Coalite and Coaline.
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The assured subseription of three-quarters of a million sterling of capital for the production of Coalite and Coaline, must open the eyes of all coal users to the value of a process which has been perfected by Mr. Thomas Parker, M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., late of Wolverhampton. If further testimony to the scope and future of the process were needed, it is found in the fact that a large proportion of the working capital has been found by colliery and coaldistributing interests. Had there been any flaw, or had there been a shadow of doubt about the value of Mr. Parker's process for particular uses coal proprietors and merchants would have been ranged on the other side instead of behind him.
Interest in prospective developments, so far as readers ot this journal are concerned, is a two-fold one. We have to direct attention to the value of Coalite as a smokeless fuel, and to the new motor spirit, which is to he called Coaline, as yet another check-upon the importers of petroleum spirit. Tests have already been made by tractor owners in the North of England, who have employed Coalite under the boilers of steam wagons and tractors, and their results are of a satisfactory nature the fuel is admittedly smokeless, although its -evaporative power is -by no means so great as might be expected from the claims that are advanced by its makers. Tests under the uneconomical conditions of ordinary house fire-grates have, it must be noted, little reference to boilers, and we do not follow how the fuel can possibly be equal to the coal from which it is made, in respect of calorific value, for part of. the hydrogen constituents have been expelled, and we shall, while prepared to admit its g000 qualities as above, require very detailed proof of its alleged Superiority to coal in an evaporation test.. ' When we turn to the potential value of Coaline for use in nternal-combustion engines, we are assured by the scientists vho have control of the process that approximately 2 galens of suitable spirit for the purpose will be obtain-ed per ton of coal, and the commercial managers have already arranged for the treatment of three million tons of coal per annum_ We have here, then, a material prospect of a large volume of spirit which will be combustible in an ordinary petrol engine, subject to a slight re-arrangement of the carburation details, and-more particularly an increase of the air supply, and the quantity of which, if Coalite were to be generally adopted in the Metropolis alone, would equal the present total importation of petroleum spirit into the United Kingdom. This new fuel provides a much more hopeful outlook for users of motor vehicles than do any promises about increased supplies of beniol from the standard processes of the destructive distillation of coal, and it is remarkable that the whole change should have been brought about by a modification which merely limits the temperature of distillation to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, thereby expelling only some of the less desirable hydro-carbon constituents qua smoke production. A point of interest is that the Gas Light and Coke Company is nowmanufacturing a similar article and calling it " Carbo." There will, no doubt, be more work for the lawyers.
A Cup for Cleanliness.
The Commercial Motor Users' Association has, as is reported on another page, decided to offer a silver cup for the vehicle which, at the conclusion of the R.A.C. trials of September and October next, proves itself to be the most cleanly as regards any droppings of oil from the engine or transmission. This offer is particularly opportune at the moment, and we trust that it will not be refused. by the Executive Trials Committee, for very little trouble will be involved in the making of the necessary extra observations during, say, the last three days of the competition.
This question of oil droppings from motor vehicles, and more particularly from motorbuses in the London streets, has been brought into considerable prominence recently, in view of the fact that it is the intention of the Commissioner of Police to require the strict enforcement of his regulation on this subject as front this day week, the 27th instant. The regulation in question, No. 22 of the Commissioner's conditions for the obtaining of licenses dated 35th November last, reads as follows :— " Machinery must be so constructed or placed that oil from the bearings shall not be allowed to drop on to the roadway. When trays are fixed to prevent this, they must have suitable webs for retaining the oil when ascending or descending hills, or be otherwise suitably constructed with that object, and oil from the trays must be cleaned out frequently and not allowed to accumulate from day to day."
It is evident, however, apart from this regulation of the Commissioner, as will be gathered from the result of the prosecution which we report on page 383, that this subject of oil droppings can be raised under other Acts, and apparently with success. Supporters of the motor omnibus are inclined to argue that the droppings from their vehicles are very much less of a nuisance than are the droppings from horse traffic, and to suggest that every motorbus does, in point of fact, result in an economy to the Borough Councils in respect of street cleansing. We are obliged to point out
that these arguments are in the nature of special pleas, and riot yet in accordance with fact. In the first place, it is much more difficult to remove traces of mineral lubricants than it is to remove traces of the other street droppings to which we refer, either from the surfaces of certain roads or from any article of wearing apparel upon which they may come by spattering or in any other manner. In the second place, it is premature to base any argument upon the supposed economy in respect of street cleansing, as the proportion of motor traffic has not yet made its influence sufficiently felt, partly -because of its low ratio to the total volume of traffic, but more largely because of the maintenance of the total aggregate number of horses upon our thoroughfares, notwithstanding the diminution in the number of omnibus horses. The situation and ratio, however, cannot fail to be an improving one for motor traffic, and the day may come when there will be similar discrimination against the horse and its insanitary consequences.
