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News and Comment.

13th August 1908, Page 10
13th August 1908
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Page 10, 13th August 1908 — News and Comment.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

This journal has a genuine circulation, genuine advertisement support, and an Editorial staff whose members have practical experience and knowledge of the construction and use of commercial motors.

There will be no meeting of the Executive Committee of the C.M.U.A. until the second Wednesday in Sepzember, August being regarded as a vacation month.

An interesting development of pneumatic-tire invention is described and illustrated on page 554 : this class of tire ought to have a future for motorcabs and station omnibuses.

The Belle Vile show of the Manchester and District Motor Trades Association, Limited, will be held, from Eriday, the 19th, to Saturday, .the 27th, of February next, inclusive.

A sub-committee of the Lancaster Town Council is now enquiring into motor appliances for fire-brigade work, with a view to the presentation of a report at the September meeting of the Council.

Our paragraph last week, on the subject of " A new duty for county councils," has been quoted by variols provincial papers, and sonic further references to the suggestion we then made will be found on pages 542 and

556 Carenul Driving.

A large number of entries have already been received for the

parade which has been announced for the 3rd October. This will be held in London, and a prize fund of E.32 has so far been subscribed. The principal contributors to this fund are : the

C.M.U.A., mo ms.; " TILE CowitF,aCIAL MOTOR," LS 5S. ; Eodens, Limited, ;65 5s.; Allen and Hanburys, Limited, La 25. ; and the South Metropolitan Gas Company, Limited, ,4,-2 OS. Further subscriptions may be addressed to the Secretary of the Association, 1, Albemarle Street, W., or the Editor of this journal. The scheme is in every way worthy of support, although there are certain details in the conditions which might well be amended according to experience.

Spanish papers announce an automobile communication between Amerigo and Berja-Adva for goods and passenger traffic. The line will include Olvera, Cuevas, Vera, and Huercal.

The Stanhope Motor Cab Company has-opened a garage in Albany Street, NAV., and has already put into service two io-12h.p. Darracq cabs as the start of a small fleet of that make. An illustration of the front view of one of these chassis will be found on page 556.

Tangent Wheels.

Mr. H. C. Bauly, of 131a, Bo.y Road, E., who does an extensive business in the pressing and re-tiring of wheels for heavy wagons, and who is the moving spirit of the Eastern Motor Wagon Company, has purchased the whole of the machinery and stock of Tangent Wheels, Limited, and is now in a" position to supply the latest and improved patterns of these wheels at most favourable prices. The tangent wheel business will be continued at the company's old works, Grove Road, Balham, London, S.W.

We learn that the Albion Company's works have been kept fully occupied, and have experienced no slackness or short time, whilst the company's order book is as well filled as usual. These results are what one would expect front the performances of the conipany's machines.

At Worcester House, Walbrook, E.C., at noon on the 8th proximo, a general meeting of the Automobile Cab Company, Limited, will take place. The liquidator's account, showing how the winding-up of the concern is being conducted, will be placed before those present.

A Peculiar Situation.

The Middlesbrough Town Council has now decided, by a narrow majority, that it is not committed to the purchasing of a certain motor wagon, which wagon, as we reixoted at the time, while on trial in the hands of the corporation, was hired out to other parties. An interesting dispute is foreshadowed.

Credit Where Due.

An " Evening News " contributor, about six weeks ago, wrote some very smart things upon taxicab drivers, and we extracted a few paragraphs in our issue ofh tae. gth July (page 455 ante). As our quotation has been reproduced in a very large number of journals, and as acknowledgment has erroneously been made to " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR " and not to the originating source of the paragraphs, we wish ourselves to draw attention to the discrepancy, and to give the credit, as we did by our own original acknowledgment, to the journal named.

Dennis Activity.

