Noise, too—that distracting rattle and rumble of vans, light carts, omnibuses, and cabs—will be done away with, and how much this will help to restore the nervous system of Londoners who can tell? Horses having almost vanished, the space each one would occupy—some seven feet in length—will be saved on each vehicle, and thus the increase of traffic will be partly provided for. Collisions and the running-down of cars will be unheard of, the steering and stopping powers of the electric motors being perfect.
ITS SOCIAL RESULTS
The effect of universal electric traction on our social life may be far-reaching and prodigious. It may result in a partial decrease in the resident population of London, the working-classes living largely in the country and travelling up and down at uniform penny fares, clerks and others doing the same; while the wealthy and the well-to-do may use their motor-cars to such an extent as to habitually sleep outside the town boundaries, as may also members of both Houses. Only those persons whose duties compel them, will live within hearing of Big Ben.
Society will be still more restless, but its members will be healthier, as fresh air will readily be obtainable. There will be even less time for reading than now. Formal calls will largely cease; friends in luxurious electro-cars will “pop in” en route on short surprise visits, and hospitality will, on the whole, diminish.
In these vehicles, touring parties (without Cook and Son, or Gaze and Co.) will be constantly arranged to traverse the world. House rents generally will be lower, save at the seaside and other health resorts, where they may actually become higher. So that for those who elect to remain in town, it will be possible to live on a moderate income, rates and taxes, it is to be hoped, also being lessened.
The cost of living will be reduced, produce of all kinds being more extensively home-grown and more economically brought to market.
Horses, being discarded for draught purposes, will be plentiful and cheap; cavalry remounts will be readily obtained, and all over Europe mounted forces may be the order of the day. The smallest farmer will be able to employ several horses on his farm, and everyone in the country, grown tired of cycling and motoring, will have their stables full at low cost, while in the season Rotten Row will be more crowded than ever with equestrians.
Wages will be higher, and there will be a wider field and less competition.
Lastly, hygienic conditions being vastly improved, and smoke abolished, the death-rate of London and all large cities will be reduced. But the greatest boon electrical traction can bestow, will be reserved for the working and poorer classes. Take London, for example.