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WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.

"The wheels otweolth will be slowed by all diffiealties of transport at whatevorpoUrts arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it rans."-.1-ohn Beane Crozier.

Railway Bills Opposition.

The opponents to the Railway Rills appear to be co-ordinating their efforts farther than was at first contemplated. After a consultation between all parties on Thursday last, the Chairman of the .Toint Committee of the Lords and Commons, Lord Chelmsford, was informed by Sir Lynden 1VIacassey, K.C., that the motorbus side of the case would be preanted first. In pursuance of this arrangement, Mr. Sidney E Garcke became first witness.

The object in view is to save time and to study the convenience of the committee.

Matters Held Omer.

In a special issue of this kind it is always next to impossible to deal with every phase of the subject In the space that is available. A number of special articles that has been prepared must therefore appear in immediately substfluent issues of the journal. We shall resume our regular features in the next issue. They have to some extent been held over from this issue in order to give us more of the space that was required to enable us to deal with the use of the motor vehicle and appliance in municipal service.

A Bus Station Scheme Approved.

The 125,000 motorbus station planned by Die Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., and described briefly in a previous issue of The Commercial Motor, has now secured the approval of the Newcastle Corporation TOwn Improvement and Streets Committee. It will be recalled that the plans were turned doWn at the last meeting of the committee and, since that time, the company has taken immediate steps to overcomecertain technical difficulties which stood in the way of sanction being granted for the building of the station.

The company is anxious to have the station ready for • use to coincide with the opening of the new. Tyne Bridge in October of this year, and it is intended to continue the whole of its North Durham services into Newcastle, these at present terminating at the company's Wellington Street bus station at Gateshead.

Brush Electrical Engineering Progress.

The 3911 general meeting of the Brnah Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd., wag held one day last week, when Mr. E. Garcke presided. The chairman said that the financial position of the 1.orapany remained very Much as in the previous two or three years. The usual dividend of 10 per Cent. on the ordinary shares had been earned, after making the necessary provisions for depreciation and reserves and a surplus of £10,763 remained, as compared with 18,835 in the preceding year. Of the surplus, a sum of 18,941 will be paid over to the co-partnership council for the benefit of the co-partners, and the remainder will be added to the tindivided profits account, making that item in the balance sheet 180,914.

The co-partnership scheme is now in its thirdyear and from experience it

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lids been proved that its working CODfirms the principles of all-round justice upon which it was founded, A large portion—nearly two-thirds—of the company's employees are now shareholders..

A New Ford Instalment Plan.

Mr. Ethel Ford, president of the Ford Motor Co., announces the organization of the Universal Credit Corporation, an affiliated organization controlled by the Ford Co. for the sole purpose of financing Ford products on a time-payment plan. The corporation will have an initial capital of 10,000,000 dollars. The plan, Mr. Ford says, is nation-wide in scope and for the exclusive use of Ford dealers. The first

branch unit will be established at Detroit in Jane.

The Universal Credit Corporation will be headed by Ma Ernest Kanzler, former vice-president of the Ford Co. and executive vice-president of the Guardian Detroit Bank,

Birmingham's New Bus Depot.

The new motorbus garage at Acocks Green, which is under construction by the tramways and motorbus department of the Birmingham Corporation, will be opened on June 19th. It will provide accommodation for about 100 vehicles and will be used chiefly by buses operating on the outer circle and Moseley routes.

4aported Ball and Boller Bearings.

The standing committee appointed by the Board of Trade will hold its inquiry into the question as to .whether imported ball and roller bearings should bear an indication of -origin on June 4th. The inquiry will be held at the Board of Trade Offices, Great George Street, London, SAVA.

A Maker of Gritting Gear.

in our issue dated May 8th we published a brief description of a special Dennis municipal vehicle which included in its equipment a certain form of gritting gear. It should have been mentioned that this particular equipment was the product of Take and Bell, Ltd., Carlton Engineering Works, Lichfield, Staffs.

Albion's London Service Depot.

In the description of the Landon service depot of the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., which appeared in our issue for last week,. the floor area should have been given as 33,000 sq. ft.

A German Motor Compendium.

Deutsche Verlagswerke Strauss, Vetter and Co. Berlin C.2, Breitestr, 8, haa sent us volume three of the handbook of the Reichaverbandes der Automobil-Industrie, which is the German equivaleit to our Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

This book is priced at 3.90 marks, plus 0.50 marks for post and packing. It contaius a very complete list of all the Motor products of German manufacturers, including private cars, goods vehicles, buses, electric vehicles, road tractors (bothpetrol and Dieselengined)., fire-fighting appliances, agricultural tractors, motorcycles anti parcelcars, and at the conclusion is a section devoted to various proprietary units, such as engines, gearboxes, axles cad braking equipment. .

