The Motor Omnibus World.
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To Gaol.
Charles Francis, a driver in the employ of the Vanguard Motorbus Company, Limited, was sentenced to one month's imprisonment, in the second division, by Mr. Fordham, last week, for assaulting a traffic clerk in the employ of the same company, the assault having arisen out of a dispute as to the terms of payment of the men.
Widening Leadenhall Street.
A movement is on foot to accelerate the plans for the widening of Leadenhall Street, where the congestion of traffic is notorious. Motorbus drivers will welcome this change when it is completed, and some of our readers may remember that a member of our staff, in describing one of the earliest • trips of the Straker-Squire motorbuses in the service of the London Road Car .Company, from Putney to Burdett Road, in our issue of the 4th .Decemher, 2905, suggested the driving of a motorbus in this thoroughfare as a punishment for motor hooligans. The intention is to increase the eastern rod Of this much-used City highway to a width of 36 feet between the channels, but the date of the alteration appears to depend somewhat upon a contribution from the London County Council. A Bright Spot.
We congratulate the Chairman, Sir Thomas D. Pile, Bart., and the management of the Great Eastern London Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, upon its first report, which is to be presented to the shareholders on Wednesday next, the 2nd proximo. There is a balance of -_;16,391 carried to the credit of profit and loss account, after the deduction of all working expenses, and we have confidence in the intrinsic value of this result, because all repairs have been properly done, and fully charged against revenue.'
Our records show that the company owned an average of some 39 motorbuses during the 18 months ending the 3oth June last, which period is covered by the report and accounts, and we estimate that, allowing for chassis in preparation for submission to the police, an average of 33 vehicles was in service. On this basis, depreciation has been charged at the rate of close upon zo per cent, per annum, which provision, with the thorough maintenance to which we have I ef erred, appears to be the most liberal y t made by any London company. The dividend for the period is at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, and this absorbs a total of .4;5,671, leaving -4.'2475 to be carried
forward. This terse report provides the much-needed bright spot in the records of London's motor omnibus companies.
We note that some mistaken critics have called in question the rate of depreciation, but they have overlooked the fact that the full nuniber of motorbuses represented in the balance-sheet, at the 3oth June last, had not been chargeable against the capital account for the whole period.
The Suggestion Box.
The value of the suggestion box, as an inducement to employees, is well known and fully appreciated by many up-to-date managers of engineering works and similar undertakings. We note, therefore, with no small degree of interest, that . a motorbus driver has been complaining to a representative of "The Evening News" that no encouragement is given to drivers and conductors in regard to the making of proposals for detail improvements which might bring about increased receipts. The small monthly payments for the best suggestions, that are received from the men in any commercial undertaking, are often recouped many times over to the proprietary company, and we hope that this matter may receive attention if, as is alleged, it has been scouted heretofore.
Round Manchester.
The month's experimental running of a RyknieM motorbus, between Urrnston and Stretford, has resulted in the carrying of 5,270 passengers, and the taking of ,4141 3s. gd., for 27 days' working. These figures show that the traffic requires to be considerably auf.-.1..mented, as it probably would be if the .service were made a permanent one, but we observe that the Watch Cornmittee" of the Manchester Corporation, at its meeting on the loth instant, declined to grant a license to the RykMeld Company's Manchester agent, .Mr. W. Stanway, for a service between the .Chester Road terminus of the tramway and the tramcars at Charltoncutn-Hardy. Our next paragraph deals with a Manchester company, the memory and proceedings of which may possibly account for the uncertain attitude of local councils.
A Liquidators Report.
Mr. Ernest I. Husey, the liquidator of the Manchester District Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, has issued a circular. to shareholders in that company.Our readers will remember the circumstances which brought about the liquidation, as they were fully reported in our pages, Mr. Ilusey states that the Manchester authorities soon formed an unfavourable opinion of this method of transit (motorbus conveyance), and refused to grant licenses, or to renew those which had been already granted. He is of opinion that the terms of the compromise with the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, Limited, are satisfactory, and points out that, when the matter of these terms was brought before the Court, at the instance of a shareholder, their adoption was or dered. The opposition of this shareholder, Mr. A. E. Healey, is mentioned several times, but the liquidator emphatically asserts his belief in Mr. Healey's honesty of purpose and disinterestedness. He proceeds to refer to the settlement of a claim that was received from the Dunlop Rubber Company, Limited, and reports that this, too, was approved by the Court. The company's contract for the supply of petroleum spirit, amounting to noo,000 gallons in three years, brought about a claim of ,;5',5oo for breach of contract, but this was settled, by the award of L;/,5oo, after an arbitration.
It appears that two other claims are still sub judice. These refer to the contract with the company's managing director, Mr. Daniel Boyle, who entered into an agreement for six years at a salary of .i,poo per annum, and
ho was prepared to accept payment of Z,1,750 in full satisfaction, and to a contract with the Key Engineering Company, Limited, from . whom a claim, in respect of work done in examining and passing the motor omnibuses, was received for the sum of L348. Here, Mr. Husey, the liquidator, offered to pay Lao in settlement, whereas Mr. Healey desired to see a counterclaim and action entered against this company on the ground that it had shown laxity in the performance of its duties.
