Utility Motors in France.
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From our Correspondent in Paris.
The Bourges Exhibition.
Six distinct classes are provided, for the motors and agricultural machinery operated by motors, at the first international exhibition to open at Bourges on the 24th instant. They comprise stationary internal-combustion motors, portable motors, locomobile power plants, agricultural machines operated by means of explosion and other motors, various types of tractors capable of being used for farm work, and agricultural machines operated or towed by means of automobile tractors. A special class is reserved for motor vehicles that can readily be converted into locomobiles. The competitions will take place on the 28th and 29th, from 8 a.m. to noon of each day for reapers and ploughs, and during the afternoon for all other types of machines. The opening of the exhibition is fixed for two o'clock, on Thursday, the 24th, and during the Sunday various sporting events will take place ; the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be given up to various competitions; on Thursday, the :Est October, there will be a competition for fire engines; on Saturday a banquet and distribution of prizes ; and on Sunday the 4th October, various fetes and the closing ceremony.
At the Grand Manoeuvres.
The annual French army manceuvres, in which the commercial motor is playing a more important role than usual, are now in full swing in the district around Tours, Bourges, Chateauroux and Lochrts. In response to the request of the Minister of War, about so vehicles of all classes have been supplied by French manufacturers, on the modest basis of remuneration of one franc per day per horse-power, fuel and oil being provided by the authorities.
Vierzon has been selected as the headquarters of the army corps, with which the motor vehicles are connected, and a large hall in that town (belonging to the Societe Franeaise de Material Agricole et Industriel) has been converted into a perfect closed garage : being about too yards only from the railway station, it is one of the most desirable headquarters that could be imagined. The work of the army transport vehicles is to start from Vierzon, at daybreak every morning, with provisions for the eighth and ninth army corps, discharge -them at various. points 30 to 40 miles away, and return to headquarters in the evening, and there to load up in readiness for a similar journey the next day. Operations started on the 7th instant, when the few vehicles owned by the army, and the larger number loaned for the manctuvres, met at Vierzon and were tested with a view of forming themint.() convoys. On the 8th instant, all vehicles were loaded up, and, on the following day, the first journey was made.
Each convoy consists of a number of vehicles of about the same power and speed, in order that they may be grouped sufficientlyclose together to guarantee security from attacks. Under the regulations of the present year, the distance to be maintained between each truck has been fixed at 32 yards, which is much closer than on any previous occasion, and much more exacting for drivers and vehicles. So far as I have been able to follow the operations of the vehicles, every satisfaction has been given, each convoy arriving at its destination without incident, and without any serious case of breakdown. Unlike last year, the officer in charge of a convoy now travels in a motorcar, and is thus able to run up and down the line to assure himself that all is proceeding satisfactorily. Apart from the commercial vehicles, there are quite a number of fast and powerful motorcars placed at the disposition of the army authorities by reservists, who are naturally delighted to accomplish their 13 or 28 days at the wheel of their own car, rather than in the ranks with a knapsack on the back. It is these vehicles that have been put at the disposition of the army service corps. With each convoy, too, there is one wagon reserved to the men necessary for the rapid transfer of the provisions from the mechanical vehicles to the regimental wagons proceeding to the fighting line. The convoys are so constituted that each one is capable of carrying from 40 to 50 tons per day, one day's rest out of the eight during which the manceuvres continue being allowed for each of the vehicles.
Most important of the units are three Renard trains, each power unit having an internal-combustion motor, and each train composed of three open six-wheel trucks, and a closed six-wheel truck at the rear. The load-carrying capacity of each train is 12 tons. One of the interesting features of this year's Renard trains is a provision for allowing them to run backwards with much greater facility than ever before. The only tractors in use are two in number, supplied by the Aries Cornpany. The petrol engine is the standard four-cylinder 4oh.p. type, whilst the trailers are each mounted on two wheels only, with steel tires, and are fitted with semi-elliptic springs. The load-carryinacapacity of each tractor is 8 tons.
