f the department--there are twelve of these in London--and
a certificate presented by the maker that there has been no variation in
the type.

In the early days of motor omnibuses complaints in shoals were received
by Scotland Yard from tradesmen, private individuals, borough councils,
and others as to the frightful noises made by them when running.

That resulted in the establishment of a committee of high executive
officials for the testing of every motor omnibus in respect of noise
before it is licensed.

Pass through Great Derby Street into New Scotland Yard any day after ten
o'clock, and you will find always a number of men clustered about a low
building and in the little square. They are drawn from all types and
classes, and all are candidates hopeful of obtaining their licences.

A would-be taxi-driver--an "original" he is technically termed--has to
be clean in dress and person and not under five feet in height. Two
householders who have known him personally for three years must give
him a good character. A doctor is required to certify that he does not
suffer from any ailment, that he is sufficiently active, that he does
not smoke or drink excessively, and that he is fitted for his duties by
temperament. After this he will be permitted to undergo examinations in
fitness and knowledge of driving. It is a tight-meshed net through which
an incompetent would find it hard to pass.

But it is the topographical examination that undoes most of the
"originals." I went through a couple of large waiting-rooms; hanging on
the walls of one was a slip of paper with the name of one man. "There
were twelve yesterday," said my guide; "he was the only one to get
through."

And then he told me something of the history of the man whose name was
hanging solitary on the wall. It was not an altogether unusual one in
that building. The candidate, a University man, had been in possession
of an income of about L1,500 a year. He had been neither reckless nor
extravagant, but suddenly, at the age of forty, with no trade or
profession in his hands, he had seen his fortune lost. So he had taken
his place among the "originals" and had started in the world anew as the
driver of a taxicab.

At the end of the waiting-room there are two little apartments, each
containing one table and a chair; there the "originals" are examined in
topography, _viva voce_, one at a time. Now, it is sometimes asserted
that trick questions are put to candida