News and Comment
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This journal has an exclusive, genuine and maintained circulation : members of its Editorial staff have practical experience and knowledge of the construction and use of commercial motors.
A fortnight hence—" The Motorcab Special." Order early.
Readers of this journal are. invited to supplement our lists of country hotels for the receipt of this number, and we shall appreciate further advices of names of likely buyers for station purposes.
S.M.M.T.
The business for the annual general meeting of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, called for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the 15th instant, inchided the reception of the Society's sixth annual report. We are interested to note the references, in course of others to the work of the Commercial Vehicle Section, to the steps which resulted in the Society's settling the terms upon which members might give demonstration and other trials to prospective users, on which subject this journal spoke out in no uncertain manner.
Darracq Business.
The rumour that M. Darracq, the managing director of A. Darracq and Company (to), Limited, intended to resign from the company at the end of September next, is inaccurate and without foundation. The secretary of the company, in a circular dated the loth instant, attributes this rumour to the action of a competitor, points out that Mr. Darracq's present agreement does not expire until the 3oth September, two, and states that M. Darracq has neither the desire nor the intention to alter his relations with the company in any case. 1.Ve are interested to note that the company's sales show an increase of Zwo,000 to date, as compared with the corresponding period of 1907, and we have already recorded the fact that the company has received extensive orders for Darracq motorcabs from the principal capitals of the world.
Novel Advertising.
A new company is about to undertake the supply of motorvans which will display mechanical and illuminated advertisements. "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR" has, for more than three years, periodically directed attention to the scope here offered, and our issue of the 13th April, 1905, contained an illustrated description of such a van with provision for revolving advertisements mounted on
rollers. Goods and parcels can, of course, be carried at the same time, as very little cubic space is occupied by the special mechanism. Certain estimates of revenue in connection with the contemplated scheme will, however, require very drastic overhauling, as the suggestion is that each van will show a net profit of more than ZI,250 per annum, and we seriously doubt if the total of 500 vans named can be usefully brought into service this way for many years to come. The project, none the less, has much to commend it, and we think it ought to succeed on more conservative lines than those which are now in draft form.
The G.P.O. recently decided to substitute motors for horsed coaches for the conveyance of the Chatham mail. The service will begin in June.
"J. and B." Vehicles.
James and Browne, Limited, of Westcroft Works, King Street, Hammersmith advises us that the arrangement under which the Lacre Motor Car Company, Limited, was sole concessionnaire for its " J. and B." and " Vertex. " vehicles has been terminated by mutual agreement. Any enquiries for " J. and B." vans or lorries shauld now be addressed to Hammersmith,
New Zealand Topics.
Straker-Squire steam wagons are doing excellent service for the NEW Zealand Government in conveying coal. This mineral is sold on socialistic lines, and the wagons hear the words " State Coal " in big letters. The Christchurch City Council has recently purchased a Mann steam wagon, which is giving every satisfaction.
On the petrol side, Messrs. G. H. Grapes and Company have taken up the Halley agency.
Orders Pressing.
A Luton correspondent informs us that Commercial (Tars, Limited, has recently put on a night shift at its Luton works, this step being due to the pressure under which the company now finds itself in order to give deliver. We congratulate the managing director, Mr, Julian A, Halford, upon the success which has attended his efforts on the sales side, whilst it must he very gratifying to all the dire::tors to know that the works are in a position to turn out good machines rapidly, deinand having recently come to a head in several directions.
Berlin's Motorcabs.
Renault motorcabs have just appeared on the Berlin streets. a hey conform in type with those familiar to the London and Paris public.
Lights on Vehicles.
The Secretary of the Commercial. Motor Users' Association, Mr. W. Rees Jeffreys, 1, Albemarle Street, W., will. be glad to hear from any owners of commercial motors whose drivers experience trouble on the road through the absence of lights upon other vehicles. The C.M.U.A., in conjunction with the Motor Union, is prepared to Lake suitable steps to assist its members in enforcing the provisions.of the Lights on Vehicles Act, 1907.
Paraffin as Fuel.
Users of paraffin as the fuel for internal-combustion engines, as well as. the effective means to that end, increase daily, The Davis carburetter, which we described and illustrated last week,. represents the outcome of an inventor's. patient investigations, and we are glad to know that both uniform combustion. and economy of consumption are now assured by the use of this device. We doubt if it is necessary, as has so far been the practice of Mr. Davis, to pass. the whole of the exhaust gases round his vaporising chamber, but there is. obviously no difficulty in fitting the carburetter so that part only of the gases. are thus employed. The price ranges from 4;6 upwards, that for a 20 to3oh,p. engine being
The Moscow Show: Where are the British Makers?
