Passenger-Vehicle Topics.
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According to reports from Lincoln, the Daimler Co. will take the order from the Corporation.
The employees at the Middle Row garage of the L.G.O.C. very thoughtfully provided 350 poor children of Kensal Town. with a Christmas dinner.
The fact that large numbers of London taxi-drivers did not ply for hire on Christmas Day has caused numerous unfavourable comments in the daily Press.
The Todmorden Town Council has resolved to purchase more motorbuses, notwithstanding the poor start which was made in that town—in part due to the unwise location of the garage, and in part due to errors of management. It has definitely been decided not to have a trackless-trolley system of electrically-driven vehicles.
London Cabdrivers Petrol.
On Monday afternoon last a,. ' portant conference took place between the Motor Cab Proprietors Association and the Cab Drivers Union (both of London), at the offices of the Board of Trade. The object was to attempt to settle the question of the new price to be paid by the drivers for their petrol, in view of the rise foreshadowed in the award of last March.
The drivers now offer to pay lOid. a gallon, but the masters, at the time of going to press, would not agree to this figure. It is stated that the British Motor Cab Co. will possibly agree to accept the men's figure, and from another source we hear of a suggestion for a small wage, with a reduction of the percentage to be paid to the driver.
There are renewed indications that a revision of the initial fare will be called for. As might be expected, the owner-driver is jubilant at the turn of events.
Paralysing Croydon's Trams.
Personal observations were made, during the last. week-end, by a member of the staff, in regard to the keen competition which is now taking place between the London motorbuses and the Croydon Corporation tramway fleet.
The first of the new inter-suburban motorbus services, viz., No. 75, Woolwich to South Croydon, met with instantaneous success, and the machines, which at present are only run on a 15-minute " time," are entirely inadequate for the traffic which they are attracting. It is noticeable that most of the fares are long-distance ones. This service is likely, especially if it be increased, to take an enormous amount of further traffic from the Penge to Croydon tramways, par
ticularly .as the majority of that track is of the single description with loops, a system which involves serious delays, which become more frequent as the number of trams is increased.
As evidence of the successful nature of the competition in Croydon itself, our observer counted six of the corporation's large doubledeck tramcars in procession on Sunday evening last in which the number of passengers averaged only three per car, whilst the buses were crowded on top and inside.
The L.G.O. Cinematms.
We are enabled to illustrate in this issue some of the incidents which occurred during recent experiments which were carried out by the L.G.O.C. with a view to the securing of cinematograph films of road accidents, in which motorbums occasionally become involved. It is the intention of the company to use the films, which have now been acquired, for the instruction of the men who are learning to become drivers for the L.G.O.C., in order the more readily to point out to them some of the difficulties with which they will have to contend in Metropolitan traffic. For the purposes of the cinema
tograph, mock accidents and "close shaves" were arranged, in which two standard B-type machines, manned by specially-skilful drivers, were employed. During a journey through the thickest parts of the traffic of the City and West End, the occupants of the" Cinemabus " were able to secure pictorial records of the obstruction caused by all kinds of horse-drawn vehicles and of tramway traffic. Excellent examples were forthcoming of the awkward habit, which many pedestrians and cyclists have, of suddenly dodging out from the kerb into the traffic stream without looking to right or left. Amongst other road incidents, of which pictorial records were secured, were various types of skids, and the dangers arising from the close cutting of corners. If the results of the new scheme of traffic education be found to yield satisfactory results, the company is credited with the intention of employing it in their drivers' schools for teaching their men more about the constructional features of the machines which they are to drive. The chief engineer informs us that the first cinematograph lecture for learners is to be held this week.