WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.
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The wheel oj wealth will be slowed by all digieullies of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crosier.
Next Year's Tractor Trials.
We believe that an _announcement is imminent to the effect that. the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders will hold a series' of tractor trials in September next year' and that an exhibitaon of commercial vehicles will take place at the • same time and place. If, by a careful selection of time and place, standing corn could be made available for the cutting and binding test, and if the demon-' strations do not extend over a period of 4or 4 days, we believe that the trials would gain in popularity with enteants and 'farmers alike.
The L.G.O.C.'s New "S" Type Bus.
For some time past it has been a matflfw of . oontinon knowledge that the London General Omnibus CO., are experimenting with a. larger type of vehicle than the present `! K" type, and that, if experiments fully justify it, the company hope to put a number of these vehicles on the road. On August 27th an agency report was circulated to the Press making public the fact that ell example of the new omnibus had been submitted to Scotland Yard, and had received provisional approval by the :authorities), thus:enabling the company to pursue its further experemente. . The suggestion that the body is "all steel" is, however, a complete misapprehension. The body is simply a -development of axed impeovement upon the "K" type body, and is constructed to the company's oven registered design in the company's own factory. The body is exactly the same in general plan as the "K" type body, except that it is necessarily longer. The London General Omnibue Co. will take the earlieet possible opportunity to publish definite official information in regazd to the new bus.
Sir Eric's Gibe at the Discourteous Motor Driver.
In stating that there is more discourtesy and disregard for other road users on the part of the odnipants of private cars than on that of the drivers and passengers in motor coaches, Sir Eric e Geddes, in the remark he made while opening the Commercial Motor Exhibition, touched upon a somewhat controversial subject.. There will he plenty of people who will resent his statement somewhat bitterly.
Private motorists, not unnaturally, have looked at motor coach traffic from their own point of view. To them, the motor coach is an obstructive vehicle, ' occupying more than its share of the road, and sometimes rendered the more objectionable because its driver either, does not, or will not, hear the indications that faster vehicles are overtaking and desire to pass. Also, many motorists have had, occasionally -unpleasant experiences of the bad behaviour of rowdy char-h-bancs parties. At the same time, they must admit that there are, among their awn ranks, a few objectionable and inconeiderate drivers, and also that the majority of motor coach parties are perfectly inoffensive, and are merely aiming
C8 at getting the pleasures of motoring at a price they can afford to pay.
It is possible to teed the Minister of Transport's comment in two ways. One may take it to mean that, while the people in motor coaches are objectionable, those in privabe cars are °veil worse. One may 'also take it to mean that while occupants of private cars are themselves unobjectionable, those in motor coaches are even less open to the slightest criticism. That the latter of these two readings would be the more correct is -indicated by his subsequent remark that, at the present day, there islittle or no foundatum for the agitation against motor coach traffic.
The' Motor Show.
The occurrence of the coal strike resulted in many idle rumours of,,early dosing of the Commercial Motor Show, of a, shortening of the show period, of a restriction of the lighting, and so on, but the exhibition pursued the even tenor of its way. The great subject of discussion, .however, concerned the question as to. -whether the Motor Show, fixed to he held at Olympia from November 5th to 13th. would have to be cancelled. The matter was discussed by the committee of management and the council of the S.M.M. and T. 'met Thursday, when it was decided to proceed with the plans for holding the Show, but to cancel the banquet.
Lincoln and Transport • Development.
There was a notable gathering inLincoln. on Tuesday last, when managers of railway concerns, engineers, and distinguished visitors from foreign countries, visited Clayton Wagons, Ltd., Abbey Works_ The Crown Agent attended from Landon, ace! New South Wales was reoresented by the AgentGeneral. They were present on the invitation of the firm, who have just cornpleted'the first Pullman car made in the city. The firm have an lam:portant contract with the Pullman Co. for five firstclass and five third-class cars for service on the Great Eastern Railway. During
the inspection of the v work. the chairman of the Pullman Co., Sir 'Davison DaTziel, M.P., announced that the Clayton production was up to the present the most luxurieue of any yet constructed in the country.
