News and Comment.
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An important announcement b) business department appears on page 176 of this issue.
We firmly believe that the day is past and gone w hen members of an important industry will judge otherwise than intelligently as between disclosure and silence in reference to circulation.
It ;s our privilege to share with Col. R. E. Crompion, C. B. the duty ot informing the Royal Commission on the Motor Car Acts upon the commercial motor position. We are to be heard at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday next. Members of the Tramway and Light Railway Association will pay an official visit to the Olympia Show on Tuesday. They will meet at the main entrance at noon. and will proceed to examine the motor omnibus and other exhibits.
Pickford's, Limited, has placed a further order for four 5-ton stealn wagons with Messrs. E. S. HindIcy and Son, of Bourton, Dorset, and Queen Victoria Street, E.C. One of
these new vehicles will be exhibited, by consent of the purchasers, who are well satisfied with the performance of the six Hindlev wagons now in use, at the Smithfield Show.
Congratulations to Mr. J. D. Siddeley on his first article in the " Times Engineering Supplement." Mr. Siddeley, as might be expected front one of so wide experience, writes very strongly in favour of the commercial motor. He says inter cilia-The motor van has probably greater possibilities in front of it than any other branch of the automobi,e trade. . . . As to what the future will produce in this way it is only possible to speculate. It is to-day, however, quite certain that for delivering goods a distance of, say, 31) miles out of town the motor van can do the work in a more economical manner than the horse-drawn vehicle. A most interesting development in prospect is a joint method of delivery—using the motor van for carrying substantial loads to long distances, and a further distribution by horses at the end of that journey."
This number is the first special issue in connection with the Olympia Show.
Three special numbers in succession is the most we have vet undertaken. " No. 37," to be published a week today, will be the second Olympia issue (with the Editor's stand-to-stand report), and " No. 38," a week later, will as regards some two thousand or more copies--contain our Japanese Supplement, printed entirely in the Japanese language. The foregoing issues will complete ten of that nature in little more than eight months. We may usefully, as a reference, give a list, and the dates of publication--" Indian and Colonill Supplement " (March 23rd); " The Brewing Industry " (April t3th); " Laundry and Allied Trades " (May Iith); "The Milling and Flour-Dealing Trades " (June 8th); "Motor Omnibuses and Public Service Vehicles" July 6th); " Market Gardeners' and I,ruit Growers' Motors" (August 31st); " The Middleman's Number " (October 12th). All but the Indian and Colonial and the Japanese supplements form part of the orciinary is31.1('S for the Oates quoted : it will be de tected in every issue that the is to give effect to accumulated testimony from users. The Agricultural Organisation Society, of Dacre House, nacre Street, Westminster, S.W., has issued a condensed report of its operations from July ist to September 3oth of this year. Four new societies have been registered--viz., the Mid-Cheshire Farmers' Co-operative Society, Ltd. (tinutsford, Cheshire); the Hereford Co-operative Fruit-grading Society, Ltd.; the Cotswold Farmers' Association, Ltd., (Northleach, Gloucestershire); and the Whissonsette Small Holders' Credit Soc:ety ((Norfolk). In addition, societies are likely to be formed at Waterbeach (Cambs.), Abingdon or Faringdon (Berkshire), Long Marston (Gloucestershire), Wragby (Lincolnshire). Skegness (Lincolnshire), floniton (Devonshire), Bala (Merionethshire), Lartington (York
Motor Union, Annual Dinner : Trocadero Hessen rent,7.811 p.m. 51.0.1tbig.: Meeting of mom. bet's at Olympia, 4-6 p.m. A.C.O.R. and 1., Annual Dinner: lintel Cecil, 8 p.m.
Soc. M.O. Eng.: Council and general meetings. Motor Union: Gen. Committee, 5 p.m.
International Joint Committee of the motor industry meets in Paris.
German A.C. Exhibition at 15e rlin.
shire), Padiham t.Lancashire), Walkden (Lancashire). The progress of the movement to form an Agricultural Co-operative Federation, in accordance with a resolution passed at the annual meeting of the society held on Allay 31st last, has advanced so far that the rules and application forms are now ia the hands of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies. It is pointed out, in reference to the Teme Valley motor service, which is carried on by a 5-ton Yorkshire steam wagon belonging to the Great Western Railway Company, that the traffic has greatly exceeded the expectations of the promoters, and that the service has already proved of very considerable benefit to the farmers of the district. This service has been extended beyond Stamford Bridge to Clifton-onTerne. Mr. J. Nugent Harris, the secretary of the society, will be pleased to afford particulars of the society's work to any interested persons.
