WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
Page 49
Page 50
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
"The wheels of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport at whateuer points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crosier. •
New Covered-top DoubleDeckers for London.
The increasing number of passengers which make use of the buses passing through Blackwell Tunnel has resulted in the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., giving its attention to the production of a new type of covered doubledecker which, it is hoped, will ultimately replace the single-deckers now making use of the Tunnel. The new type of vehicle has recently been placed on trial.
In the design of the vehicle, the main essentials which had to be considered were low overall height, maximum seat
ing capacity and stability. To meet these requirements, a special type of intermediate roof construction has been adopted, and the seating on both lower and upper decks is arranged longitudinally, that in the lower deck being made so that the seats are disposed face to face, whereas in the upper deck they are arranged back to back down the middle of the body.
The intermediate roof is constructed with deeply cranked hoop sticks of light channel section loaded with ash, this arrangement being followed in order to obtain the necessary headroom. In the new vehicle the staircase is completely enclosed.
The covered top is made of light-gauge aluminium, reinforced with half-round hoop iron, and the outer curves of the roof are amply rounded and give sufficient clearance to make it impossible for the bus to touch the Tunnel wall.
The company's standard NS-type chassis is employed for the new bus, and it is arranged to carry 46 people, 24 in the lower saloon and 22 in the upper deck.
Another 15 Six-wheelers for Liverpool.
The tramways committee of the Liver. pool Corporation has recommended the city council's acceptance of the offer of Karrier Motors, Ltd., to supply fifteen motoOns chassis as follows :—Nine W.L.(i six-cylinder chassis at 11,119 each (plus £53 for self-starter), three to be delivered within seyert days and six by the end ofly, and six W.L.6/2 six-cylinder chassis suitable for carrying double-deck bodies at £1,203 each (plus £53 for self-starter), to be delivered by the end of Tuly.
Nottingham's Passenger Transport Returns.
The annual report of the Nottingham Corporation in Aation to the municipal tramways and motorbus services shows that the flonfAal results of the year's working were adversely affected by the general strike and the subsequent prolonged coal dispute. The reduction in receipts during the ten days of the strike amounted to 111,300, and during the first week after the resumption of work to £1,400. During the remainder of the year there was a further decrease of £7,100, making a total of £19,800. Total receipts last year, including rent of leased lines. amounted to 1423,092, an average of 17.01d. per mile, working expenses aggregating £317,550. From the balance which remains it is proposed to
allocate £20,000 in relief of the general district rate. The number of farepaying passengers carried by the tramcars was 67,853967, and by the buses 6,132,509.
Morris Profits.
The first report and balance sheet of Morris Motors (1926) Ltd.,' covers the whole year 1926, and shows a trading profit, after providing for depreciation, of £925,741 19s. 2d., interest on Government securities and dividend on shares in
an allied company adding £75,892 to this figure. Income-tax absorbs 1158,702, interest paid to the ,vending company £229;965, and the dividend on the 71 per cent. preference shares for three months £56,250, leaving a net surplus of £556,717. The directors propose to write off preliminary expenses £150,858, to transfer £375,000 to a reserve fund, and to carry forward £30,858, paying no dividend on the ordinary shares (chiefly held by Mr. Morris). The most illuminating items in the balance sheet are sundry creditors £869,000, with sundry debtors only £175,593, the stock and work in progress being valued sit 11,220,657, interesting deductions being possible from these items.
Blackpool Bus Returns.
The fleet of motorbuses (Leylands, Tilling-Stevens and S.D.Freighters) run by the Blackpool Corporation carried 5,260,018 passengers during the year ended March 31st last, an increase of over 2,500,000. passengers, whilst the receipts totalled £26,711, which is £15,387 above that for the previous year.
Sales of Tractors in Canada.
JIM. Trade Commissioner at Winnipeg reports that during 1926 the number of tractors sold in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta was 6,513, as compared with 4,052 in 1925. Of this total Saskatchewan took 2,704, as against 2,176 in 1925, Manitoba 1,498 (1,008), and Alberta 1,311 (896).
Proposed Motor Road from Madrid to France.
The Spanish Government has approved the examination of a scheme for the construction of a motor road from Madrid to France, via Iran.. It is expected that the road would take a year to build. Small Motor Cultivators in • Demand.
