The Motor Omnibus World.
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Who Buys?
The report, which has been in circulation, to the effect that the London General Omnibus Company, Limited, had purchased the 67 Scott-Stirling motorbuses from the receiver to the debenture holders of the London Power Omnibus Company, Limited, is incorrect.
London Traffic Board.
The present Government does not appear to be in any hurry, as we pointed out last week, to bring in a bill to establish an independent traffic board for London, and its latest intention is reported to be the bringing into existence a new department of the Board of Trade as a tentative step.
Motorbus Direction Boards. .
We understand that instructions have been issued in the coach-building department of several London motor-, omnibus companies. for an all-rotmd increase of size in the lettering upon route boards. This recognition of the fact that the greater speed of the motorbus renders existing side boards practically useless while the vehicles are in motion, should have satisfactory results for both shareholders and the public.
Gear-Changing Noise.
Captain Faber, M.P. for Andover, recently drew the attention of the Home Secretary to the alleged noise and discomfort caused to residents in Piccadilly, and other streets where there are hills, by the changing of speeds by motor-omnibus drivers when upon such hills, and whether His Majesty's Government would confer such powers upon the Chief Commissioner of Police as would enable h;m to deal drastically and on his owo initiative with such nuisances.
Mr. Gladstone, in replying, stated that his attention had not been specially called to this matter, and added that he say: no reason for taking any steps, as the general standard of skill in driving was being gradually raised.
We should say that, until hydraulic or petrol-electric transmission is adopted, there will always remain a certaM amount of noise from gear chang_ ing, as the personal element is so large in the handling of step ,rears.
Property Values.
We are pleased to note that several correspondents in the " Daily Mail," where there has been some discussion on the subject of the effect of motoromnibus traffic upon the value of flat properties, support our view that the blame for the empty flats in Edgware Road and Maida Vale cannot be entirely laid upon the motorbus. It is no doubt 4th annoying thing for the landlords to find that their estimates about tentals have not been fulfilled, but we do notadmire their action in endeavouring to damage motorbus interests.
Fatal Accidents in London.
Mr. T. Davies, M.P. for Fulham, asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on the 31st ultimo, whether his attention had been called to the accident at Hackney, and whether he was aware that lives were " daily sacrificed owing to careless driving and imperfect mechanism of the motor omnibuses which ran in the London streets, and whether he proposed to take measures to put a stop to this unnecessary sacrifice of human life and limb."
Mr. Gladstone in reply, stated that enquiry was being made into the cause of the accident in question, and that the number of fatal accidents from rnotor omnibuses was not so great as the honourable member suggested. Only seven such accidents had occurred during the three months of April, May and June.
exacting Driving.
Herr Hafele, head driver of the Gaggenau firm, and entrusted with the difficult and hazardous job of delivering the vehicle shown at the • foot of this page, at its destination in the Caucasus, appears to have had an exciting time on the road. To begin with, when removing the bus from the rail, at a town some 12 miles from the Caucasus Mountains, he found it in a sorry
plight—accessories were • missing, cushions were ripped up, and other ravages had been made. Under an armed escort of Cossacks, and other soldiery, he and his party then proceeded by road. But, as far as roads were concerned, civilisation, we learn, stopped where the spurs of the Caucasus began : hardly a straight or level zoo yards was found. `Most of the bridges," says he, "were very narrow, and, in very many cases, the approaches were so steep and sharp that the. rear wheels had two yards to go up-hill, when the front wheels started to descend." Hafele nearly gave way under the strain, and doesn't know how lie got over the last 16 miles of that -clay's run. On the following day he had to pull up thrice through sheer exhaustion. TO make matters worse he fell ill, his 'condition being aggravated by a severe "kick" on the arm through a back-fire. He tells us that the population in the outlying districts crossed themselves at the sight of the Motorbus. In a subsequent excursion to a town sixty odd miles from his destination he discovered some excellent roads, also some execrable ones. For what rrecise purpose the single-decker has been acquired is not clear to Herr
afele, but it will probably be used for road-inspection work and the transporting of loads generally. [The foregoing report of the initial difficulties does not augur well for the immediate future of motorbus enterprise in the Caucasus.—ED.] We understand that the contemplated visit of the Society of Motor Omnibus Engineers to the works of Alfred Herbert, Limited, has been postponed.
The similarity which exists between the names of Victoria Street and Oucen Victoria Street often gives rise to confusion. It should be noted, therefore, that the offices of W. S. Laycock, Limited, are at 77a, Queen Victoria Street, E.C.
Encouragement.
A 4oh.p. Critchky-Norris motorbus, belonging to the Burnley Pleasure Motor Company, Limited, of which Mr. Clem Hodgson is managing director, was given a week's trial, at 'Widnes, towards the end of last month, when
the receipts totalled I2S. A public meeting was subsequently held in the town, and it was resolved to form a guarantee fund of Ltoo, in order that the .bus might be retained for a full period of four weeks, and kept strictly upon business routes. The guarantee fund was headed with amounts of „4:to each from Messrs. Sutton Timmis, W. XV. Gossage, and A. XV. Webster, and the bus, a photograph of which is reproduced on this page, is now being thoroughly tested : it is felt that the population of Widnes, some 28,000, is insufficient to support a tramway service, and it is not unlikely that four
motorbuses will be purchased at an early date. The prime mover in the matter is Councillor ,Paul
London Road Car.
The London Road Car Company, Limited, has issued its 49th half-yearly report, and the meeting of shareholders will take place on Tuesday next, the t3th instant, at 12 noon, at the Cannon Street Hotel. The directors state that
the inclement weather has had a disastrous effect upon traffic receipts, and that this result has been accentuated by the prevalence of very low fares. The accounts show an excess of expenditure over receipts of .4,904 14s. 3d., Compared with an excess of • the receipts over expenditure, for the corresponding period of 1906, of ,17023 13s. tod. We shall deal further with the report at an early date.