The Empress Company of Paris supplies the largest number of vehicles, m in all, with a sufficient capacity to supply one army division. The .whole of these vehicles assembled at Paris, in front of the Automobile Club of France, and travelled down to Vierzon together. Berliet, as usual, supplies five four-ton trucks with solid rubber tires in front and steel tires on the rear. Steam is represented by one Darracq-Serpollet. The other makers, furnishing from one to four vehicles each, are MathianCohendet. Delaugere and Clavette, of Orleans, Peugeot, Panhard, De Dion. Latil (with one front-drive truck), and an 18h.p. De Dietrich placed at the disposition of the cyclist corps. This year, cyclists play a more important rOle than usual in the army operations, and, in addition to the De Dietrich, a De Dion truck has been fitted up to carry spare cycles and parts likely to be needed. The cycles, which are, of course, of the folding type, are attached to the framework of the truck, over which a tarpaulin is stretched. In addition to the private cars used by the staff officers, a large number of motorcycles have been provided for the carrying of messages from one point of the field to the other.
Builders' Motors.
There are possibilities of almost a complete revolution in the building trades, if the competition proposed by the Association of Parisian Builders and Masons produces all that is expected of it. This association, consisting of all the more important building firms and large public contractors, has requested the co-operation of the Competition Commission of the Automobile Club of France for the organisation of a competition for motor vehicles to replace the present horse traction. For the larger public works, such as the construction of the metropolitan subway, petrol and steam trucks have been used exclusively, one of the most obvious advantages of their use being a lesser encumbrance of the streets of the city. Since the city of Paris set about burrowing in all directions for the construction of its underground railroads, Parisians have persistently grumbled at the upheaval caused thereby. It is certainly not realised how much greater that disturbance would have been had all the material been removed from the mouth of the boring to the river barges by means of horse instead of mechanical traction. It is greatly owing to the experience gained in these large works, that the builders ask for vehicles that are specially suited to replace the more commonly employed carts and trucks in their trade.
Three different types of vehicles are signalled out as requiring to be replaced by mechanically-driven wagons. The first is the " binard," a kind of low, heavy, two-wheel float used tor transporting large blocks of chiselled stone from the stone yard to the building under construction. The " binard " must take a load of five tons, and, as in the existing vehicles, be provided with a capstan or windlass and a false bottom for the easy discharge of the blocks of stone. At present, these heavy vehicles are drawn by from six to twelve horses, One being in the shafts, the next two side by side, and the others in tandem. As can be readily understood, such a conveyance is a constant source of dislocation of traffic. Steel tires must obviously be used, for the rough ground in which the " binard " has to operate makes rubber altogether out of the question.
The second type is the " charrette " —practically a long-bodied high. wheeled cart, open front and rear to allow of the easy transport of planks, ladders, etc. The maximum load carried is four tons, and the length of the floor of the cart 13 feet. Steel-shod wheels are demanded, and the mechanical vehicle must be so constructed that long planks and ladders may be carried with the same ease as on the present horse vehicles.
There will be little difficulty in providing a mechanical substitute for the third type, known as the " tombreau," which is practically identical with the builder's or coal dealer's ordinary cart, as used in England. The load-carrying capacity is fixed at four or five tons. An improvement demanded on the motor vehicles is that there should be provision for tipping the load of sand, pebbles, etc., from the side as well as from the rear.
As it is esthnated that there are at least five million tons per annum of transportation in the building trade of Paris alone, the importance of such an opening for commercial vehicles is enormous. The tests will be made in Paris and neighbourhood, for to hours per day, the total distance covered to be 28 miles, and the minimum speed six miles an hour. Every latitude will be given constructors to improve on the methods of handling their loads on the motor vehicles, and it is specially recommended that each wagon be fitted with a winding drum and cable, to aid it in pulling out of the rough ground on which building operations are in progress. The Builders' Association will purchase outright the most successful vehicles, and award money prizes to the others.