The accompanying illustration is of a 2A-ton Dennis lorry for the Petroles de Grosnyi Company, of tot, Leadenhall Street, E.C. The machine is fitted with a four-cylinder 28h.p. engine of the company's own make, and is capable of carrying its normal load at an average speed of 14 miles an hour; it will be observed, too, that the body is of smart design, with a cabin front, curved roof, and attractive side panels. This machine is now being used in the Tyneside district, and was sold by the Dennis agent there, Sir Angus Sanderson and Company, Limited, of 65, Westgate Road, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Recent Dennis orders include : four three-ton lorry mail vans for McNamaras, Limited; a one-ton delivery van for the Hollingdrake Automobile Company, of Stockport, per Mr_ L P. White, of Manchester; one 3o-cwt. 2oh.p. delivery van for Whiteley's, Limited, of Westbourne Grove; one two-ton lorry, with special mechanical winding attachment, for the General Motor Cab Company, Limited, of Brixton; and one bread van, also with mechanical winding arrangement and detachable van and lorry body, for the Brighouse District Industrial Society, Limited, Brighouse, Yorks.

We gave a full technical description of the two-cylinder Siddeley motorcab our issue of the 16th April, and we observe that the General MotoiXab Company is bringing an increasing number of these vehicles into regular use. The four-cylinder model is .being largely used for provincial service by allied companies.

Manchester Order.

Messrs. Kendal, Milne and Company, whose splendid establishment in St. Ann's Square, Manchester, is known in all Lancashire and Cheshire shop-ping circles, have just placed an order for a delivery van with the Lacre Motor Car Company, Limited, of 1-5, Poland Street, W., and this will be used in the distribution of drapery, -silk goods, furniture, and 'other househeld .stores of a like nature.

Lotis Vans.

Sturnicy Motors, Limited, repors that it is about to deliver a one-ton ypn to Messrs. George Wilks and Company,. wholesale grocers and provision merchants, of Tunstall; and threo such vans to Messrs. F. w. Harris and Company, mill furnishers, of Burslem. No a few Lotis vans are driven by their owners, without the necessity for any special training and without anterior knowledge of mechanics. .

Lubricants in Tins.

Amongst the companies which make speciality of oils and greases for motor vehicles, and which take the necessary. steps to pack such lubricants in convenient tins, may be mentioned the Vacuum Oil Company, Limited, of Norfolk Street, Strand, W.C. Price's Patent Candle Company, Limited, of Belmont Works, Battersea, and W. If Willcox and Company, Limited, of 23, Southwark Street, S.E.

Belated Paragraphs.

Several of our contemporaries have, during the past fortnight, published notices to the effect that " A steam Motor tractor, with improved end-tipping trailer and all necessary gear, is to be purchased by the \Vest Sussex County Council, at a cost of -(525." Needless to say, as the order in question was placed with Aveling and Porter, Limited, of Rochester, about the middle of June last, no sueh paragraph appeared in this journal.

Catalogues Received.

James Archdale and Company, Limited, of the Manchester Works, ledsam Street, Birmingham, has recently issued a supplementary catalogue of its high-speed lathes—in sizes from sixinch up to fourteen-inch centres. This class of machine tool is !stripped of many of the refinements in the shape of quick-changing devices that are to be found on most highpriced lathes,assuch additions are not generally appreciated, and are but rarely used for roughing out, or for plain work; hence, there is a demand for high-speed lathes which, although designed for high-speed cutting, are of more simple construction.

Thornycroft Sales.

IVe understand that both the home and export departments of the Coto.. mercial-vehicle branch of the lhornycroft Company have been very brisk lately. The most recent home orders are tram W. and R. Jacob and Company, Limited, the well-known bicuit manufacturers of Liverpool and Dublin, for a Mh.p. two-ton van, this order 'having been received through Mr. Pemberton Woofer, the company's representative in the North of England, and from Messrs. Allen and Company., building contractors, of Westminster, S.W. Export sales include : a 3oh.p. fre-brigade chassis for Christchurch (New Zealand) Fire Board; a 16h.p. van chassis for Messrs. Harvey and

James, of Melbourne; a two-ton chassis and a four-ton paraffin chassis for Messrs. Martin and Company, of Calcutta; a 3i-ton lorry for Messrs. Chevallier, Boutell and Heriot, of Buenos Aires; a 3oh.p. vehicle for the Argentine Southern Land Company far service in Patagonia; and a. 3i-ton paraffin lorry for the Southern Nigerian Government.

Imitation Parts, On Thursday the 3oth ultimo, at the Old Street Police Court, Messrs. A. Binet and Company, of 99, Great Eastern Street, E.C., and 6, Rue de Jarente, Paris, were fined ..20 and -C,S 5s. costs on each of two summonses, making a total of i:so los., for selling certain valves as genuine De Dion valves, whereas, in fact, the said goads were not genuine De Dion valves, and for applying a false trade description to those valves. Mr. Walter .hrampton, instructed by Messrs. Kenneth Brown and Company, appeared for the prosecution.

