WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.
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"The wheels of weals will be slowed by all dielculties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crozier.
The L.G.O.C. Staff Dinner.
The administrative and supervisory staff of the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., held its 11th annual dinner at the Hotel Cecil, London, on Wednesday last. Lord .A.shfield, the chairman of the company, was to have presided, but, unfortunately, his old malady had for the moment gained the upper hand and he was compelled by doctor's orders to stay at home. The chair was taken in his place by Mr. Henry A. Vernet, who is one of the directors of the com pany. Many distinguished guests were present, whilst prominent members of the staffs of the London General Omnibus Co. and its allied concerns present included Mr. Frank Pick, Mr. G. J.
Shave, Mr. A. L. Barber, Mr. Clive Leese, Mr. H. S. F. Lansdown, Mr.
George Rushton, Mr. Norman Hardie, Mr. Owen Watson, Mr. W. W. Howells, Mr. C. X. Spencer, Mr. F. Siddeley, Mr. H. L. Spratt and Mr. E. H. Greenley.
The chairman read a letter from Lord Ashfield in which reference was made to the fact that the vehicles of the com pany now cover 160 million miles per annum, the number of passengers car ried per annum being 1,500 millions.
The mechanical efficiency of the service was unequalled, because there was not even as much as one failure per 6,000 miles run. Lord Aehfield paid a great compliment to the whole of the staff and, in particular, to the drivers and conductors of the buses.
Sir William Horwood, Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, pro posing the toast of "The Company," assured those present that relations between the. company and the police were never better. So far as the police were concerned, there was no intention to check progress. He referred to the six Wheeled bits and repeated his hope that the end Of the tram would not be long delayed. He congratulated the company on having persuaded the police to license covered-top-deck buses, and dealt with some of the good points of this type of vehicle.
We agree with Sir William Hon-vood that there is a need for some form of
life-saver for buses, but, so far, nothing approaching the efficiency of the tripand-scoop fitted to the tramcar has been produced. In the case of the tramcar, the time lag represented by the distance between the front of the train and the first pair of wheels is a vital factor in making the lifeguard a success.
Mr. Frank Pick replied and took up Sir William Horwood's points in a sympathetic manner. He went on to review the year, saying they were always making progress, and in the last two years had carried out a reorganization of the engineering and administrative sides of their work.
Referring to the six-wheeled buses he said their usefulness was being care fully studied, because there was no par ticular virtue in size only, although there would be in size usefully em ployed. Mr. Pick showed how enorml.
ously the passenger traffic of London had grown in the past 15 years, giving the following figures for the number of passengers carried in each of the years B20 mentioned ;-1912. 536,000,000; 1917, 619,000,000; 1922, 994,000,000; 1927, 1,720,000,000; and yet the number of buses in service in 1927 was barely double the number employed in 1912.
U.A.S. Report.
The report of the United Automobile Services, Ltd., for the year ended September 30th last shows a profit of £48,606, after deducting £57,095 for depreciation of rolling stock, buildings, etc. The sum available for distribution is increased by £13,101 brought in from the previous year. The directors at the meeting to-day (Tuesday) are recommending the payment of a dividend of 10 per cent. and, after providing for obsolescence in respect of vehicles now being replaced, the sum of £15.313 will remain to be carried forward.
Licences Issued by the L.C.C.
For the first nine months of this year the London County Council has granted 271,114 motor licences, compared with 227,612 for the sanie period a year ago, and has issued 191,12S driving licences. as compared with 178,037 for the corresponding period of the previous year.
Breaches of Bus Regulations.
The Pontypool Urban District Council has decided to prosecute bus proprietors who violate any of the regulations under which buses are allowed to ply for hire in the area. The allegation against the proprietors is that buses in excess of the number sanctioned by the council are put on the roads and cause serious congestion.
Appealing to the Ministry.
The Ministry of Transport is to be asked to hold an inquiry into the refusal of the Abersychan Urban District Council to grant licences to the Valleys (Ebbw Vale) Omnibus Co., Ltd., for through services between Ebbw Vale and Pontypool.
A letter from the company to the council, which was read at the November meeting, pointed out that only the Abersychan proscription of the use of its section of the Cruralin-Pontypool road at Havodyrynys prevented this important service from being instituted.
Major-General Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes, G.I3.E.. K.C.B., C.M.G., M.P., has joined the board of G. D. Peters and Co., Ltd., and its associated companies, the Consolidated Brake and Engineering Co., Ltd., and the British Power Railway Signal Co., Ltd.
Ambulances for Coalfield Areas.
Three new motor ambulances are to be purchased by the Priory of Wales (Order of St. John of Jerusalem) to meet urgent requirements in the South Wales coalfield areas." The decision to make these additions to the ambulance fleet was made at a meeting of the executive committee held at Cardiff one day last week.
A -new central garage for 18 cars has been acquired at Cardiff in Severn Grove in which two of the new vehicles will be housed.
Council's Joint Bus Service.
The Bury and Rawtenstall Corporations and the Ramsbottom Urban District Council inaugurated from Monday of last week a joint motorbus service between Bury and Burnley as a reply to private enterprise. Cheap return tickets are issued. Between Bury and Rawtenstall there is a 15-minute service.
New Bus Garage for Cardiff.
At a recent meeting of the tramways committee of the Cardiff City Council a provisional estimate for the erection of a capacious bus garage and workshop on land adjoining the tramway sheds at Newport Road was submitted. The cost of the scheme, which involves the construction of a 50-ft. road alongside the garage, will be about £125,000, and the garage will house 120 buses.
Three-monthly Licences.
Chorley Motor Omnibus Joint Committee has decided that, with a view to obtaining more effective control ever the various services, that hackney carriage licences be issued in future for a period of three months. The joint committee has also decided to recommend that licences be issued to the following proprietors until December 31st, viz.:— Mr. W. Gardner, Mr. M. Corless, The Eceleston Motor Co., Mr. J. B. Jump, J. Fishwick and Sons, J. and R. Singleton, Yarrow Motor Co., Ltd., DI. and S. Freeman and Mr. W. Parkinson.
Tools for Engineers.
Garage owners and those in charge of engineers' shops who may require took or equipment for enabling the many classes of work which they have to handle to be tackled efficiently, will be interested to learn that S. Tyzack and Son.. Ltd., 341-345, Old Street. London, E.C.1, has acquired the whole stock of tools and machinery of the Billing Tool Co. Amongst the goods offered are combination wall and bench drilling machines, with hand and automatic feed, lathe chucks having specially hardened jaws, parallel bench vices and various cases of stocks and dies.
The company has also purchased the stock of the Newland Engineering Syndicate, Ltd., and is offering Newland tool-holders at particularly attractive prices. Many advantages are claimed for this type of tool-holder.
The company has issued a catalogue which deals with the various tools which it markets, the range being most com prehensive. A copy can be obtained from the address we have given above.