From Our Berlin Correspondent.
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The Allgemeine Berliner Omnibus_ gesellschaft is now working Line 8 (Schoneberg-Alexander Matz) with mechanical buses, and has taken off the motorbuses from Line to (Kreuzberg-Stettiner Bahnhof) in favour of horse-drawn vehicles, hoping that the change will be to the shareholders' benefit.
New Motorbus Lines in the Tyrol.
The Innsbruck Statthalterei has granted the Fiat Company a working concession for six motorbus lines in South Tyrol, namely : (i) TrientTione, (2) Tione-Pinzolo, (3) PinzoloMale, (4) Sarche-Riva, (5) Riva4:affaro, (6) Cafiaro-Tione. Ere this note gets into print the first two lines will have been opened. The district is a happy hunting ground for summer and autumn tourists, and the concerns should pay if not worked beyond the season.
Transport of Milk by Motors.
I learn that„ in Berlin, a company—the Lastwagen Betriebsgesellschaft—is in process of formation for working Statesubsidised* industrial vehicles.' This company, I understand, will supply the automobiles for the milk-transport project to which I refer below. So far as I can ascertain,there appears to be nothing better in the automobile market for carrying milk than the van exhibited a couple of years back, by the Marienfelde-Daimler works, at the German agricultural show in Schrineberg, Berlin.
Berlin requires some 157,500 gallons of milk daily, and what with the tedious shunting at the goods termini, cramped milk platforms at the stations, the inaccessibility of good milk districts in relation to country railway stations, the distance of the Berlin termini from the local dealers, and the increasing demands upon Prussian goods -trains by other classes of goods, the business of keeping up the supply at -the present rate is becoming more and more difficult. Prussian railways being with very few exceptions in the hands of the State, which never allows itself to be hustled, having no competition to fear, the dealers are going to try and improve matters—without the help of the blessed monopolist—by organising a service of automobiles for transporting 4,500 gallons a day from Anhalt, and places between the Duchy and Berlin. They propose to use a couple of vans, with as many trailers, for the transport. These could reach Berlin as quickly as a goods train, and get in touch with dealersseloner, besides, the vans could pick up milk from localities which are practically excluded from the Berlin market by reason of their distance from main-line stations. . Herr Lulay, Chairman of the German Milk Dealers' Association, and the owner of a large dairy in the Berlin suburb (if SchOneberg, whose interests he represents in the local Corporation, has
taken charge of the scheme, which will materialise in the autumn. Should it prove profitable and effective, the next congress of the association will consider whether or not the State railway shall he dispensed with in supplying other large German towns with milk.
Motorbus Lines in Norway.
Recently, a motorbus line was established from .Molde, with a view to the conveying of overland travellers who shrank from the stormy water passage near Hustadvik; and, now, one hears of a scheme to establish a service of motorbuses between Odde and Aandalsners, in connection with the trains to and from Christinia. It is estimated that the realisation of the scheme would shorten the journey from Romsdal to Christiania by Is hours.
Up-to-date Ambulance Vehicles for Munich.
The Munich Sanitary Column is increasing its rolling stock by a petrolmotored ambulance car, and an electricdriven vehicle. In the former, we have a Benz chassis, with. an engine of 28h.p., giving a maximum speed of °Vet" 40 miles an hour ; in the latter, a North German company's system, or
the Krieger system. Both vehicles, which are to have ambulance bodywork of the most improved pattern, will be delivered at the end of August.
Prussian Subventions.
One of the conditions laid down for the subventions of the Prussian Government is, that the vehicle shall be fitted with an arrangement for protecting chauffeur and assistant against weather, and the photograph shows how the Marienfelde people manage this by means of a roof carried forward beyond the dashboard to a point in a line with the beginning of the bonnet, the roof having flaps of canvas, or some other waterproof material, at the sides, which can be rolledand strapped up at the top. This is the type preferred by the Government (kriegsbrauchbarer lastkraftwagen, industrial vehicle suitable for military purposes). This requirement as to shelter is much
ppreciated by the drivers. Bavarian State Premiums for Industrial Vehicles.
