The Wheels of Industry.
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This journal, dealing as it does with the "Chariots of War," no less than with the "Wheels of Industry," continues of national importance. Its interests embrace impartially the transport wagon and the parcelcar, the military tractor and the steam lorry.
Tilling-Stevens, Ltd.
Recent Registrations. Whiting (1915), Ltd. (210,000), to take over the business carried on at 334-340, Euston Road, N.W.
Stanley Smith and Co,. Ltd. (24000), J. M. Haslip, 6, Martins Lane, E.C., to take over the business of dealers in all kinds of motor vehicles carried on by the Automobile Consolidated Alliance, Ltd.
H. Pearson Ltd. (22000); office, Brownhill Vale, Uppermill, Saddleworth, to take over the business of haulage contractors, etc., carried on by H. Pearson Bros., at the Square, Uppermill, Saddleworth, Yorks.
Thundersley, Hadleigh and District Motors, Ltd. (23000), by Zeffert and Co., 8, Union Court, Old Broad Street, E.C., to carry on the business of manufacturers and dealers in motor vehicles, etc.
American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps, Incorporated (the word " Limited '? omitted by licence of the Board of Trade), limited by guarantee, with its office at 11, Waterloo Place, S.W. The ',managemerit is vested in a Council. Mr. H. de T. Glazebrook is hon. secretary.
Gazette. :
The Beddaa‘d Motor Co., Ltd. is to be wound up voluntarily. Mr. Regd. G. Pye, 116, Fore Street, RC., is the liquidator.
The names of the Bancroft Motor Co., Ltd., the Colonial Taxi-cab Finance Syndlcate, Ltd., Express Road Haulage, Ltd., the Princes Motor Co., Ltd., and the Simplex Motor Syndicate, Ltd., have been struck off the Register of Joint Stock Companies and the companies have been 'dissolved.
London and Suburban Traction Co., Ltd.
It is interesting to note that this company practically holds the whole of the shares in the following undertakings : Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Ltd. ; London United Tramways, Ltd. ; South Metropolitan Tramways and Lighting Co., Ltd. ; Tramways (M.E.T.) Omnibus Co., Ltd. ; Gearless Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd. In turn, the Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Ltd., holds the controlling interests in the North Metropolitan Electric Power Supply Co., Ltd., and the North Metropolitan Electrical Power Distribution Co., Ltd. We referred to this company's results for the year 1914 in our last issue. Its shares are very Widely held by the public.
A30 We have not hitherto been at liberty to make the announcement, although the rearrangement was known to us, that Messrs. Albert G. Mickleburgh and P. FrostSmith have been appointed joint managing directors of TillingStevens. Mr. Stevens retires from the company.
Proposals and Purchases.
Colchester Electricity Supply Committee is about to buy a steam tractor for coal haulage.
Sunbury U.D.C. has decided to defer the purchase of a motor fire engine for the time being.
Halifax Town Council is considering, through a sub-committee of its Gas Committee, the purchase of two motor wagons.
Wallsend-on-Tyne Town Council will pay Armstrong, Whitworth and Co., Ltd., 2494 for a motor ambu-' lance,' subject' to L.G.B. sanction Mossay and Co., Ltd., has booked an order from the Wolverhampton Electricity Department, for a 2iton Orwell battery vehicle, at g030.
A sub-committee of the South Shields Town Council is inquiring into relative costs for motor dustvans compared with horse-drawn service.
The engineering branch of the Hull Corporation is about to purchase a steam wagon, per Mr. F. W. Bricknell, the acting city engineer. Wimbledon U.D.C. has asked the Birkenhead Town Council to take over a new Dennis motor ambulance, as it is not possible at the moment for the original purchasing council to accept delivery.
Wd are receiving a number of communications from mechanics and from members of staffs, who, realizing that there is a shortage of men for munition-making, desire to transfer their efforts from the work upon which they are engaged at present, which is not definitely related to the .great task of the nation at the moment. We register such names, and will readily furnish them to any works manager who makes application to us.
More Motor Mails.
The Surveyor for the NorthMidland Diana, G,P.O., Nottingham, is asking tenders, under a contract for a, term of three years, for the conveyance of mails by. motorvan "between Leicester and Derby. The estimated maximum weight per trip' is 10 cwt., and the mileage in each direction 28i miles. We are interested to observe that , the following condition is added to the usual printed form of contract-: "The contractor shall not employ; upon any work under or in connection with this contract any person of Belgian nationality unless suchperson shall have been engaged for such employment through thel agency of a Labour Exchange of the Board of Trade." This clause is significant of much, and no doubt a Government instruction. ,
Effective Sweepers.
