The C.M.U.A. Parade.
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,E34 Awarded in Cash Prizes. Twelve Certificates of Commendation.
Is Saturday the Most Convenient Day for Owners?
The weather in London, on Saturday afternoon last, was fine but dull; it compared unfavourably with the experience on the occasion of the 1908 parade, although distinctly better than in 1907. There were, by 2.30 p.m., half-a-dozen early-comers in position, and at the appointed hour for the parade-3 p.m.—the line was practically complete: it included 38 of the 41 vehicles and tractors which were down in the official programme, ;the three absentees being: Mr. Frank Bentall's Lacre van ; the Milnes:Daimler motorbus entered by Thomas Tilling, Ltd. ; and the Thornycroft ..van entered by the Waldeck Laundry. Nine vehicles in the line were there hors concours.
We gave, in our last week's issue, a "list of 40 machines, and in this list, by inadvertence, the three Thornycroft vehicles belonging to the Westminster City Council were put down as " petrol " instead of " steam." A late entry of a Thornycroft van, drivel, by V. P. Sampson, and owned by the Waldeck Laundry, with a mile. age of 40,0D0, came to hand after we went to press last week.
The judges on duty were : Colonel R. E. Crompton, C.B., chairman of the C.M.U.A.; Captain R. K. Ragnall-Wild, RE., secretary, War Office Committee on Mechanical Transport (now appointed to control the commercial-vehicle and technical depart
ments of Milnes-Daimler, Ltd.) ; Major T. H. Cochrane, RE., M.V.O. (Dover); Mr. F. C. A. Coventry (Great Western Railway); Mr. W. G. Lobjoit, J.P. (Hounslow); and Mr. E. Shrapnel! Smith (Editor of Tea COMMERCIAL MOTOR). Mr. Chas. Wheeler,
M.I.A.E. (General Post Office, London), was unfortunately prevented, through indisposition, from taking part in the final inspection. This committee of judges, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings of last week, had conducted a careful verbal examination of the drivers, at 1, Alb naarle Street, W., and each competitor had, on the certified returns of his employer, been awarded certain markings in keeping with the records submitted in this manner. Accordingly, cm Saturday last, there remained only the allocation of marks for appearance and condition on parade, and these were given with full regard to the mileages run by the vehicles.
The Prizes.
The amount at the disposal of the judges totalled to £34. This was made up by the following donations : Corn mercial Motor "Users' Association, ,C12 15s.; THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR £5 58. ; Mann, Grossman and Paulin, Ltd., £2 2s. ; Lacre Motor Car Co., Ltd., £2 2s.; Polack Tyre Co., Ltd., £2 2s.; South Metropolitan Gas Co., £2 2s. ; W. H. Willcox and Co., Ltd., £2 2s.; Allen and Hanburys, Ltd., Ll is.; Eastern Motor Wagon Co., Ltd., £1 is.; Great Eastern London Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd., El is.; Messrs. Hamilton and Co., El is.; Messrs. W. 3. Lobjoit and Son, El is.; and the Barnsley Co-operative Society, The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which contributed five guineas to the 1908 parade, did not give any donation this year, and its abstention from support is a matter of some surprise. It cannot be a question of parsimony, as the Society has plenty of money, and we can only conclude that the case was not put forward through the proper channel—the Commercial-Vehicle Committee. This omission from the list should not recur, as it is of direct value to members of the industry, that there should be a large prize-fund and a large muster : the two go together.
The Awards.
Thanks to the assistance of the
police, who kept in check any overeager spectators, the duties of the judges were considerably lightened. Divided into two groups, the six gentlemen on duty worked from opposite ends of the line, the grading and marking being done on a pre-arranged scale. Thereafter, about 4.20 p.m., an adjournment was made to the single-deck Darracq-Serpollet omnibus entered and sent by the Metropolitan Steam Omnibus Co., Ltd., which provided an admirable retiring room for consulting purposes, and it was found possible to distribute the large awardcards to the winners at five o'clock precisely. The results proved to be:—
FIRST PRIZES (.C5 each).—A Smith, Foden wagon owned by the Chiselhurst Mineral Water Co., Ltd. ; W. Harrod, Simms van owned by the South Metropolitan Gas Co.
SECOND PRIZES (E2 each). — E.
Roberts, Leyland lorry owned by Mann, Grossman and Paulin, Ltd.; A. E. Foster, Laere van owned by the Midland Railway Co.
