The Motor Omnibus World.
Page 7
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Now that we have a Moderate majority in the London County Council, interesting disclosures in connection with the finance of the electric tramways may be expected.
Our further references to the accounts of the London Road Car Company, Limited, and of the London General Omnibus Company, Limited, are unavoidably held over owing to the pressure on our space this week in connection with the Olympia Show.
" New A.B.C. Buses, Limited," is the title of a company which has been protected by registration with a nomi
nal capital of ,4,-too in shares. Bread and tobacco are, evidently, not to hold the field under the simple designation of the first three letters of the alphabet.
A movement to retain the advantages of motorbuses for certain parts of Torquay has been completed, and two Chelmsford steam omnibuses have been purchased from the Vale of Llangollen Bus Company. Mr. W. Eliot Thomas will be Secretary of the new company, of which the directors will include Messrs. W. W. Cox (Chairman), A. Backhouse, C. Hutchings, J. S. Carter, and Levi Powell. It is principally due to the efforts of the last-narneu gentleman that the capital of the new company has been secured.
The Willesden local authority is recognising the importance of motorbus traffic. At the meeting of the District Council last week, the Works Committee reported that the Kensal Rise Ratepayers' Association had complained of the condition of Han'ist Road, and had suggested that it be repaired. The traffic manager of the Motor Omnibus Company has, however, acknowledged that the road is one of the best on the company's routes, and the association are to be informed by the committee of this expression of opinion.
The plea that side-slip is due to the " act of God " was raised by the London Road Car Company in a case last week when it was defending a claim for damages to a cab-driver. The Lord Chief Justice did not admit the plea, and the jury gave the cab-driver a verdict for 5no. How these enormous payments by way of compensation are to be reconciled with a tendency to reduce fares, is beyond our comprehension, unless it is that the London General Omnibus Company and its allies intend to wear down the newer groups by sheer weight of metal, no matter at what immediate financial loss. Mr. Samuel Wheeler, chairman of the Motor Bus Company, Limited, has been elected chairman of the New " Vanguard " Omnibus Company, Limited.
A service of Dennis motor chars-abanes will be started early in the coming summer in the Colwyn Bay district. Three vehicles were ordered at the Olympia Show on Friday last, the order being placed by Messrs. D. Jones and Company, Carlton Motor and Cycle Works, Colwvn Bay, N. -Wales.
Mr. Frank James Field, who is quickly falling into his new duties with the Dunlop Rubber Company, Limited, must be added to the list of operating engineers who have entered upon the commercial side of the business. We announced Mr. Field's appointment in our issue of the 24th January, about which date he retired from his position as engineer to the London and District Motorbus Company, Limited ("Arrow" services). Mr. Field served his time with Messrs. James Simpson and Sons, of Pimlico, and was subsequently with Messrs. Hathorn, of Broad Street, E.G., until he joined the staff of the City of London Electric Light Company, Limited, in 1891. After 74 years' training and experience in mechanical and general engineering, he had close upon 14 years' experience in positions of direct responsibility with the electric light company named, and as chief engineer of the St. James's and Pall Mall Electric Light Company, Limited. He is now with Messrs. H. and W. Greer, Limited, the sole London representatives of the Dunlop Rubber Cornpany, Limited, and we wish him all success in his duties as general technical adviser and manager of the solidrubber tire department.
The extension of the halfpenny fares throughout the various services in the north and north-east of London, as forecasted in our issue of last week, on the part of the proprietors of the older London omnibus companies, is carrying the war into the enemy's camp with a vengeance. This fare-cutting is outward evidence of the internecine strife between the rival groups of companies which was forecasted in our Editorial of the t4th December, 1905, entitled "The premier omnibus company."
Is there going to be a motorbus cornpetition at Torquay? The Town Council, at its last meeting, decided that it would be prepared to grant the necessary licenses to the Cirencester Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, and this may mean a second operating company in the town. In that event, we hope the management will arrange to serve different routes.
"The Morning Leader " reports the following amazing statements by a witness in a motorbus case at the Shoreditch County Court on the 5th in-. stant :— " It went by me like a flash of greased lightning. (Laughter.) One might have thought the world was coming to an end the way it flew along, puffing, snorting, and groaning in a cloud of dust. (Laughter.) These motors knock people down first, run over them, and then the driver comes back and asks what you mean by cauSing an obstruction." (Loud laughter.) " His Honour : If it was travelling at 25 miles an hour how long did it take to pull the bus up?
" Witness : I should think it must have been at least three yards. (Laughter.)"
An outside firm of brokers is endeavouring to push the sale of the Gearless Motor Omnibus Company's deferred shares of is. each. It has issued a circular from which we cull the following
paragraphs :—" . . a patented system known as the Gearless or Auto-inixte,' and is considered by experts to be the 'last word ' in motor traction. The system is a combination of petrol and electricity A bus in every way superior to those at present in use . . . practically noiseless, without smell and lighted throughout with electricity. We have a limited number of the deferred shares for sale at 28. 3d. per share net. . . The is. deferred shares of the Motorcab Company, Limited, are now selling at ,L-6 per share." The circular, also, makes use of the names of Mr. E. Manville and the Daimler Motor Company, Limited, in a manlier which ignores the smallest consideration of etiquette. Who is at the back of this unseemly effort to find a market for his holding of deferred shares in a company which has yet to make its way, and why is such a man allowed to drag honoured names into touting circulars? The proceeding should be stopped in the company's interests.