THE MOTOR CART-IS IT PRACTICABLE?
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Why the Motor Does Not Completely Oust the Horse from His Last Sphere of Use. By Henry Sturmey.
THE LEADERETTE on the above subject in Tire Commercial Motor recalls a statement I made about 20 years ago, in an article on the possibilities of the motor vehicle, in which I said that the last type of horse to be ousted by the motorcar—and its ,ousting would not be easy—would be the, ' pound-a-leg " animal used in the small traders' van; and I think the course of events has justified the assertion.
As the Editor says, what is wanted is a motor wagon which can be used for the stop-and-start work of house-to-house retail delivery, where . the customers are close together and no large mileage is needed to cover the lot, and I frankly say I have my doubts whether this field will ever be filled by the motor. The one point where the motor scores over the horse is in speed and the consequent saving in time in doing the work to he done, and this houseto-house delivery is the one class of work where there is little or no scope for the. utilization of this advantage. ,
The Difficult Conditions that Have to be Met.
Take a street of 300 yards long, say, in which a dozen calls have to be made. If there is a run of .50 yards between any two of the stoppages, there must be very much less—often only ten or a dozen yards—between the rest. During the stopping period the horse is at no disadvantage as compared with the motor. The operations Of getting out of the vehicle, selecting the goods and taking them to the door, delivering them and returning to and re-entering the vehicle will be-the same in each case.. So, the only way in which the motor can score is by a. gain in speed between the several stopping points. Here, however, the motor is often not only iii no better position, but may be evenat a disadvantage. For instance, I have often seen the horse in a baker's or milkman's cart walking on ahead on its own, whilst its driver is delivering, and stopping at the nextpoint of regular call a few yards farther on. No motor cart could do' that, so the horse scores heavily, and, when the animal is not intelligent enough for this, it will generally be found that it will start walking ahead directly it feels that the driver's foot is on the step. But a motor must wait until the driver has actually taken his seat and opeiated whatever controlling mechanism is needful to start it. Hence, it is onb on a few sections, of the round that the superior speed of the motor has any opportunity 'at all to score. Again, With the petrol motor we find ourselves up against. another peculiarity, and that is the starting and stopping -of' the engine itself. Whatever our starting mechanism for the motor cart may be, it is inoperative if the engine is stopped, and, unless we are to keep our engine running all the time, the cart must be provided with .a means by which the engine can-be immediately " started at a touch" as readily and certainly as a shake of the reins or an ejaculation by the driver will start. the horse into movement.
Such a provision would be a necessity on the vehicle which is efficiently to fill the bill for this class of work, and, even if we employ a ratchet-pull starting device, a kick-starter as with a Motorbicycle, or the More expensive electric starter, as we all know, there is generally a loss of some seconds between the hand movement by.the-operator and the actual starting of the engine, a further brief pause being needful before sufficient engine speed has been attained to permit of engaging the clutch B28 without a risk of stopping the engine again. The electric starter is probably the most reliable and wastes the least time: But this is an expensive fit. ting, and we must bear in mind that any vehicle built to meet the requirements of •this\ class of work must be cheap to buy.
On the other hand, if we ignore all these devices and leave the engine running, we shall consume, more petrol doing nothing than we shall use to (.1.•-!. the work of the day, and, with this class of vehicle, running cost is as important as first cost. Here, without doubt, the petrol engine is at a disadvantage. These conditions of constant .stopping and restarting are more fully met by an .eleetrit: Vehicle, which, indeed, from this point of. view, would be ideal for the work. But here, again, . we tire up against both first cost and running expenses:
A Specially -Designed Vehicle Called For.
-Properly to meet the requirements it is neeessarY that .a vehicle be specially de&gried. As a high rate of speed is not required, because the conditions will not permit of its employment, low engine power will suffice, and if cars are to be specially built for this work 5 h.p. or 6 h.p. would probably be ample with' low gearing. But they would not be capable•of going faster when required, and_ this point would militate
against their adoption. . .
Although the field for a car which would really' meet the requirements of this class of work is large,, I question whether the demand, at any rate at first;_: would be sufficient to enable such a vehicle to be produced at a figure which would be acceptable.-14 am afraid we shall have the " hay-motor -' with tist for a long time yet for delivery work of this character, for, at present, I certainly cannot see a way out—or, rather, a way in—for the motor vehicle.