THIRD PRIZES (12 of £1 each).—W.
Smith, Foden wagon owned by Eastern Motor Wagon Co., Ltd. ; E. Grover, Maudslay van owned by the General Post Office; F. J. Monk, Chelmsford van owned by Hamilton and Co., Ltd. ; F. Powell, Foster tractor owned by Messrs. W. J. Lobjoit and Son ; F. G. Mallett, Lacre van owned by the Patent Steam Carpet Beating Co., Ltd. ; H. Trash, Lacre van owned by the Patent Steam Carpet Beating Co., Ltd.; H. Stevens, Tasker tractor owned by a Norwood Committee for whom Surgeon-Major 0. K. Poole acts; F. White, Aveling and Porter tractor owned by the Rickmansworth and Uxbridge Valley Water Co. ; T. Osborne, Milnes-Daimler van owned by the South Metropolitan Gas Co. ; H. G. Smith, Laere van owned by T. Wallis and Co., Ltd. ; and R. Slater and G. Scott (Rl each), Leyland wagon owned by Westminster Council.
ADDITIONAL PRIZES (Los. each).— J. W. Parkins, Thornycroft lorry owned by Mr. Seth Taylor, for excep
tional mechanical ; 0. Whiting, Lacre van owned by Hedges and Butler. Ltd., for good condition. SPECIAL BUS PRIZE (t1 Warner, Darracq-Serpollet omnibus owned by the Metropolitan Steam Omnibus Co., Ltd.
LAM.: PRIZES (for lowest percentage of lost mileage with Lacre vans).— First prize (C3), A. Hurst, driver in the employ of William Whiteley, Ltd., with no loss whatsoever in 16,000 miles ; second prize (1:2), A. E. Foster, driver in the employ of the Midland Railway Co., with a loss of 1.3 per cent. in 16,000 miles.
CERTIFICATES OF COMMENDATION (awarded to the men who most nearly approached the necessary number of
marks to secure cash prizes).—G. Johnson, Yorkshire wagon owned by Allen and Hanbury's, Ltd. ; A. G. Nash, " Commer Car" van owned by Commercial Car Hirers, Ltd.; A. Nightingale, Foden wagon owned by the Eastern Motor Wagon Co., Ltd.; E. Lillywhite, Wallis and Steevens tractor owned by the General Post Office ; R. Leaman, Foster tractor owned by Messrs. W. J. Lobjoit and Son ; A. Hussey, Leyland lorry owned by Mann. Grossman and Paulin, Ltd. ; G. Eyre, King van owned by J. Richardson and Co., Ltd.; S. Sailes, Lacre van owned by the South Metropolitan Gas Co.; F. Williams, Milnes-Daimler van owned by the South Metropolitan Gas Co.; J. Marney and J. Mahoney,
Thornycroft wagon owned by the Westminster City Council ; W. Slattery, Thornycroft wagon owned by the Westminster City Council; J. Fox, Thornycroft wagon owned by the Westminster City Council. The money prizes will be remitted to the successful drivers to-day (Thursday), and the certificates, the form of which was considered at yesterday's committee meeting, will be forwarded as soon as they are ready. It should be noted, also, that each driver who paraded was paid 28. 6d. towards his out-of-pocket expenses.
Conclusion.
In conversation, on the Embankment, with members and representatives of important London users, we were interested to hear the opinion expressed that Saturday is not the most-suitable day. Whilst it is agreed that a Saturday meets the cases of brewers and other large users of steam lorries, who generally complete their week-end deliveries en a Friday, the big stores find it necessary to work their vans doubly hard on that day. This view will no doubt be discussed by the Executive Committee of the Association, and we would suggest that a postal vote might advantageously be taken on the matter before the time comes round for next year's parade, which should be a big one.
The marked degree of interest shown by the Leers Company is noteworthy; and we comment elsewhere (page 173) upon points which were brought out, in connection with Lacre vans, during the course of the ri ra-rocc examination of the drivers. One other Lacre van had lost no mileage whatsover—that of Hedges and Butler, Ltd., the wellknown wine shippers of Regent Street, W. In this case, however, the judges held that 6,400 miles, the certified distance, was not sufficient to bring it into rank with the performance of the Midland van, which had lost only four days, for accidents, mechanical repairs and replacements, repairing and replacing tires and overhauling, during the year ended the 30th June, 1909—a very good record.