The liquidator concludes by expressing the view that, had he been allowed
to go his own way without interference, he would have closed the liquidation already, and have returned at least is. 6d. in the 4, out of Jos. paid up, to the shareholders, whereas, so he thinks, there may now be a further call in order to close various outstanding matters and disputes. • Finally, Mr. Husey repeats that, although Mr. Healey's holding is only too shares of Li each, in respect of which ;65o has been paid, this gentleman obtained the support of a large number of shareholders, who will, therefore, share with Mr. Healey the responsibility, if there be any, in regard to the line of action initiated by Mr. Healey in opposition to voluntary liquidation.
Motorbuses in Italy.
According to the latest year book of the Touring Club of Italy, motorbuses will soon be serving 153 routes in that country. In Verona, Brescia, Manaut, Ronigo, Padua, and Vicenza, there are at present 19 lines, while others subsidised by the Government, and linking up Temuio, Pausania, and Pallan, over a distance of 133 kilometres, will be opened up at the beginning of next year, a want of vehicles delaying the operations until then. Referring to the question of transport by motor vehicles, the " Giornale dei Lavori Publici " stated in a recent article that the railways, having need of 25 motor lorries, were under the necessity of going to a foreign market for them. It is thought that next year commercial car trials will be held in conjunction with the Brescia automobile races for touring cars. A Fortnight's Record.
The accompanying illustration is one of a fleet of 14 Wolseley-Siddeley motor omnibuses, in the service of the London General Omnibus Company. These vehicles, according to information which ha i: been supplied to us from an official source, have accomplished an aggregate of 30,000 miles of service on the road in 54 consecutive days, and have accumulated that record without any trouble or loss of time on the journeys. The motor omnibus world is about to witness a considerable increase in the number of these vehicles throughout the Metropolis, as they have now been thoroughly brought into line with the requirements of New Scotland Yard, after a long period of official attention.
Road Damage.
The matter of the proposal of the Great North of Scotland Railway Company, in respect of indemnities against claims for road damage, to which we have referred in past issues (see Nos. 127 and 131), has again been before a district committee in Aberdeenshire. The Banff Committee, at its last meeting, was invited to follow the lead of certain local committees which have given limited undertakings that they will not claim for possible damage to roads, if a service of motorbuses is instituted in the Turriff, Strichen and Banff areas, but it decided not to accede to the request of the promoters, on the ground that it would be ultra vires to do so. This decision is unsatisfactory.
First Double-decker in Abyssinia. Messrs. Scheibler, of Aachen, have succeeded in disposing of one of their buses in Abyssinia. The vehicle is of the double-deck type familiar to Londoners, since it conforms in every particular to the regulations laid down by the London police. Its engine develops 3i-4oh.p. (See illustration below.) I. of W. Motorbuses.
The St. Helen's District Council, at its last meeting, had before it the reply of the County Council in regard to the proposed prohibition of motorbuses from certain roads in the district. The County Council declined to issue such a prohibition, on the ground that the effect would be to shut mit the vehicles from Seaview and St. Helen's. It is interesting to note that, at the same meeting, a notification of complaint was received from the County Council itself, in which the local council's method of repairing the roads was criticised in no measured terms. From Berlin.
A motorbus line has been opened between Oldenburg and Wardenburg. The vehicles are from Gag-genau.
Negotiations between the Berliner Omnibus -GeSellschaft on the one part and the parishes of Lichtenberg, Pankow, Weisensee and Rummelsburg on the other, for the establishment of motorbus lines linking up these suburbs with Berlin must be regarded as having fallen through. In the first place, the parishes refuse to guarantee a working profit ; in the second, the practical men of the Gesellschaft have gained enough experience to know that, with the suburban roads as they
are, the wear and tear of tires and machinery would be too great to admit. of any substantial profit. I may say that the Berliner Omnibus-Gesellschaft has adopted the sound maxim " festina lente " in the matter of extending motorbus traffic. The realisation of an ill-advised and insufficiently-weighed project means a financial disaster.
Vanguard Works Outing.
Great Yarmouth was, a week ago, the scene cif the first annual outing of,,, the Vanguard works. Upon this occasion, a special train conveyed some' 300 of the employees at the WalthamStow works of the company to the home of the bloater, leaving St. James' Street about half-past six, and making a practically non-stop run through to the. sea in three hours. The party was accompanied by Mr. S,•Wheeler, Chairman of Directors, and Mr. R. Bell, the Chief Engineer, who took the chair and vicechair respectively at the luncheon, which was laid at the Royal Aquarium Restaurant. Appropriate toasts were given, and responses made by various officials of the company, and the special returned from Great Yarmouth at eight o'clock, reaching town at 11.30 p.m. A committee, which was formed of the works foremen, aided by Messrs. J. Boon and A. G. Duncan, arranged the details of the trip, which was much enjoyed by those who took part in it.