1,215 heavy motorcars were registered by the London Canty Council under the Motor Car Acts of 1896 and 1903 chain?: the quarter ended September 30th, 1920', bringing the total up to 22,554.
The Bedford branch in the list of the associated firms of Agricultural and General Engineers, Ltd., is James and Freclk. Howard, Ltd., the recognised title being with the name "James" in full, and Fredk." abbreviated as shown.
In our group of commercial vehicles illustrated on page 344, of our last, issue, we desceihed as an 8 ton Sentinel lorry for haulage in Liverpool, a vehicle which actually was one of the new Clayton undertype steam wagons made for d. E. Brown of Liverpool.
Alcohol Mixture Suggestion.
The successful experiments with alcohol mixtures so far recorded have been made with 50 per cent, of alcohol and 50 per cent. benzoic.We understand, howe ever, that in the continued experinienes by the London. General Omnibus Co., a' most useful mixture has been found in :— Alcohol 6(1 per cent., benzole 30 per cent., and ether 10 per cent.. This mix/tare calls for no alteration in the compression pressures. With regard to denaturing, Mr. G. J. Shave makes a very valuable suggestion. Bone oil (distillable from bones and only obtainable in anal quantities) is of the same epeeific gravity as alcohol and, therefore, cannot be separated from it after mixing. It is meet repulsive, in odour, and spirit denatured with it would' be most unpalatable.
Inst. A.B. Paper.
The first meeting of the London Graduates' Section of the Institution of Automobile Engineers wan held on October 14th, .when Messrs. E. Chalterton and L. F. Watson read en excellent paper en "Factors Affecting Power Output, taking as a basis the output per unit fuel consumption.. The autffoxe deserve great credit for condensing what would normally occupy a volume into such a short paper, while at the same time giving a great mass of rood for thought. Among the points•referred to were : The design of the combustion. chamber, the authors quoting en instance in which the tieel consumption was decreased by 20 per cent., without any loss of power CT in'crease in cost of manufacture, by simply altering the contour of the cylinder head .—dividing the factors affecting power output into the three headings of thermal, volumetric, and Mechanical efficiency, they dealt with the various details of the engine concerned with these three headings.
The • Baico Char-a-Bancs. •
With regard .to the exhibits of the British American import Co., Ltd., of 115, Fulham Road, London, S.W.3, which we described in our report issue of the Olympia Show, an error occurred in connection with the price of the 20seater .Beico-Ford char-X-bancs. This was stated to be £950, but as many of our readers who . visited the Show will knew, this should have been 13595. At this price,
it is one of the cheapest combinations on the market. Wes also stated that the bodyhas a single entrance on the near side at the forward end ; as a matter of fact, an entrance is provided at either id Slough Employees ,Benefit.
The directors of the Slough Trading Co. have reduced the weekly working hours of their employees at Slough from 44 hours in six days to 40 hours in. five_ days without reducing their weekly earnings, thus dispensing with the four hours at present being worked on Saturdays. It is from a business rather than from a philanthropic point of view that '-the matter has been considered, it being the directors' belief that employees will respond to their appeal for an equivalent output-in the future 40-hour as in the past 44-hour week.
Ford Profits in Canada.
Profits amounting to 67 per cent. of the 7,000,000 dollars of capital stock out standing were earned by the Ford Motor Co., of Canada, during the year ending July 31st.. The net profits for the year were 4,696,243 dollars, after deducting 968,590 dollars for taxes an■cl other expenses. Dividends absorbed 1,750,000 dollars, leaving a snrplu.s on July 31st of 8,216,305, compared with 5,270,000 dollars on July 1st, 1919. • These figures are based on.a production of 55,616 cars, compared with 39,112 manufactured during the previous year.
Petrol Plant in Fruit Growing.
Great progress has been made within recent years in the development of machinery suitable for use in fruit plantations. Messrs. McDougal Bros. Ltd., of Norrest, Malvern and Manchest!er, at the recent West Midland Commercial Fruit Show, were awarded the first prize, a silver medal, for new implements for use in the fruit-growing industry.