At a recent sitting of the Implements Department of the German Agricultural Society, Captain Oschmann, of the Prussian War Office, reported on the recent motor van trials in the Harz district. These really resolved themselves into a competition between the Daimler Company and the N.A.G., as, save the Niesky firm, which entered a single van, no other maker had thought fit to participate. Captain Oschniann circumstantially described the stages of the trials, which began on September 25th. The lengths and gradients of the various sections were accurately known. He was in a position to compare the work of the motors with that of horse-drawn vehicles, and stated that, with maximum working, the ton-kilometre for the former cost a.75d. as against 1.875d. for the latter. But, if the maximum work could not be obtained from the motors, their working cost would be somewhat higher than that of the horse-drawn vehicles. The Prussian technical expert's unbiassed report agrees, in this respect, with an observation in our introduction to the forecast of the Olympia Show (page 758 ante), where we wrote : " Let it be admitted, at once, that a motor will not prove cheaper than horse haulage under all conditions of delivery and use. To advance a claim of that nature would be to court effective denial." In absolute work performed, however, the motors under trial showed an advantage of 3 or 4 to i over horse haulage. Generally speaking, said the Captain, the N.A.G.'s goods train had proved the most effective type, and the same company's other vehicles were also thoroughly practical constructions. The Nieskv works hail made an honest attempt to compete with the rest, but in one or two points their make was a failure. As regards Class I., no definite decision had as yet. been arrived at ; the trials were being continued in Miinchenhof, and the Kaiserpreis could not be awarded until they had terminated. A report of these trials would be forthcomingin due course.
At the last meeting of the Alston-1°Ni Technis-ehe Gesellschaft, in Berlin, the recent van and omnibus trials formed the topic of discussion. In the first place the velographs fixed on the vehicles had proved entirely unreliable, owing mainly to the sensibility of the flexible stem, which could not be remedied by a protective tube. It was of the utmost importance that the vulograph should be perfected in view of its registrations having hem produced in many cases as evidence in courts of law. Most members also hold the hard rubber tyre, as at present attached, to be unpractical and far too costly. Iron-shod vans, designated " houe-shakers," had run very smoothly, but iron tyres did not enioy a particularly long life. Better results were expected from a new wooden construction. On the basis of the controllers' reports. the meeting appointed a committee, under the chairmanship of Director Zeisig, for the purpose of working out co-efficients for the future guidance of controllers in analogous trials, the chief points turning on the measurement of oil, benzine and water. In this respect, it was suggested that each fluid should have its own controller. The method of supplying combustible materials, the sleeping accommodation for the competitors, and the inadequate maps, came in for criticism. Local cycle clubs might be utilised to make good the cartographical deficiency. 'Opinions were divided on the question of speed : some members advocated normal speeds for certain categories, whilst others maintained that greater speeds should be regarded as factors to be taken into consideration by the judges. The pace of the Gaggenau omnibus, which travelled on an average at 26 kilometres an hour, was criticised as dangerous in practice for passengers' lives and limbs. Captain Davids proposed the organisation
of a special omnibus competition, with living ballast instead of dead weights.
A conference took place on Monday afternoon, at the (offices of the Soc. M.O. Eng., on the subject of lubrication, when the chair was taken by Mr. F. C. A. Coventry. The attendance included Messrs. R. Bell, P. Frost Smith, Walter Willcox, R. B. B. Newton, J. Veitch Wilson, Henry Spurner, junr., and L. R. L. Squire. The preliminaries for a valuable series of investigations were discussed, and the meeting was adjourned for a month. The lvel agricultural motor continues its successful records. For the third year in succession, one of these useful tractors competed at the North Kent Agricultural Association's ploughing match, early in the month, when it was again awarded the association's gold medal. No less than eeo horse-drawn ploughs competed, but the lvel motor did the work of six horses with a three-furrow plough on very stiff land.
Fodens' Limited, received the following orders for the week ending the 4th instant :—One 5-ton wagon each for S. K. Keyes, Daren Flour Mills, Dartford, and Messrs. C. J. Hambro and Son, 70, Old Broad Street, E.C. and two 5-ton wagans for Messrs. C. H. King and Co., 9, Brunswick Street, Liverpool. The last-named vehicles are to carry grain front the Manchester Ship Canal Docks to a corn mill at Stockport. The General Purposes Committee of Paddington Borough Council has reported that, in March last, the Town Clerk was instructed to serve notices upon the persons and firms using heavy locomotives in the borough, calling upon them Lo abate the nuisance occasioned. The notices were served as directed, but without result, and the matter was referred to the board's solicitor. That gentleman had now written to the effect that, after closely looking into the law on the subject, he was wholly unable to suggest any course that could be taken by the council, provided that there was no departure from the statutory requirements with respect to locomotives on highways; that it did not appear, from the complaints submitted to him, that any such departure had taken place; and that, in his opinion, until some bye-laws were made under Section 6 of the Locomotives Act, 1898, and approved by the Local Government Board, the borough council was powerless. The committee, after considering the foregoing, had decided in favour of copies of the cornplaints received being forwarded to the London County Council. and that that body he urged to make such bye-laws as might be necessary to deal with the nuisance. The Motor Union is carrying forward arrangements for the appointment of arbitrators 10 deal with motor disputes of all kinds.
A sub-committee of the Staffordshire County Council has reported that very slight damage has been done to the roads in that county by traction engine and motor wagon traffic. Two first prizes have been awarded to the Neuc Automobil Gesellschaft for the excellent performances of the N.A.G. vehicles in the recent trials organised by the German Agricultural Society.