During recent years there has been a surprising revival in the demand for small motor tractors for the market garden and fruit plantation, and it may.come as news to many that there are at least four makes of patent motor tiller being used in this country. East Malting Research Station, Kent, which has done so much to help British fruitgrowing, conducted a demonstration of these machines a few days ago.
Four machines took part, the bestknown being the Simar Rototiller, entered by Geo. Munro, Ltd., Covent Garden, the others being the Monotran (Geo. Munro, Ltd.), the Cooper Patent Digger (Messrs A. and G. Cooper, Wisbech) and the Small Motor Cultivator (Alien and Sin-month (1925), Ltd., Reading).
The Simar is well known and has been described in these columns several times, especially the No. 5 model, but at the demonstration a larger model— the No. 10—was shown. The standard working width is 36 ins, at a depth of one to ten inches. Spring tines revolve on a drum, being motor driven. The machine is propelled on these tines.
The Monotrac is British made, weighs 180 lb. and has a 5 h.p. twostroke petrol engine under single-lever control. It works the land by moans of tools (tines, hoes, ploughshares, etc.): attached to the drawbar, which is interchangeable according to width desired. The machine is very useful among trees and bushes.
Cooper's Garden Digger attracted much attention at the demonstration. It works on the principle of two digging forks fitted to revolving arms. The operator walks in front and the revolving or " scratching " forks dig and throw hack the soil behind the machine.. The cultivating width is 2 ft. 2 ins, and tillage depth 1 in. to 4 ins. • It weighs 13 cwt. and is driven by an 8 h.p, slow-speedtwo-cylinder engine.
The little cultivator of Messrs. Allen and Simmonds works within a width of 20 ins, and is driven by a 14 h.p. Villiers engine. All the machines gave satisfaction according to their respective capacities. There was a large attendance of interested people.:
A New Road Carpeting Material.
To meet the difficulty of keeping Swedish roads in a good state in spite of the growing motor traffic, a new roadcovering substance has been invented by the Swedish engineer, Mr. john. Behmer, of Eskilatune, the main component of which is bitumen. It is said that the new road covering will stand a weight of 6.7 tons at 19-degrees Cent.. whilst the ordinary asphalt layer will only stand 4.6 tons. It is claimed that at 50 degrees Cent. the Behtner covering has four times the resistance capacity of the ordinary asphalt cover
ing. The covering is applied under high pressure by a Machine, which can cover an area of 5,760 square metres in eight hOurs.
Official Orders forgarch.
Particulars are now available regarding the orders for motor vehicles given out during March last by Government Departments. Crossley Motors, Ltd., received one from the Air Ministry for six-wheeled vehicles, whilst the Crown Agents for the Colonies ordered a number of lorries from the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., and Bean Cars, Ltd., chassis from Morris-Commercial Cars, Ltd., and vans from the Star Engineering Co., Ltd.
Another Express Service.
Express motorbus services have been instituted in various parts of the country, and the latest to be established is between Bolton and Manchester. The Bolton Corporation has recently sanctioned the service, and at the outset
nine journeys will be made daily by a 26-seater vehicle, although, in a few weeks' time, it is hoped to have a further vehicle in use and to provide a halfhourly service from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. The route will be via Farnworth, Pendleton and Salford, but passengers will only be picked up and set down at Bolton, Farnworth and Manchester. The fare for the service is 1s. 3d. single and 28. 6d. return, as compared with the ordinary rail fare of 2s. Tid. return.
Bolivian Rubber for U.S.A.
Aclvices from La Paz (Bolivia) state that an important rubber-growing enterprise with share capital of $4,100,000 (4802,000) has been set on foot by a New York syndicate for the purpose of exploiting the rich rubberbearing lands of the Amazon region of Bolivia. The avowed ultimate object is to break the British monopoly of rubber, a result which it is hoped to aebieve "within a few years."
The syndicate, which comprises a group of United States and Italian tyre and motorcar manufacturers, has already acquired for a purchase price
of $600,000 (£120,000) a tract of 5,000,000 acres of rubber lands in the Mapari district of East Bolivia. Operations are expected to commence shortly.
Six companies in all are at present engaged in the exploitation of Bolivian rubber, and of these one is Swiss, one is French, two are German and two are British.
Buyers of Bristol Buses.