A specification is given in evertanti, in all, there are 5-10 pages ot plus. a supplement.

Success of a Midland Bus Compa The report of the Birmingham an Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., for the year ended December 31st last, shows that net receipts for the year amounted to £228,587, as against £1.77,874 ia the previous year. After deducting administration and general expenses and other items chargeable to revenue account and adding the sum of £26,393 brought forward, there is a balance of £143,591. Of this sum 150,000 is to be transferred to the reserve account and, after a dividend of 10 per cent. and a bonus of 5 per cent. have been paid on the ordinary shares, a sum of £25,591 will remain to be carried forward.

The net profit for the year was 1117,198, which compares with £93,400 in the year 1926 and 182,916 in theyear 1925.

Newport to London Daily.

Messrs. George Fisher and Sons, Groeswen, who have been operating bus services in . and around Newport for some years, have just ,inaugurated a new enterprise in the way of a daily service betweenNewport and London. A Leyland Lion 26-seater bus is being used, for the service and the vehicle makes the return journey in the day.

Accessories for IVIonitipal Motors.

As is well known, S. Smith and Sons (ILA.), Ltd., Cricklewood Works, Louden, N.W.2, markets a most comprehensive range of. accessories and components, many of -which have a particular . application to commercial vehicles. Many of the devices are quite suitable for use on municipal vehicles and, in this connection, we can melttion driving mirrors, windscreen wipers and tyre inflaters. The last named is of particular interest in view of the greater use which is now being made of pneumatic tyres. It can be driven from the gearbox or engine and enables inflation pressures to be kept at the correct level.

The company's new itype of driving mirror is of polished, brass and has a detachable glass. It is 7/ ins, wide and 4/ ins, deep, and has a specially long extension. By Motorbus Across the Pennines.

The first re-ad passenger service over the Pennines between North-east and North-west England was opened up on May 17th between Darlington, Pennth and Carlisle by the Great North of England Omnibus Co., Ltd., of Gateshead, an associate company of the Leeds-Newcastle Omnibus Co., Ltd. The service is the first to be commenced with Darlington as its base, the remaining long-distance undertakings in the north-east being centred on Newcastle and Middlesbrongh. The length of the through run is 74 miles and the route at its highest point reaches 1,436 ft. above sea-level. The operator is employing the same type of machine on this new service as on the reeently.inaugurated Nottingham-Newcastle enterprise, namely, the 24-seater Gilford. At the outset, two journeys am being made in each direction daily.

London's Bridge Schemes, It was reported at a meeting of the London County Council that the council wbuld no doubt accept the, expected invitation from the Government to dismiss the -report of the engineers with regard to the Charing Cross bridge proposals. No decision with regard to Waterloo bridge will be taken until the position is settled with reference to the Charing Cross scheme.

A Useful Magneto Rey.

We have received from she Runbakest Magneto Co., Tipping Street, Ardwick, Manchester, a useful little tool in the shape of a magneto key, which includes a contact file, a gauge for the distance between sparking-plug points, a second gauge for the gaps in contact breakers and a third for measuring tappet clearance.

The key is double-ended, and carried within it is a combined screwdriver and reamer of blued steel, the reamer, of course, being for the bushes of •con tact-breaker arms. The centre screwdriver and reamer is detachable, and when it is required for use it is carried cross-wise in the holder, where it is secured by a screw. The price of the tool in a neat leather. ease is 55. Od.

• The New Ford as a Bus.

Now that deliveries of the new Ford 30-cwt. commercial chassis are being made, a number of them is being provided with bus bodies for country ser

vice. Among the first to produce a special design of body for the new chassis is Muir-Hill (Engineers), Ltd., Old Trafford, Manchester. The vehicle,

which is designed to accommodate 14 passengers, has an attractive appearance, notable features being the all-enclosed driver's seat, the fabric finish of the exterior, drop windows and steel wire load wheels—the last-named being a new departure for motorbuses.

More Six-wheelers for London.

In a recent issue we intimated that the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., had put a fifth six-wheeled bus into service, and we now learn that the London Public Omnibus Co., Ltd., -which has had four Guy six-wheeled buses in operation for some time, will shortly put another ten sueh vehicles into use. Rail Coaches Displace Steam Trains.

