From Our Berlin Correspondent.
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The Fahrzeugfabrilc Eisenach, maker of the Eisenach lorry, has realised a net profit of .L.11,343 for 1908. Some .4;67o is carried forward to the 1909 account, the rest going_ to wipe out the deficit of former bad years, and to strengthen reserve funds. 'The finances of the company recently underwent reconstruction.
A Saxony Subsidised Carrying Company.
Messrs. G. Nacke and Co., of Coswig, whose lorries have received the War Office plaque, have organised a 'carrying company at Dresden. The rolling-stock consists of to lorries, which are to be used for the transport of beer and bricks.
The Motor Liability Act.
A query has been raised as to whether the exemption of commercial vehicles win depend upon some official test prior to their licensing, and I certainly think the reply is in the affirmative_ The original text reads : " nicht iiberschreiten kann und hierauf amtlich gepruft ist " (officially certified as unable to exceed). The limit now proves to be 20 idlemetres an hour.
The German Trials.
Owing to the protracted winter, the organisation of the course for the German Industrial Automobile Trials has not made so much progress as interested parties could wish. Most of the bridges appear to have been officially certified as equal to the strain of the ponderous trains, hut a large number of local authorities has still to be " interviewed " respecting the -passage of the competing vehicles.
The Swedish Trials.
I note that three of the it entrants for the Swedish Commercial Trials, which will be held from June 7 to 12, are Germans, as follow :—Siiddeutsche Automobilfabrik, Gaggenau, 3 lorries and an omnibus ; Turicum Aktien-Gesellschaft, Berlin, i lorry ; Motor and Last wagengesellschaft (late Scheibler), Aachen, i lorry. On the first two days, the vehicles run from Stockholm to Flottsund and back ; on the second and third, from Stockholm to Norrthlje and back ; on the fifth and sixth days, from Stockholm to Sodertalje and back. The lighter automobiles have to cover i5oluns, daily, the heavier somewhat less.
Drivers New Licensing Regulations.
With a view to minimising accidents traceable to improperly-qualified chauffeurs, the Prussian Ministries for Public Works and Horne Affairs have issued a scheme of examination. There are to be two tests, the one oral and the other practical, I.—The viva yore examination bears upon : (a) a general knowledge of the principal parts of the vehicle submitted, thorough acquaintance with any part coming into consideration for forming a judgment of its fitness for traffic (steering arrangement, brakes, change-gear, reverse, tiring);
(b) action in particular cases (for instance, skidding, outbreak of fire, lack of water in steam generators);
(c) judgment of the vehicle's fitness for traffic immediately prior to the start ; (d) acquaintance with the main statutory and police regulations drawn up for drivers of automobiles.
2.—The practical test comprises : (a) control of the brakes and steering contrivance, starting the engine after an examination of the ignition, and trials over a short stretch (for instance, maintaining a given course, avoidance of indicated obstacles, quick stopping with the use of the various brakes, driving backwards; turning with and without the use of the reverse); (b) trial run on an open stretch with moderate traffic, meeting and passing vehicles, driving out from an enclosed piece of ground (garage and the like), turning corners, application of the warning signals, change of speed (if possible, on gradients, up and down hill) with all mechanical means at disposal, manipulation of brakes under various circumstances ; (c) closing trial in a free run of at least an hour's duration, also through busier streets, with the utilisation of all sorts of roads at the place of trial and in its immediate vicinity.
Candidates may undergo the oral examination together, but must be examined singly in the practical tests.
No candidate will be admitted to the practical examination unless he shall have satisfied the examiners in the theoretical examination. Failure to satisfy the examiners in 2 (b) also precludes examination in 2 (C). The examining expert must ride on the chauffeur's box, his business being not so much to direct as to observe closely whether the candidate possesses the necessary coolness and presence of mind, and an accurate eye and judgment for the requirements of public traffic; likewise, whether he understands how to judge distance correctly, to make allowance for the conditions of roads and traffic, especially in changing speed, to handle the brakes properly, and to avoid, as much as possible, annoyance from noise and smoke.
Frankfort Fire Brigade.
The City Fathers of Frankfort-onthe-Main have at last made up their minds concerning the much-discussed question of adopting mechanical propulsion for the fire-brigade vehicles, and have resolved to spend £3,300 by way of a beginning. Unlike Berlin, which has committed itself to electromotor propulsion to the exclusion of other mechanical systems, Frankfort, on the ground of actual trial with a petrol automobile, will possess a predominant number of internal-combustion vehicles, only the escape of the " set," indeed, being driven by electromotors.
First Norwegian Motor Show.
A body calling itself the " Permanent Exhibition Committee for German Industry," with its headquarters in Berlin, is busy " paragraphing " the papers concerning the desirability of German makers being represented at the " First Norwegian Motor Show," to be held at Christiania from May 20 to 25. Norway has neither motor shops of its own, nor many automobiles, since, last year, the whole kingdom could show no more than too (exclusive of motorcycles), of which 6o were garaged in the capital. Delivery vans and lorries constituted a very small proportion of this number. I think it well to call attention to the activity of the above committee, and to add that the address of the Nerwegian Motor Club, which has the organisation of the show in hand, is Somnerogaden 15, Christiania.