40,000 MOTOR-CARS.

Waipukurau Press, Issue 278, 4 July 1908, Page 7

40,000 MOTOR-CARS.

Paris still holds it own as the motoring metropolis of the world. There is ocular evidence of the fact, even to the casual visitoi, in the principal streets and avenues, where motors seem to outnumber other vehicles by three to one, and Paris is, perhaps, the only city where one part of its leading avenue is set aside specially for automobiles, and the other for horse drawn vehicles, which appear to be almost out of date. Only ten years ago automobiles still seemed curious, strange-looking, unsatisfactory vehicles for driving about, and now the tables have turned, and cabs and carriages appear to some out of date and out. of place. Such, at least, is the impression which observers are stated to have had on various occasions as they went to the Bois de Boulogne, or drove to their club. The tremendous increase of taximeter cabs and cars owned by garages, and which are hired out Al' the day or the month, nas. on the other hand, led

some persons to imagine that private ownership o£ motors is r passing away. This is rather doubtful when laid down as a general proposition, and is directly contradicted by statistics. Last year the number of private owners ' of cars in Paris and the department of the Seine was stated to be a little above six thousand, whereas, at the beginning of the year, the official figures given were exactly .7670, and, therefore, an increase of more than one thousand in a single year. As to the number of private owners al] over Prance, it has risen from something over 30,000 two years ago to 40.000.