Motorcab Topics.
Page 5
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Motorcab owners will find, on page 4 of this issue, an article of considerable interest to them ; we refer to that dealing with steelrubber solid and pneumatic tires.
4.7c1. per Mile ?
Mr. George du Cros wishes us to state that lie is not responsible for the statement. that a motorcab can be made to pay for a return of 4.7d, per mile.
Luggage in Melbourne.
A correspondent in Perth, Western Australia, writes us that, when he was in Melbourne recently, the new taxicab regulations had just been approved by the city corporation. The fares are is. for the first mile and ad. for each subsequent quarter of a mile, and the waiting time at the rate of 6s. per hour. Threepence per package is the charge for luggage as an extra, and we note that "luggage carried outside so that the doors do not close over it is deemed to be outside within the meaning of this clause."
Aulible Warning.
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has issued a tactfully-worded appeal to motor drivers to refrain from the excessive. use of sirens, horns, whistles, cut-outs and other ear-splitting de
vices. Concerted action on the part of motor users may do much to prevent, annoying legislation concerning the giving of audible warning, and it would be rendering good service to the motor movementif every garage manager would exhibit a copy of the Commissioner s appeal in a prominent place.
Plying for Hire?
A case of interest to all users of taxicabs was heard at the Kingston County Police Court on the 31st ult. It appears that William Lambert, of Surbiton was summoned as the owner for allowing an unlicensed motorcab to ply for hire, and for employing an unlicensed driver, and William Rose, the driver, was summoned for driving an unlicensed motorcab on the Portsmouth Road, Surbiton. It appears that, on the 1:3th July, a boy who had fallen into the river and had subsequently been rescued, was taken home by his father in the taxicab in question, the taxi
being hired on private ground in front of an hotel in Surbiton. The case came to light through the refusal of the hirer to pay back fare. The Chairman, after some evidence, announced that the Bench had decided, by a majority, to convict, and the defendants were thereupon fined 10s. each.
Slackplol Aiaia.
The local by-laws and regulations respecting taxicabs in Blackpool, although approved by the Council, have not yet been adopted by the Home Office, and, as a result, only temporary licences are being granted, such licences being renewable on application to the council each month. In order to secure a licence for a taxicab in Blackpool, it is necessary to surrender two horse-cab licences.
Were they Drunk?
Before Mr. Meade, at the West London Police Court, there were recently two cases in which taxicab drivers were charged with being drunk while in charge of their vehicles. The evidence was very unsatisfactory, particularly that of the doctor. Eventually both defendants were discharged. In the course of his remarks, the magistrate said : " I take so severe a view of a man's beingdrunk while in charge of a motor vehicle, that I make it a rule in such cases to inflict a sentence of imprisonment without. the option of a fine. These vehicles are sufficiently dangerous when driven by a sober man."
Oae too Many.
The appearance of a seventh vehicle upon the Smithy Road taxicab stand at Nottingham, which stand, according to the by-laws, is for six cabs only, led to its driver's being called before the Nottingham Summons Court on the 28th ult. Mr. E. Huntsman, who defended, pointed out that Police-sergeant Faulkner had proved that there were seven cabs on the stand, but he had not proved the existence of the by-law, and, in the circumstances, so far as the magistrates were concerned, no such by-law ex
isted. Sergeant Faulkner subsequently produced the by-law, but the Bench decided that, as that was the first case under that by-law, they would dismiss the summons. Same_Everywhere.
Mr. Bennett, the British ConsulGeneral in New York, in his annual report which has just been published by the Foreign Office, says that, allowing for the higher cost of labour and material, taxicab fares in New York might naturally be expected to be double the fares charged in London. As a matter of fact, however, they are more than four times as great, the rates being 70c. for the first mile and 10c. for each additional mile, as compared with the London rates of about 16c. for the first mile and 4c. for each additional 14 mile. A gentleman, who was for a long time a director of one of the principal taxicab companies there, states that, notwithstanding the enormous prices charged, there is only one company carrying on a profitable business in New York at the present time. Amongst the principal reasons which he assigns to this state of affairs is the dishonesty of the chauffeurs, especially those who are paid a. speculative wage, that, is to say, a commission on the gross takings. Their earnings amount, on an average, to about Eldol. 50c. per day net, and it is stated that the majority of them increase this income by fraudulently interfering with the clockwork of the taximeter and by m unfling with the flag up while the passenger is in the cab, thus registering a lot of " dead " mileage. This latter practice has not yet been
made illegal. Hotels, apartment houses and clubs sell the franchises of the streets fronting their premises to the highest bidder, and some railroad companies charge a commission on the takings of taxicabsconveying passengers from terminals. Commissions exacted in this way are said to amount to 10 per cent. of the gross receipts of the taxicab companies. A movement is now on foot, which is likely to result ultimately in the passing of a City Ordinance to abolish all such commissions, and also to make it a punishable offence for a driver to keep his flag up while conveying a passenger. With the assistance of these reforms it will probably be possible for a well-managed com pany to reduce taxicab fares by about one-half, and still to make a reasonable profit on the capital invested. The situation is evidently a had one.