The Motor Omnibus World.
Page 7
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Manchester Licenses.
The Manchester Council is gradually coming round to realise that it cannot indefinitely stand in the way of motorbus enterprise. The Watch Committee once more declined the grant of a license to Mr. W. Stanway, the RykMeld Company's Manchester agent, but the Council, by 67 votes to 23, referred the matter back to the committee.
Great Eastern Accounts.
We have now received a copy of the directors' report and balance sheet of the Great Eastern London Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, for the year ended the 3oth June last. We observe that it is proposed to write off ,4;5oo from preliminary expenses account, thereby reducing the amount of this asset " to £13,397. Our brief summary of last week, which was founded upon an advance notice to the Press, did not make allowance for this
so that the net profit for the period is reduced to £4,331, and the disposable balance to .'6,8o6. A dividend, as we forecasted, at the rate of five per cent.
per annum, which (less income tax) will absorb .44,771, leaving £2,035 to be
carried forward to the next account, is recommended. Regret is expressed that Sir G. Wyatt Truscott has, owing to onerous duties in other directions, resigned his seat as a director.
With the accounts before us, we do not hesitate to say that their outstand ing weakness lies in the fact that the company has secured its revenue by the use of a large number of motorbuses which have not, at least vet, fallen upon its capital account. There can be no denying the fact that an average of some 12 uncharged vehicles has brought a considerable amount of income to the company, and we do not hesitate to record our opinion, although we are unable to enter into any detail by reason of the fact that the contract in question is sub judice, that the ordi nary necessity to make provision for the additional capital and depreciation upon the vehicles represented by it, which must have arisen many months ago but for the dispute between a cer tain manufacturer and the company, must have come perilously near the conversion of the company's profit into a loss. We do not withhold our ad miration for the discernment and business qualities which have enabled the company to make both ends meet dur ing a period of exceptional competition, but we cannot refrain, apart from the insufficiency of the provision that is made for depreciation, from drawing attention to the peculiar factor of its having had at its disposal a compara tively large proportion of its total ptant without any corresponding capi
tal responsibility. Attention is, it must be admitted, drawn to the matter of this dispute, under the heading of " Contingent liability."
We have observed references elsewhere to the fact that the company had
only .4;3,384 of cash in hand, and only 4477 due from sundry debtors, whilst it owed ,477,775; a year earlier, how ever, the company had £756 less cash in hand, had only .4.200 more due to it, and owed .4;6,397 to sundry creditors: the change of situation is negligible. The Chairman of the directors, Sir Thomas D. Pile, Bart., will preside at the meeting of shareholders, to-morrow (Friday), at. Winchester House, Old Broad Street, E.C., at 12 o'clock noon.
A Victim to Municipal Jealousy.
A general meeting of the Southendon-Sea and District Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, is to be held, at 22, London Road, Southend-on-Sea, on the Toth proximo, at to a.m., for the purpose of considering the liquidator's accounts. These show the manner in which the winding-up has been conducted and the property of the company disposed of. It has now to be determined how the books, etc., of the company shall be dealt with.
Injury to Passengers.
The matter of personal injury to pas_ sengers upon a motorbus is bound to give rise to actions-at-law, from time to time, and these have generally gone against the proprietary company. His Honour, Judge Edge, at Clerkenwell, on the 31st July, read a contrary decision, and one of no small interest to those who follow happenings in the Motor Omnibus World. A married woman, named Alice Wing, had claimed .40 against the London General Omnibus Company, as damages for personal injuries sustained : these damages had arisen through the collision of one of the defendant company's motorbuses with an electric-light standard, in the Caledonian Road, the plaintiff having been thrown from the footboard into the roadway, and the jury had awarded her 4;34 115. damages, but the entering of judgment was deferred.
His Honour read the considered judgment of one of his deputies. It was admitted that the accident was due to side slip, and the defendant company, while denying negligence, said it was due to the state of the road. The jury, however, had found that the company, in allowing a motorbus to run when the road was in a slippery state, was negligent. It was not suggested that the company had used an imperfectly-constructed or wrongly-designed vehicle. He held that, if a person elected to travel by such a vehicle, he must be taken to accept the ordinary risks incidental to that mode of travel or conveyance, and that included the possibility of accident from a skid where the road was in a slippery or greasy state, and where there was, of course, no negligence in driving. Otherwise, it would become the duty of motorbus companies, directly a shower fell, to cease running their vehicles at once. Whatever the liability of a motorbus company might be as regarded injuries to other users of the highway by reason of a skidding bus, as to which it was conceivable that they might be deemed a nuisance, they were Rot in the position of insurers of their own passengers. juoginent was then entered for the defendant company, but a six weeks' stay of execution was granted.
