CONCLUSION.
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A characteristic instance of the commercial prosperity resultingfrom the employment of a tractor may be chosen for comment ; it is, no doubt, typical of others, in which similar enterprise can be shown, either with wagon or tractor. It comes froni Chichester, where, in the course of a few years, Mr. Robert Bottrill, a comparatively young business man, has come well to the front in local commercial circles. One of our photographs (page 121) depicts the tractor which has played no small part in the advance of his business during the past few months. The utility of this machine has been demonstrated in many ways. It is used extensively for hauling purposes, the owner holding con.. tracts with local brewers, mineralwater manufacturers, etc. One regular journey is a bi-weekly trip to and from Midhurst, a total distance of 24 miles, with a 5-ton load, in seven hours, including the time occupied in unloading. The achievement is the more noteworthy in view of the remarkably hilly nature of the country, which lies across the Downs.
Another instance which demonstrated the superiority of the tractor over horse-power was the successful launching by Mr. Bottrill's engine of a small steam yacht at Dell Quay, Chichester, after the failure of eight horses to accomplish the work. The cable was run out, and by a steady pull in slow gear the yacht was launched in a few minutes, without a snatch or break ; this is evidence that a tractor fitted with a cable is highly capable of meeting such contingencies. A novel use to which the cable and drum has been put was for the elevating and lowering of a captive balloon, used for the carrying of passengers during an athletic sports meeting in the Priory Park, Chichester, on Whit Monday last. To accomplish this, an extra length of rope had, of course, to be added.
The tractor is used, as well, in connec tion with Mr. Bottrill's large coal business, the time and labour saved in distribution throughout the country districts being an appreciable item. On lung-journey removals, as many as 45
to so miles are traversed in the course of a day, and Mr. Bottrill's tractor has become a familiar figure on the Sussex roads.
In the illustration, it will be seen that the load consists of 5-inch cast-iron pipes each la feet long. There are 40 in all, weighing some st tons. This is one of the final loads, completing about 400 tons, in connection with a haulage contract with the Selsey Water Company, which is extending its mains from Chichester to Selsey—a distance of nine miles. During the eight months the tractor has been on the road, it has covered a matter of 5,000 miles.
A Few Hints.
In conclusion, to the party who has to give out work to a motor contractor, and who is tempted to think that
the rates are high, we would sugge the preparation of a careful summer of his outward and inward loads. 1 steady loading cannot be provided upo at least three days a week, it is, we r peat, fairly safe to say that it will b better to let work be done by a reliabl contractor. Next, for the benefit of th same party, we would urge dealing with people of some standing and rf sources, although the man with a sing] motor can often give good and reliabl service; it is not, however, always sal or expedient to allow these small me to do" snatch " work on the pretext economy, as the outcome may prove t be both cheap and nasty, for those wh send out their single machines have rc per cent. of their plant on the roar and are, therefore, without anything i the nature of a stand-by.
To the contractor, we would saykeep faith, at all costs, with your cm
ton-ters. If ,a load happens to gf stranded on the road, no matter if means the expenditure of ,Z5 or
bring it in before harm can result. I the first place, this procedure will avoi complaint; in the second place, wit many classes of load, it will avoid sul sequent and heavy claims. On payin a full-value claim for damage or breat age, require delivery of the salvag from the claimant. When snow begir to fall, unless the wagon is fitted wit Goodwin's snow shoes or some othf effective device, do not let the machinf go out. Again, if it is found impel'. sible to get the minimum earnings k a machine on any day or days, it better to accept the opportunity to mat an overhaul, than to receive rod. fr
each is. spent, and to take the risks f
the road. Lastly, on the subject r water supplies for steam-propelled nit chines, it is better to make arrang-i merits wherever the traffic is steady, that your men have not to " steal
water, but it is best to lay down yot own tank, with meter and ball-valt
supply, wherever possible. It is cheap to bear the small amount of capital e; penditure which excavation and tan
installation involves, and then to pt, for the water at the rate of only 64
per thousand gallons, than to be subject to uncertainty of supply, and uncertainty of cost.
Other Points.
It is gratifying to find that only two expressions of dissatisfaction have reached us, out of a total of some 40 letters from subscriber s and supporters of this journal, and we much regret that we are asked to treat the contents of those letters in confidence. It must suffice, therefore, for us briefly to
state that one case was due to a lamentable absence of the right kind of work, and another to the excessively-hard treatment to which the machines in question were subjected.
A large number of manufacturers do not happen, of course, to have .sold vehicles to contractors, and for that reason we would ask particular consideration for the announcements which are made in the advertisement pages of this issue, in respect of machines about which we have not received either
letters, or the means of presenting illustrations. This recommendation has special reference to vehicles of the following makes : Armstrong-Whitworth ; I3erna ; " Commer Car ;" Critchley-Norris ; Darracq; DarracqSerpollet ; Fowler ; Halley ; " Hallford ;" Industrial Motor ; Lacre; Lotis; Niaudslay ; Robey ; St. Pancras ; Star ; Straker-Squire; Thornycroft and Stewart-Thornycroft; Unic ; Wallis and Ste-evens; and Wolseley-Siddeley. The tire trade speaks on other pages.