Amongst the numerous orders which have recently been received by the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., Tramways Centre, Bristol, is a number for Various types of pasengercarrying vehicle. The Manchester Corporation is buying 15 32-seater saloon buses ; the Hull Corporation, two doubledeckers with covered tops ; the Wigan municipal authorities, six light passenger ,ehassis; and the Aberdare Urban
District Council, a 32-seater which con-. stitutes a repeat order. So far as goods vehicles are concerned, the company is building six 30 he.). lorries for the AngloAmerican Oil Co., Ltd.. and a 40 h.p. chassis for Glico Petroleum Co., Ltd.
Leicester Prefers Motors.
Leicester City Council has apparently found that mechanical vehicles offer numerous advantages over horses for municipal service, for it has recently approved an expenditure of £4,620 for the purchase of six additional S.D. Freighters and a small street sweeper and collector. The chairman of the sanitary and baths committee remarked at a recent meeting that in time horses will be displaced altogether by the Leicester authorities.
Public-service Vehicles in the Irish Free State.
Regulations have recently been issued by the Irish Free State Government which provide that no import duty is to be charged on motor chare-a-bancs and omnibuses carrying passengers which enter the Free State for purposes not cenneel'Id with trade and return with their paesengens within 48 hours.
Personal Pars.
Mr. S. S. Guy, managing director of Guy Motors, Ltd., has been elected chairman of the Commercial Vehicle (Petrol) Section of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders for the second year in succession.
We learn that Mr. W. Treece, who has.,been works manager of Electricars, Ltd., Landor Street, Birmingham, for the past six years, has been appointed general manager of the company, and that in future his time will be divided between the company's headquarters in London and Birmingham.
The Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., informs us that Sir Hardman Lever, Bt., K.C.B., and Sir Alexander Gibb, G.B.E., C.B., have been elected directors of the company. Mr. C. A. Proctor has resigned from the board of the English company, a post which he has occupied since 1919, but will continue to act as the managing director of the French concern and a director of the Dunlop German organization. This step has been necessitated by its expanding Continental business.
Experimental Bus Work in Germany.
Quite a large amount of experimental work is at present being carried out by the Abeag Co., the German equivalent of the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd. Thus we learn that one vehicle is at present being run with an automatically controlled gearbox, another has been fitted with an improved device to facilitate gear-changing, whilst a third vehicle has had its standard fourcylindered engine replaced by a sixcylindered unit rated at 100 h.p. It is stated that the Allgemeine Electedcitats Gesellschaft of Berlin and the H. Bussing Co., of Brunswick, are collaborating in the design of a petrolelectric-bus for the Aboag concern.
Experienced Men Available.
We have at present on our files the names of several experienced men who are free to accept suitable positions in the industry.
The first, age 33, has had a large experience in sales, and was for some years West of England sales manager for Willys-Overland-Crossley, Ltd.; then sales manager to the Rhodesian ilistributors for Overland vehicles, and lately been controlling sales in the Midlands, South and South-West of ii,eland and in South Wales for a well-known commercial vehicle.
The second, age 34, has had 17 years' practical experience in the industry. puring the war period he was officer in charge of the Leyland and Crossley. repair depute of the R.F.C., and then for come years inspecting engineer to the Lacre Motor Car Co.; Ltd., followed by over three years in the sales department of Leyland Motors, Ltd. The branches of the industry for which he is best suited would be service, maintenance of passenger or goods vehicles and repair shops.
The third has been works foreman for some years and then chief technical inepecter to the Curtis Automobile Co., Ltd. He has been in the motor trade since 1903 and served with the R.N.A.S. during the war. He would be suitable as a shop foreman or in charge of a fleet of cars or lorries, preferably in the London area.
Letters regarding them should be addressed to the Editor.
Result of a Durham Inquiry.
The Ministry of Transport has now given its finding in a recent North-west Durham inquiry, which, as reported in our columns a few weeks ago, was made • necessary by an appeal lodged by Messrs. Atkinson and Browell, of Consett, proprietors of the A.B.C. Services, against the refusal of the Tanfield Urban District Council to issue licences in respect of their new through service between Newcastle and Consett,
for the portion of the route in the urban council's area. In its announcement the Ministry expresses the opinion that the licenges should be issued, and it is gathered that this has already been done.
More Buses for Middlesbrough.
In order to open up newikin-town services, the Middlesbrough Corporation has decided further to augment its motorbus fleet by the purchase of five 18-seater pneumatic-tyred Dennis saloon buses constructed . for one-man operation, at a cost of £615 each. The fleet addition has been decided upon in preference to hiring vehicles. from local undertakings.
