The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-16 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,--While you are fighting the battle, which thou-
sands in this metropolis hope will end in a victory that
will give them a mile ride in a cab for Gd., allow me to
-suggeSt in the meantime a very simple and inexpensive
plan that will secure what has hitherto .been an impossi-
bility, viz., paying only for the actual distance you are
carried, at the present high rate of Bd. per mile. It re-
quires no ingenious or complicated machine to record the
revolutions of the wheels, and will effectually prevent
" cabby " attempting " to do a stranger or unprotected
female " by driving them a long way round instead of
the shortest cut, or any of the numerous ways that they
now impose on the public, lam quite willing to allow
that frequently cabmen themselves do not know the dis-
tance they have driven, and in such cases an honest
driver will be glad to have a certain rule for his fare to
any part of London. It is this :—At every cabstand have
a map of London—say twice the size of the one in Brad-
shaw—with the names of the streets, &c., very clearly
printed : each stand is its own centre, or starting point,
round which, on the map, a number of circles in red ink
are to be described—the first with a radius of one mile,
and a person going to any spot within that circle pays
Bd. ; the second with a radius of a mile and a-half, to any
spot between the first and second red ink lines is., being
considered a mile and a-half fare ; the third circle with
a radius of two miles, 16d. fare ; and so on to any dis-
tance from the starting point. A double line three miles
from the Post-office would show the distance for which
back fare could be demanded after 8 p.m. These maps
to be put up in a painted wooden frame, with a glass to
protect them from wet or fingering, and placed against
a wall or railings, as may be convenient ; a small jot of
gas with a shade, as at jewellers' shops, will enable a
person to ascertain his fare by night as well as day. The
waterman might earn a legitimate penny by explanations
and showing the stranger that he was going in the right
direction.

Now, here is a cheap, effectual, and quick remedy for
a great evil ; no act of Parliament or ponderous civic
board to set in motion ; nothing wanted but a map in a
frame that a few shilling? will pay for, even if done in
superior style. The cabdrivers, of course, will oppose
it, and try and destroy the maps, but that can be easily
stopped by the police. A practical friend, to whom I
mentioned the subject, objected, that I took a straight
line to measure my distances, instead of following the
streets as a cab must do ; but I reply to this, that,
although some will occasionally go to the very edge of a.
red line, and then get alit to save ,the increased fare,
others will stop 200 or 300 yards short, especially within
the first mile. Should that, hoVevt'r, be a valid objec-
tion, it is easilkobviated by striking the circles at 7i or
even 7 furlongs apart, instead of a full mile, to allow forthe
angles. The public do not want anything beyond what
is fair to the cabdriver, but they do want to be carried
a mile and a-half for a shilling, which they cannot at
present get without incivility of some kind. Let a
stranger take a cab from Trafalgar-square to the
Colliseum, he would be asked 2s. ; but might, by a show
of determination, get off for is. 6d. By this plan he
would see before he started that it came within the
shilling distance, and be saved the trouble of any alter-
cation. The whole cost for maps and gas cannot amount
to much : but if there are no funds that can be applied
to so desirable a purpose, I am sure there are thousands
of gentlemen and ladies who will contribute their half-
crown with pleasure, as they would save it in the first
week.
Trusting that you will continue the struggle unti
fares are brought down to 6d. per mile, and urge this
plan; if you see nothing objectionable,
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
IL It.

Feb. 14.

SURREY BACHELORS' BALL—We perceive that the
hspalveendbiedenHpallal
eoefdCartmheerdcies,p andosal tohfe
the "Surrey
osfuarrnety e-room
Bache-
lors," whose annual ball will take place on next Thurs-
day, in aid of the funds of the Walworth Literary and
Scientific Institution. The arrangements made by the
stewards are such as must promote the comfort and in-
sure the approbation of the visitors. Weippert's full
band, including those eminent performers, Messrs.
Bosisio, Baumann, Maycock, and Prospere, has been en-
gaged, and the services of Mr. Frampton secured as
master of the ceremonies. It is to be hoped that the
laudable object of the promoters of this festive meeting
may again receive the liberal aid that has on former
occasions rewarded their exertions ; and that the spa-
cious Hall of Commerce may on next Thursday be filled
with the friends and patrons of literature, and the
votaries of Terpsichore.—Sunday Times.
AUSTRALIA.—A person, rejoicing
in the ,name of
Brice, last week visited Gainsboro, and issued a prolific
supply of handbills, promising an exhibition in the old
hall of a panorama of views in Australia, America, &c.,
several thousand feet in extent. On Friday evening the
sroomight
ofwas
somer o wvdeer(3l,., annd f
er
ot
rh ea
viewsud audience nbcye
means
st treated a t:
magic d t a
aonf dg
raa e
nt
au
rr,e
rohne
teomr r aic, atni odngteoo g
rAnu sp
ht
yr a 1 ah,e at loi
okke
dl aens ttietr nu
ie
his audience across the Pacific and round Cape Horn to
Australia) but at the same time containing some wholesome
advice, which, however, by means of the newspapers
and other sources, had long been patent to all the world.
At the close, a series of views for the delectation of the
juveniles was shown. This called up Mr. Davies, who
loudly contended that Brice had not kept faith with the
public, not having exhibited what he had promised in
his bills, and was therefore guilty of a fraud which
ought to be exposed. Brice could not deny the "soft
impeachment," but said he was only an agent—that the
bills were stereotyped, but should be altered. This was
a nice quarrel as it stood, but the lecturer adopted a
novel mode of defence by stating that he had given 801.
to Mechanics' institutions, and worse than all he had given
half-a-crown to a Mercury correspondent to write him "a
flaming paragraph ;" and on being questioned, said the
transaction had taken place at Grantham. This state-
ment was transmitted to our correspondent at that place,
and he remarks—" With regard to Brice, I never even
saw him, nor had any communication with him, or any
one in connection with him, or with any one on his be-
half, and had any consideration been offered to me I
would have refused it, as I invariably have done such
offers as calculated to destroy the independence neces-
sary to a newspaper writer." Mr. Brice says in his bills
that his object is not to make'money but to diffuse use-
ful information, and the above is a specimen of his powers
in that line, and seems to be of the Frenchman's opinion,
Skurtfvrci Mercury,,
that " nothing is so treacherous as figures
except facts!"