The Bavarian War Office also purposes granting subventions, albeit to a limited extent, for self-propelled vehicles suitable for military purposes, paying the maker .4;200 down for each vehicle, and assiSting him with a working premium of L,5o, payable at the end of the first three working years. The Ansbach Motor Works are preparing a " train " for trial by the War Office, and they alone will receive the subsidy, this year, if the trials, turn out well.
Austrian Motor Club's Industrial Vehicle Trials.
As at present disclosed, these trials will extend over nine days, beginning on the 23rd October and ending on the 3ist October. As regards the course, this will probably • be mapped out through North Bohemia and Moravia, with the start in a Bohemian town, and the finish at Vienna, competing vehicles being exhibited in the starting as well as the finishing place. Both the Imperial War Office and the Ministry of Cornineree are presenting valuable prizes. The categories are as under : Class I : Tr-cars for transport of baggage.
Class .2 : Delivery vans up to Soo kilos. useful load, with a speed of IS tans, an hour.
Class 3 : Delivery vans up to I,5oco kilos, useful load, with a minimum speed of 15 kins. (In this class only vehicles with rubber tires may start; the following classes are open for vehicles with iron or rubber-shod wheels.)
Class 4 : Lorries up to 2,000 kilos. useful load : rubber, minimum speed of iskills ; iron, 12 krns.
Class : Lorries up to 3,000 kilos. useful load : rubber, minimum speed of 12 kms. ; iron, 9 knis.
Class 6 : Lorries up to 4,000 kilos, useful load : rubber, minimum speed of II kills.; iron, 8 knis.
Class 7 ; Lorries up to 5,000 kilos. useful load : rubber, ro ktns.; iron, 7 tans.
Class 8 : Omnibuses.
Class 9 ; Motor trains with a-Minimum speed of 8 kills.
From Berlin—continued. Italy's Foreign Trade in 1907.
In 1907, Italy imported freight automobiles of a collective value of 469,300 lire (4'18,225), against a value of 82,000 lire in the preceding twelvemonth, whereas, in 1905, she imported no vehicles of the kind. Her corresponding exports are put down at 233,000 lire (4'9,079), the figures for 1906 being iSr.),000 lire (c„6,993).
Nuremberg's Postal Autos.
From the beginning of December, Nureinberg's mail service will be improved by means of self-propelled vehicles, three of t6h.p. and six (four in working and two in reserve) of 28h.p. They are to be used for the transport of letters and parcels between offices and railway-stations, both local and outlying. The motor service should have begun in July, but makers were unable to deliver in that month.
"Health-giving Motorbuses."
In reference to the paragraph under the above heading in last week's issue, it may interest you to learn that, in the neighbourhood of Cologne, experiments have established the fact that dust gathered from motor-frequented roads, exterminates the common flea-beetle, which devastates beetroot, rape, cabbage, and other vegetable stuffs. The result was the same in every case : plants bestrewn with the dust wlere spared attacks from the pest, while the others perished.
Paris Road Congress.
Engineer Szalla will represent the Berlin Corporation at the International Road Congress to be held in Paris next October. By the way, the Berlin Streetcleansing Department, of which Herr Szalla is the practical head, has lately been the object of criticism for its insufficient watering and cleaning of the Leipzigerstrasse. The carts leave the asphalt in a horribly greasy and dangerous condition, especially for heavy motorbuses, which skid in a most alarming fashion. This half-cleansing is worse than leaving the road altogether untouched.
A Cancelled Concession.
Those enterprising inn-keepers who succeeded in obtaining a concession to work a line of motorbuses between Garmisch Railway Station and Lermoose, in the Tyrol, have just had the undertaking stopped by order of the Tyrolese authorities, on the ground that the road on their side is too narrow for such traffic. Residents in the district welcomed the innovation, visitors freely patronised it, and the innkeepers were rubbing their hands over the happy realisation of the scheme. This veto hits them hard, as one can easily imagine. To say the least of it, the Tyrolese authorities appear to deal with concessions in a somewhat lighthearted fashion. They should have ascertained beforehand bow the breadth of the vehicles stood in relation to the roads, although, for that matter, the motorbus is no wider than a horsedrawn vehicle.
" Zeppelin " Commercial Airships.