The machine is a dry sprayer distribea tor for fruit and hops, ,self-contained, and driven by an internalecombustioo (petrol) engine. The second prize in this class wee awarded to Messrs. Drake and . Fletcher, a Maidstone, for the new A.P.S. fruit-spraying plant, -which is specially suited to limo. .'Eles machine is also self-oontained.
In another class W Weeks and Son, Ltd., of Maidstone, were awarded the first prize of a silver medal for the "Service' small hand-controlled motor treater and attachments for plantation cultivation. The second prize in this class was also awarded to Messrs. Drake and Fletcher for their patent adjustable rUdder attachmente for spring tine harrows.
Thornycrofts For Siam?
The Basingstoke works of John I. Thornyeroft, and Co., Ltd., were visited a few days ago by the Crown Prince Purachatra of Siam with his wife and daughter, who were accompanied by Mr. Stanley, of the Board of Trade Overseas Department.
The Prince is the General of Engineering for Siam, and has the control of all roads and railways transport in that country, and he showed very great interest in the Thorneaxoft works, through which he was conducted by Mr. Torn Thornyc.roft, The party was afterwards entertained at an excellent lunch provided by the Basingstoke canteen staff, and the following day visited the Thornycroft shipbuilding works at Southampton, when the Crown Princess Przhavaddshidi performed the launching ceremony of the Ville de St. &mann, ' a 2,000 ton cargo vessel building for French owners.
The Crown Prince possesses a keen business instinct, and it is one of his characteristics to prefer to deal directly with the heads of the firma with whom he has business transactions.
Canadian National Exhibition.
The forty-second annual Canadian National Exhibition held in Toronto a few weeks ago attracted over one million visitors, the total nuMber being 1,152,000, which was a decrease of some 48,000 from the figures of the perevious year of 1,201,000, when the Prince of Wales twice visited the Exhibition, and was welcomed there by many thousands. TIse record attendance for the 42 years of the Mehl lation's existence was attained in that year.
A large number of American. and Canadian firms exhibited, and it is to be regretted that British firms only mustered about 30 out, of a total number of 672 exhibitors.
The Canadian National Exhibition embraces the annual automobile show of Canada, and while practically every make of American and Canadian car was exhibited, only one Britishon.ade ,ear was shown. In the RlOtOT lorry section three British vehicles were exhibited, against 62 Canadian and American. In the motor and cycle accessories section cum firm of British agents represented about a dozen United Kingdom manufacturers of motor and cycle accessories. • The Department of Overseas Trade maintained a Bureau of Information in the Government ,Building. Many inquiries were received there. regarding United Kingdom export trade, one of the principal being, "When do United Kingdom firms propose to take more serious steps to cater for the Canadian Market?"
Motor Traffic Legislation in Norway.
H.M. Vice-Consul at Christiania states that. the Director of Roads has informed him that the proposed law to govern motor traffic in Norway is not expected to be passed as a whole before the spring of 1921, but that parts of it which refers to tyres will come into force. on January let next. Official information concerning the dimensions of motor vehicle tyres.. has recently. been published. Theigreat invasion of motor vehicles into the country has necessitated alterations in the motor laws and, states a local journal, 'the4tremendous wear and tears on the roads by motor lorries will probably require still further legislation. It shauld be noted, however, that the importation of motorcars, for passenger traffic as well as that of motorcycles, weth or without sidecars, and cyclecars, is prohibited under the,ban ore " luxury " goods.
Messrs. Walfordaand Co., of 7, Great James's Street, Bedford now, W.C.1, whosesIndian address is Post. Box 613, Calcutta, have been appointed agents for vehicles produced by the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd., for India and Ceylon, including Burma..
Personal Pars.
