From Our Berlin Correspondent.
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Motor (Engine) Show at Berlin Next Year.
I may point out that the Berlin Motor Boat and Motor (engine) Show, to be held from 19th March to 3rd April, will comprehend a special section for agricultural motors, likewise manual and machine-driven tools for the making of the same. Headers must not run away with the idea that agricultural vehicles will find admission; the space in the section is for engines only. Printed information in full is now obtainable. The Kaiserliehe Automobil-Club (Berlin, W. Leipzigerplatz 16) is co-operating with the German Automobile Makers Association in organizing the show.
Freight-cum.-Ambulance Wagons for the Austrian Army.
For some time past the Austrian Technico-military Committee has been experimenting with acombined freight and ambulance-wagon, and, as a result of the trials, an order has gone to the makers for 10 similar vehicles. The idea is to use the wagon for the transport of ammunition to the troops at the front, and then to rig it up for conveying wounded men to the rear. Unless I am greatly mistaken, a Jungbunzlau firm of automobile makers produced something on similar lines many months ago for the Austrian army; it may be that the Vienna house credited with the present order has succeeded in designing a more practical combination. The combination in question carries a load of 21 tons, and affords accommodation for four men on stretchers or for a dozen soldiers able to sit in the wagon unattended by either medical officers or ambulance men, or an equivalent combined number of injured soldiers and ambulance attendants. Bergmann Vans with Edison Batteries.
The accompanying illustration shows one of the Bergmann electric-propelled vehicles in use at Munich. Power is derived from an Edison battery (slung under the central part of the frame), and applied from a differential countershaft at the rear to the back road wheels by means of side chains. Your Mr. Watson described this chassis and battery in his notes on the last Berlin Motor Show. There are in use at Munich 12 Bergmann box-vans for the transportation of bottled beer. I am indebted to Pfister Mayr and Co., Messrs. Bergmann's agents in that city, for the photograph of the van under its load of bottled beer.
Colonial Daimler-Marienfelde for Heavy Transport, with FourWheel Drive.
forward photographs of an interesting Daimler-Marienfelde machine with a four-wheel drive, constrected to the order of a Berlin firm of exporters. It is required for work in a German South-African Colony, where the heavy, sandy roads and the peculiar climatic conditions demand mechanical features not necessary for automobiles built for running at home. During the early summer of 1908, I supplied particulars of a similarly-propelled vehicle, designed for passenger carrying. The chassis of the freight-carrier here illustrated, which has side a9,0
cross-metubers of pressed steel, is equipped with a six-cylinder motor hung on the well-known, Marienfelde, three-point system of suspension; the engine is capable of developing 60 b.Lp. at 930 r.p.m. The carburetter is of the throttle-piston type described in THE COMBIERCIAL Mown, of the 14th November, 1907, and low-tension magneto ignition is fitted. The engine can easily be started up by the crank in front, but, mounted at the side of the dashboard, on the frame, there is a mixturestarting pump, with which there is a magnetic apparatus, controlled by hand, and by this means the engine may be started. An oil-pump worked by the motor effects the lubrication. but the driver is able to regulate the oil-supply by means of a fitting which is mounted on -the dashboard.
Naturally enough, the cooling orrangements have received very special attention. Note, for instance, how, at the bottom, the honeycomb-radiator projects over the starting handle; also observe (in the front view) the pair of huge water-cylinders which flank the bonnet. Two rotatory pumps, driven from the camshaft, force the water through : (a) the jackets ; (b) the capacious radiator ; and (c) the two water-cylinders. An aluminium friction-cone clutch connects up the motorshaft with the gearbox, which is hung on the three-point principle, and this gives four forward speeds and one reverse, with a maximum speed a 10 miles au hour, and a minimum of—one mile and quarter! So low a minimum necessitates, of course, a very large gearcase; but, bear in mind, any disadvantage likely to be caused by the size of the gearcase is offset by the vehicle's capability for the negotiating of sandy roads and steep gradients with its four-wheel drive. From the lower gearshaft, cardan shaft extends to each axle.
As only the front road-wheels are steerable, the rear pair are driven by the usual Daimler toothed-gear, and this is fully protected against the ingress of sand and dirt. The forward differential-gear casing is mounted on the bed of the leading axle, and the power is transmitted to each front wheel through a short shaft and two pairs of bevel wheels, the second and third gears of which train are mounted on the road-wheel pivot. A reference to the front view of the chassis will assist in making this clear. The same view also shows the precautions which the designers have taken to keep out sand and grit ; the slots in the dished covers are provided with sliding shut teis. The broad flanges on the outer faces of the wheels are intended to prevent the vehicle from sinking too far into the soft sand. Four independent brakes are fitted, and of these, one acts on the gearbox layshaft, two on the differential gears, and the fourth acts directly on the rear wheels. The self-propelled unit carries five tons, and can draw a couple of trailers, each with a like load. Home trials, under conditions corresponding as closely as possible to those anticipated in South Africa, have given highly satisfactory results, and there seems to be little doubt that the new Marienfelde will get the better of the Colonial sand. The self-propelled unit weighs nearly 113 cwt.