Supposing that the projected 24-hour trial of the Zeppelin air-ship between Lake Constance and Mainz had been a success we had soon seen (declares a German intelligence bureau) a " Zeppelin LuftschiffBetriebsgesellschaft '' (Company for Working Zeppelin Airships). The embryonic company is said to consist of a financial group which purposes entering into negotiations with Count Zeppelin for a concession to construct and work balloons on his rigid system, with a view to creating an air-ship traffic. This group will establish places of call, corresponding to landing-stages in river traffic. Krupp is credited with the intention of supporting the concern, but the misfortunes that have overtaken the air-ship have probably put this project into abeyance for a term at least.
Unnecessary Stoppages and Mechanical Wear and Tear.
That the Allgemeine Omnibusgesellschaft's bill for repairs done to its motorbuses is extraordinarly high, and probably the highest bill incurred by any working company in Europe, readers who have followed the course of affairs in Bet-lin are aware, and they also know that these heavy expenses have been incurred mainly through defective organisation on the part of the managing board. At the last general meeting, the directors admitted negligence, and promised to mend their ways; but they still seem blind to the constitution of mechanical vehicles, else they would instruct their servants to avoid unnecessary stoppages, and so reduce to a minimum the costly wear and tear of machinery. An engineer, who travelled one evening as a passenger over Lint 8, writes to a " daily " to complain of such stoppages. Between DZinhoffplatz and the Potsdamerbrficke, some ten minutes' run, the bus in which he travelled pulled up at each stopping place—six times--although nobody got either in or out ! On asking the conductor why he had the vehicle stopped, the engineer received the answer : " According to orders." To the course of further conversation, the conductor said that he used not to give the signal to stop unless it were
necessary, until a passenger roared at him for not stopping, and since then he had always stopped. Well, whatever version is correct, the result remains the same : unnecessary wear and tear. This method of handling the buses is unfair to shareholders, and the firm supplying the chassis.
Prussian Army Motor Trains.
The Prussian War Office has entrusted Engineer Muller, of Steglitz, with the forming of commissariat trains on a system of his own, whereby any number of vehicles, each with its separate driver, can be linked together to form a complete substitute for field railways. Ten trains of 14 axles each could maintain regular service, backwards and forwards, between an army corps and the magazines, supplying the corps with 135 tons of provisions, et cetera, daily ; in other words, these to trains could do the work of 1,140 wagons and 3,200 horses. One hundred men could manage the motor trains, whereas the horse-column require 2,400 men in attendance.
Discontent amongst Berlin Industrial Chauffeurs.
At a meeting convened by the German Transport Workers' Union, the conditions of labour obtaining in the motorcab branch cropped up for discussion. The men are dissatisfied with the long hours which they are expected to pass on the box, and, if it is the rule rather than the exception to keep a driver on duty for twenty-four hours at a stretch, the dissatisfaction rests on a tolerably firm foundation. Another matter which formed ground for protest is the practice of several firms to deduct, from wages, costs arising from damages to rolling stock. This practice cannot, however, be condemned as a matter of course, though cases are bound to arise where such expense ought not to be borne by the employers. Still, most people would perhaps agree that to " dock "the price of every burst tube is pushing chauffeur responsibility to an extreme. It has transpired that some employers do this sort of thing.
Anti-Motor Act in Denmark.
Copenhagen seems scarcely a soil adapted to the flourishing of the motor industry in general, and the motorcab in particular, in view of the new Act which limits self-propelled vehicles to a funereal pace of 4 to 5 miles an hour. Minister of Justice—save the mark !— Alberti was mainly responsible for this absurd Act. Infringements are met by fines of so crowns, the police being very keen on noting down offenders, especially motorcab drivers. Three automobiles may be driven at any pace their respective owners please in Copenhagen, namely, that of the Princess Marie and the vehicles owned by the British and German Ambassadors. The Act is not only absurd, but wholly partial and unjust, since horse-drawn cabs may be driven at nearly eight miles an hour. Linder such conditions, it is clear that inotorcabs must go under, and the owners suffer serious loss. Owners and drivers recently cooperated in a two-day strike by way of demonstrating against the Alberti Act.