Motorcab Topics.
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First Aid.
A slight fire which took place on one of the Provincial Motorcab co.'s machines, in Aberdeen, was rapidly extinguished by the employees of a neighbouring warehouse, who ran out with portable extincteurs.
All-British.
Argylls, Ltd., notifies Ile that in pursuance of its policy that its chassis throughout shall be of all-British manufacture, it has adopted, as a standard for its taxicab and similar models, the Simms British magneto.
Don't Want a Rise.
Mr. A. Smith, the President of the London Cab Drivers' Trade Union, writes to correct a report, which appeared in certain sections of the lay Press, to the effect that the cab drivers of London are in favour of an increase of the minimum cab fare. The facts of the case are as reported in our last issue.
Taxicab Box Offices.
Various garages in the South of London are now in telephonic communication with one or other of the main dep6ts of the General Motorcab Co., Ltd. There are indications that this practice of sub-hiring is considerably on the increase, and is found to suit the requirements of many small agents who are not actual owners.
Inconsiderate Treatment at Cam bridge.
For the past two years, the Provincial Motor Cab Co. has been endeavouring to obtain permission from the Great Eastern Railway Co., to ply for hire in the station-yard at Cambridge. So far, this request has been met with refusal and with a reply that the " yard is still fully equip
ped." The circumstances are wellknown to us. Arrival passengers, at present, have to put up with the ser
vices of antiquated horse-flys. The station, which is jointly used by four railways, the G.E.R., G.N.R., M.R., and L, and N.W.R., is 11 mile from the centre of the town, and there is no doubt whatever that the lark of fast means of conveyance from the station is a very-serious inconvenience to the many visitors to this university centre. The Cambridge motoreabs have long been the subject of violent antagonism on the part of the local horse-cab drivers. There is any amount of room in the station-yard, and it is difficult to understand the railway company's consistent refusals to consider the Cambridge passengers' convenience.
An Unkind Action.
A Nottingham cab proprietor received slight injuries as the result of a collision with a taxicab. It appears that he stepped out into the roadway
.sharply that the driver was unable to avoid au accident in spite of all his efforts.
A Traffic Regulation.
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has issued instructions that " when a vehicle wishes to cross from one side of the street to the other, the driver should proceed with the stream of traffic a sufficient distance to turn into the other stream and thus approach his object in the direction in which the traffic is moving." Drivers are also cautioned not to draw up at a kerb so that their vehicles overlap each other, to the hindrance of other traffic.
"Are You There?"
An illustration on this page shows the new cab-rank telephone in use on the Melbury Road rank in Kensington, to the installation of which we have referred during the past two or three weeks. The photograph, from which our illustration has been prepared. shows the driver of a " W. and G." Napier cab taking instructions over the new instrument, which, it will be remembered, is for inward calls only. Those of our readers who have occasion to be in Kensington will do well to make a note of the telephone number, " lienshurion 437," and to use it. 0. ficial Iaexactitude.
A considerable number of complaints is to hand with regard to the new schedule of cab fares, which has been recently issued by the licensing authorities in Edinburgh. It is stated that many of the official measurements are greatly in error.
1909 Official Motorcab Statistics.
The following information is included in the annual report, for 1909, of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; 12,980 taximeters were tested on the road by "Public Carriage " officials; in comparison with 1908, there was a decrease of 1,527 in the number of hansom-cab licences, and an increase of 1,151 in licences for motoreabs; 555 hansoms, 554 four-wheeled horse-cabs, and 1,197 motorcabs were presented for licensing in a defective condition, but all but two were subsequently passed after alterations had been made; there were 2,586 applications for licences from would-be cabdrivers, and of these only 577 passed the examination as to their " knowledge of London "; of 6,110 men who were tested for motorcab driving, 2,333 failed ; the ratio (to 10) of drivers to cabs (including horse-drawn vehicles) is given as 11.78 for 1909, 10.99 for 1908, and 11.58 for 1905; of 532 cabdrivers convicted for drunkenness during the year, only 55 held motorcab licences; there was a decrease of 1,527 hansoms during the year.