INTERVIEW WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF THOMAS TILLING, LTD.
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The first London company to purchase an example of the nodern double-deck motorbus as we know it to-day v,.as the )1d-established house of Tilling, at Peckham. " THE -20MMERCIAL MOTOR " has, on several occasions, been inlebted to the chairman of the directors of this company, dr. Richard S. Tilling, for courteous information and conirmation bearing upon different announcements, estimates, °recasts and statements of working expenses that have .ppeared in our pages during the past two years. So long Lgo as the 6th April, 1905, under the heading of " No 4ore Horses to be Bought," we were enabled to give the arliest published details of the motorbus department of this ypical and old-established London company, which received .elivery of its " No. i " Milnes-Daimler motorbus in Sepember, 1904. When one remembers that Thomas Tilling, ,imited, has 33 motorbuses, in addition to a very large jobdasters and horse omnibus business, in which upwards of ,000 horses are employed, and that, of these, still some ,500 are used in omnibus work, the latest views of Mr. Zichard Tilling, whom it was our privilege .to interview at )eckham a few days ago, when the writer was also met by .nother of the directors, Mr. Walter Wolsey, sun., must eceive the consideration of everybody who wants an ' inside " opinion on the motorbus question.
" We still consider," intimatN1 Mr. Till:ng, " that two notes-buses are able to replace three pair-horse buses, and ye are fairly satisfied with the vehicles mechanically."
" Have you then," we asked, 'found that your old incluive figure of lid. per bus-mile can, after a period of several ears' working, be maintained, or have you found that it ;rows after the first 52 months? "
" We arc satisfied," answered Mr. Tilling, " that our xperiences between September 1904 and December 1906, luring which years the figure you name was ascertained
o be a correct one, could have been maintained, but for he unanticipated and unassessable results of police action in _.ondon. We, of course, appreciate to the full the difficulties inder which the Metropolitan Police work, and we credit ;ir E. R. Henry and his principal officers with every intenion to act in a fair and bond-fide manner to everybody, but Je cannot disguise from ourselves the adverse effects of oolice control since the middle of last. year. It has, we do tot hesitate to say, resulted in an annual additional operatrig cost of 2d. per bus-mile."
Our agreement that this was a serious result, and even Imre serious that our own estimates, led Mr. Tilling to xpress the view that he was by no means satisfied of the Lbsence in the past of London County Council influence. le reminded us of the adverse report of the Highways 2ommittee of the late London County Council, which report, ts our readers will remember (see our issue of the 27th Deember last), was suppressed and not presented to the Counil as a whole. " That report," continued Mr. Tilling, "did nore to convince me that the Commissioner of Police had o resist undue influence than any previous document or :nowledge, but I heartily agree with you that the effects of .ny such influence cannot possibly be allowed to have any ■ ermartent effect upon the Public Carriage Department." " Will you agree," we proceeded, " that the situation in ,ondon is essentially different from that in any other part .1 the country, and that it is subject to conditions which lave no direct relationship to the mechanical efficiency or xcellence of the motorbuses? "
Mr. Tilling, after comparing notes with his co-director, Sr. Wolsey, gave it as his emphatic opinion that this was . correct view of the situation, and added that the uncerainties of the past few months rendered it so difficult for roprietors to maintain regular services that, at the same ime that their maintenance accounts were artificially and Thitrarily increased, their revenue accounts were depleted. Jr occurred to us, from our knowledge that Thomas Tilling, Limited, is successfully carrying on a number of motor rnail contracts for the Postmaster-General, to remind Mr. Tilling that he was using the same make of chassis for that purpose, and to enquire whether he had received complaints from residents along the routes where these vehicles passed during the night, or from any other sources.
" We are happy to say," came Mr. Tilling's immediate answer, " that the same motor chassis have given unqualified satisfaction in the mail service, and that they have done this equally to ourselves and the Post Office Authorities. We have had no complaints about noise, and we feel sure that we can reckon upon a steady average of working cost in respect of that branch of our business for a long period of years."
Turning to the driver question, we were interested to learn that Tilling's men are giving great satisfaction, and that they have got a thoroughly trained set of drivers, who are sticking to the company. We were also prepared to learn that the company's tire bills range from t.75d. and 1.9d. per omnibus-mile, as they now do, and that there was much less trouble with tires than was the case two years ago, whilst the evident intention of Thomas Tilling, Limited, to adopt a system of petrol-electric transmission, as regards some of its motorbuses, in the near future, deserves mention.
In taking leave of Messrs. Tilling and Wolsey, both these gentlemen requested us to convey to all intending users of motorbuses the outstanding fact that few of their difficulties are due to mechanical failures, or to inefficient drivers, both of which considerations were fruitful of trouble at the start. They are satisfied that the real cause of financial anxiety for motorbus proprietors in London is found in the present attitude of the Licensing Authorities, and they assured us that they had no intention of going out of the motorbus business unless they were driven out. This unique and peculiar situation can have no application whatsoever to 99 per cent. of the tramway and railway managers before whom this section of to-day's issue will be specially brought.