The Motor Drivers News.
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Fuel economy.
"I La" (Uxbridge) sends this letter :---" Last week, I was sent on a journey with a 3h.p. Aveling and Porter steam tractor. I had to go fur 2,000 bricks, their weight being 5 tons, whilst the weight of the trailer was 1 ton 7 cwt. I started out for the brickfield with i cwt. of coal in the bunker. When I was loaded, I made for Ashford, 7,1-miles distant ; then I drove back to Hillingdon, ii niiles, making 1811 miles in all. The whole distance was done on I cwt. of coal. 1 do a lot of long journeys, and meet many small tractors and lorries. I met a 3-ton tractor the other day, it was making a regular whistle from its exhaust pipe. Drivers of these small types of engines will find it a good plan if they would take their exhaust pipes off find burn out the dirt about every month or so."
A Motor Drivers' Association.
"WM." (Camden Town) writes :-" I see there is a letter"
in the ` Drivers News ' TIM COMNIRR.CIAL MOTOR ' this week again referring to a motor drivers' association, and I may safely say that I am not the only driver in London of the same opinion as "r.D.' of Keigliley, who would be glad to subscribe as a member of a concern, which is very urgentlyneeded, not only in London, but, I think, all over the country. I am a motor wagon driver myself, and have had considerable experience in many parts, and I have always found the majority of breakdowns are caused through inexperienced drivers (commonly called cheap drivers). Now, what I have to say is, would. it not pay every owner of motorbuses, and wagons, who has to employ drivers, to get a good man and give him a reasonable wage? I am sure he would find it pay him in the end, as his motorbus, or wagon, would do more work, without so many accidents, and this very often means a good round sum in the pocket of the owner."
Driver " Seven Makes " sends the following interesting
communication Having several times noticed correspondence in your journal re a drivers' society, I think it is time some steps should be taken with a view to forming the same. I am employed by a leading motorbus company, in Whose service there are some three hundred drivers. If you could put me in communication with the promoters of the scheme, I should be pleased to co-operate and assist them in any way which they could suggest, such as forming a branch, or canvassing men, with whom I work.
" The motorbus driver's life is not at present a rosy one for several reasons. As you know, some people of a certain class do all possible in their power to decry the motor as the chariot of Beelzebub, and their drivers as demons incarnate. Then, there is a certain amount of persecution by the police. We haVe the police trap, which is not always correctly worked, as the times are taken by the commonest of stop watches, which are, in many cases, unreliable. It is an accepted fact, among. drivers, that they may as well go fifteen miles per hour as go ten, for the' will be caught at either pace. The worst part about the whole thing is that if you are charged with 'doing fourteen miles per hour, at one court, you will be lined two pounds, and costs, whilst, for fifteen miles an hour, at a second court, you will be fined only ten shillings, and costs : both of which experiences can be proved. It does not matter how many witnesses a driver may have, they are seldom heard if not in possession of a stop watch on the date in question ;• should a drive.r prove that the police stop watches were incorrect, he does not win the case, but is allowed the supreme privilege of paying the costs, which is equal to a conviction, and should really be paid by the police as failing complainants.
" The injustice does not finish here, since, as I can prove in one case on the Finchley road, the driver paid the costs, in a case not proven, and was put to a lot of trouble when renewing his license, as a second punishment. This surely, in free England, is a most unjust proceeding, since a man, once punished is, by law, not punishable a second time, for one offence.
" The marvellous thing is, that nearly two-thirds of speed-limit summonses are for fourteen tr'les, t r4 yards per hour, -over a measured furlong. I, rnyFelf, some time since
was a victim of this sort of thing. I left a certain point, and followed a horsed omnibus, which, owing to traffic, I could not pass until quite 300 yards from the start. When in the act of doing so, I was pulled up by the police and told that 1 had been doing 14 miles, Ito yards, per hour, notwithstanding, that I was still in third speed, which, on my vehicle, is geared to S miles per hour, with the engine running at a normal speed. I could have had plenty of Wooesses, but I knew that it would be useless to bring them forward, since they would not be listened to by the magistrate who openly avows that motors are detestable.
" I am fully convinced that there are enough drivers in London, and the provinces,. to form a really strong society, on a good financial basis, by a weekly subscription of sixpence, and to yield good results. I think members should be enrolled three months before being entitled to legal benefit, and that three months' experience should make them eligible. A distress fund of one penny weekly would also be useful, as a reserve to be used, by a majority of votes, for the relief of deserving cases."
A Novel 1/^medy tor a Slipping Clutch.
" E.S." (Devonshire) writes us as follows :--" I am a constant reader of the Drivers News page, and, being a driver myself, I thought it might interest a few of your readers to hear an experience of mine, whicn occurred at the beginning of the present year, whilst I was driving, a vehicle in a small and remote village in the South of England, in connection with a train service. My mate had taken out his vehicle to run the first trip for the morning. After arriving at the starting point he attempted to restart the engine, but this he could not do, so, rather than make too much delay, he sent word to me at our shed, saying that the vehicle, was broken down. I started off twelve minutes later, with a spare car, and I was in so much hurry that I did not take my tool-bag. Everything went all right until we were about half a mile from the station; at this point is a very steep and narrow hill, and the vehicle was making splendid time, until we got half-way up the hill, when the clutch began to slip. Just behind us was a very large bus, heavily laden with passengers, so I knew fairly well that, if I got stuck, it would mean close on thirty passengers losing the train. I felt in my pockets to see whether or not there was anything that the clutch could be packed with, and the only thing that I could find was a box of matches. Six or seven matches were taken out of the box, and pushed under the clutch leather, after having struck the matches first. I proceeded up the hill, and arrived at the station eight minutes late with a very fair load of passengers. I hope that this may benefit some other driver who is placed in the same pesition."
