THE LAUNDRY AND ALLIED TRADES
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Are now moving to adopt Commercial Motors.
In dealing 11 ith motor delivery vans and lorries for in• the laundry and allied trades, which include that of cleaning and dyeing, it is certain that we are considering businesses where the advantages of mechanical power are peculiarly applicable. Immediate and expeditious attention to the discharge of orders is a factor which counts for much in any undertaking, and this feature is the one of all others that can be guaranteed by means of the introduction of self-propelled vehicles. Smartness in collection and delivery so often turns the scale in the case of Restaurants, Hotels, Institutions, Shipping Offices, and customers of similar importance that the laundry which does not possess extra facilities of the nature under discussion will have to face a gradual falling away of its trade to the benefit of its more enterprising competitors. Big customers whose connection constitutes that demand which is invaluable to any establishment generally have available loads which are too much for a one-horse van, and which are sometimes too great for a twohorse van. The difficulty of responding promptly to an urgent telephone message advising the docking of a liner seldom arrives at the most opportune moment when vans are in the yard, but more usually at the most awkward hours of the day. This leads to the involuntary placing of undue strains upon the horses, which have to be rushed out again on their return from the ordinary day's run in order to avoid delay, and this is only one example of the vagaries which characterise the work of collection.
Before proceeding to discuss the different aspects of the motor delivery van question, it is probably best that reference should be made to the two principal types of machines that are available on the market at the present time. Putting aside electric vans, which are not within the range of practical politics on a competitive basis, we have to consider only two broad systems which are offering to-day, each of which is equally cheap to operate where equal conditions prevail. These two systems are now referred to, in common parlance, in the accepted brief descriptive terms of " petrol " vans and " strain " vans. The controlling feature in mechanical transport is unquestionably the engine and, accordingly, the custcnit has already been established to speak of the engine first of all. In fact, the fundamental importance of the motive power has resulted in a slight confusion of terms by reason of the fact that complete vans are often referred to in words which strictly designate the class of power alone. An expression such as " a two-cylinder petrol van " is intended to convey the full conception of " a van fitted with a twocylinder internal combustion engine, using petroleum spirit and air which is exploded inside the cylinders." In the same way, the brief words "steam van " involve the idea of "a van fitted with a boiler, under which fuel is burnt externally, and a high-speed steam engine." It may be added, in reference to the internal combustion engine, that this system employs petroleum spirit much as a gas engine uses gas, except that the petrol is vapouriscd alongside the engine in a part termed the carburetter. Although there is little, if anything, to choose between the working costs of steam and petrol vans, those fitted with internal combustion engines, probably owing to their greater convenience in respect of the lesser amount of attention required from week to week, largely exceed steam vans in their sphere of use for loads below three tons, which limit practically includes every conreivable requirement of the laundry, dry cleaning and dyeing trades. In consequence, petrol vans will be considered by themselves in the first instance, a separate reference being made to steam vans in the latter pages of this section. The petrol van can best be treated of in groups according to the number of cylinders in the engine, which part of the whole construction chiefly dominates both the first cost and the useful performance that any van will yield, but the object we have in view requires no minute deseription of the various mechanical devices that are employed by different makers, for a purchaser looks almost exclusively at the question of working costs. Facility of control, which is really an index of maintenance, rightly appeals to a user who has but little engineering knowledge to apply if difficulties arise, and prospective buyers may rest assured that no
