The Motor Omnibus World.
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Mr. E. Shrapnel] Smith has been elected honorary vicepresident of the Society of Motor Omnibus Engineers.
Motor omnibus companies will be well advised to use fireproofed materials in the construction of the bodies for public service vehicles when petrol fuel is used.
According to the local Press reports, the Great Eastern Railway omnibuses are having frequent small troubles on the road. Possibly this railway company will find that the Great Western and other companies have done better for themselves in purchasing from manufacturers.
A Chelmsford steam omnibus, to carry ten passengers, which has been running experimentally between Durham, Langley Moor, and Brandon, has been returned to the makers. The support accorded to the vehicle has been so satisfactory that it is intended to promote a company forthwith and to purchase vehicles to carry 16 to 20 persons.
The Chelmsford double-deck omnibus recently supplied to the London Road Car Company, Limited, has averaged upwards of too miles a day since the 5th instant. Only one replenishment of water is found necessary in the working day, and the quietness of the omnibus is attracting universal notice in London. An interesting anecdote reaches us in reference to a policeman on the line of route. The constable enquired if it was a fact that the omnibus was driven by steam. On being answered in the affirmative, he replied : "Then I airs all right. I bet a fellow los. that there was a steam bus on our route which hadn't got a chimney. He said it was impossible, but I have won my ten bob."
The Sheffield City Council passed the following resolution on March 8th of this year :—" That application be made to Parliament by the city council for powers to enable the council to provide, own, work and use omnibuses, coaches, cars, and other road vehicles, to be drawn or moved by electrical or any mechanical power, in connection with, or in extension of the tramway system of the corporation, and to convey passengers' luggage, parcels, and goods therein, and to make and recover charges in respect of such conveyance." The Parliamentary Committee of the council, at its meeting on August 14th last, considered this resolution, together with a number of other recommendations which had been made by certain committees, in relation to the obtaining of further Parliamentary powers. After due consideration, it was reported to the council that the matter was not of such pressing mon-tent as to justify the incurring of expense in promoting a Bill during the next session of Parliament. This report was presented, and adopted by the Sheffield City Council on the t3th instant, and it will, therefore, be seen that, although the decision has been taken to seek Parliamentary powers in respect of motor omnibus services, the actual application to Parliament will not be made immediately.
The Motor Car Emporium, Limited, of I, Addison Road North, London, W., holds the sole agency for England, the British Colonies and Dependencies, for the Scheibler omnibus illustrated by us last week.
The Metropolitan Asylums Board invites tenders for the supply of a single-deck motor omnibus, to carry from m to 16 passengers. No interior upholstery is required, but the vehicle must be fitted with a door. A trial by the Board's experts of a similar vehicle will be required before a tender is recommended for acceptance by the Board. Tenders (no forms provided) must be accompanied by full specifications and drawings. Reports of trials, copies of testimonials, and catalogues may also be sent_ Tenders must be delivered at the office of the Board, Embankment, London, E.C., not later than TO a.m. on Monday, October znd, 1905. Mr. L. Maxse Pible, of the Eastbourne Motor Works, Beach Road, Eastbourne, has recently supplied a 4-cylinder 16h.p. hotel omnibus to the Chatsworth Hotel in that wellknown watering place. The car is used for station work, meeting about 17 trains daily, and carries eight passengers with luggage. Palmer cord tyres are fitted. The motor omnibus service between Bath and Bradfordon-Avon, via Corsham, is giving great satisfaction to the whole population in that part of Wiltshire. The Bath Electric Tramways Company, Limited, is wisely charging very reasonable fares, hence the wide popularity of the vehicles. The manager of the service is Mr. R. D. McCarter.
The Great North of Scotland Railway Company's Bill, which was sanctioned at the general meeting of shareholders in May last, and which includes powers to run motor omnibuses and other mechanical road vehicles, has been approved by the Commission appointed under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1889; it now awaits confirmation by Parliament.
The application for a motor omnibus service, which was preferred by the inhabitants of Hatherleigh, has received favourable treatment at the hands of the London and South Western Railway Company. It. is expected that the directors will sanction the installation of the service at their next meeting, whilst a further one is in contemplation between Okehampton and Torrington. This is regarded as the missing link in the means of communication between North and South Devon.
The Chief Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis in his annual report just issued says :—" The decline in the number of two-wheeled hackney carriages licensed, and the comparatively small number of new vehicles presented, seems to show that they are beginning to lose their popularity, or that proprietors are awaiting developments in the direction or suitable motor carriages, or will not unduly increase their stock of the present style. This is undoubtedly the cause of the decrease in the number of horse-drawn omnibuses." The actual comparisons are, as between the years 1904 and 1903— motor omnibus licenses, 31 and 12 ; motor cabs, 2 and 2; horsed omnibuses, 3,551 and 3,623; hackney; carriages, • 11,059 and 11,405. Motor omnibus registrations will probably reach 300 by December 31st next. The annual subscription of an associate to the Soc. M.O. Eng. is three guineas. Thirty firms and companies have already been enrolled in this class.
The Mid-Sussex Motor Company, Limited, whose registered office is at Broadway, Hayward's Heath, Sussex, has been formed with a capital of Z3,000 in Li shares to acquire the business of motor omnibus and car proprietors previously carried on by the Mid-Sussex Motor Syndicate.
Commercial Motors for Australia.
The Hon. J. W. Taverner, Agent-General for Victoria, interviewed on Thursday at his offices, 142, Queen Victoria Street, E.C., by a representative of "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR," stated that two motor omnibuses were at present experimentally in use in his state by the Railway Commissioners. Should they be as successful as was hoped, no doubt crders would be placed by the Government in the near future for similar vehicles. The Victoria railways were the property of the Government, and the motor omnibuses would be utilised by the Railway Commissioners as feeders and as means of communication between parallel suburban railway lines. Horses were cheap in Australia, and their competition with commercial motors would, therefore, be probably more severe than in other places, but in his (Mr. Taverner's) opinion it was only a question of time before motors were brought extensively into operation in connection with the trade and commerce of the country. Mr. D. Sheehan, of Healesville, Victoria, a mail contractor, had recently oeen in London making inquiries with the object of ascertaining if motors would be more economical and efficient than horsed vehicles in the carrying out of his various contracts for the conveyance of mails. It was understood that the results of Mr. Sheehan's inquiries were such as to induce him to try experimentally one or two of the vehicles in the near future. If these turned out successful there would, no doubt, be a large field available.
The Adelaide (South Australia) Tramway Companies are jointly importing two motor omnibuses. These are now on their way, and other shipments will follow, so that a regular service will be running, it is expected, about the middle of November. The commercial motor is making good advances in South Australia. Recently a motor delivery van was purchased on behalf of the Government for the use of the railway department.