From Our Berlin Correspondent.
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I notice that the borough of Charlottenburg, which adjoins Berlin on its western side, has acquired electrically-propelled, street-washing machines of of the type adopted by Berlin some two years back.
In the course of a ramble one morning through Berlin's " West End," 1 noticed that a couple of building firms were making use of motor lorries for the conveyance of girders to the respective sites. Both vehicles were petrol driven. In every department of industrial labour in Berlin the automobile is steadily asserting itself.
The British Consulateito be " Britishized " at Last Advocates of Consular reform will doubtless learn with satisfaction that Dr. Paul von Schwabach, who, for a period of 11 years, has acted as British Consul-General at Berlin, is to be succeeded by a British-born subject, a gentleman answering that, requirement being at last "available." Let me not be misunderstood : against. the retiring official T have nothing whatever to say: as an honourable, accomplished. and experienced gentleman. he has conscientiously endeavoured to hold the balance between his own private interests, which are purely German, and those of the foreign state, in this case Great Britain, to which he sr as attached ; but, in my opinion, and in that of the majority of my fellowcountrymen, Dr. von Schwabach was not the man for the post. I have always held, and, so far as I am aware, the Editor of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR has held, that the gentlemen who take charge of British interests abroad should be British-born subjects—or at any rate British subjects unfettered by private interests more or less in conflict with the state they are assumed to serve. Tried by this broad principle, Dr. Schwabach's appointment lay open to serious objection. In the first place, Dr. Schwabach is a German, and, in the second, is intimately connected with powerful German financial concerns whose capital furthers mainly German interests. 1 mention, for instance, the banking house of Bleichroder, which was certainly not founded to promote British trade-. Dr. Schwabach is the leading spirit of this house. No man can serve two masters. Dr. Schwabach declares. in effect, that he has succeeded in accomplishing that difficult feat. Still, consider: the head of the house of Bleichroder, with its capital ever ready to compete with British capital. identical for 11 -ears with the gentleman holding the important post of British Consul-General at Berlin—at Berlin, the chief city of the German Empire, the most formidable commercial rival ! Dr. von Seim-alms+ advances several reasons for his resignation, amongst them the increasing burdens of private business and the
consciuustwas of a grow ing feeling, on your side, that a Briton should occupy the position. This latter reason, I am disposed to regard, is that which has weighed most with him; he has correctly interpreted the signs of the times, and gives way to an Englishman. Up till a short while ago, the British Consulate at Berlin was pistetically " bossed " by Germans: Herr Johann Cerb held the position of Vice-Consul, and von Schwabach that of Consul-General ; the English officials played second fiddle. At Herr Gerb's death, however, an "available" Englishman moved into his place. As von Schwabach's successor, Mr. Harry Boyle, at present Oriental Secretary at Cairo, is mentioned. It is to be hoped that the British Government will apply the principle laid down above to other Consular posts, and the sooner the better. They surely have no need to go around with a lantern looking for " available " men.
Austrian Commercial Trials: Poor Entry List.
But 16 entries have been received up to the time of writing, and I fear that this poor result must be regarded as final, since all firms entering now must pay double fees. The following is a list of the entries :—Class I (doctors' ears and cabs), 14-16 h.p. F.I.A.T. car ; Class II (omnibuses for 12 passengers), 30 11.p. Buessing; Class III (omnibuses for more than 14 passengers), 30 h.p. Austrian Daimler ; Class IV (light vans), 14-16 h.p. F.I.A.T.; Class V (lorries : 1,500-2.000 kilo.), 30 h.p. Buessing, 21 h.p. F.I.A.T., and a 20 h.p. Austrian Daimler ; Class VI (lorries : 2,500-3,500 kilo.), 24 hp. " Mulag " (Aachen Co., in which Scheibler is interested), and a 40 h.p. F.I.A.T. ; Class VII (lorries : over 4,000 kilo.), 40 h.p. Berne, (Switzerland) and a 38 h.p. Buessing; Class %III (trains with one trailer or more), two 35 h.p. " Mulag," one 34 h.p. Buessing, one 70 h.p. Austrian Daim
ler (three trailers), and a 30 11.p. Austrian Daimler.
Bavarian Motorpost Services.
Official figures in reference to Bavaria's motorpost lines show that, during 1909, the system was worked at a loss of 70,888 marks (t3,845), receipts and expenses having amounted to 540,999 and 464,111 marks respectively. The system consists of 11 permanent lines, and of these six worked only during the summer for the benefit of tourists. Prima facie, the financial result is discourgaging; but there can be no doubt that off-sets could be produced, since the lines have helped to circulate money in outlying districts and been of great use to the business communities within the system. Nor must one forget that the weather, a weighty factor in the general results, has left much to be desired.
Heavy Motors in the German Army htanceuvres.
The "industrials " had a rough time in the hilly district of the German Imperial manoeuvres; but, whatever the shortcomings of the automobile service, it was abundantly clear that the employment of self-propelled vehicles for the transport of stores constituted a vast improvement on the old style of doing the work by means of hired, horse-drawn vehicles, which were often so slow that the fagged troops had been bivouacked for hours before the requisite supply of wood, straw and victuals arrived. The automobile train consisted of six Buessings, two Daimler-Marienfeldes, an Eisenach, an N.A.G., a Diirkopp, a Gaggenau, a Nacke, a " North German," and an "Aachen," in addition to vehicles supplied some years back by the Daimler-Untertiirkheim Co., and a couple of travelling repairing shops. With the exception of the shops and the Untertiirkheim-Daimlers (which had two or three trailers), each of the lorries drew a single trailer.