Culled from Contemporaries.
Page 20
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A Selected Collection of Extracts from the British and Foreign Press.
Steering a Locomotive.
In a case at Bath County Court. Mr. W. A. Sheppard., a large owner of locomotives, said that, in his opinion, the driver of a locomotive was the man who controlled the propelling force. The driver was licensed, and the point that the steeper also required a licence had never !men raised.—" Daily Mail."
Raw Recruits as Drivers.
The cabs are run at too high speed across car tracks and rough crossings, and the axles, knnekles and frames are thus bent or broken. They have the wheels run against the curb in turning and the tires eine knuckles bent and wheels put out of alignment. Innumerable other ills follow such careless handling, against which it is exceedingly hard to guard where it has been necessary to draft into the service such an army of raw recruits as the rapid growth of the taxicab businei-: has made ebligatory.—" The Commercial Vehicle." New York.
Relief-fund Absurdities.
It is a little pathetic to contrast the itieolence of done taxi-chauffeurs with the extraordinasy politeness of the few surviving drivers of hansums. In his day, despite the modern effort to crown him with extraordinary virtues, the hansom-cab driver was a foul-mouthed eatortionist, who enlarged his substance by bullying women and foreigners. Tuday, a-hen fares for his class of vehicle are few and far between, a little child could make him accept his legal fare without a murmur. Perhaps Nemesis in the shape of jobbing airships awaits the taxicab driver too. There are moments when Iv:: passionately !lope that the day will be soon.—" Vanity Fair.''
Where Ignorance Is Bliss.
The rapidly changing character of the traffic of London from horse-drawn to mechanical vehicles is giving rise to some nee.: problems which are not at all easy to salve. Not only is the regulation of the traffic beccanieg more difficult and complex, but street accidents are assuming new forms. The average speed of the taxicab is often over 12 miles per hour, notwithstanding inevitable obstructions in the traffic.
How the police are to keep this rapid traffic irt order is a problem which may well tax the ingenuity of even se shrewd a person as the present Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. The constable on point duty can no longer. as in times past, check the furious riding of cyclists or the rush of a rampageous horse by physical force. Although the drivers of taxicabs are as a rule obedient to the uplifted hand, the greater speed at which they drive and the impossibility of stopping their progress except. by a word of command has altered the posit ion.
Ono is driven back, therefore, to the conclusion that probably the only remedy will be the institution of the " agent cyclists," which seems to be so effective in Paris.—A correspondent in " The Times."
To Oust the Tamil Gharry.
It is melancholy to hear that " the goudola of London " will be as extinct as the dodo within two years from now iii the streets of the giddy metropolis. Possibly there might be a market for the hansom here in Singapore in place of the habit-and-repute Tamil gharry growler.— " Free Press," Singapore.
Cash Registers for Cabs.
Some English motercalls are furnished with a recording apparatus, manufactured under the " Rogers " patents. The originality of this apparatus consists of the fact that it prints tickets which the driver gives to the hirer when " le quart d'heure de Rabelais " has expired; the passenger, therefore, receives a written document which refers to his liability. This new appliance is an ingenious adaptation of the cash register. which has become such an indispensable part of the equipment of so many mercantile establishments.—Trauslated from " La France Automobile."
Traffic Reform.
The limitations of a mind with only eight or nine hundred at ords to its credit in the bank of memory are unintelligible to people in the plane, of foim thousand on current account. At the late Electicn, Tariff Rcform was sometimes opposed under the belief that " Tariff " and '• Traffic " were the same word and meant the same thing. Motorcars being politically unpopular as evidence of wealth and as s danger to the little folk addicted to the fascinating game of ' last across the road.'' " Tariff Reform " was understood to mean the abolition of motors,—" The Referee."
A Tale About Tolls.
" There were nine toll-gates altogether in North London, at Highgate. Holloway, Kentish Town, Islington, and ether points, and I have heard that the tolls for a twelvemonth reached close on L22,000. Mr. Jonas Levy, the lessee, died some years ago worth millions.
" Toils varied according to the presumed wear and tear of the roads by the traffic passing in and out of Londo». For a horse and cab or cart the toll was
3d. ; for a horse for cattle d. per head ; and sheep d. per head.
" Some fierce disputes occurred over the different tolls. I recollect one terrible row in which there were threats of broken heads over a trolley drawn by 16 horses which went down into the country with iron rails. The maximum of 9d. for a wagon and four horses was charged and paid by the foreman driver. On the return journey, however, the trolley was left behind, and we had no other course open to us but to charge the 14d. rate per head for the horses. Wot, two shillin's fer th"osses, an' we got th' lot, trolley an' all, dawn Cother way fer 9d.? ' shouted the men; and it took us a whole afternoon with the aid of the local policeman (whom I summoned with my policerattle), the table of tolls, and the list of penalties before we could settle the matter."—" E.W. " in "The Evening News."
A Good Yarn.
Overheard in a County Council tram: Lady Passenger "Conductor, what are we waiting for? " Conductor: " The current's off, mum." Lady Passenger; " But the motorbuses are going ! "— " John Bull."
The "Extras" Trouble.
There is another constant source of annoyance when taxis are hired with luggage or an extra person, and that is the almost invariable omission or refusal to register the extras at the end of the journey when the driver demands payment. If the passenger refuses to pay the extras until they are duly registered he is often subjected to abuse, and it is only after threats of a policeman that the extras are legally registered. In order to avoid these needless and annoying disputes, which are most unpleasant when ladies are present, I have suggested to the Scotland Yard authorities that all extras should be registered at the commencement of the journey and at the same time as the initial fare, so that the passenger can see at a glance before leaving the ear the exact fare he has to pay. At present the passenger pays the extras in most cases, if he is in a hurry or wishes to avoid unpleasant disputes, without insisting upon the legal registration, and the driver pockets the money, part of which legally belongs to the taxi companies.--"H.R.." in "The Times."
The Truth Is Sometimes Unpleasant.
Quoting from the last report of the London Traffic Branch of the Board of Trade, " Electrical Industries " says :— " Even in the imperfect conditions that have prevailed hitherto, omnibus competition has been so effective that municipal authorities have been reduced to appeal to the ratepayers to patronise their own trannvays Tramlines in a street are always objectionable, and overhead equipment is unsightly as well. Tramcars obstruct traffic, and unless streets are wide they interfere with the standing of vehicles at the sides." Remarks like these are the sort of thing one wonld expect to find in a motor omnibus manifesto, not in a Board of Trade document. It is really absurd, at this time of clay, to make such a statement as " tramlines in a street are always objectionable." Everything in a street is objectionable. from a motor omnibus to a lamp standard. It is more than absurd to repeat the ancient complaint about overhead equipment being " unsightly." But the sentences as a whole convey a totally wrong impression. They make no allowance for the enormous traffic which tramways have created and for their usefulness in relieving the streets of the horse-drawn or motordrawn vehicles which would be required to deal with an equivalent amount of transport. The phrase " municipal authorities have been reduced to appeal . . . ," would suggest that electric tramways all over the country were begging for an undeserved preference against the motor omnibus.