British makers are not troubling themselves much about the Moscow Motor Show, which is to be opened in May, Messrs. Alldays and Onions being, apparently, the sole representatives of the British automobile industry. On the other hand, several German firms have secured space. Benz, theN.A.G., and the Gaggenau works form a group in the central area, the N.A.G.. having a special stand for industrial vehicles. Hard by this group are the Durkopp stands for cars and commer-• eial vehicles respectively, whilst the Marienfelde branch of the Daimler Gesellschaft occupies a commanding position near the entrance of the hall. BUssIng, too, has taken two stands for lorries and omnibuses. The "Protos,". " Argus," and " Loreley " works complete the German contingent. Some score of French firms are also on the scene, so that the -fight for the Russian market rests between France and Germany, although, perhaps, as French makers specialise rather in cars and the German firms mentioned are strong in the province of commercial. vehicles, the two countries will temporarily divide the market between them, each in her own special line.
The Muscovites, exhibition hall is ever 54o feet long and 147 feet high.— F rOin our Berlin Correspondent.
Sirdar Tires.
The growth of the Sirdar Rubb€r Company, Limited, whose head office is at 34, Baker Street, NV., has been very rapid, for Mr. J. M. MacTnlich, its managing director, had no great volume of motor business to engage his attention a few years ago. The company now has large mills at Bradford-on-Avon, and depots in various parts of the country, for the supply of both pneumatic and solid tires, and the undertaking of repairs, whilst it enjoys a unique position as Royal Warrant Holder by special appointment to the King. This company's tires continue 70 he largely used by owners of motor'tins, motorcabs, and other vehicles.
A Recovery.
The half-yearly report of the directors )f Willans and Robinson, Limited, is Pleasant reading, in comparison with he reports of the preceding few years, Ind we heartily congratulate the direc:ors upon the recovery there outlined. Die net profit for the half year ended he 3ist December last is -.422,946 in .espert of the Rugby works, whilst here is a loss of ,1:3,128 in respect of he Queen's Ferry works. After bringng in 42,7o8, the profit for the halt 'ear is L:22 , 52 6. Out of this balance, ifter electing various charges, the irectors recommended the payment of dividend at the rate of 6 per cent. per .nnum upon the preference shares, aborbing .-710,000, and a dividend at the ate of up per cent, per annum upon he ordinary shares, absorbing .L3,333. .77,443 was carried forward.
The healthy position of the company lay be further gathered from the kitwing extracts from the balance sheet : ash at bankers and in hand, ,4713,795; undry debtors, ,-180,798; work in proL.4.4,854; and materials and tones, L74,747. Sundry creditors mount to only £446o4. Sir Gilbert Clayton Fast, Bart., retires from the oard, and Mr. G. F. L. Clayton East,
at present the general manager of the Queen's Ferry works, succeeds to the vacancy which thus arises.
Unbottomed Roads.
The serious bearing of weak roads upon the internal trade of this country has again been exemplified. Last %;.(-!ek, at the Tunstall County Court, the Kidsgroye Urban District Council raised an action to recover ;6250 for alleged extraordinary traffic upon a mile length length of the Turnhurst road, and the Council was given Llso damages, against the Harriseithead Colliery Company, Limited, of Tunstall. It appears that the portions of the road in question were originally in had repair, and that they had not proper foundations, although they had been able to withstand the same company's horse traffic in the year rocs, when a larger quantity of coal was carted that way. Two steam wagons had conveyed a total of s,000, tons of coal, in loads of from 4.3 to s LOrts at a time, along this road, which evidently had a notoriously had surface,_ in addition to its being very weak.
In giving judgment, His Honour.
Judge Ruegg,, remarked upon the fact that these two steam wagons were the only ones in the district, anti that there appeared little likelihood of their becoming the ordinary traffic of the neighbourhood; he recommended the owners to enter into some arrangement with the local authority.
We are sorry to see that Staffordshireshould lag so much behind other counties, not a few of which are encouraging and catering for motor-wagon traffic by all means ill their power_ The defendant company, in the abovecase, was at a great disadvantage in being an isolated user, for it is of extremely rare occurrence that evidencecannot be brought to show that other motor-wagon or traction-engine traffichas been along any particular road._ We regard the circumstances of this case as exceptionally unfavourable from the motor standpoint, though the hulk of decisions is against Judge Rueg,g. lo regard to how rapidly so-called extraordinary traffic may legally become ordinary traffic, in which connection we would again direct the attention of any interested parties to the finding of the Ford Chief Justice, in a recent appeal case, as reported on page 98 of our issue of the znd instant. We observe. that no prtyper expert evidence appears to have been called for the defence, according to reports to. hand, but we hope it is not too late for an appeal to be lodged.
