Culled from Contemporaries.
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Some Strike Comments, and a Few Valedictory Notes about Horses.
R.I.P.
The hansom cab is in the same category as the Dodo, but the Parisian volume is still in vigorous life.—" Country Life."
A Worm's Eye View.
Pedestrians on the pavement also get splashed over with mud by the huge, noisy, blatant, and evil-smelling juggernaut cars we call motorbuses.—" The View."
If Only for Catsmea.t.
Of course there will always be a use for horses, but it must be admitted that the gasoline motor is slowly but surely crowding the noble animal into oblivion. —" Portland Express," 'U.S.A.
Pensioned.
If the motor-driven C011Veyalle0 had done nothing more than begin its mission of placing the truck horse oil the retired list, its invention would have been justified a thousand times over.—" St. Louis Times," U.S.A.
Starts Midway.
The shortage of motorbuses has been the opportunity of the pirate bus. . . . One pronounced characteristic of the pirate bus is that it never has a startingplace and never a destination.—" The Daily Chronicle."
One In Every 100 Horses Died.
The appalling mortality among draft animals during the fore part of July furnishes a historic record of their inferiority in haulage. The poor brutes died by thousands from the heat and work. . . In New York City about 1,203 animals died during the hot period. In every other large city throughout the country the losses were proportionately heavy.—" The Power Age." Chicago.
Rather Mixed but None the Less Complimentary.
By the expenditure of about 83,800 the motor-wagon makers of Great Britain managed to secure a very effective advertisement in London on the day of King George's Coronation. A parade of 400 -business machines was held for the benefit of the assembled multitude, at the conclusion of which prizes were awarded the owners and drivers of vehicles which made the best appearance. A special prize was awarded to the driver of the King's motor baggage van.—" The Power Wagon," Chicago.
• Cutting It Fine.
Many people seem to take a delight in cutting things as fine as they possibly can. They will stroll across the road just in front of an electric tramcar or motorbus, and in spite of the clanging of the bell or discordant note of the hooter barely trouble to turn their heads. It stands to reason that the drivers in time
weary of everlastingly signalling to deaf ears, and get in the habit of imagining that the public will always get out of the way in time. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the drivers are right in their judgment, in the remaining case there is a coroner's inquest.—“ The Holloway
Press," London.
Learning the Lesson.
During the dockers' strike the public of the metropolis—probably for the first time in its life—began to appreciate the extent of its dependence upon the internal-combustion engine, and, incidentally upon the fuel without which this type of power producer is of no account.— " The Standard."
Swept Out of Existence.
Automobilisim must be held responsible fur•many changes not taken into account by the superficial observer. One of these is the disappearance of the humble crossing sweeper. Motorcars and taxicabs whisking around street corners the livelong day make his "pitch " altogether untenable.-" LW.'' in " The Star."
What the Driver Did.
Of the forty-two ears entered in the Chicago Evening American commercial vehicle reliability run from Chicago to Detroit and return, twenty-six cars started from the Windy City. Of these eighteen arrived at South Bend, the first night control, with perfect scores. No. 34 Chase suffered 4 points penalty when pistons seized, as a result on the part of the driver to add the necessary amomt of oil to the lubricant.—"Motor
Chicago.
The Time of Their Lives.
The tramless streets yesterday meant a golden harvest for the cabdrivers. They simply had the time of their lives. Never before have the taxi-drivers had such a glorious opportunity of getting their own sweet way. With the exeeption of a few " growlers " and odd vehicles, they had the streets to themselves, and did not hesitate to take full advantage of the chances of rushing " fares " about. The drivers were the only people to he thankful for the strike. —" Liverpool Daily Courier."
Those Engineers Again !
Apropos of taxis. not yet has anyone been able to devise a system for indicating at night whether or not the approaching cab is free or not. My contempt for such an incapacity among men who by the nature of things are something of engineers is boundless. Another need is a signal system which shall tell the driver from within on which side of the street
you want to stop ; as it is, all taxi-drivers stop automatically on the left, although as many persons live on the right side of streets as the other.—A writer in " The Sphere."
The Suicide of the Carman.
Much has been written about the Carmen's strike in London from many points of view, but I have seen no discussion of it by a student of motor-traction. Yet if one reaches down to the bottom of affairs one must conclude that the carmen are engaged in a struggle that must end by their extinction. They may obtain for themselves for a time better conditions of pay and hours, as they certainly deserve to do, but the harvest of the seed they are sowing will, in the main, be reaped by the driver of the heavy motor.—" N." in "The Westminster Gazette."
The Penny Popular.
The L.C.C. statistics for 1909-10 show that the Council's cars carried 211,046,348 penny fares, and 112,803,105 halfpenny fares. We presume that now that it has been demonstrated that the penny fares are more popular than the halfpenny ones, the latter will be abolished.— " Punch."
Following in Father's Footsteps.
The New Orleans mule is doomed to oblivion if the evidences on the streets are to be taken any criterion on the future of this beast of burden. . . Within the past six months a notable change has come about and one is continually dodging the delivery wagons instead of taking one's time to wait for the mules to go by.—" New Orleans Picayune," U.S.A.
Still in the Air Though.
Events move so rapidly that one reads with a start of surprise of the proposed experiment to be undertaken by the General Post Office in the direction of a postal service by aeroplane between London and Windsor. . . . This opens up a field for express carrying, which only awaits some enterprising firm to adopt and thus make a reputation for itself.—" The World's Carriers."
Making a Job.
Now that, our legislators have voted themselves salaries out of the pcxkets of the unfortunate and long-suffering taxpayer, they will have to cast about for means of showing their employers that they are doing something to earn their pay. The versatile Will Thorne has been early in. the field with a question addressed to the Home Secretary on the matter of mud-splashing motorbuses. . . It is no wonder that the Mother of Parliaments has become degraded in the eyes of serious people when its time is wasted in futilities such as this.-" The Automotor Journal."
A Big Impetus to the Industry.
My first idea is that the ultimate fruit of the recent disturbances must be a widespread development in road transport to render the community effectively independent of railway services for lengthy spells. . From now the commercial motor vehicle movement will date its real birth in these islands. . . . Now circumstances have occurred that make it likely that we shall have a widespread and enduring demand for the most important phase of the mechanical road traction movement, and the one that hitherto has hung fire and scarcely begun to be started, namely, the exploitation of commercial motor .ehicle.s of all classes.
The fact has been brought home to the commercial world that it is desirable for each producer of goods to render himself as independent as possible of the railways by using at option other means of transport, for bringing to his doors the raw materials he requires and for taking away from them the manufactured articles.—H. Massac Buist in " The Morning Post."