More Motor Wagons for Westminster.
Page 3
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At the meeting of the Westminster City Council on Thursday fast, the Highways Committee reported that in July 1907 it recommended the purchase of Lwo additicmal steam motor wagons. The Council, however, referred the recommendation back for the matter to be brought. up with the estimates for the then next financial year. The Highways Committee's estimates for the present financial year as approved by the Council, include a provisidn of 472,600 for new motors and rubber tires.
Tenders were recently invited for the supply and main-. tenance of motor wagons, and quotations were received from the undermentioned makers :—Brcxrm and Wade, Limited ;.• Commercial Cars, Limited ; Fodens, Limited ; Leyland Motors, Limited ; Mann's Patent Steam Wagon Company, Limited; Rvknield Motor Company, Limited ; Safir Automobile Company; D. Stewart and Company (1902), Limited ; Sidney Straker and Squire, Limited ; E. I. Thornycroft and Company, Limited ; Vantage Engineering Company, Limited; Yorkshire Patent .Steam Wagon Company. Opportunity was afforded the tenderers to quote for steam motors or petrol motors ; the prices for the steam motor wagons ranged from .4.;53o to each, whilst the prices for the petrol motor wagons ranged from .;s8o to ,6"880 each. By direction of the Committee, the Assistant Engineer, Mr. Arthur Ventris, had gone through the tenders, and he found that the lowest tenders for steam motor wagons provided for horizontal boilers. The Committee was, however, advised that horizontal boilers were not suitable for motors used for dust collection, as they prevent the approach to the dust body for loading on both sides. It appears that, of the different kinds of motor wagons tendered for, the steam motor wagon offered by Leyland Motors, Limited, is the most advantageous for the Council's use. It is in every respect similar to the motor wagon last purchased by the Council from the same company, then known as the Lancashire Steam Motor Company, Limitcd. The Company quotes .4:58o per wagon, and -i;r85 extra if driving wheels are fitted with Shrewsbury and Challiaer rubber tires. As regards maintenance for five years, the Company quotes the first year free, and is, per wagon per annum for the remaining four years if three wagons are ordered ; it also undertakes to reduce the annual maintenance charge of one of the wagons purchased some time ago from .4;85 to ,X55 per annum.
As regards the question of the cost of motor haulage, in comparison with horse haulage, the following table is submitted by the Assistant City Engineer :—" The figures given (exclusive of capital cost) are based on the assumption that one motor working day and. night is equal to five horses (21 horses day work, and 21 horses night work)—
HORSES.
Fodder for 5 horses, at 12s. per week each
Shoeing, at L3 los. each per annum ... Wages of 5 carmen, at 285. per week ... Hiring of 5 horses and drivers, at 8s. 8d. per day
J.; s. d.
T56 0 0 17 10 0 364
(243 days) ... ... 526 ro o Two TVIoToRs.
-r; s. (1.
Wages of 4 motor drivers, at 355. per week ... 364 0 0 Coke, say 36 cwt. per week per motor (48 weeks) 166 0 o Oils and sundries ... ... ... 28 o 0 Repairs, at ,4'.'65 per motor ... 130 o o ---— 688 o o Estimated annual saving by using 2 motors ... 376 o o ---.-.4,1,064 0 o
" The relative cost can also be stated as follows :—Taking the comparative cost of haulage of refuse by horses and by motor, the saving effected by the latter is 6d. per ton."
The Committee had inquired into the question of the life
of motor wagons, and found that the three oldest wagons now possessed by the Council had been working eight years, and one of them was two years old when purchased. In conclusion, the Committee recommended that three additional steam motor wagons, with interchangeable bodies for refuse collecting and street watering, be purchased from Leyland Motors, Limited, at -58o per wagon, and also three double pairs of Shrewsbury and Challiner rubber tires for the driving wheels at £85 per double pair, the wagons to he maintained for five years, the first year free of cost, and the remaining four years at £68 15s. per wagon per annum.
On the motion for the adoption of the report and recommendation, the Chairman of the Committee .(Mr. H. Thomson Lyon) said that a letter had been received from D. Stewart and Co. (1902), Limited, of Glasgow, stating that the Company took exception to the Committee's decision as to the 'acceptance of a tender in preference to the lowest, which was from it. The only reason given for this action was that the Company had not quoted for wagons with vertical boilers, but it pointed out that its wagons could be fitted with either horizontal or vertical boilers, and contended that it should have been asked to quote for vertical boilers. In conclusion, it asked that the whole matter should be reconsidered. The Chairman of the Committee said that the Council would be creating a most dangerous precedent by allowing a dissatisfied tenderer to influence the Committee in the way proposed, after all the time that had been spent in considering the subject. The question of price was by no means the sole consideration. It was not for him to state in public the various reasons which had actuated the Committee in coming to its decision, but the members had acted on the technical advice of their expert, who had had all the facts before him.
Councillor S. Gluckstein moved that the recommendation be referred back for further consideration. His chief reason for doing so was the receipt of die letter from Messrs. Stewart. The estimate of annual saving, in his opinion, was not correct ; when motors were under repair, it was necessary that substitutes should be provided, and apparently this had not been included in the estimate. He maintained that the work was being done very well by horses and vans at present, and the noise caused by motors was a matter for serious consideration.
Councillor Tallents expressed the hope that whatever was done the motors obtained would be equipped with good rubber tires. The Council would not-be able to take any steps for the prevention of the noise nuisance, if it contributed a share.
Alderman Emden said that motors did the work more quickly and better than horse-vans, and the time was not far distant when all the Council's work in this direction would be done by motors. He agreed with the Chairman of the Committee, that it would be dangerous to establish a precedent of the nature suggested.
In the result, the amendment was lost, and the original recommendation was carried by a large majority. The recommendation of the Highways Committee was reported by us last week ; the type of wagon ordered is illustrated on P:Ige 475.
Later on, the Highways Committee reported that the petrol motor wagon supplied by J. I. Thornycroft and Company, Limited, on hire at 35s. per day; had been used for street watering, in Mayfair district, in place of horses and water-vans. The Assistant City Engineer had previously reported that the use of the motor would save hiring six horses and driers daily. Owing, however, to the great demand for street watering for the macadam in Grosvenor Square, one water van for the macadam generally of Mayfair district had been engaged in addition to the motor. The Committee was informed that the petrol motor wagon had successfully dealt with the streetwatering, in Mayfair, in place of the five horses and vans previously engaged. It thought that it would be advisable to extend the trial of the petrol motor, and had given instructions for it to be hired for a further four -weeks on. the same .terms as before, i.e., 35s. per day,. such sum. to include driver and everything necessary to run the wagon.