The reference to Karrier Motors, Ltd., in the paragraph, immediately following, concerning the appointment of Mr. A. A. Remington to a directorship of this company, reminds us that we saw Mr. Herbert F. Clayton' the founder of that . business (formerly known as Clayton and Co. (Huddersfield), Ltd., not only at the luncheon given on the opening dayloby the Society of Motor Manufacturers and , Traders, but, also, once. or twice on the stand of the eompany. Mr.: Clayton is a typical Yorkshireman. He is probably over 60 years tof age but looks somewhere in the thirties, and has all thaivivacity, vim and go of a man who, in years, has scarcely completed a quarter of a century of his life. ; He founded the Karrier business about 14. years ago, and it .must be very. gratifying to him to observe -that it la now one of the leading commercial vehicle concerns in the country, having behind it a fine war record. 'The weak links in the chain of design disclosed by the excessive strains brought about by war wofle were immediately rectified so far as all new vehicles were concerned, Out, in addition to this, the makers seat out to the base depots replacement parts of the new design; or of the new strength, to replace those already in use. The result was that convoys of Ka.rriers soon earned a name for great reliability.
Owing to the miscarrying of a letter, we were unable, in our last issue, to refer to the appointment of Mr. Alfred Arnold Remington, ..O.B.E., M.I.Mech.E., M.I.A.E., to the technical directoiship of Karrier Motors, Ltd.
Mr. Remington last year filled the important post of President of the Institute of* Automobile Engineers, and it is greatly to his credit that he had reached that position well within 20 years of his
rst association (in 1900) with the motorcar trade. He joined Woiseley Motors, Ltd., a year later-as draughtsman. For a time he was connected with Vickers, Ltd., of Barrow, in connection with the design of petrol engines for submarines, and later returned to the Wolseley Co. as chief draughtsman, and, when Mr. Siddeley joined the company, Mr.. Remington became designer. In 1912 he was .appointed chief engineer, and was largely responsible for rapid development of scientific designing in the motorcar industry, as is evideneeds by the complete equipment of the experimental • research, Iabocatory at . the Wolseley Co.'s works, which was, in fact, created by hina
His engineering training and study have carned'him into other branches of design outside of the motor industry, and this very considerable experience has more than-paid for itself manytimes. Mr. Remington is highly regarded throughout the whore motor industry, and there is not theaslightest doubt that Karrier Motors are vastly the gainers by thus securing his services.
Mr. L. E. Little, founder and managing director of Northern Bail Bearings, Ltd., in this country, has recently joined forces with the famous firm of Ransame and
Mae-lea Bearing i Co., Ltd., and is at present busily engaged n introducing several new features in ball bearing design. He leasshis headquarters at the London office of the 'company, 64, Mortimer 'Street, Great.Portland Street, W.la and it is expectecl.that this move will be of considerable importance to all users of bearings
Body Tenders Wanted.
Edinburgh Corporation Tramways, through their traraway,maeager, whose address is 2, St. James's Square, Edinburgh; are issuing a specification and drawing for six motor char-a-banes bodies, for which they are asking quotations, for delivery before March, 1921.
Each vehicle is to hold 32 passengers, the framing to be of wood, and aides to be panelled with sheet steel and panelled off with aluminium and hard wood mouldings. Doors axe to be provided to each compartment on the near side, and there is to be an offside door for entrance to the driver's seat The vehicle is to be fitted with windscreen, running boards, arid hood, and finished in accordance with. the details set out in the §pecification. Tenders meet be addressed to the Town Clerk, and delivered not later than.
Friday, November 5th. • We have a copy of the specification and a blue print of the body in this office for any London inquirer who cares to call and inspect them.
Improved Transport Facilities.
West Riding County Council has had communications from the Minister of Agriculture and the Ri po n Corporation with reference to the proposal of the War Office to hand over to the Disposals Board the light railway constructed daring the war for Ripon camp, and the question is raised as to whether the railway could not be made use of for the benefit of the locality. The County Council has appointed a -oh-committee to make investigations, and also to consider generally the question of providing improved transport facilities by means of light railways oi otherwise in comity areas at present in _ adequately served by transpert.
Farm Tractors in Western Canada.