vehicle or system of which any mention is made in " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR " presents any features which call for condemnation on that score. It is not as though we were to-day at the beginning of the commercial motor movement, neither are the circumstances such as would obtain in the absence of the mass of experience which has accumulated during the past eight years to serve as a guide to our constructors. It must be pointed out, too, that all the enormoas cost of experimental trials has been borne already by the pioneers who have suffered, heavily for their enterprise, although they may derive some consolation from the knowledge that others are the gainers by their earlier losses. Upwards of 2,1)1)0 light motor delivery vans, each capable of carrying loads between scwt. and 30cwt. have been running about all over the Unitcd Kingdom, both in towns and open dis. tricts, under the charge of all types of drivers, for several years, and the combined distances traversed by these vehicles aggregate a total which excels the rather astonishing minimum record of twenty millions of miles I This really conservative estimate is based upon the statistics which it was our privilege to submit in July last to the Annual Congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute, held in Glasgow, for which purpose returns were officially supplied, for the first time, by the 212 registering authorities of the -United Kingdom. At Midsummer, 1904, the total number of business vans and light lorries in the United Kingdom was 2,164 ; of light vehicles used jointly for private and business purposes, 598; of heavy goods haulage vehicles, 902; and of public passenger service vehicles, -143. It is impossible to procure statistics which. are absolutely up-to-date, as no returns are available, but there is no question that a large increase has taken place, during the last three months especially, and that this growth in the sales of light delivery vans is in keeping with the increasing satisfaction that is being experienced regarding the degree of dependency that can be placed upon them for everyday delivery work. The petrol vehicle can be started up each morning with very little attention, certainly not more than ten minutes being required to replenish the petrol tank and lubricators, to check the contents of the water tank, and to give the starting handle a couple of turns. The lessons of the last few years have impressed upon manufacturers the necessity of making engines " fool proof," if damage to the mechanism by the unintelligent driver is to be prevented. For example, we find in some systems that the teeth of the transmission gear wheels, by the engagement of which various ratios are provided between the engine and the road wheels, for the purpose of accommodating the vehicle to different gradients and loads, are always in mesh, which arrangement avoids the risk of undue wear by bad driving. Other systems attain the same desirable end by different methods, but the essence of each is that the driver can do but little harm by carelessness. Another point which may be cited, as typical of the improvements which have resulted in the avoidance of roadside stops, is in connection with electric ignition, for every maker now supplies good insulation and proved devices, whether battery and coil with sparking plug or of the rotary magneto-generator class. It was no uncommon occurrence, only a couple of years ago, for 8o per cent, of the roadside mishaps to be due to dirty sparking plugs or faulty insulation of the electrical circuit, but the greater intensity of the spark which now passes inside the cylinders for the purpose of igniting the explosive mixture is sufficient to overcome any ordinary sooting of the plugs due to over lubrication. At the same time, this old trouble of carbonised points inside the cylinder has been reduced to a minimum by the fact that the lubricators are either automatic or capable of adjustment in a very simple manner. Again, the wiring has been reduced in length, improved in quality, and protected against fraying or other damage when running. Albion Van. The risk of any overheating of the engine may be said to have entirely disappeared, because radiators and circulating pumps are now thoroughly standardised, which means that the correct proportions have been ascertained, and that the possibility of any maker putting on the market a machine which will not keep perfectly cool when running is remote. This is a striking difference from what often took place three or four years ago, when the methods of cooling the water employed to carry oh the excess heat generated in the cylinders were insufficient for one reason or another. Either too little water was employed, or the pump did not circulate with sufficient force, or the radiators were of too small a surface. Another fortunate matter for the user is the great improvement that has taken place in tyre manufacture, the composition of solid rubber tyres and the means of securing them in the rims of the road wheels having been perfected in the light of the results of many expensive tests in the hands of makers and users alike. The same improvements, coupled with great reductions in prices, apply to pneumatic tyres which will be used on many of the lightest vehicles.
