The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-06
THE DEADLY HANSON.
Vehicle That Wounds and Kills More
1. Than Any other.
From the London Mail.

From the London Mail
London is sorely in need of public We
hicle to supersede the hanson cab. The
streets of the metropolis are more slip
perry and more crowded than those of any
other city. Horses drawing hanson cabs
are VIGOROUSLY prone to stumble on the
shiny face of our asphalted and wood
paved thoroughfarese And when a han
som cab horse falls the passenger has lit
lie chance of escaping injury.
He is generally flung head foremost over
the curtain" onto the body of the horse,
struggling frantically on the ground. II
the window is down. he is thrown through
that as well; if the window is up, the
sudden stoppage of the cab frequently
brings 1t sliding downward with such
force that the glass is shivered into
pieces, and the sharp fragments lacerate
his face and head.
An authority who has spent many years
in studying the question of street passen-
ger traffic, mentioned several cases to
Daily Mail representative where hanson
cab passengers, known personally to him
self, have had glass extracted from the
face. head and legs, in consequence of the
horses merely slipping
Another fruitful source of accident is
the kicking in of the footboard by res
tive horse. The splinters are showered
into the passengers face. AS in the other
cases, he has rp escape. for il he attempt
ed to jump out, he would probably be
struck by the lunging hoofs of the horse
In fact no matter what the nature of
the accident. the hansom-cab passenger
is perfectly helpless.
The authorities appear to be realizing
what real danger the hanson cab is.
The latest figures obtainable from the
commissioner of police show that in 1899
licenses were granted for $40 fewer han
SONS than in 1898 and 366 fewer than in
1897.
The covered van, against which an agi-
tation is afoot, is regarded as the most
deadly vehicle In the streets. Now, in 1890,
the hansome injured 1,4O4 persons, com
pared with 94S hurt by the covered van.
The latter, however, caused forty-six
deaths. while of the hansom's victims
eighteen died
The continent will have none OF the
hanson. 1t is practically unknown in Pa
ris, Berlin, and other cities in France and
Germany. The popular public conveyance
in those countries is the victoria This
style OF carriage has not one of the dis
advantages which we have shown the
hanson TO possess. II is airy, elegant, safe
and speedy. Moreover, 1t is cheaper to
buy.
Mr.. Ernest windover. chairman of
Messrs. C. 3. Windover g. Co, Limited
the carriage builders OF Long Acre. in
formed a representative of the Daily Mail
that victorias suitable for public hire.
fitted with rubber tires. could be built for
40 guineas each. while a hanson costs
from i25 10 1870 guineas.
''The only drawback the victoria has"
said MIR Windover. is that Il occupies
three feet more space than the hanson
But this slight disadvantage is. In my
opinion. more than compensated for by
the safety OF the victoria. its greater com
fort apd better appearance"
Another style Of vehicle which is recon-
mended TO take the place OF the hanson
Is called the brougham- hanson. There are
already dozen on the London streets and
the fact that they are seldom disengaged
r. sure indication OF their popularity.
No harm can beiall a passenger In this
carriage. as a consequence Of the horse
falling. The driver sits behind Ia hot
weather q large window IN the front can
be let down. in addition 10 the side win.
dows, while. M ordinary conditions a
snali shutter supplies all the ventilation
needed
But u matters little what type OF car
riase 81 adopted, 70 long ~ II Il safer 10
rioe IN that the present hanson. which
Stays its score of people annually and in-
junes many hundreds