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Motorbus World.

16th December 1909
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

News contributioni are invited: payment will be mode on publication.

The Scottish Motor Traction Co., Ltd., has again declared a dividend at the rate of five per cent, per annum, free of income tax. The last financial year ended on the 30th September.

A meeting of the creditors of the Motor Car Emporium, Ltd. (in liquidation), was held at 33, Carey Street, W.C., on Monday afternoon last. We understand that the creditors of this concern will receive 20s, in the R.

The Ripley-Nottingham service, with " Comrner Car " vehicles, will begin an the 20th inst. Our first references to this departure were published several weeks ago., and we are glad to see that Commercial Car hirers, Ltd., of Cambridge Circus, W.C., is as alert as ever.

London Electrobuses.

The troubles of the Electrobus Co., Ltd., which are chiefly due to financial overloading, appear to have reached a point at which the Chairman, Mr. H. E. Dering, and directors will find it hard to keep the fleet on the road. it is a pity that accumulator propulsion should not have been given a better chance in London.

Leaky Oil Trays.

At the last meeting of the Ealing District Council, a communication was received from the local Chamber of Commerce complaining of the oil spilled on the roads by motorbuses. It was decided that letters be written to the police authorities and the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., drawing its attention to the matter, and asking that measures be taken to abate the nuisance. Councillor Taylor, in the course of the discussion, pointed out that motorbuses were the people's motorcars, and nothing should be done to rob the working man of them.

Eastbourne Services.

A point of general interest has been raised at Eastbourne, where the Corporation's motorbus undertaking— now in its eighth year of operation— is doing so well. Certain deviations from the fixed routes have been occasionally made, in order to pick op or to drop parties at their doors, and this action has resulted in the presentation of a memorial, by way of protest, horn local cabowners. A deputation of the memorialists has been received, and the matter has been referred to the Motorbus Committee. We fail to see why the convenience and pockets of partienlar residents should be allowed to suffer for the jobmasters' gain.

L.G.O.C. Meeting.

The fiftieth annual general meeting of the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., took place, on Wednesday of last week, at the Holborn Restaurant, after our issue of the 9th inst. had gone to press; Mr. Henry Hicks, Chairman of the Board, presided over a large and somewhat-restless meeting. Our comments will be found elsewhere (pages 312 and 313), but we here give a brief summary of the proceedings, at which the Editor of this journal was present throughout.

The Chairman opened by indicating the view of the directors that they deserved commendation for their management in the past, and encouragement for the future. He claimed that there had been no depreciation in their motorbuses since the amalgamation in 1908, but that, on the contrary, there had been considerable appreciation. No less than £451,000 had been expended on the maintenance of the motorlms chassis. However desirable it might be to write down meets in good years, it was only desirable to do so when it could be afforded, and it uas no use to write down assets, and thus to make the position look worse than it was, when there were no profits. Seeing that many of the company's motorbuses bad no fewer than 1,100 separate parts, and that these were renewed as they wore, a motorbus, provided that was done, did not suffer depreciation.

The shareholders might be interested to know that, after careful estimate, the directors were satisfied that the motorbus traffic had earned a profit on working of £59,400, whilst the horse omnibuses had lost 245,000! in the fifteen months. This seriousstate of affairs would be dealt with drastically, but it would never do to take every horse omnibus off the streets suddenly. The good motorbus results were due to improvements in the working expenses; these, in the half-year from January to June, 1909, were id. a mile less than in the corresponding period of 1908, they were 144. a mile less than in the corresponding period of 1907, and, at the present time, they were 11d. per mile less than in January-June last. Each id. per mile meant more than £100,000 a year to the company.

The Chairman, later, stated that he regarded the new petrol tax as a heavy cloud, and he did not think the Government had met them as they should. Petrol was the raw material of the motorbus industry ; to tax it was a restraint on industry ; it was wrong in principle to tax only one portion of the passenger-carrying undertakings of London ; and they strongly objected to he taxed for the use of country roads. The tax meant £37,500 per annum on the present number of motorbuses, and it. was equivalent to about 31 per cent. per annum on the issued ordinary capital.

In the course of his speech, the Chairman gave the following statistics for the 15 months ended the 30th Septernher last : average number of horse omnibuses on the road, 1,053; average number of motorbuses on the road,

34; total number of miles run, 60,320,105; number of passengers carried, 408,491,283. With regard to the future, he was more hopeful of the company than he had been at any time during the last four years.

