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 this exclusive and valuable circulation is due to the forcing of sales in useless quarters.
The forthcoming Smithfield Slam , which is to open on the 9th proximo, will receive special attention at our hands (see announcement below).
Wellington Tractors.
We are glad to learn that William Foster and Company, Limited, of Wellington Foundry, Lincoln, has secured a repeat order from Pickford's, Limited, of London, for several compound tractors, and that one of these will be on exhibition at the forthcoming Smithfield Show. Tangent wheels have been specified for these machines.
Front-drive Cabs.
Persons interested in motorcabs should get into communication with the Pullcar Company, Limited, whose south of England business in these front-driven vehicles is in the hands of Mr. J. Sidney Critchley, M.I.Mech.E. The easy-running characteristics of these vehicles are known to us from experience, and testimony to their reliable qualities is given on the next page from a Preston user.
Maintenance Contracts.
An interesting scheme, for the establishment of maintenance contracts, has been prepared by Commercial Cars, Limited, of Luton, and Craven }louse, King-sway, W.C. (page 258). It is certain that, if really satisfactory bases for such contracts can be reached, a distinct forward movement should be given to the trade in business vehicles. At the foot of page 258 we illustrate a " Commer Car " van which has recently been purchased by the Army and Navy Auxiliary Co-operative Society, of Victoria Street, Westminster.
Good Trading Results.
The directors of Dennis Brothers, Limited, of Guildford, whose 8th Annual Report is just out, recommend the usual dividend of i per cent., and the carrying-forward of Z, 2,000. Goodwill is now entirely written off, and an extra depreciation fund in respect of buildings is started with ;4,2,000. This is the third time in succession that the Dennis dividend has been at the satisfactory rate named, and it redounds greatly to the credit of the directors who, among their other merits, were of the earliest to discern the trend towards the commercial motor. Noise Purists.
" The Daily News " quotes from our reference of the 31st ultimo to the action of the Kensington Boroagh Council in declining to fit solid-rubber tires to its steam wagon, which has steel tires, and comments, to the disadvantage of that council, upon this refusal in comparison with the wiser procedure of 1Vestminster, whose heavy vehicles have rubber-tired driving-wheels.
Mr. Worby Beaumont.
We have been asked by more than one person whether Mr. Worby Beaumont was a judge in the recent R.A.C. Trials, and the answer is in the negative. Mr. Beaumont, however, as Chairman of the Trials Committee, had to perform even more arduous duties than those of a judge, and the amount of work he did in connection with the arrangements and general organisation was very considerable indeed, whilst he attended at various points en route dui_ ing the road tests. Mr. Orde, in fact, appeared to rely very much upon Mr. Beaumont for advice and assistance in every connection, and we are sure that too mane people cannot recognise the value of ■fr. Beaumont's contribution to the success of the competition. Four Scotch-built vehicles took part in the recent trials, and all got medals.
We are glad to learn that Mr. T. Bowden, who was formerly with the Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co., Ltd., has been appointed representative for Continental tires for northeast London, East Anglia, and the southeast of England: We wish Mr. Bowden every success.
C.M. Users.
The next meeting of the Executive Committee of the Commercial Motor Users' Association will take place on Tuesday next, the igth instant, at 1, Albemarle Street, W., at 2.30 p.m.
Another Ambulance Order.
The Metropolitan Asylums Board has decided to build a light motor ambulance of the brougham type for the conveyance of patients. Argylls, Ltd., will supply one of its 12-14h.p. chassis, for .298 ms. without tires; the body
will be by the Board's workmen.
Municipal Motors.
The Streets Sub-Committee of the ;fiddlesbroug-h Corporation has instructed the Borough Surveyor to obtain information in regard to wagons for the various uses to which they have been put in municipal service, together with the necessary estimates of first cost and probable saving.
A Saw-bench Tender.
The Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Company, of Vulcan Works, Hunslet, Leeds, recently supplied one of its wellknown machines for use on a rubber plantation in Brazil, and primarily for the conveyance of supplies of rubber to the nearest port. The only available fuel is wood, and the company had to provide means whereby the wagon might cut its own supply of fuel en route. Our illustration (page 2451 shows that a circular saw is trailed behind the wagon, and this can easily be brought into position, when necessary, for the rotation of the saw from the flywheel of the engine. Enough wood can be sawn up in a few minutes to allow the wagon to steam for three or four hours. This novel tender is of particular interest, and we may add that the machine is similar to that which was recently awarded a gold medal in the R.A.C. Trials.