Manufacturers of farm tractors who wish to do business with Canada shauld make a point of consulting "The Tractor and Farm Auxiliary Survey" for the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta for the year 1920, which has hien compiled by the Canadian Power Farmer, and published by E. B. Beath
and Co., of Winnipeg. A copy of the work in question may be seen on application to the Inquiry Room, Department of Overseas Trade, 35, Old Queen Street, Westminster, S.W. 1.
The book, which runs to 60 pages and
a folding map, gives particulars of the possible demand for farm machinery in every town in the three provirrdeso and we note with interest that the number of gas tractors in Western Canada on November 1st, 1919, totalled 26,392, made up as follows ;---Manitoba, 5,877;. SAS-
katohewan, 14,148; Alberta, 6,367. A note in one of the pages runs: "With only one in every 8§ farms in. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta -owning tractors in 1919, over one acre in three of the total mall aria average -was ploughed. with a tractor."
New North Wales Bus Service.
A number 'of Bangor tradesmen have decided to establish a. new motor omnibus service, to be known as the Bangor and District Motors, Ltd. The company intends to divide the local routes into four 2d. stages,. and to have a country service connecting up Ebenezer and district, Brynateneyn and Dwyran. proposal is to purchase two buses for the town services and to hire vehicles for the country districts until it is proved what sort of vehicle would be most suited for the roads. It was suggested that the Cares Amid be based on 2d. per person per mile, but to be on the safe side itwas thought advisable to fix it at 3d.
Sparking Plugs in Uruguay.
According to the Scmth. American Journal, there is a big demand for sparking plugs in Uruguay, a demand correaponding to 10,000 or 12,000 automobiles tesi es the petrol engines in use_ Since about 70 .per cent, of the automobiles and many of the engines used . are of American. manufacture, "the American standard screw thread sizes are suitable for sale in the country. About 80 per cent, of the plugs sold are of metric sizes, and a majority of itie others are in. plugs. Of the European importations, the French BMW'S wit far 2 pesos (Qs. 6a. each), while the Italian makes retail at 3 pesos tl4s. 3d.).
Corporation Bus Bills.
Reporting upon the Sheffield Corporation (Motor Inabuses) Bill, the Law Committee of the West Riding County Council states that the West Riding and the Derbyshire County Councils were ccpresented before a Committee of the House of Lords in support of petitiona asking that the Ministry of Tra.nsport,'s model elauees relating to eontributions towards adaptation of roads and road maintenance inserted in the Bill should be -made to apply to old and new routes uniformly. The decision of the House of Lorda Committee was
"The Committee has considered the whole matter very carefully, and it has come to the conclusion, that the atandard clauses can only apply to the new works. It thinks it very desarable that all these undertakings should be on the same basis, but it is of opinion that it is a matter which should be dealt with by a general Act. of Parliament and not in a private BAT!'" Accordingly, the West Riding County Council, acting jointly with the Derbyshire Comity Council, suggested to. the Minister of 'Transport the desirability of introducing a pablic Bill to secure a common basis, lint the Ministry has declined to do this in view of the new taxes.
The High Price of British Lorries.
Westminster City Council invited quotations for the supply of *IR petrol motors for the cleansing department, and had 24 tenders submitted. The Works Committee declares that, anxious as it is to get more motors so as to avoid horse
it finds the tenders extremely high, and, moreover, is informed that an excellent type of lorry eaa be purchased abroad at much less cost, than present English market prices, even after making allowance for freight charges to this country. Understanding that there is stall a large stock of motor vehicles at the Slough depota deputation went down and saw three suitable Thornycroft chassis, and the committee new recommends their purchase. By this means it is computed that the slight repairs and provision of bodies will enable the Council to get each complete lorry at £683.
Battery Service.
It may be of interest to our readers and to electric vehicle users generally to know that following the reduction of the Hat prices of Erich:, starting and lighting batteries, the Chloride Electaical Storage Co., Ltd. 220, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W:C.2, are able to offer users the further advantage of firstclass battery service. The company have already appointed a large number of firma all over the country to eatairlish Exide battery service stations in their various towne, and many of these are in operation, whilst others will . shortly be in a position to undertake the work.