Crowded Out.
Pressure on our space necessitates the. holding over of the C.M.U.A. proceedings, some letters from correspondents, and further views of exhibitors at Olympia : these will appear next week.
Unfortunately, too, Mr. Henry Sturmey's article has been crowded out_
More "Sunlight Soap" Orders.
The Star Engineering Company, of 'Frederick Street, Wolverhampton, has :received an order from Lever Brothers, Limited, of Port Sunlight, for to of its
two-cylinder delivery vans, one of -which we illustrate on this page. This type of van will be used for loads of from 12 cwt. to 15 cwt., and is priced,
• complete, at 325. One of these vans has been in use by Lever Brothers, .Limited, for some time.
Motor Road Rolling.
The use of Messrs. Barford and Perlzins' heavier patterns of motor roller .appear likely to increase amongst local .authorities, this special product of the works at Queen Street, Peterborough, finding increasing favour with users of rollers. These machines are cornImctly built and extremely handy, whilst the driver is in a splendid position to watch the path of the rollers, in addition to. which they possess the peculiar inerit of not giving offence to horses. The illustration on page 193 is of a group of visitors to a road at Battersea, • during the course of rolling operations with one of the " E-size" rollers. This particular roller has a fully-laden weight of5:1 tons, in which condition some 1,650 gallons of water are in the 'back roller, which is a single drum, and
but 17 cwt. of the load is upon that roller, in order to give the machine a light head for mounting obstacles. On the other hand, owing to its smaller diameter, the front roller is very effective in laying any material over which it is driven, whilst its track is absorbed by the larger roller, which is 4 feet wide. The price of the machine, complete with canopy and extra watering tank, is Jo; it consumes only half a gallon of paraffin per hour, so that its working cost is exceedingly low, and -there is no occasion to lead either fuel or water to it during the day. Apropos the use of slag tar macadam, with which class of surface son-le so streets in Battersea are now made up, the Borough Surveyor, Mr. T. W. Hayward, A. M.1. C. E., M.I.Mech.E., has inf.rined us that his experience shows that this class of material is as cheap as the best granite, thickness for thickness. The slag tar macadam takes very much less labour in rolling and sweeping, and the avoidance of such " extras " practically pays for the extra cost of the tarred material, whilst there can be no comparison between the lives of the two. The Battersea practice is to make up the roads with slag tar macadam, the thickness varying from 2& inches to 4 inches, and the average cost is 35. per superficial yard. One very important factor, from the hygienic standpoint, is the marked diminution of infantile mortality which has resulted from the use of such material, for which reason the Battersea
Council is extending it into what ma be termed its back streets. We have i our possession, although we are unabl to reprint it, a most interesting repoi on this subject from the Medical Offic( of Health for Battersea.
Free Blotters.
The Steel Barrel Company, Lirnitet of Uxbridge, has sent to this office blotting pad on which many of th specialities of its manufacture are Mu: ti-rued. We understand that the con pany will he pleased th send one of the: blotters to anybody who cares to writ to the above address.
The " Gate " at Olympia.
Our leading article of last week, c the above subject, has given rise I much discussion, but we find., .gene ally, that our arguments and views at heartily endorsed in influential qua ters. We suggested, in the same issu, that the S.M.M.T, might well have conference of all members of the con mercial vehicle trade, in order that full discussion might take place an ti present circumstances in which ,th branch of the industry finds itself iN flatter what the facts are, they has to be faced, and the extraordinarily ii adequate return which the Society ar the Trade have received for their coo in tins outlay upon the recent OlymiS Slimy, and for the expenditure of mud valuable time in discussions upon best methods of advertising and oth, procedure, calls for prompt action, ar a drastic revision of to-day's policy. W. repeat our statement that "touch with buyers must be hastened, and r questions of precedent from the privat car side of the trade can be allowed, fi mere technical reasons, to restra members of the industry. They ha, now to sink or swim, according to the haying the necessary freedom to act their own judgment in certain matter In our view, the Society should mov six months ahead of the Show date in order to secure the attendance municipal and trade deputations, unle it is prepared to see its Commerci Vehicle exhibition dissolved. Furth, and strenuous efforts are needed.