We reproduce a photograph of one of the latest types of sweepers to be produced from the works of Thomas Green and Son, Ltd., Leeds. This is for the Glasgow Corporation, and it will be noted that further developments have been made in order to protect the driver from adverse weather conditions. There is quite a limousine or cabriolet touch about the Green sweeper coachwork nowadays I A further repeat order has been received from the Leeds Corporation, nuking seven machines in all for that authority.
Brighton Transport.
We were interested., on the occasion of a recent visit to Brighton, to have a chat :with Mr. A. C. 1 Norman, of the Southern Transport Co., .Ltd. This company's depot is at Warwick Street, Kemp Town, and it Combines a successful haulage business with the local representation of Richard Garrett and Sons, Ltd. of Leiston, and of Bradbury, Son and Co., Ltd., which latter company has made such a name for its Dowlais-Merthyr coal." The Southern Transport Co., Ltd., Is in a position to deal with any haulage requirements in and around, or to and from, Brighton, so far as goods are conberned.
Important Point cif Insurance Law.
Mr. Justice Bailbache recently delivered jUdgment, in the King's i 13ench Division, n an action between Messrs. Wm. Arnold and Sons, of Paddock Wood, Kent, against the British Dominions and General Insurance Co., Ltd. One of the plaintiff firm's traction engine drivers, an illiterate man, had been involved in a collision with
a motorcar, and the motorcar owner drew up the following memorandum immediately, after the accident:— " In respect of motorcar accident at Beddington between my traction engine and private car owned by Percy E. Tustin, I admit to be at fault and responsible for same." The driver, a man named Carey, then put his mark against the memorandum, which was signed for him by his mate. The insurance company sought to show that it was not liable because this memorandum, signed by the illiterate driver Carey, was a breach of the condition that "the assured shall not by himself or his agent make any admission of liability to, or otherwise negotiate with, any person in respect of whom indemnity is or may be 'claimed." Messrs. Arnold had paid the motor
car owner's claim, amounting to 21.28 5s., and f.:10 10s. for costs. Mr. Justice Bailliache gave judgment against the insurance company for the recovery of the full sum, with the costs of the action.
His Lordship held that a driver was not an agent with authority to make an admission, certainly in the absence of express authority to do so, and here the driver had no such authority. The defendant insurance company had also claimed that the memorandum which was drawn up by the motorcar owner, and signed by the traction-engine driver by means of his mark, formed part of the res gestce, and that it was therefore admissible in evidence, and being so admissible in evidence the difficulty about the want of authority was overcome. He held that in this case the res gestce consisted only of a single act—viz., the collision with the motorcar. The memorandum did not become part of the res gestce, although it was made at the time of the collision and was germane to the collision. The memorandum was not the natural consequence of the collision, and it did not spring out of the fact of the collision, and it was not inevitable without the exercise of the will of the writer of the memorandum ; it was not spon
taneous. .
His lordship concluded that he was far from satisfied that the condition in the poliey would cover an admission by a servant who had no authority to make such an admission. He was not disposed to extend the meaning of the word " agent " in the policy to such a case. Were he to do so, any unguarded exclamation by a. driver might avoid the policy. If that was what the insurance company meant, the meaning must be expressed in clearer language.
The Highways Committee of the L.C.C. is making arrangements for the sale of the remainder of the stud of tramway horses, and it proposes that motor vehicles shall be utilized for certain of the transport work hitherto effected by means of horses and vans.
Mr. Frank Little has for some time been developing a business in an advisory and consultative character at Anderson's Buildings, New Market Street, Newcastle-on-Tyne. His telephone number is Central 3400, and his telegraphic address " Franklit, Newcastle on Tyne." He is also engaged upon valua tions. Mr. Little's experience is such as to render his assistance of value to owners and intending owners in the counties of Durham and Northumberland, or elsewhere. He is, we learn, free of any interest in or agency for commercial vehicles.
The usual motor show has not been held this year in Toronto, but instead there has been a special display in the established showrooms throughout the city, and we learn that very satisfactory business results were achieved through this enterprising policy. All the premises in question were tastefully decorated, and large staffs of salesmen and demonstrators were turned on to give the assistance which one usually receives in this respect at the regular shows under one roof.
The Use of Studs on Frosty Roads.