The London and North Eastern Railway Co. has decided to use Sentinel rail coaches in place of ordinary steam trains en the branch line between. Darlington and Richter:nisi, where acute competition with buses is taking place. The company is also proposing to use rail coaches on various other lines in the Darlington, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Ferryhill neighbourhoods, as such machines have been found much more economical to work than steam trains, apart from giving a more frequent service, which has been responsible for a material increase in traffic.

High-class Cellulose Lacquers.

Cerric cellulose lacquers, which are produced by CeIlon (Richmond), Ltd., Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey, have ,gained an excellent reputation among coachbuilders, and it is interesting to note that the Glasgow Corpora.. tion is now operating a bus Which is finished with this material. Incidentally, the Gentle range includes lacquers in an extensive .number of fine shades, there being many suitable for use in finishing woodwork, and these may be used in place of staining or veneering the timber.

Another R.A.C. Service Van.

The large increase in the work undertaken by the Royal Automobile Club, in connection with the erection of telephone and agents' signs, has necessitated another service van being placed into commission. The Bean .van, which is shown in an accompanying fins

tration, has been selected for the work, and it will be used as a travelling office for the issue of parking discs at all racecourses where the parking arrangements are undertaken by the R.A.C.

The body has double doors at the rear, and the interior fittings include a table, two folding benches, which can accommodate six persons, and a portable ladder, which can be firmly fixed to the body sides by metal straps secured by hand-screws. The body is attractively finished in blue, the words " Road Service" being boldly displayed on a white panel at the waist-rail. The R.A.C. monogram in red, white and blue appears on the sides.

Liverpool's Satisfaction from Six-wheelers.

An illustration which appears on this page shows a portion of the largest fleet of six-wheeled passenger vehieIes which is operated by a single authority in this country. The machines are run by the Liverpool. Corporation Tramways Department, which has built up its six-wheeler fleet since the earlier part of 1927, when it took delivery of two AVIA-type Karrier buses of this class. The successful performance of these machines led to the placing of four repeat orders with Karrier Motors, Ltd., and the total number of buses of this type which is now run by this prorressive municipality is 48, of which 2 are 40-seater single-deckers and the

remainder 63-seater double-deckers with enclosed top decks.

Lip to the first of this month the Liverpool six-wheeler fleet had covered 525,000 miles and carried well over six million passengers. Some of the earliest. machines to be delivered have already a mileage of 30,000 to their .credit, and have given most economical results: The bodywork for the machines has been constructed entirely in the workshops of the Liverpool Corporation, and the sound construction of the different types of body and the excellent finish suggest a high standard of workinanship.

The Liverpool Corporation will shortly be opening its new Edge Lane depot, outside of which the accompanying picture of the fleet was taken, mid this is one of the largest and most fully equipped -depots of its kind in the country.

Thornycroft Vehicles in Demand.

Amongst the many recent orders received by John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., one of the largest has come from the Isle of Man Railway Co., Ltd., of Douglas, which is buying 18 BC forward-type chassis and four A2 long motorbuses. The company is executing many orders received from pro

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minent users in niT parts of the. country, quite a number of them being in the nature of repeats. It also has passing through its works orders for chassis which have been received from Jamaica, Australia, India,' Canada, Rangoon, South America and South Africa. Sixwheelers figure largely in these orders, 20 such vehicles having South Africa as their destination..

Free State Imports Lower.

A decrease has again to be recorded in the number of commercial motor vehicles imported into the Irish Free State, the March returns just to hand showing a total of 46 vehicles of a value of £11,592, bringing up the total for the first three months of the year to 134 vehicles (143,1.37), as contrasted with 188 and £53,627 respectively in the corresponding period of 1927.

Bus Profits for Roads, Eastbourne Corporation proposes an expenditure of £12,000 for making up Eldon Road on the understanding that

the charges for sinking fund and interest in connection with this matter will be borne out of the profits of the motorbus undertaking by means of a contribution towards the relief of the: rates.

the King to Open New Bridge.

Official intimation has been received in Newcastle that His Majesty the King will open the new Tyne Bridge in October next. This new structure, which will carry the great North Road over the River Tyne, has cost about one million pounds to build.

Insisting Upon Pneumatic Tyres.

The licensing committee of the Douglas (I.O.M.) Corporation recommends that no stage coach shall be licensed to ply for hire within the borough unless it be fitted with pneumatic tyres.

Blackpool's Motor Coaching Holiday.

The Blackpool motor coach fleet, which consists of about 200 vehicles, had its first airing of the season last week, and many new vehicles were put on the road for the local tradesmen's holiday_ This is an annual event and is intended To provide a holiday for local boarding-house keepers, hotel proprietors, shopkeepers and others to en-, able them to sample the pleasures that Blackpool provides for its visitors during the months of June, .inly, August and September. l'qo fewer than 25 motor coach owners made special plans to cater for the travelling needs of the local population and the extended tours ranging from three days to 10 days were generally well supported.