A Booklet on Pistons.
E. T. White and Co. (1926), Ltd., Clare House, 57, Kingsway, London, W.C.2, has recently brought out a neat little booklet in which a satisfactory effort has been made to summarize upto-date knowledge on! pistons and the problems involved in their employment. So far as possible, this survey has been written in a non-technical manner and is of undoubted interest. It leads up to information regarding the Lynite light piston, which is an alloy type that has been standardized on many American cars, and is claimed to be sold at the rate of 50,000 pistons a day at the present time.
Full information regarding these BV.2 pistons can be obtained from the company, which is the sole concessionnaire in this country.
German Lorries for Irish Free State. It in'reported from Dublin that, after exhaustive comparative. tests, the Irish
Free State military authorities have chosen the Mercedes-Benz commercial chassis as being the most suitable for their requirements, and they have already taken delivery of the first consignment of five 4-tonners from the Free State concessionnaire, O'Gorman Bros., Ltd., Clonmel. It is stated that the price was also a deciding factor with the authorities.
Use of Sulphite Lye on Roads.
The method of watering high roads with sulphite lye, which, On drying up, binds the dust together and makes the track solid and smooth, has constantly gained ground in Sweden during the past few years, and large quantities of lye, which is produced as waste matter at the sulphite mills and is, therefore, very cheap, are even being exported. A Norrkoeping engineer, Mr. Robert Karlberg, has now invented a method of making the lye still more efficient by mixing it with • a hydroscopic salt, which attracts humidity from the air and keeps the track in a slightly moist condition.
A Wider Bath Road.
Middlesex county engineer has prepared a scheme for widening the Bath road for a distance of 3-1, miles from Isleworth to the Colnbrook bypass, at an estimated cost of £145,000. The scheme provides for a highway 100 ft. wide.
Brighton's Coach Problem.
• At a meeting of the Brighton Watch Committee Mr. Charles Griffin, the Chief Constable, reported that he had considered the scheme suggested by the Brighton Motor Coach Owners Association for dealing with the char-it-banes problem on the front, and, whilst it does lessen the number of vehicles during the morning hours, it effects no alteration in the afternoon. If the committee desires to adopt the scheme it would he quite a simple matter to put it into operation, but there would be very little difference from the existing arrangements.
The committee asked the Chief Consta* to arrange that only 26 hackney carriages shall take up the stands on the sea front before 2 p.m., an equal number to stand east and west of the Palace Pier in such positions as the council may appoint; that the two hackney carriage stands on the south side of the Madeira Drive immediately east of the Palace Pier be abolished; and that after 2 p.m. all hackney carriages taking up positions on the sea front east of the Palace Pier shall proceed to their stands from the eastern end via Duke's Mound.
Record Bridge Building in America.
We are informed that work has recently been .commenced on what will be the largest concrete highway bridge built in the United States. The bridge will be five miles in length, and its construction will be completed in a year. It is being built across Lake Pontchartrain, linking up New Orleans with the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The project is being carried out by private enterprise at an estimated cost of £1,140,000, and
toll rates for its use are to be imposed. The structure will contain two bascule drawbridges, one 150 ft long and the other 110 ft. long. The roadway will carry three lines of vehicular traffic and will be 15 ft. above mean water level. Although a hand rail is to he provided on each side, the bridge will not be available for pedestrians.
Southdown Motor Services, Ltd., is to erect a large bus garage and workshops in Victoria Road, PortsIade. Abolishing a Toll Gate.
At a meeting of the Prestwich Urban District Council the question of the abolition of the toll gate in Long Lane was raised. It was resolved that the landowner be informed that. the council will take over the maintenance of the unadopted portion of Long Lane, subject to the toll gate being abolished and an undertaking being given by the landowner to reimburse 0 the council the cost of making up this portion of Long Lane -tinder the Private Street Works Act, 1892, as and when the land is sold or leased for building purposes.
A Lincoln Company's Progress.
We are informed that the business which Mr. R. M. Wright has carried on suceessfully for 35 years as R. M. Wright and Co., Ltd., at Lincoln, has
been acquired by a new concern, which will trade under the title of R. M. Wright and Go. (1927), Ltd. The managing director of the new company is Mr. E. A. Cox. The company acts as the agent for various makes of vehicles and undertakes general automobile engineering.
For Repairing Leaky Radiators.
