Culled from Contemporaries.
Page 16
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Principally Concerning the Growing Realization of the Supersession of the Tramway.
Current Advice.
Electrocute your horses and electrify your business.—" The Motor Age."
The New Kingdom.
Mr. Kipling prophesies that traffic will be the ruling power of the future.-" London Opinion."
Precisely.
There is no getting behind the fact that the taxi-driver is not altogether persona grata to the public.—" The Autornotor Journal."
Akin to Scotchmen.
In the first place, the power-wagon vogue is not local in character; it is almost as pervasive as the commercial of the countr;'.—" The Power Wagon."
Fire and Blood.
The essential thing in dealing with accidents, as with alarms of fire, is speed. Therefore, motor ambulances and motor fire engines are sine qua none when dealing with such entergencies.—" Fire," London.
After a Trip to London.
It is beyond question that a motorbus set vice wonld be of enormous advantage. The present tram service is inadequate, and it must not be forgotten that the motorbus of to-day is a vast improvement on the motorbus of 10 years ago.—The Mayor of Perth at a City Councl meeting.
A Gentleman with a Liver.
The motorbus is not only an abomination of ugliness; its smell is that of a bone mill, with the additional disadvantage that its location is universal ; while the noise it makes repeated hundreds of times is worse than that of all the stant.iers of Ballarat and Bendigo working together in a closed building.— A writer in " The Age," Melbourne.
The Doom of the Tramcar Foretold in India.
Now that such a large number of motor lorries and other vehicles propelled by mechanical power are run in London, the tramways to a large extent nullify the advantages they would otherwise enjoy by reason of their speed, the loss of sucli advantages being, of course, coexistent with financial loss. • The tramcar for these reasons is growing in unpopularity, and if it desires to prolong its life, which in any case is doomed, it must adapt its working to its rivals, or go.—" Indian Engineering."
A "Just-so" Story.
At this moment the American car is in high feather abroad. It is no great trouble to secure orders for them, but it, is exceedingly questionable whether the methods which now obtain in this country will prove of avail when the high-feather stage is past. Generally speaking, it is questionable whether American export methods make for enduring business. It is greatly to be feared that too many American manufacturers consider export trade merely as an excellent stop-gap and a ready medium for taking care of their surplus product.—" The Motor World." Tabloid Wisdom.
A tramway was a nuisance to every user of the road (applause).—A speaker at a meeting of ratepayers at the Hove Town Hall.
Sir John Said So.
Tramcars pay for the road and do not use it, while the motorbuses use the road and do not pay for it," as Sir John Benn speaker at an L.C.C. meeting.
"Be' Stands for British.
The great progress of the motorbus industry has brought consternation to electric-traction concerns. The L.G.O. Company, which is constructiug the " B " type of bus, is an example to the world of the perseverance, skill, and triumph of British engineering.—A correspondent of '• The Evening News."
The Inquisition at Twopence a Time.
And the taximeter itself—how I hate it If I am to be cheated, let me be cheated in one fell swoop. But what inquisition ever imagined torture more dire than this devil's pendulum ticking away my life in twopences? 'Tis characteristic of our latter-day civilization—this conscientious measurement of the extent of our sufferings.—A writer in the " Commentator."
A Rival of Mettle.
You must remember that the motorbuses are quite as comfortable as tramcars. They travel quite as fast, and consequently the public are quite indifferent as to whether they travel by tram or by motorbus ; indeed, the result of that is that we have lost the advantage which we had against the old horse bus, which used to jog leisurely along.—The Chairman at a meeting of the London United Tramways Co.. Ltd.
For Further Tramway Schemes.
It is sincerely to be hoped that the motoring organizations, the Society of Manufacturers and Traders, and the Commercial Motor Users Association, will combine to oppose these projects at the proper time, as surely with the present type of motorbus there can be no excuse for the existence of anything in the shape of electric traction. which will do so much to disfigure our country roads.—" The Westminster Gazette.''
An Appreciation of the "CM.' by the "Daily Telegraph."
Commercial motorcars are finding a good market abroad and in our own Colonies. That enterprising journal. THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, has just issued its annual Overseas Number this week. This contains practically a complete specification and description of every class of commercial-motor vehicle made. and forms not only an interesting record. but offers a useful reference volume to all business men interested in traction and the conveyance of goods by road or across desert wastes. Nowadays. commerce owes much to rapid transport facilities. and the motor wagon has proved a boon in spots far distant, where roads, as such, hardly exist.—" Daily Telegraph." Van v. Horses.
The truck on these farms makes it possible to keep the horses at their proper work and does the work of at least three teams.—" The Motor Age," Chicago.
Open Confession is Good on the Whole.
The motor omnibus, as we know it today, is well able to hold its own wherever the conditions are suitable for this class of vehicle.—" The Tramway and Railway World."
Folly to be Wise.
Since its introduction the electric tramway car has stood still. The introduction of petrol as a tractive force revolutionized all ideas of traction, a fact which onlr a few of the officials and members of the London County Council have realized.—" The Evening News."
What an Expert Thinks of the "CM."
That excellent and go-ahead trade jour nal, TIIE COMMERCIAL MOTOR . . gives the title of a principal article in bold type above the large heading, and then, usually. alongside in three or four lines, the titles of other items in the week's contents in smaller black type— an effective arrangement.—" The Newspaper Owner."
Brum Still has Some.
It (the horse and electric tram) will have to go in Birmingham, just as it has been displaced recently in London. The motorbus has now revolutionized cheap street transit. Introduced in London as recently as 1905, the motorbus met with the fate that so frequently overtakes pioneering efforts. There were failures and disappointments, but gradually the perfect machine was evolved, and equally gradually the horsed omnibuses were displaced.—" Birmingham Post."
What is the Life of the Tramlines?
necessity of an ample provision for renewal of track is not always adequately recognized by municipal authorities, though experience shows that under modern conditions the life of the rails ls comparatively short. Mr. Dalrymple, for example, reported to the Glasgow Tram ways Committee that the average life of the track was not more than ten or eleven years, and that an annual allowance of at least £1000 per mile of double track was absolutely necessary.—" Surveyor and Municipal and County Engineer."
Legal Crippling of Motorbus Progress.
There is, however, a distinct danger that the trams may become a charge on the rates. In fact, save amongst those of the engineering profession who have a direct interest in the maintenance of the tramway system, there is a general belief in expert circles that the only possible salvation for the trams will be found in legally restricting progress in methods of passenger transport. This is now done LI Glasgow, Manchester, and other large towns, where licences are refused to motorbuses so as to maintain the apparent profits from the trams.—A correspondent in " The Westminster Gazette."