Accumulator Propulsion.

Professor W. E. Ayrton, in the engineering supplement to " The Times " of the 5th instant, endeavours to answer his many critics on the subject of accumulator propulsion, and more particularly to show that he is not guilty of the toches of which Mr. H. L. Joly accused him. We think Professor Ayrton shows his ignorance of commercial organisation when he asks " Supposing the limit was reached with an electric .cab when it was eight or to miles from the charging station, What would Mr. Joly wish the poor cabman to do, presuming that the importance of having arrived at the 1.8 limit were realised? Would Mr. Joly have him get down and walk home, leaving his electric cab to the tender mercies of passers-by and the police, or return electrically and find himself discharged like his cells? " We should like to point out to Professor Ayrton that it is part of the daily work to haul in one or more vehicles with exhausted batteries, and that a towing vehicle is held in reserve for the purpose. As to damage to the cells, every company which runs accumulator vehicles for commercial purposes has what may be termed a " hospital bay " in its power station, and here, as is necessary, exhausted or over-discharged cells are recharged promptly yet slowly, which simple treatment obviates the risk of permanent depreciation through such running-out of the battery. The answer is that the driver would invoke the aid of the telephene.

Selling Fodens.

Mr. A. H. Gillespie appears to have quickly settled down into his new work with Eodens, Limited. IThs apprenticeship was served. with Gibb and Hogg, Limited, engineers and iron founders, of Airdrie, with whom he spent three years in the drawing office and three years in the shops, and gained a varied experience in connection with all classes of mining, plant, driving engines, and small locomotives. He then spent one year with the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, of Govan, and gained experience in both the naval and mercantile-marine branches. It was in the year iyot that he joined the Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Company, when " No. i '' wagon of that make was in course of construction, and it was there that He obtained practically the whole of his motor-wagon training, both in the shops and in service, as well as on the road as a salesman. He knows what is needed in a steam wagon, and has a range of knowledge which puts him in the first rank. We wish him luck in his representation of Fodens, Limited, in the North of England, and in Scotland,

Motor Hiring.

The assets of the Motor Deliery Company, Limited, whose voluntary liquidation we reported on the qth July (Page 454 ante), have been acquired by Pickford's, Limited, and the work of irotor contracting will be continued under the title of the old company, with the word " Limited " omitted, and with Pickford's enormous resources behind it. Projects for motor hiring have, unfortunately, not always yielded the best c results to would-be customers in past y iars, but the re-organisation of the c unpany in question, which has been o ltrusted to Mr. R. C. L. Markham,

should certainly furnish the addition of another satisfactory contractor to a list which now pro uses to grow steadily. Mr. forms of commercial motors, although Markham intends to make a speciality the company's energies will not be limited to this branch. As we reported two weeks ago, Pickford's, Limited, which company now, as mentioned above, owns the undertaking of the Motor Delivery Company, has no less than nine tractors and 30 steam wagons of its own, and the ability to cater for heavier jobs is therefore already in existence. Enquiries should be addressed to 8, Bramber Road, West Kensington, W., so far as concerns the Motor Delivery Company.

Local Sales.

Quite a number of local engineers have attempted to establish themselves in commercial motor manufacture, but not with any great success, and we are firmly convinced that garage owners, van and wagon builders, and other useful middlemen, who arc inclined to turn their attention to this branch of the motor industry, will do much the best for themselves to apply for the local agency of some established constructor. Not a few purchasers now find themselves left in the lurch, at least to some extent, by the unpreparedness of such local makers to go on with the trade, and one of the recent examples which has been brought to our notice in this connection, is the successful Leicester house of manufacturing chemists and export druggists—John Richardson and Company, Limited. This company ordered its first motorvan, from a local maker, in 1904, and it has since had no less than five other vans of sundry makes. The last of these, supplied by Messrs. King and Company, lately of Leicester, last year, is illustrated herewith. It was bought at a price of less than £200, notwithstanding the fact that it had a two-cylinder 12-i4h.p. engine, and was capable of dealing with 15 cwt. loads. We should like to see Richardson's in possession of a fleet of really up-to-date vans of one make,


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