Interesting testimony to the force of local opinion was forthcoming, at the Dumfries Sheriffs' Court, early in the present month, when numerous summonses were taken out against traction-engine proprietors for using studs in the driving wheels of their engines. One of the defendant owners, for A36 and other heavy-motor transport essential. In proof of this; he re
"erred to a petition, signed in Lockerbie market, and addressed to the Secretary for Scotland, which was supported by no fewer than 59 local farmers, in favour Of such latitude, The petition asked that a clause should be put into the Locomotives Act to allow studs to be used in cases of emergency, or at least during the war.
• The Sheriff stated that he thought that some arrangement should have been made outside the Court, between the road authorities and the proprietors of these engines. Where measures of this description were taken simply for the convenience. of the whole countryside, and possibly for the saving of life when going downhill or uphill, no restriction in the A,ct should be enforced. Spikes should not be used, he thought, unless they were absolutely necessary.
The prosecuting solicitors thereupon withdrew the summonses, a, course which we approve in the circumstances set forth. Kensington Borough Council proposes to accept the offer of Leyland Motors, Ltd., to hire to the Council its patent automatic gulley emptier for a further period of 12 months for £225.
Our Fund.
We recently entered upon the period in whicn'we shall receiVe the last X.1000 in connection with our "Campaign Comforts" Fund. We hope that our many friends who have been considering the matter of support for us in this effort—but so far without positive result—will not be guilty of the selfish mistake of thinking that the work can be left to others to finish it, in respect to the completion of the amount. We arranged, at the outset, that the pleasant duty of caring for the A.S.C., M.T., should fall lightly upon the motor industry : the fixing of the maximum donation at £50, even in respect of the largest manufacturers, is of itself sufficient prod of the justice of this contention. There are, however, now that we have deenonstrated the 'ability of the Editorial Staff to carry out the work which it undertook, no reasons why additional personal contributions should not be forthcoming, nor why there should be any failure to recognize that we are about to deal with a total strength of 20,000 officers and men, compared with only some 10.000 when the Fund was inaugurated. It is the central fund of its class, and it enjoys official co-operation.
The new registration letters of the County Borough of Darlington, as from the 1st April, are " Ambulances and Accidents.
Had the repeated suggestions of Dr. F. J. Waldo, the City of London coroner, been regarded, London generally would have had more motor ambulances several years ago. We observe that Dr. IValclo has again given it as his opinion that the suppression of lighting is a prime cause of the recent increase in accidents. He thinks that drink is a secondary factor. The Birmingham and Midland Omnibus Co. is extending its service of buses from Blackheath to Lower Gornal, Dudley.
Albions at Neuve Chapelle.
An A.S.C. diver, who was actively engaged during the recent Neuve Chapelle operations, writes as follows :— "It was indeed a terrible battle. I shall never forget the sights I then saw. You can hardly imagine the enormous damage the German shells have effected. During the recent fight at Neuve Chapelle only Albions were used to carry the shells for the big guns, and,when I tell you that three such shells constitute very nearly a full load for a three-ton Albion, it will give you an idea of the mass of metal fired from these heavy pieces."
"The Austin Advocate."
We observe that Mr. A. E. Astington has now taken up the Editorship of " The Austin Advocate." This interesting works journal appears in a new form, but it suffers nothing, in point of interest, from the modifications which have been found necessary by reason of war effects. Suitable references of regret to the loss to Mr. Herbert Austin, by the death of his only son upon the field of battle, are included. Not a few of the contents of "The Austin Advocate" in its new form concern the heavier • types of chassis and equipment for which the company is responsible. We have been afforded the opportunity, by the Austin Motor Co., Ltd., to reproduce a very fine picture showing a fleet of Austin three-ton lorries belonging to the Russian Army, parked in East Prussia before the last retirement from that Part of the enemy's territory. We are happy to note that the Russian War Office authorities have, in consequence of the satisfactory behaviour of the Austin machines, placed further large contracts with the company. The picture will be found on page 125. Hull Corporation has sent pleasing reports concerning the working of Green sweepers in that city, and altogether this branch of the Leeds concern's business bears undoubted evidence of rapid development.
The Russell Motor Car Co., of Toronto, has the sole agency for Canada for the Jeffery truck, and it has just booked an order for 40 of these special machines for use as armoured cars. The same concern is building several special ambulances of the type which are listed, to the order of private donors. These machines are to go to the Front with the second Canadian contingent, which, at the time of writing by our correspondent, was shortly to leave the city.