A " Pullcar " MtiL Van. •
Three months of service was given, last summer, between Preston and Blackpool, via Kirkham, a distance of in miles, by a " Pullcar " van owned by William Harding and Company, Limited, removers, storers and jobmasters, of 49, Lune Street, Preston. The running and punctuality of this van, and the accelerated service which it rendered possible, has induced the postal authorities to take in hand the matter of establishing an all-the-yearround service, as well as an extension
of motor delivery in other directions. Once only was the van late during the whole of the three months.
The company named above is also running " Pullcar " motorcabs from its yards, arid is about, to put some of these into service at Preston Railway Station, as, after considerable experience with other types, no make of vehicle has been found equally satisfactory and economical.
Acetylene Welding.
Tangent Wheels, Limited, of Grove Road, Balharn, S.W., has recently installed an acetylene-gas welding-plant at its works, and, as the company does not keep this fully occupied with its own work, it is prepared to undertake repairs to castings, rods, shafts, or any motor-vehicle part which may have been fractured or broken. In view of the fact that it is frequently possible to weld a broken part which appears beyond remedy, and that at the cost of only a few shillings, we commend this matter to the attention of our readers.
Lacre Trials Orders.
The excellent account which the two Lucre vans gave of themselves throughout the R.A.C. trials, is bringing a well-merited reward in increased sales of the different types of van sold by the company. The following orders are directly traceable to the manner in which these vehicles came through the test of twenty-two running days, all the chassis being the standard tyve, and fitted with rolep, engines : Taylor, Tucker and Company, Limited, Clo. thiers, Bristol, a traveller's brougham to carry to cwt. of samples ; William Whiteley, Limited, the Universal Provider, a 24-cwt. van ; Messrs. Frank
Bentall and Company, Drapers, of Kingston, a 24-cwt. van ; the White Heather Laundry, London, a repeat order for a 2-ton van; the Blue Bell Polish Company, Limited, London, a 2-ton van ; Levm and Company, Limited, Seedsmen, Blackheath, a 2-ton van. The sales also include a 45-cwt. van for the transport of mineral waters in Toronto; and a 3-ton lorry for Rio. It will be fresh in our readers' minds, that the company was awarded a gold medal in Class B, on the recommendation of the R.A.C. trials judges. Its vehicles will be exhibited at Olympia in March next.
Paris Bookings.
The South-Eastern and Chatham Railway announces :hat, for the Paris Automobile Show, cheap return tickets, available for 14 days, will be issued on Fridays and Saturdays, November 8th and gth, 15th and 16th, 220(1 and 23rd, and 2gth and ..3oth, at the fares of 58s. 4d, first, 37s.. (id. second, and 305. third class, These tickets will be avaiL t.ble from London by the to a. m. turbine-steamer service, via Folkestone and Boulogne, or by the 9 p.m. mail express service, via Dover and Calais, and, in the inverse direction, by certain advertied services.
A Useful Van.
Our sister journal, " The Motor," is obtaining excellent results, in connection with the Olympia Show, from a 28-32h.p. Arrnstrong-Whitworth van. The amount of ground which can be covered by this vehicle in a day is amazing, and the celerity with which it travels between Rosebery Avenue and Olympia is infinitely superior to any other means of transport. The canvas portion of the van-covering forms an admirable ground for advertisement, as the accompanying illustration shows, but we have been unable to reproduce a photograph of the roof, where space is by no means wasted, a point which is frequently overlooked by van owners, who forget that an enormous number of people gaze down upon the traffic from first-floor and other windows.
Mr. Walter Jackson, of Shipley, Yorkshire, who has been using a 2-ton Durham Churchill lorry, between Bradford and the ,Colne district in North-East Lancashire, for upwards of six months, gives splendid testimony to the reliable working and durable qualities of the machine in our correspondence columns.
Alert Agents.
Mr. W. L. Sleigh, Chairman of Rossleigh, Limited, Edinburgh, in presiding at the recent annual meeting of the shareholders at Edinburgh, when a dividend of 15 per cent, was declared on the company's ordinary shares, stated that : "it did not need a prophet to see the enormous business coming along for all kinds of commercial vehicles. The company was keeping in touch with this branch of the business."