We see no occasion to enter into details as to how the operating companies may best meet the requirements of the police in this matter, but it is clear that they will have to provide an efficient means of securing the required degree of cleanliness in respect of these oil droppings. The trouble is principally associated with vehicles of the 1905 and 1906 types, as, where forced lubrication and re-circulation are introduced, the " make-up," which is practically the measure of the oil that works out of the engine crank-case or the gear cases, is very low indeed.
Motorbuses as ' Feeders."
A section of this issue is devoted to considerations which affect the co-operative use of motorbuses in connection with railways and tramways. The leading British railways are now using these vehicles for the purpose of developing traffic at points where they do not feel justified in laying down branch lines, and, although the natural reticence of the man.agers in regard to exact details can easily be understood, the large increases in the number of fresh purchases that have followed upon their first experiences with road vehicles furnish an unanswerable argument in support of the statement that results have been generally satisfactory. The Great Western Railway Company, which established its motorcar department nearly four years ago, has since found it worth while to establish no less than 25 distinct services, to which additions are still being made, and some particulars of these will be found on page 394. It is, in fact, clearly established that a country motorbus service can be operated, including interest on capital and depreciation, at a maximum cost of is. per mile, provided the vehicle is given the opportunity of running not less than 450 miles a week during at least five months in the year. The fare-taking capacity should be based on a minimum of 3s. per mile with all seats full. These country services, of course, cannot be counted upon to enjoy the same regular patronage that is obtainable in London,
and the winter traffic often falls away, in the absence of visitors and tourists, to as little as 6d. per mile, or even less, whilst certain services have to be suspended altogether after the end of September in each year. On the other hand, in districts where the bulk of the traffic is due to the permanent residents, the winter takings seldom show a decrease of more than 33 per cenL as compared with the summer months.
It is obviously impossible to lay down any statement as to revenue, for every railway and tramway manager will require to make his own estimates on that score, but the dividing line in respect of a tramway may safely be put at the point where the requirements of a district will not support a 15-minute service in each direction, upon which fact the leading tramway experts, including not a few who have actual experience of motorbus operation, are agreed. London, with its close approach to r,000 motorbuses in commission (see page 385), is an object lesson to the world, because its experience shows that the motorbus can be turned to account where the traffic is exceptionally dense, as well as where the traffic is of a sparse character, and the records in Paris and Berlin, which cities have copied London, tend in the same direction.
Great Britain admittedly leads the world in the application of the motorbus, and no manufacturers have at their disposal an equal fund of information as have those who are versed in London's needs. Railway and tramway managers, who may be about to take their decisiod in respect of the institution of motorbus services in conjunction with their own systems, and who may have noticed the exceptional stringency of the regulations which are now applied by the Metropolitan Police, can rest secure in the knowledge that any machines they now order will embody the latest and most up-to-date principles of design in relation to quiet running, absence of nuisance, and facile control. They can now buy with safety, for they will enjoy the full benefit of the numerous difficulties of those who were the pioneers.
The R.A.C. Trials.
We are delighted at the promise of thoroughness which is given to the intentions of the R.A.C. by its announcements of Saturday last in regard to the organisation of the forthcoming trials for commercial motors, and from which particulars we quote on page 387. We congratulate the Chairman, Committee, and the Secretary of the Club upon this evidence of activity, for which users and manufacturers alike have been waiting ever since the regulations for the trials were published on the 19th of April last. It is stated that the Trials Committee will meet weekly, in order to push forward the arrangements for the competition with vigour, and it is also intimated that there is a determination to avoid any risk of non-success so far as liberal expenditure can insure that result. The routes will be arranged by Mr. E. A. Greathed, who discharged similar duties in connection with the trials that were proposed for the year 1905, and it will be observed that the itineraries are arranged to include some of the most important industrial centres in the country. No reference is made to the obvious fact that the ending of the tests for the different classes cannot be coterminous, but we do not think that any real absence of effective comparison will result : the alternative, with an equal number of running days (22) adopted for each class, means that the totals for the different classes must vary in proportion to the daily mileages specified in the conditions. No decision appears to have been taken in regard to the formation of local committees, a matter to which we attach very great importance, and we hope that something more will be done than merely to ask the Lord Mayors and Mayors of certain cities and towns to open eight exhibitions during the course of the trials.