn, or Cheapside, to mention a few typical examples, constitutes the route to be traversed, little time will be gained by taking a motor-propelled vehicle; indeed. if the time spent in waiting for the vehicle at the beginning be considered, the hirer would probably save a minute or two by getting inside the first cab that presented itself.
To what, then, is the Londoner's attachment to the motoreab due? Ensconced behind its " wired on " windows, in the corner of one of the new Gamage-liell taxicabs a few days ago, the question arose in the mind of the writer : would people stand and wait, about for an old fourwheeler body perched on a. power-driven chassis, if other horsed-cabs were enamelled, tired, and upholstered like lirand-new broughams? Here seems to be one of the greatest attractions of the new type of hackney en triage. There is no denying the fact that the latest specimens are simply luxurious carriages: there is little to choose between their comfort and that of the nobleman's landau. Look at the coachwork and painting of the vehieles alone, and the immense difference between the cab of a year or two ago and that which we know now is obvious to all.
Man's vanity—to say nothing of the weakness of the gentler sex—demands at once the trim-looking car, where he iS desirous of making a good impression at his point of
11. All of its realize that an arrival in a dingy four
Ii 'let', drawn by an emaciated " gee " that is gone at the knees, is hardly an impressive appearance; indeed, there is something depressing about the confinement of the musty interior of the vehicle, even when no one is looking. Nowadays, the " growler " is our very-last resource, as a means of transit: its use is confined, really, to the cartage of luggage—a sort of urande ritesse! 1.t we acknowledge that luxury is one of the main arguments for our patronage of the motorcab, one may well ask, is-here is lavishness in comfort-providing devices to stop? The original large consignment of taxicabs from France was, after all, upholstered in a simple manner, but good enough and ample, surely, for a public vehicle. Now, we find looking-glasses, automatic indicators for comtnenication with the driver, speaking-tubes, cigar-lighters and so forth. So smart-looking are these ears, that the eriter knows of several instances where they have been chosen for wedding cortilges in lieu of the usual bridal carriages : would the same people have ordered half-adozen " growlers,'' even in the old halcyon days of the London cabby? The question that exists is: when the taxicab grows old and shabby, will its patrons still stick by it, or must constant effort lie maintained to increase its luxury every year? The writer would offer one criticism on the subject : it seems a pity to devote so much attention to comfort, and to neglect that of extended usefulness. Although some accommodation is provided for a small ailment of luggage, this, it is felt, might be greatly increased, so that, for use in railway-station service, its efficacy would be enhanced; and the four-wheeler would have the last nail driven into its coffin. Manufacturers would be well advised to consider this point more fully, and to proprietors and drivers increased revenue would be assured. If both its luxury and carrying capacity are unequalled, the motoreab should be in a positian to drive all the old-time " crawlers " right off our London streets in less than no time.