Andrew Page and Son, Ltd., 68, Albion Street, Leeds, informs us that it has just been appointed sole concessionnaire for the British Isles for Solder Seal radiator cement as manufactured by the Radiator Speciality Co., of Charlotte, N.C. Solder Seal has a chemically prepared aluminium base which reacts in the hot water of the circulating system, and when it comes into contact with the atmosphere it hardens into an aluminium. filling, It is stated that it will Contract and expand with heat, resist
pressure and keep the radiator or the entire cooling system sealed.
It is claimed that the material contains no cement, glue, rubber or gummy liquids, and will take effect in alcohol or in anti-freezing•solutions. We are told that not only does the material seal inaccessible leaks, but that it will clean out the rust and scale from the radiator and circulation system.
Bus Services at Woking.
At a meeting of the bus committee of the Woking Urban District Council Mr. W. Bulman, of Hook Heath Garage, Woking, applied for permission to amend his bus time-table on the Woking Station-Hook Heath route, and to extend that service by making seven journeys each way daily between Hook Heath and Worplesdon Hill. Messrs. Renshaw and Learn, who run a
service daily between Hook Heath and Worplesdon Hill, had written protesting against any further licence being granted on that route, and stated that if and when the need arose for a more frequent service, they would be prepared to give it, but at the present the route was well served. The committee recommend that Mr. Bulroan's application be not acceded to.
A Booklet on Celluloid Lacquer.
A handy booklet dealing with body painting by the use of celluloid brushing lacquers has just been issued by Postans and Morley Bros., Ltd., Trevor Street Works, Birmingham, and it deals with the subject from the point of view of the amateur painter. The booklet deals with the merits of CeIamel brushing lacquer, and indicates the various uses to which it can be put.
Splash Prevention in Paris.
The fitting of some form of splash preventer has now been made obligatory on heavy vehicles in Paris. As a result, all sorts of home-made devices may be seen on lorries in that city. They are, for the most part, quite useless, but they show a laudable desire to comply with the police regulations.
The type most frequently seen consists of a rail made of round iron and fitted outside the wheel a little below the hub. Over this is draped and sewn a piece of sacking, which makes contact with the roadway. The wearing qualities of the appliance are not very good.
The new regulation has naturally produced a number of inventions, trials of new types being frequently made, and some unofficial tests of a new splash preventer were carried out a few days ago in the courtyard of the Louvre.
Buying Clayton Steam Wagons.
Clayton Wagoiv, Ltd., of Lincoln, has received an order from the Bracebridge Mental Hospital for a 6-7-ton undertype steam wagon with three-way tipping hotly. Amongst deliveries which have recently been executed by the company are three of a fleet of overtype vehicles ordered by the North of England Spraying and Grouting Co., Ltd., of Horneksford, Clitheroe, Lancashire.
A National Benzoie Booklet.
"Running your Car on'Coal " is the title of a neatly produced booklet which the National Benzole Co., Ltd., Wellington House, London S.W.1, has recently issued. It presents the story of National Benzole mixture and the advantages attendant upon its use in a light and semi-humorous vein.
Cardiff's Successful Buses.
The trading of the bus department of the Cardiff City Council in the year ended on March 31st last shows an improvement on the previous year, notwithstanding the depressed state of local industries during the greater part of 1926. The full comparative analysis is not yet available, but figures relating to revenue indicate that a satisfactory profit will result.
Receipts from the bus services were £105,973, as against £89,800 in the previous year. whilst passengers carried on the buses increased by 1,114,520. The wages bill for bus employees amounted to £50,258. In the same period the tramway revenue decreased by £29,000, as compared with the previous year, and the number of passengers carried dropped by over 3,000,000.
The bus prospects for the current financial year are said to be exceedingly good, for in the first three weeks of the period, to April 23rd, receipts were £9,425.
The Cardiff City Council has asked its Parliamentary committee to institute a new Parliamentary Bill to include, amongst other things, the seeking of wider powers of bus running, particularly in connection with extra-boundary eervicei and the right to purchase, from
the private owner, the Penarth Road toll gate, in respect of which the council buses pay fees of over £2,000 per annum.
In the matter of extended bus powers the city clerk has advised that it be borne in mind the Cardiff Council already possesses very wide powers, as wide as those granted to any local authority,
The Growth of the Karrier Works.
