MOTOR-CAR SERVICES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1536, 7 August 1901, Page 59

MOTOR-CAR SERVICES

The little COIOII3 7 of Ceylon seems likely to outstrip Australasia in tb p matter of adopting motor-cars for the purpose of carrying mail', and otherwise opening up communication with remote parts of the country not reached by rail. Mr T. Stanley Green, of Burton-on-Trent, has secured the Government contract for carrying th© mails between Batticaloa and Lunugala, and be is introducing three motor-cars, by which it is expected that passengers will, from April next, be able to get from Lunugala to Batticaloa in eight hours the eighty mileg being covered at the rate of ten miles an hour, instead of in two days, as hither* to. The average rate will be ten miles an hour; but one great advantage over the coach service will be secured in that this speed can, on the flat, be increased up to thirty miles an hour. The kind of motor-car to be used is not that with th© shape of a ’bus, or even brake; but it will b 2 a char-a-banc holding six persons, in rows, facing th e way the car is going. The engines on the car, which will be driven by steam, kerosene fuel being used, will be 0 f nine horse-power, and the cars will b e rubber-tyred. The ears will have a hood ov< r the top, will be well protected from the sun, and decidedly cool. They will weigh l£ tons each, and will be confined entirely to passenger and mail traffic. Danger from speed will really be less even than from a ooach, for the cars are guaranteed to be capable of being stopped within their own length while going at the rate" of twelve miles an hour. In marked contrast with the progressiveness of Ceylon is the obstructiveness of the Australian politicians. An Australian writer says ; —“ Every second man you meet in th® street knows that there is going to be a great future for the motor-car in Australasia. All classes of society ar e interested in the new locomotion, professional gentlemen, mercantil e houses, and, in some instances, Government departments, ar e awaiting the days of the automobile, which are sure to come. Pick up any illustrated English, American or Continental magazine or paper, and yon cannot help noticing the great strides being made in this industry in all big centres bai Australia. In that country, with its thousands of miles 0 f waterless tracks and wastes, the motor should prove of inestimable valu e as a means of locomotion. Every intelligent person recognises this fact; senators admit it, but all that the paternal Government does to foster and encourage the use of th e motor-oar in th e Commonwealth is to charge 25 per cent, duty on all automobiles imported into the country. This duty protects nobody, it being simply a revenue taxation that actually benefits n>o one, for the public will not invest in cars owing to the prohibitive price, so that th e Treasury gains prac: tically nothing. But, unfortunately, while it does not benefit itself, it nips in the bud the growth of Australian auto* mobilism, an industry that will one day call for th e investment of hundreds of thousands of pounds 0 f Australia. The Dunlop Tyre Company recognise the fact that unless something is done shortly re the removal of the present revenu® duty, motoring will be a dead letter in the Commonwealth. With a view "of calling attention to, and having decreased th e existing useless duty, the Dunlop Company state that they ar® taking steps to get the Hon A. j. Balfour (himself a motor enthusiast) to bring the matter before the Imperial Parliament for discussion/’ *