Opinions from Others,
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The Editor invites correspondence cm all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. 1.etters
on side of the paper only, and type-written by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no
should be on responsibility
Diagnosis by the Stethoscope.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
1965j Sir :-I notice in your article on " Diagnosis by the Stethoscope " that this idea has been put forward as a new one. As early as 1903, I borrowed a stethoscope from a doctor friend of mine and used it for a particular work of this nature up to the present day. I can vouch for the absolute utility of it, as by its means irregularities can be located that could not possibly be found by any ordinary means. It was my idea years ago, to have patented it, but failing to see the subject of a patent in such an idea, I let it drop although I am continually using the instru
ment—Yours truly, CHARLES H. E. RUSH.
[Mr. Rush will, we feel sure, exonse the °brims juice at his eapensethat it is high time he returned this stethoscope : Whilst an idea is not patentable, particnlar ways of carrying one out are.—Eu.)
Traffic Regulation in Main Arteries.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
[906] Sir :—So much has been said and written in protest against the hopeless congestion which arises daily in many of the main arterial thoroughfares of the Metropolis, that one is frankly amazed, when becoming involved in any crush of vehicular traffic, that a Board of Traffic Control should not have been formed, and have conducted active operations to lessen this undoubted evil, years ago. As has been pointed out very strongly by students of the subject, the coming of the motor vehicle has, so far, been unable to improve matters, and this is due entirely to the continued existence of horse-drawn conveyances.
Rearing this fact in mind, the question has often oc curred to the writer of these lines: Cannot at least some part of these equine equipages be excluded from our main streets:. Further, it is not only the horse that is to blame for much of the trouble; there is, as well, the heavy, iron-shod commercial-motor wagon. On a dull day after rain, when the asphalted roadway of such a busy thoroughfare as Holborn, for example, is thick with grease, it has struck me with wonder that heavy steam wagons, each towing a trailer, should be permitted, one might say, to monopolise half of the width of roadway. while their broad flat wheels revolve vainly, steadily skidding and unsteadily side-slipping—progress in the direction desired being impossible—until the attendant driver's mate has well sanded the road, or has succeeded in getting sacks under the gripless wheels.
In the case of the heavy lorry, which depends for its traction on horses, similar trouble exists; the well-warn iron shoes fail to secure a proper foothold far the patient animals, and once again the rest of the on-coming traffic is perforce held up until things are righted.
Little objection can be raised to the presence of swifter, horse-drawn, passenger vehicles, for here the time of the individual has to be considered ; but, surely, no useful purpose is served by attempting to pilot heavy loads through such streets. They are easily avoided and, if a feeinure yards must be traversed, the drivers would be amply recompensed by the saving in work that would at once be effected by the slight deviations from the absolutely direct mote, and more than ever so when one remembers that alternative highways boast excellent surfaces.
H all heavy and slow traffic could be diverted, before entering such streets as Cheapside, Holborn, Oxford Street, the Strand. Piccadilly, and so forth, an immense improvement should at once become apparent. Is this impossible as the law stands ?--Yours truly,
[The Central Truffle Board for 'London. whose formation bas been urged by a Royal Commission which reported in 1901, is the only reined 7: the ilolice have insaffleient powers, and the responsibility of selection is probably too great for them.--En.
Heavy Petrol..Lorry Running Costs.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL, MOTOR."
L967J Sir :—If your correspondent " Motor-Wagon Carrier " is anxious to know the cost of running a heavy petrol lorry, the following may interest him. These figures refer to one of the first of the 1909 type of 45h.p., fourcylinder, N.A.G. machines after 189 days' testing, before it was handed over to the military authorities in whose service it is shown in an illustration on page 279. This type of N.A.G. heavy chassis, I might add, is constructed to carry six tons itself, and to haul an additional four tons on a trailer in fairly level country, or eight tons in all when the ground is hilly. The average load in the case tinder notice proved to be seven tons, and the average week's expenses incurred in operating this big machine, work out : driver, £1 15s.; cleaning, garage, and waste, 10s.; oil and grease, 14s.; petrol, £2 15s. 1.0d.; spare parts and labour, 7s. 21; depreciation (at 15 per cent, per annum), 1:2 10s.; interest on capital expended, 17s.; insur ance, 6s.; and tires (Polacks), 10s. This totals to £12 5s. The average weekly mileage, during the 189 days' working, runs to 240, and the cost per vehicle-mile to 1.2.2d.—Yours faithfully, For THE CONNAUGHT MOTOR AND CARRIAGE CO., LTD., Arthur E. A. M. Turner, Manager, (Commercial Vehicle Department). Long Acre, W.C.
