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A further conference between the London motoreah owners and drivers took place on Monday last, and the negotiations were further advanced, but no definite decision was then taken.
Sympathetic Drivers.
The funeral of aNottingham taxicab driver and proprietor, who was killed owing to the overturning of his machine, took place on
Fri day last. The hearse 'Wks followed by 21 local taxicabs.
Dublin Conquered.
The taxicabs which are being run by the Dublin Motor Co., Ltd., in the Irish capital, are doing wonderful business. The employment is entirely "-private-hire " ; the machines are notallowed on the ranks. The jarvies are showing no active opposition.
A Licensing Point.
On the 29th ult., at the SouthWestern Police Court, a garage proprietor named H. N. _ Palmer was summoned by the L.C.C., under the Finance Act of 1910, for non-payment of duty in respect of a motor hackney carriage. An inspector of the Council, who stated that he attended at the garage in respect of the registration of the cab, which had been licensed as a, hackney carriage before the defendant purchased it, and that he came to the conclusion that the ear weighed more than one. ton. He informed the defendant of this, and the addi
tional £2 2s• was subsequently paid. For the defence it was urged that the L.C.C. had sent a form to the defendant, which was already filled in with the weight of the cab set out as being under a ton. The defendant corroborated this in the witness box, and the magistrate dis missed this summons with ls. costs against the Council.
A Small Owner's Finance.
We have information thatone small proprietor of motorcabs in London who now runs four fourcylinder Unics can run his machines for an average of 60 miles a day, at an inclusive maintenance charge of 16s. per day. Of this, 5s. almost exactly repays his daily cost for tires. He works all his cabs on the double shift, and allows the day man his petrol and " extras " as well as 25 per cent. of the takings. The night man has the petrol and " extra-a" and 20 per cent. of the takings. It is interesting to note that he finds that his night man's mileage always considerably exceeds that of the day man.
The Strike in Paris.
Our own Paris correspondent writes : " Paris taxicab drivers are again on strike. They have so frequently left their cabs in the garages during the past few months that the public is beginning to find it possible to exist without them, while foot passengers are not at all inclined to complain at the greater degree of safety which the streets
110W present in consequence of the removal of about 5,000 more or less reckless drivers. The drivers are dissatisfied with the police, with the municipal council, and with their employers. The police have made themselves obnoxious by reason of greater severity in the application of street regulations, the municipal council is hated because of its persistance in increasing the tax on benzol, and the cab companies are receiving the brunt of the attack because of their refusal to increase the percentage rates.
"The fight starred when the Paris municipality decided to raise the town duty on benzol, making the cost of a 5-litre can 2 fl-s. 70 instead of t fr. 60. The men struck, hut being powerless against the city, had to return to work. Instead of giving way before the threats of the drivers, the city council passed a, decree that the new taxes should be imposed for a period of five years. This caused the trouble to break out afresh, and as at the same time the police manifested more severity in the application of traffic rules, the present strike was declared. The employers refuse to accept any responsibility for a state of affairs over which they have no control, declaring that the percentage allowed to the men is based on the scale of fares imposed by the city authorities, and no increase in the one can be made without a proportionate increase in the other.
"The men are at present paid a percentage on a sliding scale varying from 25 to 40 per cent. of the. takings. One company, for instance, commences at 28-i per cent_ and increases to 38 per cent. The men buy their own fuel, generally at private stores and at retaif prices. The strike is very complete, for of the 6,700 cabs registered in Paris not more than 1,800 or 2,000 are now on the streets, and all these are either privately owned or cooperative vehicles, the drivers of which contribute 5 francs per day to the strike fund. A very severe control is kept of the cabs in use, a fresh badge being issued every day to the drivers authorized to take their cabs out, and the strikers instantly stopping any cab which attempts to go on the streets without: authorization. Notwithstanding the close picketing, trouble with the police has been very slight."