Culled from Contemporaries.
Page 19
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Chiefly about Horseless Sunday.
Horseless Society.
Each State ball proclaims the advance of the motor and its gradual capture of society. A year or two ago the horsedrawn carriages were in an easy majority on the occasion of the Court. Now they are in a dwindling minority, and the electric broughams sod scarcely less dainty petrol-driven carriages may be seen one behind the other, with horses enly at intervals. In a few years one anticipates a horse on these occasions will be a novelty.—" The Westminster Gazette."
Fewer Horses for India.
For some time there has been a remarkable falling off in the imports of horses into India. This is reflected in the official report upon the maritime trade of Bengal for the past official year, in which it is stated that the number of horses imported during that period fell off from 4,096 to 2,9U, while the value decreased by £30,000. . . . The report states that the unsatisfactory condition of the horse trade is due to the spread of motorcars and electric traction in this country.—" The Evening Standard," London.
Deserves Every Encouragement.
There can be little inconvenience to anyone through the choice of a Sunday for the demonstration, and no better locality could have been chosen than the City of Westminster. The committee are deserving of every encouragement, and if they can show that the traffic will be handled more expeditiously on account of its uniform character, that the sanitary condition of the streets will be vastly improved, not to mention the greatly diminished noise from the self-propelled vehicles, the scheme will have been a brilliant success from every point of view.—" The Motor World."
Cab Body Dimensions.
It is somewhat difficult to decide whether the development of the motorcab carrosserie is to follow that of its horsedrawn ancestor or not, but, if the pleasure car is any criterion, it would hardly seem that present standards will be closely followed. There seems every reason to suppose that the modern trend toward comfort and luxuriousness so manifest in all the surroundings of the cabusing classes will manifest itself in the motorcab, now that the latter brings the opportunity for discarding the standards set a number of decades ago. If this Prove to be so, practically every dimension of the modern horse cab will be enlarged for use with the motor. Accordingly, seats should be given a width of from 20 in. to 22 in. per person, with a depth of 17 in. to 18 in., while their height above the footboards should be from 15 in. to 17 in. From 20 in. to 24 in. should be allowed between the edges of seats facing each other, and doors should have a width of from 20 in. to 24 in.—" The Horseless Age," New York. Influential Delegates.
Progress has been made for the inauguration of the proposed Horseless Sunday in the City of Westminster during next month or September, and already an influential group of delegates have been appointed to work with Mr. H. T. Lyon, who is Chairman of the Westminster City Council Highways Committee, and is the originator of the scheme. . . . Needless to say, cleanliness of the streets, besides greater safety to everyone through the absence of " mixed " traffic, are points which it is hoped by the committee to bring home to the public by this short experiment over a limited area in town.—" The Automotor Journal."
A Horse Owner's Threat and the Reply Thereto.
Sir,—I see in a recent issue of your paper that the Automobile Club and Mr. Thomson Lyon have not given up the idea of closing an area (presumably Westminster) to horse traffic; on a certain Sunday. You go on to say that it has no commercial object, but is to be a demonstration of ease in handling traffic. On any Sunday the traffic, both horse and motor, regulates itself. This is an attempt by an interested trade to get in the thin edge of the wedge, and try to legislate the horse from the streets, which is the only way he can be removed. The motor trade have had a good run with cabs, buses, and other passenger vehicles, but have stuck when it comes to goods, and are at their wit's end for an advertisement of the products of foreign motor manufacturers. I sincerely hope all horse owners will combine to combat this attempt to deal a blow at a trade which even now directly and indirectly employs more people than any other. Personally, if they succeed in closing an area, I intend to drive a horse in that particular part on the Sunday they choose, and will make a sporting offer to pay two guineas to Our Dumb Friends' League if I fail.
WILLIAM GOWER,
Horse and Cartage Contractor.
Sir,—Your correspondent, Mr. William Gower, horse and cartage contractor, incorrectly suggests that the Horseless Sunday Committee has the idea of closing an area to horse traffic on a certain Sunday. The committee, obviously, has no power or intention to close any area, or to use any coercive measures Mr. Gower need be under no misapprehension as to the result of his desperate attempt to drive through the closed area on Horseless Sunday. No attempt will be made to prevent him or any similarly-minded persons from endeavouring to frustrate an experiment undertaken solely in the interests of the ratepayers of London. It is quite true that anyone can spoil a race, or other contest, by simply getting in the way of the competitors. The organizing committee, before it embarked definitely on the scheme, considered that the majority of Englishmen—especially those connected with horses—are too good sportsmen deliberately to upset a lengthy and difficult piece of work ; it purposes to work solely by voluntary arrangement, whilst it will endeavour to secure that those who collaborate with it shall suffer no loss.
Mr. William Gower seems to indicate that he is a supporter of Our Dumb Friends' League. It appears rather an odd method of showing his affection for animals, that he should resolve to drive his horse about on its usual day of rest—not for any work of necessity, but merely for the purpose of diminishing the sanitary value of the test !
E. SHRAPNELL SMITH,
Hon. Secretary, Horseless Sunday Committee. 7, Rosebery Avenue, E.C. —" Evening Standard " and " St. James's Gazette."
The Idea was Blessed by All.
There is under discussion at present the arrangement of a horseless Sunday for Westminster, and the way in whieb the idea when mooted was blessed by all— even by the anti-motorists--tends to lead us to the conclusion that the advent of the day when the horse-drawn vehicle will be but a relic of a dim and distant past is a consummation devoutly wished by the vast majority. And as if to hurry the march of Time and his ceaseless changes, an official regulation was promulgated when the King and Queen visited Birmingham setting forth that "as the route (of the Royal procession) will be carefully sanded to prevent the horses attached to the Royal carriages from slipping, it is not proposed to allow other horse-drawn vehicles to pass along the thoroughfares. The guests, therefore, will be conveyed to the new university in motorcars. A. number of taxi-cabs and motorcars will be provided for those guests not possessing such vehicles." A striking sign of the times !--" The Western Daily Press," Bristol.
Not Impracticable. The scheme of a Iforseless Sunday is not by any means considered an impracticable proposal. The idea is favoured in many directions. To suggest, however, that there should never be horses in London streets is simply a wild flight of imagination, though I believe some striking figures could be given to-day of the relative numbers of horse-drawn and automatic vehicles. It may be true, as Councillor Thomson Lyon says, that to prohibit the horse would save the Metropolis 2d. in the £ for street cleansing, but how to do it is the question. However, the experiment of a Horseless Sunday in Westminster will show both how much easier traffic can be managed when there is but one type to deal with, and how much cleaner the streets will be kept. The fact that the route used by the King and Queen at Birmingham recently was closed to all hut motor traffic provides a cogent argument for the reformers of the London Representative Committee.—A Motoring Correspondent in "The Bath Herald."