The Berlin Motor Show.
A round 30 firms figure in the preliminary list of entrants for the second " chapter " of the Berlin motor show, which has to do with industrial, ambu_ lance, and other automobiles of the utility class. There is a likelihood that this section of the show, which also includes motor boats, will remain open five days longer than the organisers had originally intended; in this case exhibits of these classes will be on view during the Christmas week. Whether the proposed prolongation is well-advised seems questionable. Pray_ tically all the leading home makers in the utility class are to be found in the preliminary list, and we note that the best Swiss firms have hired space.
Tires for Big Loads.
The Continental Tyre and Rubber Company (Great Britain), Limited, of
102, Clerkenwell Road, E.C. whose English works are at Hythe Road, Wil_ lesden, N.W., is now giving very thorough attention to thecommercial tire department, and its single, solidrubber tires have been carefully graded at the factory for loads varying from 8 cwt. to so cwt. per wheel. This company, notwithstanding the demands of its extensive ramifications in the pneumatic-tire trade, has been slowly taking its proper rank in heavier branches of use, and the result is -seen in the increasing sales of its " vulcanised-on " solid tires, with their specially-arranged steel-band at the base, and their removable side-rimsThe inexpansible steelband is embedded in hard rubber, and all necessary precautions have been adopted in the construction to prevent' any creeping or undue wear of the tire as a whole. For all loads heavier than
30 cut. per wheel, twin tires are naturally recommended, and these are regu. larly subjected to weights of three tons per wheel over all classes of roads. The company makes an interesting recommendation in connection with solid tires, and one that is unquestionably the outcome of wide experience. This is that so per cent. should he added to the imposed weight, when sending in particulars, to enable it to advise the right size of tires, so as to make pro-. vision for starting, braking, stopping, and other strains. " Continental " solid tires are guaranteed for a distance of io,000 miles, subject to the completion of that mileage within one year from the date of delivery.
German Brewers and Automobiles.
Most of the leading breweries in Germany are experimenting with selfpropelled vehicles, and, so far as we have been able to ascertain, the innovation answers very well. Amongst the latest converts we note the "Victoria" Brauerei, at Stettin, which has acquired a couple of lorries for delivery work. One is of light build, and car ries but cwt., the propelling power being derived from a two-cylinder Stoewer motor, developing some 12h.p. The second vehicle carries 5 tons, and its chassis is equipped with a fourcylinder engine of the same make and giving 3oh.p. An Enquiry from Peru.
Senor Juan Jose Miranda, of Pisco, Peru, a subscriber to this journal, desires to receive prices and particulars of steam wagons suitable for the conveyance of loads of copper ore from his mines to the coast.
Trade in Hertfordshire.
Messrs. Peinsel and Wilson, automobile engineers, of Hemel Hempstead, write : Your paper is read every week with the utmost interest, and it is difficult to over-estimate the influence it has in fostering the commercial motor trade. The statistics published have been most useful to us, and the little Trials Booklet, of which we distributed 25 to likely purchasers, has, we know, been read with keen interest. . . If you know of a firm who want agents in this district, will you please remember us. We have several customers who are likely buyers," Horse-drawn Taxicabs.
We await with great interest the settlement of the dispute between proprietors of London horse cabs and the Men's Society. The terms of the offer of the Masters' Federation were reported in our issue of the 3tst October (page 205 ante), and we reported in the same paragraph that some of the men objected to the percentage system. Various meetings have taken place, and the men have made a counter offer as follows : a fixed wage of 3$. per day ; 25 per cent. of the gross receipts of the cab up to is. ; 33i per cent, of the gross receipts over 15s. ; and the proprietor to bear the loss when the driver is " bilked " by his fare. We can quite understand that the men do not like to see their accustomed easy times slipping away from them, for it is well known that a large number of hansom-cab drivers work only alternate days, and play the other days, so good are their earnings. Exactly why these men think that their previous returns should be maintained, when everybody else in the cab trade is suffering from competition, is beyond explanation. Mr. Herbert Gladstone, in the meantime, declines to issue any Order until the masters and men have adjusted their differences.