The company's service system will ensure that an Erick battery user need 'never have his vehicle out of commission through battery trouble, aa he will have in his vicinity a service station where he can obtain advice and assistance whenever necessary. His cells can he kept in good eandition, tested from time to time, have distilled water added, and in cases where it may be necessary to remove the battery from the ear for repairs or recharging, a rental battery suited to his Vehicle will be At his disposal.
Warrington Haulage Contractors.
Motor haailage contractors in the Warrington district feeling the need of an organization to assisS them in the problems with which they are daily confronted, have decided to form a branch of the Liverpool and District Motor Haulage Contractors Association to cover an • area. embracing Runcorn, Widnes, and Chester.
Mr. A. J. Bailey, who presided, briefly reviewed the problems of the road transprat industry, from the hauliers' point of view. Rate-cutting, be said, was very prevalent. in the Warrington area and there were Liverpoql and Manchester haulage contractors passing through the town who were prepared to take loads at 9s. 6d. to 10s. per ton to either city—a rate ridiculously below railway rates: A very useful discnesion ensued, as a result of which it was decided to form a branch of the Liverpool Haulage Contractors Association.
The chairman recommended members also to join the Commercial Motor Users Association, but regretted that the C.M.U.A. was so little interested in haulage as a business that their secretary declined ta convene a meeting far haulage contractors only. Haulage contractors had their own problems, which Nvere not invariably in line with those of the Corniris rola] Motor Users Association. This organization, said Mr. Bailey, whose firm are members of the apparently was not impressed with the desirability of specially supporting the haulage contractor.
A Mud Splash Guard Demonstration.
The demonstration of mud splash guards suitable for motor vehicles, being arranged by the Camberwell Borough Council, has been postponed until Mon day, November 29th. The Transport Ministry and the Commissioner of Police have promised to send representatives.
A Bus Stop Proposal.
The Commissioner of Police is considering, in conjunction with the Technical Committee of the Advisory Committee on London Traffic, a suggestion that a regulation should be made insisting that bus stopping places should be at least 30 yds. in the rear of Oramwaystopping places.
Studying the Miners. .
' The workmen at Garndiffaith Institute, near Newport (Mon.), handed over to the Pontypool Hospital on Monday a motor ambulance for the conveyance of injured workmen from the local collieries and steel works. The cost of the ambulance, which arrived at Gameliffaith during the week-end, is slated to be over £1,000, which was raised by the subscriptions of the workmen. The offer Was very heartily accepted by the hospital executive committee.
Local Proceedings.
South Shields Corporation is to convert eomeaold tramway sheds into a garage.
" £1,395 is to be spent by Wakefield T.C. on a 2 ton electric tipping wagon.
A motor vehicle for the collection of refuse is to be purchased by Crompton U.D.C.
Essex County Council reports the sale by auction for £200 of an old Clayton steam wagon.
Oswestry R.D.C. is to purchase a 5 ton tipping wagon at a cost of 21,350, also a 1 ton Ford tipping lorry.
The South Shields. Tramways Committee is considering the question of extending the omnibus service.
The Rugby Urban and Rural and the Crick Rural District Councils are combining to purchase a motor ambulance.
Northampton Corporation has authorized the borough engineer to purchase a Foden stearn lorry at a cost of £1,275.
The Ministry of Health have. sanctioned the borrowing of £1,945 by Crayford P.C. for the purchase of a motor fire-engine, and of £8,500 by Ilford U.D.C. for electric vehicles.
Inquiries have been held into the .applications of Watford U.D.C. and Wolverhampton Corporation for permission to borrow £11,400 and £4,614 respectively, for the purchase of electric vehicles for the removal of house refuse.
So much damage was done as the result of the intensive motor traffic consequent upon the railway strike, that Essex County Council is now spending over a thousand pounds to repair lielveclon Bridge, on the Claelmsford-Calchester main. road, across the River Blackwater.
The following purchases have been authorized by the Essex County Council: .Two five ton tractors or steam wagons, four trailers, one cve:e and sidecar, at a. total cost of £3$10.
Two five ton Marshall trailers, at a total cost, of £540.
One Foden steam wagon.