The first annual general meeting of Argyll Motors, Ltd., was held in Glasgow on the ioth instant, when Mr. William Alexander Smith took the chair. Mr. Smith stated, in the course ot his speech moving the adoption of the report, that the company had something like s4;300,000 worth of work absolutely on the booes, and that they had yet to receive the benefit from the new works at Alexandria.
The Motor Union dinner will he held at the Trocadero Restaurant on Wednesday next, the 22nd instant, and all members of the Motor Van and Wagon Users' Association are eligible to be present. The price of tickets, exclusive of wine, is 6s. each, and instructions should immediately be sent, together with remittances, to Mr. W. Rees Jeffreys, 16, Down Street, W. Any member of the Motor Van and Wagon Users' Association who has not yet received his card of membership for the Motor Union should address a request to Mr. Jeffreys for one, as these tickets give free admission to the Olympia Show on the 22nd inst. The Steel Bsrrei Company, of Uxbridge, Middlesex, has for some time past included in its work the improving of facilities for transporting petroleum spirit. This company has large contracts for supplies to H.M. Government, the Government of India, and other official purchasers, and the high-class quality of its packages renders them particularly suitable for the conveyance of petrol. The joints are made by a special system of electric welding, which results in a thoroughly safe vessel. The Steel Barrel Company's packages are extensively used for acetone, benzine, bisulphide of carbon, sulphuric acid, etc., etc. All who are interested in the conveyance of liquids which do not easily lend themselves to storage or transport in ordinary packages, or who require electric welding to be done in connection with any work, should not fail to apply to the Uxbridge company.
An International Automobile Exhibition will be held in Berlin, from February 3rd to i8th, under the management of an executive committee consisting of thirteen members of the German A.C., whose secretary, Baron Brandenstein (Berlin, W., Leipzig,er Platz, 16), will let space at 305. a square metre. That a section is to be devoted to commercial
motors need hardly be stated; an exhibition without this class of vehicle would but poorly represent the motor in dustry. It may be assumed that makers of commercial motors purpose patronising the Berlin Exhibition more liberally than the recent Frankfort Show, where only a dozen took space. We also trust that the executive committee will not follow the had example of the Frankfort officials
and create a monopoly in the matter of photographs. At Frankfort the monopolist coolly transferred his monopoly to a couple of German weeklies by binding himself to work for them and no others during the first two daysl
We are reluctantly compelled to hold over the proceedings of the Society ot Motor Omnibus Engineers. British manufacturers are reminded of the Milan Exhibition, which will be opened on April ist, 1906, under the patronage of the King of Italy.
The British Empire Motor I rades Alliance, Ltd., has received an enquiry from New Lealand for the names and addresses of British ;inns who manufacture motors foe railway trolley cars. The gauge is 3 feet 6 inches, and the heaviest gradient i in 40.
The following report to the Durham County Council by Mr. B. Scott Elder, chief inspector of the council's weights.
and measures department, which was received at the quar terly meeting held last week, will be perused with interest :— " The County Council at their last meeting, on the recommendation of the works committee, resolved to delegate the practical administration of the Motor Car Act, 1903, and
orders and regulations of the Local Government Board, thereunder to this department. ln pursuance of that resolu
tion I beg to report that under the Heavy Motor Car Order, 1934, eleven motors have been registered up to this date, one application stands adjourned pending alterations of the wheels, and seven other applications have been received and. will be attended to in due course.
" The majority of the car weights have been grossly under-stated in previous registrations as the following tablewill clearly show :— " It is quite evident that the county has been losing sonic hundreds of pounds in licenses through this understating of 'o eight, as cars with a declared weight above three tons (or with a trailer four tons) were required to pay an annual license of Lio, whereas if the weight was declared under. thcse limits, no license whatever was paid, but only a small registration fee.
" On my examination of cars I found that one had been supplied with new wheels to comply with the order, but that was quite the exception. One owner actually certified the'
tyres of his car to be sin. wide, and after I had travelled, over 30 miles to examine the car I found the width to be little more than 4in., and I therefore declined to certify the car for registration. 1n one case the axle-weights were altogether too great, and out of proportion to the size of the
wheels, and on my refusal to certify the car the owners applied to have it licensed as a locomotive, paying the ,;so. annual license. An owner of a car which had previously
been registered as weighing 2 ton 18cwi., applied for re registration after six months grace had expired, giving the, weight of his car as 6 ton iscwt. As that is too heavy under
the order the owner has been informed that the car cannot he used except as a locomotive with the Lb ° license, unless. it can be altered to conform with the order.
" Several owners of heavy motors registered prior to the' issuing of the order have not up to the present made appli cation for the re-registration, and I have thought it advis
able to communicate direct with each of them. I have, of course, been unable to do much by inspections under Article.
XII, but on one occasion I found an unregistered car in fringing very seriously by its exceptionally narrows tyres. It belonged to owners in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and on receiving a statement from the local authority for that district I instituted proceedings against the owners and the. case is pending.
" The main object of the Heavy Motor Car Order is to. secure that the diameter of the wheels and the width and construction of the tyres shall be in proper proportion to theload carried, and (what seems more important in the light of recent examinations) that these particulars shall be duly verified and certified by a responsible officer."