Culled from Contemporaries.
Page 20
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To a Large Extent about the People who Insist upon getting Run Over
The Socialist as a Protectionist.
Londonere, awake; the enemy is skilful and callous. Forewarned should find you forearmed. Remember the L.C.C. trains made a profit of £36,000 for the last financial year. See that you use the trams more frequently, and so retain the benefits of municipal enterprise.-The Daily Herald."
Why Not Footmen Too?
We believe that if these [number plates] were deleted we would have many more customers, because people couia not then tell the difference between a taxicab and a private car. A man who takes his best girl for a ride likes people to think that he is riding in his own car.—A Manchester OwnerDriver.
Why Buses Leave the Trams.
It was by having regard to the seconds at the stations where the trains stopped that on the District and on the Tubes we have made such a saving of the pas senger's time. It is just as important that 'buses should be moved with the greatest possible regularity and speed as trains. It is the seconds which count. —Mr. A. Stanley.
The Dangerous Equine.
Horse-drawn carts, vans, arid carriages (excluding cabs and emnibusesi are still, however, sufficiently numerous to be the greatest source of danger, for they kill between 80 and 90 persons every year in London, and injure between 4000 and 5000. a number which has not appreciably diminished during the decade.—" The Pall Mall Gazette."
The Former is a Waster.
There are two classes of men in the commercial world : cue who sits on his office chair and waits for business to come along, the other who goes out to lonk for,it, and if he cannot find any tries to create it. The former is the one who says " Oh, the motor trade hasn't come to our little town, it. is no interest
to me." The latter says, " Ali! the motor trade must come sooner or later to my town, so it is up to me to do what I can to introduce and foster it."— " Cooper's -Vehicle Journal."
Only a Temporary Expedient.
The engineering experts of Great George Street and the official experts of the Board of Trade recommend a wholesale widening of streets and the construction of 100 miles or so of new mail. roads around Greater London. But if these new and wider streets were to be promptly filled, as they are sure to be, with increased traffic, what would be the gain! The volume of traffic would soon be as dense as ever, the delays would be as. bad and costly as ever, and the burden of street maintenance would be heavier than ever on the ratepayers.— " The Outlook."
Better for Him than the Council.
The contribution of Scotland Yard to this [the traffic] problem is so naive that scmebody there really ought to he asked to join the Board of the L.G.0.—" The Star."
Municipal Opinion.
The Mayor of Southwark proposes two sweeping alternatives : " Dispense," he says, " with vehicular traffic, or let pedestrians keep indoors."—At a Council meeting.
Those Who Don't Ask, Don't
Want.
The other day a taxicab whizzed past me on the wrong side of the road, and, after nearly knocking me over, the driver kindly shouted out that "I was asking for it."—A correspondent in the " Evening News."
Vanishing Horses.
London has got rid of, during the past eight years, over 5000 hansom cabs, 1500 four-wheeled cabs 2000 horse omnibuses, and over 1000 horse tramway cars, a total of 9500 public horse vehicles.— " The Daily Mail."
The Brazilian Klaxon.
Ox-cart wheels are cut out of tree Hunks, and run tunefully on their wooden axles free from grease, so that by the sound the approaching cart heralds its ownership, each cart having its particular timbre. — " American Machinist."
Birmingham is Progressive.
Birmingham can no longer in these days be left without an up-to-date service of motor omnibuses, and it is intended that the service shall in every respect be ample to meet the needs ,and demands of the public.—At a meeting of the Birmingham Tramways. Ltd.
The Fittest Must Survive.
My suggestion is " Do away with trams, encourage motorbuses in every way possible, and vest the entire control of the traffic in the streets in the borough councils and police." The tramways sooner or later are doomed, because they will be unable to withstand the competition of the 'buses.— The Mayor of Wendsworth in " The Daily Chronicle."
The Conventions of Beast Haulage.
The real problem in motor trucking now conceras the reformation and readjustment of conditions and customs that have grown up around beast haulage, so that the truck may have full play m the realization of its potential efficiency. It is a simple matter of saving time, of keeping the truck moving so that its motion will exceed to the largest possible extent its stopped time.—" Modern Delivery," Chicago.
A Ray of Hope.
Every cloud has a silver lining, ss there is a hope that the extra 10,000 motors may eventually run over and so exterminate the paid agitators.—Mr. Bourchier in the " Weekly Dispatch."
The Sweet Four-tonner.
It. is a revelation to see and hear a. four-tonner gliding along sweetly and silently without the ramble and tumble, rattle and clank too frequently encountered in motor transport.—" Gas an:3 Oil Power."
A Tram Seats Twice as Many.
It was found, however (the Highways Committee points out), that the average number of passengers carried between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. was nearly 12 pre cent. higher in the case of the trams than of the buses.—" The Daily News."
Sir John Berm. Hedges.
It would be idle to suggest that the development of rival means of locomotion did not make it incumbent upon them to consider very carefully what steps could be taken to strengthen the financial -position of the undertaking, and to increase its utility to the public. —To an interviewer.
Mixed Traffic.
The undue increase of motorbuses and cabs will be checked by the law of supply and demand. The greatest dangers arise from the mixing of fast and slow traffic, and this would be minimized by carrying the slow heavy goods traffic underground.—Mr. Edgar Harper in the "Daily Chronicle."
Echo Answers Why ?
Mr. W. Reynolds asked how it was, if Mr. Gordon's figures were correct, that the motorbus companies were making astonishing profits. Horse tramways, on which the Council had spent a million and a half, were obsolete, and he warned them that their 12 millions worth of electric tramways might become obsolete too.—" The Daily Telegraph."
Garage Economy for Vans.
Now there are, I am convinced, many tradesmen who would be found in possession of motor vehicles for business purposes if suitable garages existed where such vehicles could be conveniently housed. It is true, of course, that there is no objection to vans and such like machines in garages where pleasure cars are stabled. But, just as the cost of housing and running pleasure cars is a matter of little moment to most owners from the mere fact that it is paid for out of superfluous cash, so the cost of running a commercial vehicle is a matter pf close scrutiny as a business prc.ceeding, and any economy effected in garage accommodation must tend to favour an increase of such vehicles.— The Motoring Editor in the " Glasgow Herald."