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Our Despatches from the Front (No. 70).

13th January 1916
Page 16
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Page 16, 13th January 1916 — Our Despatches from the Front (No. 70).
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Active-service Conditions in Europe far Surpass in Severity the Cross-, country Tests Quoted by American Makers. Interesting Fate of Electric-starting Sets.

Paris, Dec. 123rd. War Tests v. U.S.A. Tests.

War conditions in Northern France are much more strenuous than the cross-country tests to which American manufacturers submit their new models. We have an example of this in a certain high-grade American lorry recently produced. Before being offered to the public this lorry was severely tested under the rough conditions prevailing in the middle-West States—heavy going through mud, gumbo, and various kinds of country unprovided with roads. Good results were obtained. After a few weeks service in France these lorries developed cracked axle housings. A defect in design which had not been revealed under American conditions thus came to light under the more severe conditions of rough French and Belgian pave.

Broken Axles from Shifting Loads.

lt is probable that there was a certain amount of overloading and some over-spreading ; but the paint is that the most severe conditions obtainable in America did not equal those prevailing on the Front. The firm has undertaken to replace all broken housings, the design, of course, having been changed in the meantime. There have been a few other cases of broken axle housings, but these have been traced to the shifting of an overload to the right-hand side of the vehicle. On certain French and Belgian roads wii a.highly-cambered paa centre and dirt sides, careful packing is required to prevent loads sliding to the nght. Roping is very necessary, as a positive safeguard.

How Tires Fail On Active Service.

My experience, which extends over 80 four-ton American lorries, is that tires cannot reach more than 5000 miles under war conditions. The sections are adequate and the lorries are not generally overloaded. The tires suffer considerably fly reason of the edges' chipping away from running alternately on paa and the soft dirt strip. This. of course, affects the right-hand tires more than those on the left. We find, too, that sections of the band come away from the base. This can be attributed to high speeds and heavy loads ; the seriesi of blows which the tires receive as they bounce over the rough and hard road -surfaces tends to loosen the band from its base. This extends until several inches of the

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tire will be unattached to its base, and finally the section, or in some cases the whole tire, will come away. In considering this it should be remembered that the pave of Northern France and Belgium is very much rougher than that known to Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. There is no doubt, too, that tire wear is accentuated by reason of heavy camber. The inner one of dual tires always carries a greater load than the outer band. Wheels cannot always be "swapped over."

P..inerican Magnetos.

In our brigade we find that magnetos demagnetize after six months service. Also during the same period the assembly screws work loose, and a general overhauling becomes necessary. This applies to American-made magnetos ; have had no experience with other kinds here.

Carburetters Need Attention.

Generally it pays to tune up American carburetters on their arrival at the Front. The grade of petrol we use is so different from that employed in America, and there is sufficient climatic difference to make a good American carburetter setting altogether unsatisfactory here. Frequent complaints are heard of petrol extravagance, most of which could be remedied by intelligent attention to the carburetters..

What They Think of Starters,

The latest American lorries to be received here are fitted with electric self-starters. They are far from being appreciated by the men. Owing to lack of electrical knowledge on the part of the drivers, batteries are rarely kept in a con

dition to do their work, and after a a few days the automatic starter is fregotten. The only people who benefit are officers occupying dugouts. Whenever possible they requisition the batteries and use them for lighting purposes until exhausted. After this they are thrown away. Dry batteries are even more popular for this purpose, some units using a tremendous quantity, which are all exhausted for other purposes than exploding charges in the cylinders.

The Green Driver and the Simple Life.

The control of certain lorries is unnecessarily complicated. The green driver who sits behind dual ignition, with, variable advance, a couple of pressure indicators, an electric lighting and an electric starting set and an extra air control, is naturally disposed to plead for the simple life. The ideal for these conditions appears to be magneto ignitien, with fixed setting, and accelerator control for the carburetter. A dashboard lever could give slow running position and also switch off the magneto when in a certain position. This is common enough on London taxicabs, but has not been applied to any great extent on American lorries.

Fashions in Radiator Guards.

I notice that the French are taking extraordinary precautions against damage to radiators and cylinders when working in convoy formation. It is a most difficult matter to make drivers maintain the regulation distance between vehicles. Thus, a moment's inattention or an unexpected call to stop and radiators fall literally like nine-pins. I have seen many cams in Whic.h damage has been done as far back as the third cylinder

A Remarkable Guard.

The Velie, which is the latest American to go into war service, is now fitted with a radiator guard said to have been designed by a French engineer and fitted at the American factory. Judging from its appearance, the designer has been

a railroad engineer. The guard consists of a very heavy steel gate having at the back of it heavy locomotive-type buffers. The entire radiator is covered -by the guard, and in order to crank it is necessary to open the gate and pass in. It is difficult to understand how anything but. a shell could damage this radiator ; but unfortunately the designer of the fitment has left so little clearance that every now and again some man leaves a nail or a finger tip behind when he attempts to crank..

Radiator Guards That Do Not Guard.

The White lorries, which were receivbd without any kind of buffer, now have a stout bar the full width of the lorry and level with the middle of the radiator. There are heavy coil springs at the back of the guard. At the rear there is a similar but lighter type of buffer ; thus in • case of an encounter the two buffers only come together. On certain lorries protection is sought by uniting the frame members by a curved I-section member. This would be useful if the obstacle was a wall or a fence. But the lorry ahead generally has a, body with a rear overhang, and this overhang is just sufficiently, high to pass over the guard direct into the radiator. The mortality" at the "business end" of the lorries is now much reduced.

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Organisations: Active Service
Locations: Paris, London

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