A particularly interesting article dealing with the progress of Karrier Motors, Ltd., is contained in the April issue of the " Karrier Gazette," the official house organ of the company. This gives a brief account of the development of the company's activities since the first Karrier vehicle—a 80-cwt. lorry with an 18 h.p. twocylinder engine—was built in the year 1908. The first year was largely in the nature of an experimental one, but in 1909 15 vehicles were constructed and delivered, and it is testimony to the quality of these products that some of them are still in commission.
Since that year the company has made vast strides, and, as is well known, it now manufactures a large range of both goods and passenger vehicles. ' That it is keeping well abreast of the times is certainly indicated by the part which it is playing in the development of the six-wheeled
vehicle, and many Karrier models of this type are now in service, particularly on passenger work.
The gazette contains several short articles dealing with Karriers in different spheres of use, and an informative article on engine and chassis overhaul. As is customary, abridged data relating to the range of models which the company markets is included amongst the contents.
Trailer Representation Required.
We understand that an important American Corporation, which undertakes the manufacture of trailers for use with commercial vehicles, is desirous of securing representation in England for its products. Enquiries from those interested, if addressed to " care of the Editor, will be forwarded to the proper quarter.
Ranking's Ambulance Service.
Barking Urban District Council reports that the council's ambulance service has again been of great service to the residents of the district during the past year, S17 calls having been received and dealt with. Accident cases accounted for 251 of the total.
The following figures show the ambulance work executed under the reciprocal agreements between the council and the neighbouring authorities Cases.
Ilford Ilford etonveyed for Barking • ... 1
Barking „ „ East Ham ... 35
... a „ West Ham ... 1
The arrangement for the council's ambulances to be available for cases of accident, etc., in Dagenham was endorsed by the Dagenham Urban District Council on its formation in April, 1926. That authority has now an ambulance of its own, and the reciprocal use of the ambulances of the two authorities is suggested.
M.A.B. Activities.
Following the decision of the Metropolitan Asylums Board to purchase 13 special low-loading chassis for ambulances (mentioned in our issue dated March 15th last) the Board has nowauthorized the construction at the Mead Works of a similar number of ambulanee bodies at an estimated cost of £3,725.
The Board is to extend the western ambulance station at Hammersmith at a cost of £5,000. It has also decided to install a bulk petrol-storage system and a fuel pump at Leavesden Hospital, Watford, at a cost of about 1150.
A New German Tractor.
The Apollo Gesellschaft, of Apolda, Germany, has recently introduced a new motor tractor which is claimed to be able to haul a load of 25 tons at speeds up to 15 m.p.h. The .machine is fitted with a four-cylinder engine having a bore and stroke of 115 ram. and 180 mm. respectively, and is stated to develop 50 lap. at 800 r.p.m. It is built up in unit form with the' clutch and a gearbox; five forward speeds and a reverse are provided. -The tractor is built On lorry lines,, the road wheels fitted with cushion tyres, and the equipment includes a Bosch electric lighting and engine-starting outfit.
40-ft. Roads Wanted.
That all first-class and second-class roads should be widened to 40 ft. was the proposal put forward by the Lancashire and Western Branch (Western Section) of the Roads Improvements Association (Incorporated) at a meeting held at Liverpool one day last week. With 40-ft. roads, said Mr. W. E. Riche, the general secretary, there would be accommodation for four lines of traffic, two fast and two slow, leaving room for cyclists and other road users. There was a move on foot to keep to the 30ft.-wide first-class road, which, he contended, would not be adequate for more than 10 years ahead, whereas the 40-ft. road was likely to be sufficient for all demands within the next 25 years. He added that the difference in the cost of maintenance of roads of the respective widths was negligible. It was his belief that the 40-ft. road would carry twice the amount of traffic of the 30-ft. road and with double the degree of safety.
Taxation on Vehicles Used for Road Maintenance.
Blyth Corporation expresses the opinion that mechanically propelled vehicles owned by highway authorities and used solely in connection with the maintenance and improvement of public highways should not be classified as commercial vehicles for purposes of taxation. Having regard to the nature of the work upon which they are employed the corporation thinks that such vehicles should be subject to reduced rates of licence duty.
Buses Affect Tramway Receipts.
The report of the Lanarkshire Tramways Co. for the past year makes it clear that the activities of the company were much affected by competition from motorbuses. The revenue account showed a loss of £11,568.
It is mentioned that the number of passengers carried during last year was 7,000,000 fewer than in the preceding 12 months, and more than double that number below the figure for 1920.