Evening star., 1923-01-19
TAX|CAB INDUSTRY
GROWING BY LEAPS
Figures Show Habit Is Get
ting Fixed Hold on People
All Over Country.
By j. C. ROYLE.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, January 19-The taxt-
cab habit is more firmly fixed on tho
people of the United States today
than ever before and is increasn.
rapidly. The men most prominentiv
associated with this business pre-
dicted today that the number Of cabs
In service the coming year will fa
exceed all records. The numbe"
or taxicabs in service today has ia
creased slightly more than Is per
cent since January, 1922, according 10
figures which became available for th.a
first time today.
Better Service, Lower Prices.
The trend is to more cabs, bette
service. and a trifie lower prices
There is scarcely a town today from
Havre, Mont, to Brownsville. Ten
which has not feet of clean, up-to-
date taXimeters in place Of single
station hack which formerly was
the sole public vehicle. New York to-
day has 1900 taxicabs licensed and
the number has increased more than
II per cent within the year. Chicagn
has about 1900 and other centers ar"
supplied in proportion to their popu
ltion.
1t was estimated by experts in va
rious sections today that the pubic
pays approximately 22 cents mile
for TRANSFORMATION by taxi. This fig
ure is based necessarily on the tar
ifs of the larger cities. which ar"
under strict regulations In some To-
calities "all the traffic will bear lS
still the rule.
Becoming Great Industry.
The business, which has lent Itself
to development of indlyldual Owners
as well as to growth Of corporations,
is rapidly becoming a great Industry
with the trend Enthusiastically toWaco
consultations which will insure Re
duction of overhead, better purchas-
ing facilities and cheaper operation.
More cabs will be manufactured III
1928 than ever before.
This is an almost necessary ad-
junct to the industry, for manutac-
ture of taXicabs by automobile com
satisfactory, either to operators Or
manufacturers The REQ Motor Com
pany. which attempted 10 combine
production of cabs and pleasure ve-
hic1es, has found It's venture uis
appointing, according 70 automotiNs
engineers.
this great industry is shown by ng
ures made public today by the
low Cab Company Of Chicago, one o.
the leaders. and pioneers in the taxi
field. That concern in the last year
carried 1S,762,914 passengers, a.
against 14,250,332 the year befort
These passengers rode 6I.312,4i
miles, as against 52.302,000 miles II
1921 Today the company has ~
service over 800 cabs, as compared
with .2T0 in 1921. and employs $500
drivers, as against 2,700 year age.
The company declined today TO give
total receipts. but il is certain thar
the public paid more than $l5,OOOsoon
within the year.
Theater Combine Discussed.
Although the proposed merger cf
! the great theater interests of the Shu-
berts, the Erlanger holdings ana
those controlled by, the SelwynS.
Charles b. Dilling CHAM, Sam II. Har
ris and others has only reached ~
preliminary stage. independent the
ater owners producers. playwrights
and actors indicated today that some
plan might be arrived at to test the
legality of such consolidation ana
that this might take the form Of an
application for a complaint before
the Federal Trade Commission This
was the method followed in the f'a
nous Players-Lasky case brought y.
! fore the commission.