The writer knows of a case where an owner-driver for years never used a garage at all, At night, his car Was parked in front of his house, and for eight or nine hours it ranked with other cars on The Bund—a happy and economical arrangement, which inconvenienced no-one. when ears were few and traffe light. Today, no doubt, the same owner parks i his car on The Bund for the same period, but pays $15 or $20 a month for garage facilities in the suburbs, for the simple reason. that it would be unsafe to leave the car on an outlying road all night unattended. The time has now come when motor owners must perceive that space in th: Central District occupied for eight or nine hours a day must be paid for, just as much as garage space in the suburbs at night.
'Much is made of the fact that no private parking facilities exist in the Central District at present. 'The answer to this 1s, that, as soon as there isa demand, there will be a supply, and that, it' garages can store cars near the Oval, at Charing Cross, and in Bayswater' Road for a shilling day, probably they can do s0_ here! at $15/a month. There will remain the necessity. of walking to and fro from car park to office, but, far the greater number of office employees walk as far from bus and tram stops to their offices, "ttle sympathy need be wasted in this direction.
The Rickshaw Problem There is, however, a more import~ ant side to the trate question than the motor car, and that is the rickshaw. The motor owner is. tested, Licensed, taxed, required to obey a Ust of rules and regulations under considerable penalties, Is frequently admonished by letter, and occasionally charged in Court. On the other hand, the rickshaw puller escapes all, This—or almost all, He. infringes trafic signals; he runs two, three, and sometimes four abreast; and is the cause of most of the unnecessary, stops and the slow pace at which buses, trams, and motor cars travel. Unless, however, he commits a crime, he never appears in Court, and it is doubtful if-he ever is ad= monished for most of the accidents of which he Is the cause, There are said to be 20,000 of him, and ever-changing 30,000, which beyond the wit of the trate police either to teach or control.
The public rickshaw puller, thrill of the tourist, but trial of the resident, eventually must be eliminated, The sooner a gradual withdrawal of Ucencesis_made the better, and it is suggested that 10 per cent. of 2,000 per annum, would not be unreason-'Able. Sentiment in Japan was strong fenotigh to eliminate the rickshaw pul= Jer in a comparatively short time. His going has speeded up and im-Proved other traMe, for it is now possible to travel in the larger cities of Japan by motor car at little more than the cost of a rickshaw in Shang~ hal.
Increasing distances between home and office make the rickshaw less and less an economic form of transport. It is a relic of the horse and Carriage days, and was then the only alternative means of transport, and a not IneMelent one. To-day, it is fas out of place in this cliy's streets as the wheelbarrow, and, ike the Wheelbarrow as a means of passen-for transport, should be debarred from using roads where it is the cause of danger and delay under modern conditions. long-distance telephone service. between Tienlsin, Tungchow, seat of the East Hopel autonomous regime, and Taming, was officially opened on August
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.