A Interesting Repair.
" H.S." (Battersea) writes :-" I am a reader of your journal, and strongly recommend it to all motor people on account of the useful articles which appear in it. I wish to give an experience of a run of 222k miles through Bradford, Wakefield, Doncaster, and Grantham. I left Nelson at 8.45 a.m. on Saturday, October 6th, and arrived at top of Ad.:worth Moor at 5-4o p.m. I put the wagon up for the night at the last-named place, and left on Sunday, the 7th, at 9.45 a.m.
" All went well up to the time of passing Doncaster Race Course, when I heard a knocking in the engine bed, which made me pull up at once. T found the low-pressure cylinder cover lying in the road under the motor ; this had been knocked off, and broken, by the piston head, which had become loose on its rod. I had some driving chain links, so I placed a fewpartly across the broken cover to keep it in position, and then I ran on until 3.15 p.m., when puL up for the night, and also determined to make a better job of the cover at Scrooby Inn. First of all I started to look for an old felt hat and an iron tray, and these I found after some tiouble. I punched holes in the plate to register with those in the broken cover and placed this on first. Then I put the crown of the felt hat over the iron plate, and bolted down the broken cover on top of all I may mention that the cylinder was 7 inches in diameter. We started again on Monday morning about S. TO a.m., and ran on to
Stanford, where we arrived at 7 p.m. We stabled the wagon for the night at the Bull and Swan. Inn, and left again the next morning (Tuesday) at in a.m. We had a good run until 7 p.m. on the evening of the same day, eventually reaching Biggleswade, without any mishap, where we put up at the Royal Oak. Steam was up by nine o'clock the next morning (Wednesday), and we ran straight through to the works in London, which we reached at 5-40 P.m."
A Budding "Austin."
" E.P." (London) sends the following stanzas. In the future we may, perhaps, hear drivers of motorbuses, wl stopping at the various " points," chant the praises of a driver's life, to the accompaniment of the tooter :—
THE MOTORBUS DRIVER'S LAMENT, OR IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT Yoe Whs.
What ! You have only just noticed that I'm getting thin, And appear to be in my own way? If you envy my sleekness I'll give you the cause—
Drive a motorbus ten hours a day.
It's only just tooting, and steering, and staring, And hanging like to a wheel, Oblige me, and try it six months, And then tell me how bloated you feel.
And the friends you will make at this pastime; They come as a matter of course.
The angel in blue watches well over you, And you are cursed by all men with a horse.
The doctors all give us but five years to live, For myself, I don't want any more. I've had just a year at this skin-bursting job So I have figured out now I have four.
And when we're all faded away and forgot, And been buried without any fuss; You can take poison on it, for you have my word, They will name no cigars after us.
An Exciting Winter Run in Scotland.
" W.H.N." (Glasgow) writes us on October 3oth as follows :—" I send vou an account or, what I consider, a successful run, writer very trying conditions, and, although it happened nine months ago, I hope, in view of the coming winter, that it may interest your many readers. On January 16th of this year, I left Glasgow to deliver a new 5-ton steam wagon to the Forfarshire Motor Transport Company, Limited, of Dundee; the distance was over 90 miles by the road I travelled by, as I had to go round about to avoid several canal bridges. For the lirst 40 miles we made very good running, although the roads were in a very heavy condition. After leaving Dunblane, it commenced to snow very heavily, and when we entered the hills, shortly after leaving Auchterarder, there was fully four inches of snow upon the ground, and as it was pitch dark, and the snow beating in our faces, it was with great difficulty that we kept to the road at all. In some places there was neither hedge nor wall to mark the road edges, and as it was my first journey in this district I told my mate to keep a sharp look-out for some place where we could shelter for the night, because we fully expected to be snowed up. At last, after a tiring time, we espied the lights of Perth, although we did not know this until we reached the town itself ; time one a.m. The distance from Perth, to Dundee, is only 22 miles, so we resolved to push on, and, after asking the way from a policeman, and making ourselves some tea on the boiler fire, we set off on the Dundee road. After leaving Perth we found the roads were much worse, owing to a than the snow, for we could scarcely travel at all; although we loaded the platform with stones from a heap, so my the roads were like a sheet of glass. Thts was far worse thaw, with a subsequent frost, the consequence being that mate walked alongside and fed the wheels with stones ; in some places I had to get down and do the same, jumping on by the step now and igain to give a turn to the steering wheel, or open the throttle a little. After coming so far, we were determined not to give in, as we were so near to our destination. About in miles further on, we came to a roadside blacksmith's shop and, on looking among the general lumber lying about, we found about five yards of stout wire rope ; we lapped this round the wheels and locked the differential gear. It was a great success, and we arrived at the depot tired and hungry, but thankful that our troubles were over. I have been to Dundee not less than six times since, backwards art.cl forwards, but never had the same experience. On one of these journeys I think I made a record in steam wagon travelling, the time being 17 hours."
" May-day " Prize Winner.
" W.H.H." (Chiswick) sends the following :--" I have prepared you a list of runs which I have made with a Thornycroft 3-ton steam, wagon and trailer during a period of three weeks and four days. I might state that I have been driving the wagon since I took it to the purchasers in April, 19o2, and that I am still driving it at the present time. The short distances for the first two days were due to pump and injector troubles, through the feed pipes breaking. " I am sending this table, because I think it might be interesting for the ' Motor Drivers ' column. The wagon belongs to Messrs. Searcy, Tansley and Company, Limited, 16, Wigmore Street, and I have taken two prizes for May day parades with it." Miles.