The programme of tours was remarkable for its versatility and the passengers could book for day trips, costing 3s., or for a tour approximating to a week's holiday awheel. for which the fare Was six or seven guineas, facilities for iiite.ririefil'iltc peaiods being given.

Day trips provided could be counted by the score, but it is questionable whether any single excursion surpassed the popularity of that to Manchester, to which destination 12 coach owners are daily sending vehicles. Their other colleagues concentrated on various tours, such as those to the Lake District, North Wales, the Yorkshire holiday resorts, Morecambe, Southport, Ribble Valley, etc.

The opportunity to organise parties to London was taken by a number of enterprising owners, these allowing for a stay of from three to five days. Fares showed considerable disparity am], whereas some owners quoted 15s. single and 22s. 6d: return, in another case an owner charged £1 sing/e, 25s. return and Ms. long-date return.

New Coastal Road for Kent.

The highways committee of the Kent County Council reports that a detailed estimate and plans have been prepared for the construction of the section of the proposed Kent coastal road from Canterbury to Herne Bay main road at Eddington to the Canterbury to Margate main road at the junction with Frost Lane at St. Nicholas-at-Wade, a length of 6.11 miles. The cost of the construction of this section of the road, exclusive of land, is £183,270, and the committee recommends the council to authorize the work being carried out, subject to a grant being received from the Ministry of Transport.

. Will Benefit Albion Employees.

The new recreation grounds which have been laid out for the employees of the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., were officially opened on May 120, The

ground covers eight acres and many forms of sport have already been provided for, whilst future plans include provision of spaces for other forms of recreation. Mr. N. 0. Fulton, the vicechairman of the company, declared the grounds open.

Zenith's New 'Works.

The Zenith Carburetter Co., Ltd., has a new factory nearing completion on a large site in Stanhope Street, London, N.W. The upper floors of the building will be occupied. by up-to-date machinery, .permitting the most .modern methods, of production to be used, whilst the ground floor will be devoted to the service side of the conipany's businesS. A garage will form part of the new premises, and will be equipped with all the necessary apparatus for enabling Zenith carburetters, air cleaners and petrol filters to be quickly fitted as well as for servicing and adjusting carburetters already installed. The present works and offices of the company at 40-44, Newman Street, will be, kept in operation.

Buyers of Vulcan Products.

A number of municipal owners has recently indented for machines of tulcan make, amongst these being the Brighton Corporation, which has placed a repeat order for two 2-ton chassis, the Chelmsford Borough Council, which is buying a 2.-ton tipping wagon, and the Acton Borough Council, which has ordered a 30-cwt. tipping wagon. The Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co, (1906), Ltd., has also received repeat orders from a number of British business houses, amongst them being a number for 30-ewt mOdels, whilst the Anglo-Dutch Automobile Co., Amsterdam, is buying three 20-seater buses.

Municipal Bus Plans.

KIRKCALDY Corporation is seeking powers to establish motorbus services.

NEWCASTLE Corporation has decided to extend motorbus services to some of the housing estates.

Powers have been obtained by the WEST HARTLEPOOL Corporation to establish new railless-vehicle routes.

A Novel Reflecting Sign.

Stensign (1027), Ltd., produces an interesting range of warning signs and traffic-direction boards of the reflecting variety. The Stensign devices embody . ruby lenses in their lettering, which clearly reflect the rays from the lamps dl approaching vehicles. A number of diverse kinds a sign is produced . and an unusual one is the dual-purpose traffic-direction board, incorporating a

• flap which swings on centrally placed hinges. The flap is lettered "Left" on on side and" Right " on the other, and it can be turned over and secured so that the sign reads either "Danger, Keep Left," or "Danger, Keep Right."

We understand that the company, of which the address is 4, Great Turnstile, High Holborn, London, W.C.1, is also applying this principle as a publicity

medium, and this should prove particularly useful when employed in conjunction with lettering on the _bodies of commercial vehicles. We have seen, a vehicle equipped in this manner, and noted that the effect was striking:

Laystall Sports Meeting.

A large company of employees and friends attended the Laystall Motor Engineering annual sports meeting, held recently at the Herne Hill Track. Some excellent performances viere put up by the competitors in the varied programme of events. The Departmental Cup, given by Mr. F. T. Bersey, was won by the engine overhauling department. Mrs. F. T; Dersey distributed the prizes to the indiviclual winners.