328 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1908. 



Taxicabs Bring: a New Demand for Tires. 



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SUCCESS OF THE TAXICAB IN NEW YORK. 



AT a meeting in London on May 20 of the company operating 

 the taximeter motor cabs in Xew York, the service of 

 which was begun in October of last year, it was 

 stated that the business had been making a profit since De- 

 cember, and that 300 cabs were plying for hire. It was an- 

 ticipated that the result of the first financial year, ending 

 June 12, 1908, would prove very satisfactory. It soon ap- 

 peared desirable to increase the number of cabs, but the 

 financial stringency was not favorable to raising new capi- 

 tal. The directors, however, borrowed from some banking 

 friends in Paris 5,200,000 francs [$1,003,600] with which to 

 purchase 400 additional cabs, and it was expected to have 

 700 in operation in New York by the end of this summer. 



The London company was incorporated as The New York 

 Motor Cab Co., Limited, but this name could not be used 

 in New York and at the meeting on May 20 it was resolved 

 to change it to The New York Taxicab Co., Limited, to 

 correspond with a name already registered and in use in 

 New York. It was resolved also to authorize the creation 

 of new capital shares to the extent of £300,000, to be issued 

 as required. Tlie original capital was £303,000 [^$1,474,- 

 594.50], contributed in equal portions by capitalists of Lon- 

 don, Paris and New York . 



The New York Taxi-Cab Co. are operating in New York under 

 a state charter granted May 10, 1907, to Harry N. Allen and 

 others, of New York. 



The cabs now operated by this company were made by 

 A. Darracq & Cie., of Suvesnes, France, and of the 14-16 

 H. P. four cylinder landaulette type, weighing 2,530 pounds 

 complete, and costing in New York, duty paid, $2,600. The 

 taximeters used are made under the Popp patents by the 

 Societe Generale des Compteurs de Voitures, of Paris. 

 While all of the cabs so far imported have been brought in 

 complete with bodies, the additional cabs ordered by the 

 New York Taxicab Co. will be shipped in chassis only, and 

 bodies for them will be built in the United States, where a 

 dozen or more automobile firms already are prepared to en- 

 gage in such work. 



Pneumatic tires are supplied to the New York Taxi- 

 cab Co. on mileage contracts, each tire being numbered, and 

 a representative from the contracting tire company checks 

 the record of the mileage run. The company are building 

 a garage to hold 800 cars, and to be completed by Septem- 

 ber. A convenience connected with their service is a sys- 

 tem whereby any person desiring to call a cab may tele- 

 phone from any part of the city to a central office, whence 

 the order is transmitted by the company to the cab station 

 nearest the intending patron. 



One other important taxicab service in New York is that 

 of the New York Transportation Co., controlled by and 

 supplementing the street railway system of this city. They 

 have in operation 50 cabs made by the Societe des Automo- 

 biles Delahaye, of Paris, in conjunction with some 400 elec- 

 tric hansoms and broughams of American make that have 

 been in service for a number of years. The imported cabs, 

 of the 8-10 H. P., two cylinder landaulette type, have been 

 fitted with American tires and German "Cosmos" taximeters. 



."Xbout a dozen smaller concerns have been incorporated, 

 with capital stated at from say $50,000 to $500,000, to operate 

 taxicabs in New York, but for the most part they are not 

 yet actively in the field. Besides, taxicab services arc being 

 organized by hotels, restaurants, and the like, primarily for 

 the benefit of their patrons. 



AN AMEHICAN TAXICAB INDUSTRY. 



The success of the French taxicabs on this side of the At- 

 lantic has encouraged a number of American automobile 

 firms to prepare for their manufacture. The E. R. Thoma* 

 Motor Co. (Buffalo, New York), are reported to have in- 

 stalled a plant and increased their force with a view to build- 

 ing 1,000 motor cabs this year, and it is understood that 

 their product will be used by most of the companies or- 

 ganized lately to operate taxicab services in the leading 

 American cities. The American Locomotive Automobile 

 Co. (Providence, Rhode Island), were referred to recently 

 as engaged in filling an order for 100 of those vehicles for 

 the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, in New York. 



The fact that cabs have been in less demand in the past 

 in American than in foreign cities, no doubt, has been due 

 in considerable measure to the higher charges. Now that 

 lower prices are coming in with the taximeter, it is possible 

 that a reduction as regards the use of cabs is at hand, es- 

 pecially as the motor cab has notable advantages over the 

 horse drawn vehicles. At any rate, not only the French 

 manufacturer already referred to on this page, but other for- 

 eign companies are seeking a market in America. 



Not the least interesting feature of the introduction of the 

 taxicab in American cities is the prospect that before long 

 every detail of the vehicles used will be of American manu- 

 facture — chassis, bodies, tires, and even taximeters. .Al- 

 ready at least two American taximeters have been brought 

 out that give promise of finding a permanent place in the mar- 

 ket. 



TAXICABS IN EUROPEAN CITIES. 



Mr. R. J. Meceedv, the veteran Dublin cyclist and now 

 editor of The Motor Ncivs of that city, visited London in 

 May and wrote in his paper of his astonishment at the enor- 

 mous increase in the number of taxicabs to be seen in the 

 streets as compared with the November preceding. "They 

 seem to be everywhere and were very seldom standing idle. 

 At the present rate of increase the horse drawn cab will 

 soon be almost extinct in the metropolis." He learned that 

 an excellent business was being done, and that some of the 

 cab companies were making large profits. Mr. Mecredy 

 points out numerous advantages on the part of the motor 

 cab over the motor 'bus. "The latter," he says, "are so 

 enormously heavy and cumbersome that the wear and tear are 

 out of all proportion to the work accomplished, tires alone 

 being consumed at a most alarming rate." 



The General Motor Cab Co., Limited, of London, re- 

 ported net profits for the six months ending November zo 

 last of £41,887 [$203,843], with an average of 306 cabs on the 

 road, or an average of 15 shillings [$3.65] per day, six days in 

 the week. For the most part the profits of London taxicab 

 companies are not available in detail, but their shares, as a 

 rule, command a premium, and an evidence of their success 

 may be found in the "boom" in taxicab enterprises through- 

 out Great Britain. 



A recent report was that there were in use on the streets 

 of Paris probably 2,250 taxicabs, of about twenty different 

 makes, mostly French. The financial results are understood 

 to have been satisfactory. The number of such vehicles in 

 Berlin on a recent date was stated to be less than a few 

 months previously, due to the failure of several operating 

 companies that had entered the field with insufficient capi- 

 tal, but the most trustworthy data at hand points the grow- 

 ing popularity of the taxicab among those who once become 

 accustomed to it. 



