THE PASSING OF THE HANSOM.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2489, 12 July 1909, Page 7

THE PASSING OF THE HANSOM.

The history of traffic is part of the history of progress. One long and. important stage in that history is the era of the hansom cab, now rapidly merging into that of mechanical propulsion. For the hansom is one of the social' characteristics of the Victorian era. Before the hansom we had the hackney coaches, of which the first was heard in 1634, when a Captain Bailey “erected, according to his ability, some four hackney coaches, put his men in livery, and appointed them to stand at the Maypole, in the Strand, giving them instructions at what rates to carry men to several parts of the town.” Others soon followed Captain Bailey’s example, stood coaches at the same place, and performedi journeys at the same rates, so that "sometimes,” as an old letter says, “there are twenty of them together, which disperse up and down, so that they and others are to be had everywhere, as watermen are to be had at the waterside.” For a long time hackney coaches were considered a source of danger in the streets and a hindrance to “the necessary use of carts and carriages for provisions” ; and a petition by Sir Sanders Buncombe, representing that in many towns abroad people were carried in chairs, led to the i A reduction of Sedan chairs, the monopoly ,“to use, hire, or let a number of the said covered chairs ’ being granted to the petitioner for fourteen years. At the same time it was forbidden that coaches should be used in London or the suburbs except when carrying persons to or from the country. None the less, the number of coaches steadily rose despite the fact that chairs were almost always employed by the "quality” in going backwards and forwards between one another’s houses and to the Court. The one-horse hackney coach or cab was not introduced into London until 1815, although it had been in use in Paris about the middle of the seventeenth century. The original vehicle was a hooded gig on two wheels, with room inside for only one passenger, the driver sitting beside him. The number of cabs licensed in London in 1823 was limited to twelve, these twelve being'of an improved pattern, holding two passengers, between _ whom and the driver there was a partition. In 1832 all restrictions as to number were removed, and it was then that cabs came into popular use. The four-wheeled cab, the precursor of the present "growler, was first introduced in 1856. A remarkable and picturesque character was Joseph Aloysius Hansom, architect, and the inventor of the cab which bears his name. Born in 1803 in York, he commenced his career by becoming apprenticed to his father, who was a joiner, but the inventive spirit was dominant in him, and his articles were allowed to lapse while he went to work under a York architect of the name of Phillips. It is a sign of his ambitious and eager temperament that, after having served his time with Mr Phillips, he not only continued in the architect’s office, but taught in a night school and at the same .time improved his own education. It was at this period, the early years of the nineteenth century, that the first revival of Gothic architecture took place. “Waverley” had been published in 1814, and this and Scott’s other novels were potent factors in the renaissance of the romantic spirit. .Hansom was one of those who came under the influence of the new ideas. He moved from York to Halifax, and became assistant to Mr Oates, a Halifax architect, in which position he studied the Gothic style. In 1828 he and Edward Welch entered into partnership, and they built churches in Liverpool, Hull, and the Isle of Man. After this there occurred one of various piees of bad luck that befell Mr Hansom in the course of his long life. Birmingham had decided to build a new town hall, and Hansom's was the design accepted by the town commissioners. The building was completed in 1833, but the contract with the architect had contained a clause making him responsible for the builders, and this resulted in Mr Hansom’s bankruptcy. He gave up his profession for a time, and became business manager for Mr Dempster Hemming, of Caldecote Hall, who possessed a bank, coal mines, and lands, but whose large property was eventually dissipated by the owner. It was while in Mr Hamming's employment, and at his desire, that Hansom, on December 25, 1834, registered his ‘'patent safety cab.” The original vehicle did not possess much in common with the highly developed cab of to-day. The back-seat for the driver, for instance, was a later improvement. The principle of the “safety” consisted in the suspended'or cranked axle, and Mr Hansom evolved a plan for entering the cab through the wheel. This latter idea was abandoned liefore the cabs were put on the streets. Mr Hansom sold his rights in the invention for £IO,OO0 —or, rather, he agreed to sell them for that sum, for he never got a penny of it. The company, as the Birmingham builders had done, * became involved in difficulties, and in 1839 Mr Hansom took over the management of it, in order to put things in working order. He accomplished this successfully, and received £3OO for his work, which was all he ever obtained for the vehicle that has made his name famous. One of the principal reasons for the success of the hansom cab was that the wheels were much larger than those of the ordinary vehicle and the carriage was nearer the ground, this resulting in greater safety and less wear and tear. Mr Hansom lived on practising his profession of architecture until 1882, having survived almost to the threshold of the motor age. He died in Fulham, and was buried in the Homan Catholic Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury there. It is highly probable that, had die known that he would be chiefly remembered as the inventor of a. cab instead of as an eminentarchitect, he would never have invented the cab. There have been some stormy events in cab politics. In 1853, when an Act which prohibited the use of advertising vehicles and which reduced cab-fares to 6d a mile came into operation, a general strike of London cabmen occurred. There was another strike, both of cab-owners and cabdrivers, . in 1867, when another Act, requiring all hackney carriages to carry lights, was enforced. The next year saw an unsuccessful strike to compel the railway companies to discontinue privileged cabs. In 1894 7000 men were out on strike against the proprietors, but this strike was settled by the mediation of Mr Asquith before the public had suffered much inconvenience. The privilege system at the railway stations again caused disputes in 1896 and 1897. Just about ten years ago “crawlers” were forbidden in the principal streets by the authorities, who have always kept a watchful eye on the cab and its driver. Cabmen’s clubs were first formed in 1859, and the first shelter was opened at St. John’s Wood in 1875. To regret the disappearance of the ham som—for it seems that its disappearance is inevitable—is natural, for it has been intimately connected with the life of London for many years. But, as the hansom itself replaced vehicles of older pat-, tern, on which it was an improvement, so it in turn is now being succeeded by vehicles incorporating new inventions, contemporary necessities. It is an inexorable law, but it' is the law of human progress.

Dr Bowden, the medical officer for East Ham, London, has saved a little diphtheria patient’s life by sucking the poisonous matter from the child’s throat. The doctor appears to be none the worse for his brave act.