NOTES FROM NORTHERN IRELAND.
Page 47
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Some of the Exhibits at the Show of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society. The Bus Persecution at Belfast.
By Ulsterman.
HELD in brilliant weather and during Belfast's Empire Week. the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society's show was a notable success—a record in entries, in prize money and in attendance. A section of the fine grounds at Balmoral, in the outskirts of Belfast, was devoted to an exhibition of commercial motor vehicles, of which there was a representative display, the following Belfast firms exhibiting the specified vehicles: Arthur Stringer (Maudslay 'chassis types, equipped for the transport of bulk petrol and the distribution of eggs) ; Clarence Engineering Co. (Chevrolet vehicles, including the popular flat platform lorry and a meat van of hygienic build) ; Leslie Porter (32-seater Albion bus, well planned and comfortably seated) ; W. H. Alexander (Morris vehicles, including the 8-cwt. van, the 1-ton truck with drop sides, and a 20-seater bus showing excellent bodywork, by J. G. Ellison, Belfast); Nelson and Moore (several Bean lorries and vans of great strength and serviceability) ; Alister, Kirk (Leyland vehicles, including a 36-seater " Lion " single-deck omnibus, with lavatory accommodation, together with a Trojan dual-purpose lorry) ; Spence and Johnstone (British Ford vans and trucks, with bodywork of special excellence by the exhibiting firm) ; W. F. Poole (notably a 3-ton lorry of powerful build) ; Charles Hurst (Dennis vehicles, including a 30-cwt, chassis, with drop-side lorry body of Hurst build) • Chambers (Renault vehicles, including a 24-cwt. platform lorry, with Chambers body) ; Dodge (several vehicles with excellent bodywork, by Pantridge, Dromore) ; Motor Service Works (Associated-Daimler models); John Hill (Reo vehicles) ; -Coulter (" Star Flyers ") ; J. E. Coulter (Fordson tractors of various types, together with an example
of the Ferguson Plough) ; T. J. Russell (Graham Bros.' commercial trucks) ; J. McIlroy (Lancia and Bristol vehicles) ; H. V. Stagg (Laffiy models).
The Ulster Railways (Road Vehicles) Bill, having passed unscathed through all its stages, has received the Royal Assent, so that the railway monopolists are now free to compete with private enterprise on the public roads, towards the maintenance of which they contribute so little.
Belfast Municipal Buses.
Although the working of the municipal buses in Belfast has hitherto shown a deficit, it is believed by the management that next year they will .prove a success. The tramways manager proposes to run non-stop express buses from the centre of the city to several boundary termini, and suggests that the corporation should seek powers for the running of municipal buses through a wider region outside the municipal area. "Imitation is the sincerest "—but sometimes, the unfairest—" form of flattery."
. Belfast Persecutes Bus Proprietors.
Although the Minister of Home Affairs professes an official ignorance of the fact that Belfast bus proprietors are being "persecuted," the records of the police courts prove that bus owners are being prosecuted for collecting passengers at their own waiting rooms, although there are not nearly enough bus stands provided for the needs of the traffic, some of the stops complained of lasting only 90 seconds! Recently an owner was fined for picking up a few of his booked passengers in a practically empty street. And yet the overcrowding of trams goes unchallenged I