Motorcab Topics.
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Eccles Town Council has decided that every motorcab licensed to ply for hire shall be provided with a taximeter.
Some Liverpool horse-cab owners have been driven to the taximeter ; they hope to retain some of their .old trade by this means.
More Provincial Taxicabs.
Glasgow is to have more Albion cabs; Birmingham is to have more Wolseley-Siddeleys ; Aberdeen has added to its fleet of Napiers.
New Registration.
The Eastbourne and District Motorcab Co., Ltd., with an authorized capital of 212,500 in 10s. shares, has been registered with its office at 69, Terminus Road, Eastbourne. It is well backed by local residents.
Company Acts.
Mr. Walter Dawkins, of 77, Robinson Road, Tooting, has been appointed liquidator of the Park Motorcab Ltd.
Mr. E. L. Bagguley and others have presented a petition for the compulsory winding-up of the Reliance Taxicab Co., Ltd
Mr. Justice Swinfen-Eady has de clined to make an order for the v liquidation of the A.B.C. Cab Co., Ltd., on the ground that it might yet secure trading capital by enforcing certain payments for shares.
Scottish Testimony.
Scotsmen are chary of praise: it is worth a lot when given. Mr. James McKerrow, proprietor of the Largs and Wemyss Bay and West Coast Motor Service, of 1.5, Main Street, Largs, is unable, notwithstanding a native reticence, as may be gathered from his letter below, to restrain himself in regard to his fleet of Albions. He writes to the Scotstoun works:— " I would with pleasure give you a testimonial for the Albion cars, but, unfortunateln writing testimonials is not in my line. Should you have any clients who wish to have the verbal testimony of a satisfied user of your excellent cars, send them to Largs. The fact of our having seven of these cars in daily use ought to be testiinony enough—five chars-a-bancs and two taxicabs. It will be two years on the 1st January since I brought the first 15-seater char-l-bancs to Largs, and this, by the way, has travelled Fully 30,000 miles to date: after a alight overhaul, it is a magnificent car yet.
" Should you wish any further par ticulars re our taxicabs, I shall be only too pleased, but I might just say in a word : they never fail ; in fact, I never knew them to be in the garage, except at nights. They are cleaned in the mornings, and off for the day, sometimes a week at a time, and never a complaint so that I don't bother myself with them."
Mr. McKerrow has deservedly reaped the benefit of enterprise and good judgment . His fleet is illustrated on page 179.
Keen Competition.
Competition in the London motorcab world grows keener each month ; apart from the smaller owners, it looks as though it might become—within the next two years—a question of survival by reason of an interest in tire contracts and manufacture. We shall have more to say on that point, soon.
A Berlin Sensation.
His more-or-less Royal Highness Morenga-Bonaparte, son of the chief Morenga, has grown tired of the circus business and, in a communication to the Berlin daily papers, announces his intention of driving a motorcab. He will be the first coloured gentleman to play the part. MorengaBonaparte, who can make himself understood in English, French and Spanish, purposes keeping his weather-eye open for visitors. He had no difficulty in qualifying for a driver's licence.
The Psnhard Motorcab Chassis.
Amongst the latest motorcabs to make their appearance on the streets of London, in public service, the Panhard 12-15 h.p. machine is, perhaps, the most interesting. Its engine has four cylinders, and these are cast all in one piece, together with both the inlet and exhaust branches. An improved form of Krebs carburetter is fitted, and, from the suction chamber of this component, a small copper pipe leads up to the lower passages of a sight
feed brauket on the dashboard. Generally speaking, the lubrication system is that known as the combined drip and forced-feed, but the addition of the pipe which connects the dripfeed bracket with the carburetter insures that the number of drops per minute shall vary with the degree of vacuum created within the suction chamber of the carburetter ; in other words, the supply of oil to the bearings is more-or-less proportional to the power developed in the engine cylinders, and is independent of the engine's speed. A. radiator with vertically-disposed gilled tubes is fitted, and this cooler, in conjunction with a belt-driven fan, and the thermosyphon pipes from the water jacket, suffices to keep the engine cool enough even in the hottest weather.
The control of the engine has been reduced to a single pedal, although there is a hand-operated, minimumengine-speed lever on the dashboard ; but, when this has been set to suit the weather conditions for the day, there is no necessity to alter its position so long as the vehicle remains out upon service that day.
There can be no mistake about the chassis having been designed by an engineer with a full knowledge of the inotorcab's requirements. By the mere removal of two small bolts, the whole of the clutch-operating gear, including the bridle, may be -hinged back about the clutch-pedal shaft, thus leaving free access for the removal of the inner member of the invertedcone leather-faced clutch. Any one unit is complete in itself, and may be " offered up" or removed from the chassis without reference to its adjacent units. The three-speed-andreverse gearbox is of neat and compact design, and the top speed is obtained by a direct-through drive from the engine to the live back axle.
Three-quarter elliptic back springs are fitted, and the forward halves of these are utinzed as the radius rods, but the torque, due to the drive, is transmitted from the axle, through a triangular girder, to a transverse member of the frame. The anchoring bracket is so designed that it not only permits of a limited amount of variation of the distance between the axle and the gearbox, but also of any amount of longitudinal and transverse oscillation, within the limits of 'the springs' vertical motion, about the point of anchorage. A very ingenious brake-balancing device is fitted, and this consists of a transverse tube which is carried, by two levers, on the brake cross-shaft; to each end of the tube a bell-crank lever is so pivoted that one limb of the bell-crank, which end is shaped like a finger, enters into an open end of the tube, and butts up against a " floating " rod inside the tube. The other limb of each bell-crank lever is connected, by means of a strip of flat spring steel, to one of the back-wheel brakes. The braking effort is balanced, to suit the relative conditions of the brake shoes and drums, by the transverse movement of the " floating " rod within the tube.