Bacon by Motorvan.
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A Smithfield Factor about to Supersede 30 Horses by Motorvans.
Messrs. Isaac Beer and Sons, of 15, King Street, West Smithfield, wholesale provision merchants in a large way of business, axe now employing a two-ton van supplied by the Lacre Motor Car Co., Ltd. One Gf our representatives took occasion recently to call on the head of this provision firm, in order to secure a few particulars as to the conduct of the ,van when in service. The vehicle is, we may state, a 30 h.p. standard Laere, fitted with a solid top body.
Some of our readers will be aware of the fact that packing in a provision merchant's business is quite a tricky job. It is an easy thing to ill-usel say, a crate of eggs, or to pack perishable goods so that at the end of the journey they are almost useless or have suffered ma
terial damage. Isaac Beer and Sons were, until the advent of the Lacre, employing 30 horses for the purpose of carrying on their business deliveries, Four of these horses have now been displaced, and our representative was informed that it was merely a question of a short time before the remainder were also put out of service. A novel form of carrying bacon is adopted on the van ; iron bars are fitted under the roof of the van, and these run round the front and the sides. Cross-bars can be fitted on these side-bars, and on these the sides of bacon can be hung by hooks. We were informed that 15 to 18 cwt. was the load limit of the horsedrawn vans, and the sides of bacon were packed one on the other until the safety limit had been .reached.
It will readily be seen that this was not conducive to the health of the bacon on a hot summer's day—especially to the layers at the bottom of the load. By the adoption of the motorvan, and of the side and cress rails, it is possible to carry twice the quantity without crushing the goods or misusing them in any way. The floor of the van is utilized for carrying butter, cheese, lard, hams, eggs, and many other things which it is the business of the wholesale provision merchant to supply. The motor will carry 45 sides of bacon, as opposed to 20 sides carried by a pair-horse van. It was the custom, until the power-driven vehicle was taken over, to use two vans for the fairly long outlying deliveries. One van would be utilized for a, distance up to eight or nine miles, and would do the deliveries in that area, while the second van would not make any deliveries until it had reached, say, the 10-mile area. The motor now does all these outlying deliveries on one journey.
A typical day's work commences at nine o'clock in the morning, and the van is loaded by 10.30. A journey of 24 miles, comprising eight deliveries, is made, and the vehicle is back at Smithfield Market at
2.30. By four o'clock it is again loaded, and leaves for a further 24mile journey, getting back again at eight o'clock. On one day of each week, a 60-mile journey is undertaken, 26 deliveries being made. Isaac Beer and Sons tell us that. they are quite satisfied with their departure, and the van has more than exceeded their most sanguine expectations