The motion for the adoption of the report and accounts was seconded by

Mr. J. Howard Moore, and numerous questions were subsequently put by shareholders. Mr. J. Liilham Pound and Mr. AV. Joynson-Hicks, M.P. (solicitor to the company), answered several of the questions, but fivesixths of them were not answered. After a sitting which had lasted two hours, the sense of the meeting was evidently in favour of the Board, and the resolution was adopted with very few dissentients, as was the other formal business, and a vote of thanks to the Chairman the last-named vote unanimously.

Motors for the L.C.C.

The Education Committee of the L.C.C. favours the use of motor vehicles, in preference to horse-drawn vehicles, for the conveyance of physically-defective children between the Council's schools and other institutions. For the time being, estimates are to be invited for the hire of two motor vehicles, in order that comparative results may be established. In this connection, we are interested to note that more than £5,000 a year is paid for the horsing, driving and housing of the Council's ambulances, in addition to sums paid for the hire of horsed ambulances during the temporary disablement of those which belong to the Council. It is interesting to note that the cost per mile, to the Council. for a pair-horse omnibus. is Is. 214. Traffic Control.

Westminster City Council is taking steps to secure powers, for exercise by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, which shall correspond %till those now granted to the Chief Commissioner for the City of London, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State for the Home Departmeat, and Metropolitan Borough Councils are to be asked to support this action.

As was briefly reported in THE Costmeactar., MOTOR last week, the London County Council, on the 7th instant, granted the application of the British Petroleum Co., Ltd., for a licence to store 270,000 gallons of petroleum spirit at riverside premises in Stevenage Road, Fulham. The Public Control Committee, in advising that the application be granted, reported that the site-two acres in extent-was suitable for the purpose. Owing to the quantity of spirit involved, it had not exercised its authority to grant a licence without reporting to the Council.

A protracted discussion arose on the report, Sir John MacDougall, a member of the Port of London Authority, moving the reference back until the Departmental Committee now sitting had reported on the question of petroleum storage, and until the County Council had conferred with the Port Authority as to a joint policy in dealing with the whole matteran adjournment, in short, until the Greek Kalends. Sir John painted a somewhat alarmist picture of the dangers of petrol. He mentioned that at present petrol may not be conveyed in great bulk higher up the river than Thames Haven (a point 10 miles west of Southend). The Anglo-American Oil Co. had asked that the ban might he removed as far as Purfleet, but this was refused, upon representations by the Government, who feared for the safety of the explosives store at Grays. The Government authorities pointed out that, if one of the petrol-carrying steamers met with a collision opposite Grays, and the spirit became ignited at the same time that a barge containing explosives was being unloaded, the whole store might be involved. On his own account, Sir John suggested the possibility of the carrying of petrol from a sunken tank steamer, on the incoming tide, amongst the crowded shipping in the upper reaches of the river. "The damage might be greater than at the Great Fire of London, or the San-Franciscan earthquake." He mentioned an accident which occurred recently. A tank steamer had been emptied, and the tanks were being flooded to drive nut the last vestige of spirit or vapour. No fires were alight on the vessel, but a tug approaching to tow the steamer away was quickly ignited and soon a mass of flames. Sir John suggested the conveyance of petrol to London by means of pipes, and mentioned that. the annual import into the Metropolis was 60,000,000 gallons.

Mr. Gilbert, who seconded, made his hearers' flesh creep with a recital of the dangers of petrol carriage by land, and recalled the fire in Cornhill, in 1905, when a van containing two-gallon cans became ignited. Mr. Simmons, the Chairman of the Public Control Committee, allayed any fears which might have been created, when he mentioned that, although there were many large petrolstorage depots in London licensed by the Council, no fire or explosion had yet occurred in any one of them. In the opinion of the Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade, tank steamers were the safest means of conveying petroleum spirit. In Berlin there was a similar store to the one at present under discussion, and it was much-more closely surrounded with buildings. The Committee had insisted on most-stringent precautions, and it had no wish to hamper unnecessarily an important and growing industry. On a division, the amendment was rejected by 34 votes to 23. We understand that elaborate precautions will be taken by the company to prevent accidents. The surface of the side will be hollowed to the shape of a saucer, and the tanks will be sunk underground, in 12 in. of concrete, and be guarded above by a dome-shaped covering, and also protected by concrete. The lighting installation will be specially safeguarded, the electric lamps being enclosed in double globes, and the wires encased in metal tubing. A gas holder will be constructed, to collect all vapour given off by the spirit. It is to be regretted that alarmist speeches were made, for we now hear that a petition against the granting of the licence has been presented to the L.C.C. by certain residents in Fulham. We do not anticipate revocation.


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