Other inconveniences which were associated with petrol vehicles in their early days deserve passing mention. One of these is the question of the noise which used to be re
garded as an inevitable accompaniment of the explosion engine, but any such view has been dispelled by the improved methods of silencing the spent gases which escape from the engine at a relatively high pressure. There is no necessity for a car to be in any way a nuisance, because the exhaust gases can be allowed to expand gradually in suitable muffling boxes, which are attached below the frame, whilst the engine itself cannot race when the van is standing, or when the driver has temporarily depressed his foot to disconnect the engine from the driving mechanism in traffic, because the automatic governing device comes into operation. Both the exhaust and lack of governing accounted for the great noise of some of the earlier vans, It might also be pointed out that makers now dispose the various parts of the machine with great regard for the ease of access for adjustment or examnation, which is a distinct advance on what was customary several years ago. It was not uncommon for a driver to have to spend successive hours on the ground under his van, in older to tighten up some small nut or screw in one of the moving parts, but the whole of these are now placed in such a convenient manner that an adjustment which might have required six or seven hours in older models can now be done in as many minutes. Then users are naturally concerned with the adequacy of the brakes that are fitted, for not a few accidents occurred in 1898 and 1899 through the failure of the fittings for this important purpose. Any initial faults served to prove that it was only a question of ample surface and strength to make the motor van really safe in this particular, and there is no question that the practical control of the vehicles is now beyond reproach. It is also worthy of mention that prolonged experiments have been undertaken in regard to the construction of carburetters, this being the small vessel through which air is sucked by the up and down movement of the piston, a fine jet of petroleum spirit being drawn by the same aspiration from a small nozzle projecting into the air passage, and the intimate mixture of air and petroleum spirit vapour forming the explosive gas which works the engine. A close study of the form and construction of this small but important adjunct of the engine has resulted in a very great reduction of the consumpt7on of petroleum spirit, so much so that at least 50 per cent. greater distances can be run on equal quantities of petrol compared with the year 1898. Speaking generally, it may safely be said that motorcar engineers have for the last couple of years fully appreciated the strains that are engendered by road shocks and other circumstances attending the use of commercial motors for work under heavier loads than those which would be taken by the same engine were it employed for passenger purposes, and they are now able to fix all the dimensions so as to get the best result from any engine in relation to the loads and speeds that have to be dealt with.
As regards steam vehicles, anybody who has given the smallest attention to the commercial motor movement is aware that they preponderate largely for loads of three tons and upwards. There are upwards of one thousand steam lorries and wagons at work in England to-day, whilst there are probably not more than fifty steam vans carrying loads below one ton, exclusive of steam omnibuses. The great advantage of steam is its silence, and the avoidance of numerous gear ratios. Its elasticity is well known, and it is possible to vary the pressure and the periods of admitting the steamto the working cylinder, so as to get a great variation in the
power that can be given out from time to time. Thus, different loads can be taken and severe gradients can be climbed with steam vans, without any gear change, and the driver has not constantly to be manipulating a change-speed lever. But having admitted these two points in favour of steam, one has to grant that vehicles using this power require more attention, particularly in respect of water supply to the boiler, and of firing control, than is the case with petrol vans. There has unquestionably, however, been just the same advance in steam van construction during the past six years as has been evidenced in petrol van construction, but there are at the present time less than six recognised builders of light steam vans in Great Britain compared with more than forty established builders of petrol vehicles, which, with slight modifications, are suitable for light goods conveyance. The all-important part of a steam van is the boiler, and it brings up many painful recollections when one is reminded of the numerous difficulties of keeping boiler joints tight under road service conditions. Repeated trials have enabled makers to produce boilers which admit of control by unskilled drivers without any risk of their running short of water with consequent serious damage. This is a great step forward, since it was not unusual for a driver to burn his tubes out once a month when the means of feeding water into the boiler and the methods of controlling the stream of such feed water were incomplete in many respects. Such was the case only three years ago, but the steam van of to-day is free from this serious disadvantage, although the greatest precautions will not prevent damage where a driver is guilty of deliberate neglect, a reservation which is equally applicable to a petrol van. Given normal care, boilers of the several types which are obtainable, more especially those of the semi-flash class, should run for a couple or more years without any sign of leakage, and this is sufficient for all practical purposes, because it is no hardship to renew tubes after that interval, neither is any great expense involved. Automatic control is practically assured where liquid fuel is employed, and burners are now fitted by at least two prominent makers, which work smoothly and give no trouble; one of these employs cheap burning oils and the other petroleum spirit.
