Motorcab Topics.
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Mr. Alfred West has been appointed General Manager of the Provincial Motor Cab Co., Ltd.
The National Motor Cab Co., Ltd., is now giving a bonus to each taxicab candidate who passes the tests at Scotland Yard first time.
The Bournemouth Town Council has now decided not to entertain applications for taxicab licences from " outside companies or nonresidents."
The Blackpool Town Council, after a long period of vacillation, has decided to license a number of taxicabs for public hire during the corning summer.
We have good reports of the running of Goodrich tires on Manchester taxicabs. The mileage achieved over the trying roads in that city appears to be very satisfactory.
"Everybody's Weekly," a new periodical which has recently appeared in London, contained in its first issue the most-intelligentlywritten general description of taximeter operation outside this journal.
Better Times to Come.
The Watch Committee of the Manchester Corporation is busy cc.msirlering the terms of the new regulations which it is now proposed to institute for the control of the motorcab traffic of that city. In view of what has been done there in the past, it behoves all inotorcab owners in the district to take steps collectively to see that the regulations are only finally approved in such form that they are not likely further to cramp their imdertakings. We have dealt with the existing regulations at considerable length on various occasions. The British Motor Cab Co., Ltd., has now engaged an official who is known as the chief recruiting officer. The present holder of this position is Mr. F. C. IL Hentsch.
Scarborough horsed-cab drivers are exultant over the retrogressive decision of the corporation not to license any inotorcabs for the present, but to adopt a policy of " wait and see."
The General Purposes Committee of the Cheltenham Town Council has now recommended that its new draft regulations for hackney carriages and taxicabs be submitted for approval to the Local Government Board.
To Scorching Cabbies.
It appears that the Marine Drive at Southport is specially favoured by those wishing to take short pleasure trips in the local taxicabs. It had lately become common to assume that the police tacitly consented to excesses in the matter of speed on this road, but the Chief Constable has now given it to be understood that high speeds are no longer to be tolerated there. The local taxi-drivers will do well to be specially warned in this respect.
About the "Rabbit Hutches."
On Saturday night last, a large number of the machines belonging to the Gamage-Bell Motor Cab Co., Ltd., were garaged for the first time in the fine new depot in Commercial Road, Pimlico.
In connection with the petrolstorage installation at this depot which was described in our issue of the 9th ult., we now learn that the price to be charged to the drivers is 8d. per gallon for the
spirit., and that this carries with it a maximum-consumption guarantee at the rate of 19 miles to the gallon.
The average gross takings during the past three months of the drivers of several Gainage-Bell motoreabs, whose private accounts have been submitted to us, amount to over SOs. per day.
General Unrest.
One day last week, a mass meeting of London cabdrivers was held to protest against what a circular described as the "terrorising intimidation" of certain officials of the General Motor Cab Co. at Brixton. A very-large number of drivers put in an, appearance. The chief cause of complaint that was placed before the assembled men was with reference to certain letters that were stated to have been written by Mr. A. Blaydon to drivers in the employ of the General Motor Cab Co. Mr. Blaydon is chief of the Brixtondepot "Knowledge of London" school ; he is a retired inspector of the Public Carriage Department of Scotland Yard, and is in receipt of
a pension. Letters which he is alleged to have written implied that he had authority to deal direct with Scotland Yard in the event of drivers neglecting to observe regulations. An official communication from Mr. George Pollard, general manager of the General Motor Cab Co., Ltd., at Brixton, was read to the meeting, and in this he stated that no person engaged by his company had "any authority to interfere with the drivers in any shape or form," except Mr. Cohen or Hmself. He also stated that he had invested no responsible official of the company with authority to deal with reports at Scotland Yard.