News and Comment.
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This journal fosters, represents, and chronicles commercial motoring in all its branches ; it has the largest and best circulation throughout the United Kingdom, the Colonies, India, and foreign countries generally. No part of our exclusive and valuable circulation is due to the forcing of sales in useless quarters.
Whiteley's now adopts motor-vans for delivery work. We publish an illustrated article on this subject (page 513).
The judges' report on the R.A.C. Trials will be presented at a special meeting in the afternoon of the 5th proximo; the diplomas, medals, and other awards will be distributed on the same occasion, and Mr. C. D. Rose, M.P., will take the chair.
Lacre Orders.
Amongst the zo Lacre vans ordered during the week ended the 8th February, we note that Messrs. James Shoolbred and Company have placed an eighth repeat order, which brings this fleet of Lacre vans up to 31. A fourth repeat order has been received from the White Heather Laundry, and a second repeat order from Spiers and Pond.
Mutual Terms.
Carter, Paterson and Company, Limited, will begin an extended trial of an Arrol-Johnston two-ton van, on Monday next. This company is one of the pioneers in the use of commercial motors, and we are glad to be informed that the forthcoming service trial will be conducted upon mutual terms of a fair character. The user gains as much as the maker in such cases.
Agricultural Motors.
A satisfactory demonstration of the Marshall agricultural motor, which was fully described and illustrated in our issue of the 12th December last, was given at Wooler (Northumberland) last week. This machine has now been christened, the " Farmotor," and it promises,. both by reason of its stout build and effective performance, to gain an immediate hold upon purchasers who have agricultural interests to serve.
Yesterday's Prospectus.
The Provincial Motor Cab Company, Limited, with an authorised capital of £303,000, whose prospectus appeared yesterday (Wednesday), must not be confused with the other provincial company to which wy_made reference last week, and of which a further mention appears On the next page. Mr. Davison Dalziel, M.P., and Mr. Edgar
Cohen, who are mainly responsible for the success of the General and United Motor Cab Companies, are the moving spirits in this latest promotion. Charron, Darracq, and Welseley-Siddeley chassis will be used.
The Bishops Stortford Urban District Council is asking tenders for a motordriven steam fire engine. Tenders may be lodged on or before the 2nd proximo.
It is reported that the Public Works Department of Tunis has authorised the establishment of various motor services for passengers and goods, and for a period of to years.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has resolved to be officially represented at the International Congress on Road Construction and Maintenance which wilit be held in Paris next November.
An Order for the Colonies.
Halley's Industrial Motors, Limited, has received an order from the Crown Agents for the Colonies for one of its 24h.p., four-cylinder petrol motor lorries. This vehicle will be of similar design to the van of this make which competed in the recent R.A.C. trials, and the company looks upon this order as the direct result of the good work which was done by its manufactures at that time. Rubber tires will be fitted on the front wheels, and steel tires on the rear ones. Sir Thomas Cleeve, at Limerick, and Sir Charles Brett, at Belfast, presided, on Friday and Monday last respectively, on the occasion of Mr. Shrapnell Smith's lecture.
Tenacity Rewarded.
Messrs. Cleeve. Brothers, of Limerick, whose development of creameries within a 25-mile radius of that city has been rendered possible largely by the use of motor vehicles., bought their first steam lorries some eight years ago, and they naturally experienced the usual troubles of pioneers. Contrary to the result with Messrs. Guinness, of Dublin, who purchased a couple of steam wagons even earlier than Messrs. Cleeve, the latter firm kept persevering until success was achieved, with the result that it now has eight five-ton wagons in regular daily use, and that Sir Thomas Cleeve was able to remark, when speaking at Limerick on Friday night last, that "the later wagons work like a charm." It is gratifying to find this further proof of reward for those who conquer serious initial difficulties.
Motor Wagons For Morocco.
The utility of the commercial motor vehicle for Army purposes is to be tested in the most practical manner by the French Ministry of War, which, having already been afforded convincing evidence of its value in manceuvres, has decided to send five 4oh.p. lorries from Marseilles to Oran, whither they will be conveyed to Lalla Marina. The lorries are designed to carry munitions and provisions from Lana Marina to Udja, now occupied by the French troops. The vehicles have already undergone trials between Vincennes and Aubervilliers, in Paris, under the supervision of Commandant Renault, who has declared them to be perfectly capable of discharging the service for which they are destined. It is quite certain that if the results given in Morocco, where the " running " will be found anything but normal, are satisfactory, motor vehicles will replace horse-drawn transport wagons in the French Army wherever practicable. Some branches of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have recently been advocating a wider use of commercial motors, in order to relieve the horse of work of mere drudgery.
Ireland possesses a number of enterprising motor engineers, but, so far as we are able to ascertain, complete vehicles are manufactured only in that country by Chambers Motors, Limited, of Cuba Street Works, Belfast.
The directors of the Liverpool Cycle and Motor Show, Limited, have decided to make no allotment of space this year, and have returned the deposits to the companies, firms, and individuals from whom applications for space had already been received.
Motor Insurance.