Statements of Motorvan Costs; Lacre Results.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
[968] Sir :—I think very few firms would be able to use motorvans, if the cost per van-mile worked out like those of "Owner of Two," in your issue of the 27th May (page 245). Tires, £123 17s. fid. for 9,073 miles, are quite three times as much as they should be for a van to carry two-ton loads ; wages, £154 15s. 2d., I presume, are for two men.
I beg to send you actual average cost per van of 20 of Shoolbred's vans for their second year on the road.
Second-year expenses are naturally heavier titan those of the first year, as the van does not start in new condition, or with new tires. Repairs for the second year include repainting and varnishing of body, and any accidental damage, as we only insure against third-party claims. I have gone very fully into the question of expenses for each van, and you may rely on the figures I send you as being correct.
The average of 20 vans for their second year on the road is: depreciation, £67; repairs, £57; tires, £37; driver's wages, £83; lubricating and gear oil, grease and lamp oil, £10 10s.; washing expenses, £9 10s. ; insurance (third
party), ; and motor spirit, £48. Total, 2320. There are 308 working days in the year, less 20 days in for repairs equals 288 days at 60 miles per day, or 17,280 miles per annum, and this gives 41d. per van-mile. Depreciation is based on six years' running : our first two vans have now completed three years eight months. The same 211 rans, for their first year, averaged: repairs, £42; tires, 4:27. This gives £69 as against £94 for the second year.
We have six vans that have completed three years on the road, and they average repairs, £57 15s.; tires, £30 or a total of £88. Tires for these six are below average, but I am confident that the cost of third year will not exceed cost of second year for the 20 vans. We have now 41 on the road, and four due in August. —Yours truly,
JAMES SHOOLETIED AND Co, (LEYCESTER BARWELL.)
Tottenham Court Road, W. 6th June, 1909.
paralfin-Fuel Difficulties.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
1:9693 Sir:—! have read the article on " Paraffin-Fuel Difficulties," by "Alpha," with great interest, and, although I agree with him in the main, I cannot but differ with him on some points. To start with, he says that
the extra tax on petrol bears very hardly on the motor industry " ; now, if you look into it, its terrors seem to fade considerably, for, taking the case of a vehicle which runs 20 miles to the gallon, and allowing that it has to pay 3d. a gallon, the owner will have to run 8,000 miles before he has paid in tax! In the case of commercial motors, there is a rebate on this of one-half. Is this going to damage the industry so very much?
As to the dangers of paraffin, I quite agree with " Alpha," but on the question of power developed I must again differ. " Has not " Alpha " drawn his conclusions from an ordinary petrol engine being run on paraffin ? If so, is this fair ? I maintain that, if you take an engine designed to use paraffin, you will get quite as much power out of it using paraffin as you will using petrol. The fault lies in fitting a paraffin vaporiser to an engine made to use petrol, under which circumstances I maintain that you cannot expect to get the best results. I think "Alpha " bears me out in this, when he says that the engines suffer heavy carbonisation, which shows that the fuel is not being completely consumed, or, in other words, part is being wasted.—Yours faithfully, Newbury. H. KENT-NORRIS.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
[970] Sir :—As one who has experimented for several years with various liquid fuels, permit me to differ from the views expressed by " Alpha" on paraffin. It appears a common practice to take a petrol motor, and with or without slight alterations to the carburetter, to use paraffin, and then promptly to blame the fuel for the result; but this is not engineering. The Diesel, a hich our friend quotes, is mainly run on paraffin, and is one of the most economical engines in existence, yet it does not run on the low compression which " Alpha " deems necessary. Clearly, then, paraffin is economical if rightly used.
Owing to its greater density and to the presence of a very small percentage of mineral grease, which appears inseparable from paraffin, it requires entirely different treatment to petrol. The mineral grease is the principal cause of carbonisation, and it took me six months' continual experiment to find the remedy. I designed a motor especially for paraffin, and introduced it to several firms, but they were doing too well at that time with petrol motors to make alterations, and want of capital has so far kept it off the market. It may be some comfort to know that petrol motors can he converted at small cost. Possibly, our motorbus companies will be compelled, in the near future, to adopt a substitute for petrol, or to compete with one that does, as a great saving can be effected in addition to the petrol tax.
