. LOOKING BACK 15 YEARS.
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THE REPORT of the Canopies Select Committee on cabs for Buses, and omnibuses which was issued about the middle of 1906 endorsed the official view or the Chief Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis that canopies for double-deck motorbuses in London are undesirable. There has always been a considerable diversity of opinion on this subject, although of late years little seems to have been done in an effort to alleviate the discomfort of passengers travelling on the Upper decks of buses during incleraent weather. The earning power of every double-deck bus in service with an open top deck is adversely affected during the winter months and until a satisfactory means of protection is devised, the average bus will not be able to render the best account of itself.
Manufacturers of buses, and even the operating companies themselves, have, in the past, feared that extra wear and tear would necessarily follow the adoption of an upper deck covering, particularly on the tyres,' • but there is no reason why weight, cost, or risk of catching wind currents should be regarded as insuperable bars. Whether the problem can best be met by completely enclosing the upper 'deck or by -providing a
separate awning for each garden-type seat is a matter which can best be decided by careful investigation and experiment.
Vast and present forms of hoods have not been looked upon with favour by the Metropolitan Police authorities, but that they would give consideration to any practical form of canopy which overcomes the generally known difficulties there is little doubt.
THE QUESTION was asked Coaches in September, 1906 :—Will in London. " observation cars " be seen
in London? .Residents in New York had for several ',years previously been accustomed to the regular passage of huge electrically driven charse-banes, or, to eve them the name by which they were better known -in the United States, observation cars. This type of vehicle was then beginning to invade -other American cities, and although regarded askance as much by ,proprietorS Of horse-drawn vehicles as by the victims who had to endure the searching gaze of some 30 eagle-eyed tourists, there was no 'question as to their popularity arid "financial success. The fact that Paris and iBerlin .had, during the previous months, yielded to the attractions of the observation car. led many to at-k the question above. . Well, the answer can be supplied by anyone familiar With the. Metropelis: ;Very few coaches are used for exploring' the historic sights of the capital. although the number that run daily In and out of London -*lust run into many hundreds.