Temporary Emissions of Steam :
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A Question of Period and Season.
Prosecutions for alleged breaches of the Motor Car Acts are, relatively to the numbers of vehicles and tractors in daily use, few and far between. The small percentage of troubles is rendered more satisfactory, too, when one takes into account the aggregates of mileages covered_ There are, however, at this season of the year, when the dewpoint is low by reason of atmospheric and temperature conditions, occasional efforts to secure the conviction of drivers or owners of steam-driven machines for their allowing the emission of "visible vapour" from the funnels of such road motors. A case of the kind is briefly reported on page 444. It will be observed that these proceedings were instituted under the Locomotives Acts, and that the charge took the form of statements upon the summons that, while registered under the Heavy Motor Car Order, the vehicle in question was in reality a locomotive, or traction engine, and that it should have been specially licensed as such—at a cost, be it noted, of 210 per annum for the first county or county borough in which it might be registered, and of a further E5 per annum, or 2s. 6d. per day, per county or county borough visited! These heavy annual charges, of course, do not apply to steam wagons and tractors, which pay only a single registration fee of El. The Bolton magistrates, after a lengthy hearing, very properly held that the emission of steam was due to a temporary cause, and dismissed the case, but, it will certainly serve the interests of some readers if we recapitulate the legal points on this question. " Visible vapour" must not be confused with "smoke," and we shall deal principally, in this reference, with the former.
Modern light locomotives, which are used in ataxirdance with the provisions of the 1904 Order, merit their exemptions from innumerable restrictions because they are " so constructed that no smoke or visible vapour is emitted therefrom except from any temporary or accidental cause." The Divisional Court (King's Bench), in the case of the Bury (Lancs.) police against a tractor driver in the employ of Mr. D. H. Simpson, of Manchester, which appeal was stated as Noblett versus Palmer and Hindle, on the 14th February, 1908, held that, qua smoke emission, the additional words "and used " are to be regarded as implied after" so constructed." The Court took the view that the fact of the emission justified the belief that the machine was not "so constructed." This judgment, unfortunately if not unreasonably, definitely settled the law against owners who wished to rely solely upon the excellence of manufacturers' designs and devims, and who thought that the actual occurrences on the road did not matter. We do not, suggest that many drivers are habitually careless: our object is to enforce the point that the old plea of legal compliance structurally no longer holds igood by itself, and that results will depend equally upon the observed facts ir course of service. That situation is not an unsatisfactory one, for the full legal answer is forthcoming when any escape of steam is shown to be due to either a temporary or an accidental cause_ The proof of accident is simple, and we proceed to indicate the leasobvious factor in a defence which relies upon the explanation that any particular emission of steam was due to a temporary cause. Heavy exhaust gases from an internalcombustion engine are due to mal-adjustment or negligence, and, as they arise from inside causes, are not so hard to remedy.
The time element is one of first importance, and it must here be recalled to mind that the converse of " temporary " is " permanent." A condition which endures for hours or days, or even for weeks, is clearly not a permanent state ; nobody would seriously propound the view that fog, frost, snow and rain were other than temporary fluctuations in the climatic conditions of Great Britain; yet, any one of these may last for long periods. Are spring, summer and autumn temporary or permanent seasons? If temporary, why differentiate the winter—the cause of the temporary difficulties about which we write? We fail to see how the inseparable connection between season and visible vapour can be ignored, and we would add a reminder that the trouble asserts itself only on those days when temperatures are low and the alanoL sphere already at, or near, the point of aqueous saturation therefor. Available hygroscopic data can be readily secured, on application to the nearest metereological or observatory station, and brought into Court. Hence, though a steamer may, when it is running, send out fleecy wreaths of visible vapour during the whole of a day, a week, or a month, there is a good reply. Owners know that such obstinacy of behaviour is rare nowadays, but it is not unknown. The emissions, however, when at their worst, are insignificant, in comparison with those from the numerous low-pressure " hot-water" engines of building and other contractors, whore visible-vapour discharges are common to every town and road, and are measured by the cubic mile! There shrink', of course, whenever it is possible, be other proofs of the temporary nature of any emission from a steam wagon or tractor, and* it would be superfluous for us to make suggestions. Each incident calls for its own support in detail, apart from the vital factor of weather and season, the bearing of which has been the burden of this note. Our object has been to convey, both to manufacturers and owners, an outline of the course of action which is open to them in the event of their being unable to secure helpful evidence of any kind in regard to the accidental element. No case should be allowed to go by default, as one such act of neglect generally leads to a multiplication of prosecutions in the future.
It remains, therefore, that we should add only a few more lines upon this matter, which we have no desire to labour. Any owners, who are harassed by threats of technical prosecutions should get into immediate communication with the Secretary of the Commercial Motor Users' Association, and should join that body forthwith.