—Yours faithfully, C. ROBINSON. Catford, S.E.
Users' Experiences (No. XVII).
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
[971] Sir :—I am sure that owners of steam wagons will be duly grateful to "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR" for the timely hint it has thrown out in the editorial of June 3rd headed " Larger Wheels for Steam Lorries." I am equally certain that its contents will create a feeling of exasperation in their minds. We already have a fairly-difficult task to perform, in producing satisfactory results from the working of our machines. Carriers have a further problem to deal with, in finding out the best means of adapting motor-wagon service to meet the requirements of the public. We have, too, had to contend with an alteration in tare weight of our machines within recent years, and now our axle-weights may be reduced. [No ; the tirewidths for any particular axle-weight may be increased.— En.] I am sure we have no desire to "squeal " before we are hurt, but the mere contemplation of further altera tions is enough to make our hair assume a perpendicular position! Harassed by regulations which are—in my county--enforced nith a stringency that has no comparison in modern times, we are asked to contemplate a change which must virtually rob us of our wagons. To make the alterations suggested will, if possible at all, involve new wheels, axles and drums; indeed, it is most questionable whether our machines can be altered and still come under the legal tare weight. I only hope that before any decisive step is taken, the authorities will acquaint themselves fully with the existing owners' side of the case.
The tendency which exists, at present, on the part of the authorities, to solve the road problems by constantly altering the regulations for the running of motors is, to my mind, an entirely-wrong method. In the first place, it is harmful because it drives capital away from the industry, and discourages confidence in the manufacturer and user, and it further hinders the true progress of the trade, which, if left to itself, would follow the path of least resistance, and arrive at the desired ends far more rapidly than it can ever do so by the crude impulses of outsiders. There is, also, a further consideration which I have already pointed out, and must apologise for repeating again. While motor lorries have become standardised, the roads they have to travel over have not; where is the commonsense in trying to make a machine suitable for any standard strength of road when those roads do not exist! Why, Sir, if you put Bin. on to the width of our tires and halved our axle-weight, it would not help matters on portions of the main roads we have to use at present. What I ask for is roads to run on, roads made to a standard strength and with some consistency in curvature, and then the authorities will be better able to judge of the necessary alterations. Only this week, one of my wagons coming home light sank up to the axles on a main road. I myself have had the pleasure of watching my wagon disappearing into the " bowels of the earth " on a main road, and have had to spend six hours digging it out of what proved to be a clay pit; it is useless trying to find a suitable axleweight and width of tire to run through clay pits! This, by the way, is not so exceptional a case as might be thought. There are other problems ahead of the road surveyor, when he has got rid of the steel-tired machine, and it would be well for him not to move too rapidly in the matter until he sets his own house in order and can present more convincing evidence that the destruction of his roads is due to excessive wear and tear, rather than to their intrinsic weakness. It would be interesting to hear, Mr. Editor, how you arrive at your ideal width of tire, and what is the unit of strength you take for the road ?
I have recently opened up an engine which for the past six months has been running in a bath of engine cream manufactured by Messrs. Birtill and Co., of Gallemore Street Oilworks, Manchester. The engines certainly are in first-class condition, and, although the engine cream will absorb water, there is no suspicion of rust throughout the engine casing, everything being bright as when new. I must certainly acknowledge that I have effected a considerable saving in cost by using this cream, and also that the engine has generally run cooler since it was adopted. The only drawback in using a lubricant in the form of a cream is the difficulty of inspection and readjustment.
The metallic packing I am trying has so far answered very well, and our first experience is that we can keep our glands tight with very much less friction on the rods than was the case with asbestos packing; we hope, by this means, to overcome the trouble of our reversing levers working loose through the jar in the valve motion.
Our log sheet for the week is as follows: earnings, £69; mileage. 979; tonnage, 173; percentage of work done, 100; coke used. 7 tons lOcwt.; oil (gear), 10 gallons; and oil (cylinder). V, gallons.—Yours, etc.,
"MOTOR-WAGON CARRIER."
[we endorse much of our correspondent's protest. Many roads are WI weak, but any change will reduce difftenities by lessening the intensity of pressure. Existing vehicles will be given necessary exemptions, as regards both period and slight excess of weight. The suggestions do not come from us, but from the County Councils Association. In no circumstances, either by a user or a surveyor, should exceptionally-weak roads he quoted as typical.—En.)