A New Syndicate.
The Mexborough Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, was registered on the sth instant, with an authorised capital of .4.-,i,000 divided into .4f,5 shares, by Jordan and Sons, Limited, of Chancery Lane, W.C.
Lessened Competition.
Some recent notifications under our regular heading of "The traffic department " indicate the beginning of the adjustment of London services to reduce the number of "opposition roads." This likely reduction of competition is a promising feature in the scheme of the great arnalg-amation, although there are, at the present moment, sutndent motorbuses outside the control of the London General Omnibus Company to give rise to a considerable amount of fare-cutting. It remains to be seen whether several unembracecl companies will be left to. go their own way, or whether the London General will attempt to run them off the streets.
Earnings in Relation to Capitals
The following brief summary, ex figures which appear from week to week in our table of shares and traffics for Greater London,and to which subject we made a short reference in our issue of the 25th June, is not without interest, although it must be remembered that the percentages of yearly revenue in relation to capital issued do not lead one to any final conclusion. The relation of working expenses to revenue is a factor of at least equal inportance. Undertaking. Percent.
London General •-• 75
London Road Car .,. ... 56
Vanguard Motorbus .o 39 Baker Street and Waterloo Tube ••.
L.C.C. Tramways ...
Great Northern and Piccadilly Tube ... ... 20 London United Tramways ... 8 Central London Railway ... 8 Metropolitan Railway City and South London Ry. 5.1 Metropolitan-District Ry. Charing Cross and Euston Ry. 4 Great Northern and City Ry. 4
It requires no great thought or deep knowledge of ordinary trading methods to recognise from the above figures the great possibilities that lie in the immediate future of the street traffic dealt with by the Omnibus Companies. Un. like the majority of their competitors, they " have got their business together." It remains to turn it into one of profit, and this proposition, though not easy, does not now present all the old difficulties, to those familiar with the subject, at least, not by any means such as confront the remaining companies which have the added and more onerous task of getting further holds on the business before they can attempt to deal with the profit side.
The Traffic Department.
The following change of route took place in London on the loth instant : UNION JACK.—Service " K," which recently only served the road between Tulse Hill and Oxford Circus, has been extended to Ha7mnersmith, via Marble Arch and Notting Hill Gate.
Conflicting Views.
Mr. B. Straus, M.P., as we have already noted, is of opinion that all vehicles should be limited, as to. speed, to to miles an hour, in " populous places," and he considers himself commissioned by his constituents to clamour for a decree of the land, that such a limit should he imposed. The ill-informed meeting, which was held recently at the Mansion House, expressed itself in favour of the reduction of the speed of motor vehicles. Sir Clifton Robinson, addressing the Congress of the Tramways and Light Railways Association, on the 9th ultimo, at the
Franco-British Exhibition, said that London still lagged behind other great cities of the world in the matter of tramway service. He expressed his opinion that the tramcars in London are not allowed to travel fast enough, and that traffic could be handled more successfully were the licensing restrictions regarding passengers amended. Yet, tramcars are legally entitled to 16 miles an hour in very many streets of the Metropolis, to which subject we referred on page 466 of this volume.
New Brooms Wanted.
The leading article in our issue of the 31st ultimo, which dealt with the amalgamation of the principal omnibus companies, cannot be said to have erred on the side of optimism, but, from othei reliable information to hand, the remarks contained therein are by no means too strenuous, from the fact that the directorate does not yet seem to realise or appreciate the fact that, to redeem some of the terrific losses and to ensure future dividends, let alone the earning of its debenture interest, vastly different methods than those which have recently obtained are required. The sooner it is assimilated that successful operating is now a science of mechanics and method, and that, however venerable or profound the, members of the old regime may be, old customs are entirely out of place in the new arrangement the better. It must result fatally, if positions of responsibility are not filled by men of keen intelligence and high administrative capacity. The days of the " Busser " passed with the advent of motors; they had a long and successful career, and should now be relegated to the things of the past ! Graceful retirement is not a bad golden bridge sometimes.
Good Conduct Bonuses.
Mr. R. B. Goodyer, Manager of the Cardiff Tramways Company, Limited, informs us that his company has, for some time past, been giving each of its motorbus drivers and conductors a small bonus for general good conduct and absence of accidents. Mr. Goodyer believes that this practice is thoroughly appreciated by the men, and that it has beneficial result's all round.