Now the most striking virtue of any good motor is its ability to continue work without tiring. It can run out eight or ten miles, perform a round of deliveries, and return to the laundry in a couple of hours, and it is just as Fresh after haying discharged such a task, which constitutes a day's work for one or two horses according to the loads and gradients. The motor is ready for the same kind of trip twice more in the day, whilst even four such journeys can be done on busy days, when each customer expects to be served in good time. It is no exaggeration to say that too miles a day may be safely relied upon, for a report to that effect is only one of many in our possession on the subject of the range of action of motor delivery vans. This distance is regularly encompassed by vans carrying from gcwt. to 15cwt. of load, where the pressure of business necessitates its being performed. There is, in fact, no lack of evidence that four horses can easily be replaced by one motor van, provided the delays at the various calling places are not excessive, and this brings us to the consideration of the actual economy of motor conveyance. Laundry managers and others interested must take into consideration the established fact that great savings can be realised by the use of commercial motors on suitable work. The ability to save money is the real test of any new instrument, but the difficulty of establishing any hard-and-fast rule of comparison between motors and horses has to be admitted by all. This was clearly seen in our Brewing Trades issue of April 13th, where we gave a series of reports based upon records aggregating upwards of two million vehicle miles, and concerning approximately 375,000 tons of goods Owners of the heavier types of motor wagons testified to a displacement of horses averaging between five and eight for each mechanical vehicle employed. Of course, such heavy machines are not required in the laundry and allied trades any more than are Shire or heavy cart horses, but there is no reason to doubt that a good ratio should readily be established for motor : horses, if not one so high as i : 5 or i: 8. It is to be expected that there will be a similar variation in the experiences of users who are now adopting motor vans for laundry collection and delivery, for the work must be governed by local conditions, distances, population, size o and other circumstances of a like character.
FROM LAUNDRYMEN.
We have received gratifying indications of the interest with which this issue is awaited by the Laundry Trades in the shape of sundry communications from managers who have read the announcements concerning it. We regret our inability to do more than quote from a few at random :—
Me. W. D. BAYNE, Ainsdale Steam Laundry, Ainsdale, Lancashire (May sthl :—" I shall be pleased to receive a copy of your paper, which I doubt not will be of great value to others like myself who are in the stage of making up their minds as to the economy of a change from horse to horseless vehicles. I have not yet gone in for motor vans, though much interested in same. I trust soon to go in for one." MR. G. W. LLOYDJAMES, Manager, The Holland Park Laundry, Walmer Road, Notting Hill, W. (May 5th) :—" We await with interest a copy of the Laundry Trades Issue which you have announced. We are not as yet using motor vans, but the matter has been before our directors." MR. ALFRED :MORTIMER, General Manager, The London United Laundries, Ltd., 22, St, Peter's Square, Hammersmith, W. :—" There is no doubt that motor vans have already arrived at a very practical stage of manufacture, and, in my opinion, it is only a question of a short time before they will be brought into general use for laundry purposes."
Having regard to their reputation for business methods, it is of interest to note the use which Messrs. Lever Brothers, Ltd., of Port Sunlight, are making of their " Clarkson " two-ton van. This vehicle is used to deliver soaps in small lots to shops and other customers within a 15-mile radius of the works, and the owners report to us that it is running satisfactorily and economically.
MR. W. A. DANIEL, the Steam Laundry, Repton, writes (May sth):—" I am pleased to see that you intend issuing a special number of 'THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.' We have not yet used motor vans, although we have seriously considered the advisability of doing so. The doubt in my mind is whether much time can be saved in collecting and delivering in a town where the carman has to call at, perhaps, every other house, and which would take as long with motors as with horses." We hope Mr. Daniels and others will be able to see a solution under the summary of costs given on page 188, but the most ardent supporter of motor delivery does not suggest for one moment that mechanical power is of universal application. Yet there appears no valid reason why the singlecylinder 6h.p. motor, costing '185 as a complete van, should