The first report of the Motor Union Insurance Company, Limited, shows a net premium income of 4'36,366. Claims (estimated and outstanding) have, somewhat peculiarly, been combined with commissions, and amount to 415,757, whilst management expenses reach only .4;6,349. It is pointed out that the assistance and good will of the Motor Union, which is very appropriately shown as an asset in the balance sheet at L:2,000, has enabled the company " to secure a large volume of satisfactory business in its first year, and to manage the same successfully at a low cost." A dividend at the rate of s per cent. per annum is recommended ; .4;12,122 is Set aside for unexpired risks; and the balance to be carried forward is ,840. We congratulate the directors of this company upon their successful start : the ensuing year and 1909 will provide the real tests of their undertaking.
The Training of Motor Engineers.
The inaugural meeting of the Graduates' Society of the Incorporated Institution of Automobile Engineers was held at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Storey's Gate, S.W., on Tuesday, the 4th instant, under the chairmanship of Col. Crompton, C.B., the president of the Institution. The proceedings opened with a most interesting and instructive lecture by Dr. H. S. Hele-Shaw, E.R.S., on " How to Draw the Teeth of Wheels." The numerous examples which were given, in the form of diagrams that were projected on the screen, served to make the lecturer's system clearly understood by the large audience of young men who were present.
The attendance at this meeting was most encouraging and augured well for the success of the graduates' section which appears to be founded on thoroughly practical lines. A provisional committee of seven graduates was formed, but others will be added to that number, and it is hoped that the ultimate committee will be representative of the leading manufacturers and the technical colleges. Mr. W. Rees Jeffreys, the secretary of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, will be pleased to forward particulars to candidates for admission to the Institution ; his office is at t, Albemarle Street, Piccadilly, W.
Provincial Motorcabs.
The great success of the taximeter rnotorcab. in London has led to the formation of another company, which will exploit the provinces. This is the Met-. ropolitan and Provincial Cab Company, Limited, and it has given an order for zoo cab chassis .to the Mass Motor Company, of 59 and 61, New Oxford Street, W.C. Apart from this company, we understand that the Mass Motor Company has secured licenses in Newcastle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh for 5o cabs in each town, in Sheffield and Leeds for 12 cabs each, and in York for 25. Liverpool and Manchester will grant 5o licenses each when the by-laws have been drawn up and passed, and Belfast will accord a similar number we understand when the demonstration chassis has passed the authorities. In all the above cases, the same tariff as is existent in each town for horse-drawn cabs will apply to the motorcabs, and, in certain cases, local companies will be formed in conjunction with some of the largest cab proprietors. The cab to be employed in these ventures is the Mass four-cylinder, ish.p. vehicle.
Motorcab Trials.
The Competitions Committee of the Automobile Club de France decided at its last meeting to hold motorcab trials concurrently with the commercial vehicle trials in May next. This is an entirely new departure, though, indeed, it is a natural sequence to the greater attention given of late by French inanuacturers to the building of "taxi-autos," and is, moreover, calculated to attract the notice of those numerous makers on the Continent who .have so far neglected this special lifirinch of the industry.
The competing inotorcabs will be required, by the terms of the regulations, to follow the itinerary (already given in "Tim COMMERCIAL MOTOR") marked out for the variousAntes of lorries, vans, and omnibuses taking part in the yearly trials. The chassis of the cabs must be mounted ).Vith coupes or Iandaulets, with seating accommodation for two persons inside and a driver's seat outside. Alcohol, carlauretted to 50 per cent., is to be the fuel used. The
bore of the motors in single-cylinder engines is limited to too millimetres, and for four-cylinder engines to 8oinm.
In the case of the least powerful vehicles, the weight prescribed is t,000 kilogrammes, increased proportionately to the piston surface in the case of the speedier cabs. The minimum speed allowed will be15 kilometres an hour, and the maximum 30. The 'judges' classification will be based on the fuel consumption calculated on the ton-kilometre records between Auxerre and Fontainebleau, two towns included in the route. The entrance fee for one motorcab is fixed at soo francs, to be increased by to per cent. every five days for entries made after March t6th and up to April 3oth, when the engagement list will be closed.
Now that the details of this year's French trials have been decided upon, appeals are being made, in the technical Press, to French makers to take part in large. numbers. One well-known authority writes :— -" Our manufacturers must not forget that our foreign competitors are, as it were, lying in wait for us, but, if we should watch with interest the participation of German and English makes in our trials, it would no longer be without a certain uneasiness for the future part they might play in our competitions. The more and more international character of our trials .constitutes, beyond all doubt, a stimulant to energy and activity; but this good should not be allowed to change into an evil, and, bearing that in mind, we insist upon our manufacturers making serious efforts in this year's trials. They know the reward as well as we do."
So far several important French makers have signified their intention of entering five or six vehicles. The organising committee, with the valuable co-operation of the public highway authorities, is now engaged in studying the routes and preparing the way for the competitors when they take the road. As "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR" has -already shown,. theitinerary is . made • up of long. daily stage. journeys in the north, east, And centre of France, and every precaution. will be taken to prevent any of the vehicles going astray through ignorance of the exact course which they are to take.