LEAVES FROM THE INSPECTOR'S NOTEBOOK.
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The Lorrybus Demobbed. The Taxi Driver and His Idiosyncracies.
• THE OTHER DAY, when I happened to be "somewhere in the North of England," I noticed in the streets a smartly finished A.E.C. chassis carrying what was obviously one of the lorrybus bodies with which we in London were so familiar until quite recently. The coachwork had been somewhat elaborated and a more or less substantial permanent top had been fitted. But the rest of the construction, in spite of its new and cheery coat.of paint, was unmistakably " lorrybus." And a very convenient type of machine this appeared to be for cotintry service, or, at any rate, for use between a market town and outlying villages. I was struck at the time with the idea that not enough thought has hitherto been devoted to evolving a type of machine which should properly take the place of the old-time carrier's cart. There has been, of course, a number of vehicles sold to owners, who, in the past, have been proprietors of carrier's horse-drawn wagons— that wonderful combination of goods and passenger vehicle. Particularly in my own remembrance was this done in Wiltshire. Generally speaking, however, the vehicle has yet to be produced that-one would care to assert should be accepted as the modern automobile edition of the older and very useful carrier's wagon.
The lorrybus adaptation that I saw in the North. hardly met the case from this point of view, as it was adapted particularly, of course, for the carriage of passengers only. What appears to be wanted in many districts is such a form of coachwork as will allow the carriage of a considerable number of passengers sitting, as the Irish would have it " convanient " and not necessarily too comfortably, but with some appreciation of the fact.that every other passenger carries a large number of parcels of one sort and another. In addition, there should be adequate accommodation for the carriage of parcels, and the miscellaneous deliveries that the old-time carrier used to make, and which brought him so considerable a proportion of his revenue.
Just at the present time, manufacturers are hardly inclined to be bothered with the evolution of special types in this direction. They can sell all they want to or, at any rate, all that they can produce, as chassis fitted with standard goods and passenger carrying coachwork. But I am convinced that there is a very nice little business to be done for any of the smaller manufacturers who care to specialize particularly in the direction of a sturdy machine with ample power and composite accommodation of the type I have mentioned.
"The Taxicab Man Wants His Bread Buttered on Both Sides."
Once again there is trouble in the London taxicab world. Indeed, the bother is not confined to the Metropolis. Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and other big cities are affected. For once in a way the public is inclined to view the claims of the drivers with some degree of favour. The new petrol costs and the proposed new motor taxes have got to come out of somebody's pocket, and it does not seem reasonable that any very la'rge proportion of either of these increases should be borne by `anyone other than the actual user, who, in the case of the taxicab, is, of course, the hirer. It is just at times like this, when the taxi driver, whether he be in business in the provinces, or on the streets of London, would do well to recall that he has given the public very little cause in the past to be sympathetic to hardships which, he claims, affect him. In a word, the public cares very little as to the conditions under which the taxi driver earns his living. The public is his customer, and has recently again been subjected to an increased wave of rudeness that has, at times, bordered on insolence, and has often, suddenly found itself deprived of a regular and expected means of locomotion because the men have desired to make the public suffer in order that they may force home their argument or demand. • Very seldom, indeed, has one heard a.good word said of the taxi driver. He is careless of the requirements of his patrons, he is offhand, and discourteous, particularly to his women hirers, and he is extortionate. He affects to disregard rules and regulations made for the protection of the cab-hiring public, and generally there is very little in his behaviour, or the plying of his trade, that entitles him to any share of sympathy on the part of those from whom he gets his living. His present protest, therefore, in the endeavour to obtain for himself better monetary conditions, he will be forced to figure out for himself, and he will certainly have no considerable amount of that public opinion behind him which, in recent cases that are not altogether dissimilar, has proved such an effective factor in the situation.
While divesting ourselves of our opinions as private users of the taxicab to a considerable extent, we are prompted to urge that the drivers' claims for relief in respect of their new financial burdens must be very carefully and sympathetically considered. But, again, as private users; we would impress upon the drivers themselves that it is high time they, took their calling more seriously and forced themselves to realize that they would not have half such an unpleasant time, and would quite easily, on most occasions, have a straight claim upon the sympathies of the, public, if they played the game in normal times, and endeavoured to create. for their class a reputation for civility and great public convenience.
The taxicab industry has suffered Very considerably at the hands of the drivers. Here and. there, one comes across an exception, almost invariably ,a man who owns his own cab. And the pleasure of encountering a driver of this type and receiving from him a considerable degree of civility, invariably prompts one to Creat him suitably in the matter of fare. One naturally keeps an eyeopen for a man of this kind with a view to using his services as frequently as may be necessary, and the taxicab driver, while pressing his claim for adjustment of his account, should now, once and for all, realize that he cpuld better his condition very considerably-if he set to work to cultivate goodwill, which, in the end, is as good as a rise in the scale of fares or the rate of commission.