Opinions from Others.
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Trailer Tramcars.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,325] Sir,—With regard to the L.C.C.'s experiments with trailer trams, this is nothing novel at all: you can see in the little town of Hanover, tramcars with one and even two trailers behind. This method has been in existence for a great number of years. I hope, however, that it will not become general in a city like London, which has such a veryheavy traffic. Tramcars are quite enough of a nuisance without trailers, and I sincerely hope that a conduct-or, whom I questioned on the subject, was right, in saying : "It won't lane long."—Yours faithfully,
A GERMAN ADMIRER OF BRITISH ROAD TRAFFIC.
I No claim was made, in our note on this suldect, that. the use of trailer tramcars is novel. They have been in 'ace in ninny capitals abroad for a number of yeats, but hitherto, we are glad to say, not in London. Separate steam locos and tramcars were, until a tew years ago, used ill ninny parts of Great Britain.—End Headlights and Glare.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MO FOR.
[1,326] Sir,—The recent statement of the President of the Local Government Board, that he has not yet found any satisfactory method of dealing with dazzling headlamps of motorcars, is apparently awakening great interest, and is, therefore, our excuse for troubling you with this letter. That the " dazzling " headlamp is a nuisance and a dangerous one, no one will deny. Another equally-objectionable lamp, and one that is even-more dangerous, is that wherein the alterations from glaring brilliant light, and more-or-less complete darkness, are erratic and unexpected. This applies without exception to any form of mechanical device for reducing glare. They do not reduce glare ; they simply cut off the light— a grave distinction, which may and often does spell disaster.
The lamp required is one which will throw on to the road all the light of which a powerful acetylene headlamp is capable, and in which the intensity of the light, viewed from the driver's seat, does not vary, but which, at the same time, is so arranged that it does automatically and gradually reduce the intensity of the light from the view point of an observer meeting it face to face. A mechanicallyoperated device cannot meet these conditions, and only adds to the driver's responsibility.
We have demonstrated that our " No-glare "lamp, whose patent shade of thin plates cuts off all rising, i.e., glaring rays, does fulfil all the conditions cited above, and the increasing number of prominent motorists who specify it is a proof that there is a growing and imperative demand for such a fitting.—
Yours faithfully, BLERIOT, LTD.
Long Acre, W.C. per H. J. FITTON.
A Glasgow Show.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
(1,327] Sir, The correspondence in recent issues with regard to the Manchester 'Show was very interesting, in view of the fact that it is proposed to include industrial vehicles in next year's Scottish Show. I know that sanction was ref used for a separate industrial show in Edinburgh this year, but next year's event is on an entirely-different footing, as it is intended to hold it in Glasgow, where, at last, a show building will be available—albeit of a temporary character. The building is the principal one in the great exhibition to be held this year, and it is to be left standing in 1912 for a series of shows ; it is hoped that the Scottish Motor Trade Association will be able to have the use of it at a suitable time. The floor space is half as much again as that of the Waverley Market, and there is no need to pull the stands down twice a week for the convenience of vegetable vendors. The site is also quite convenient, and these points render the building eminently suitable for the purpose. It would, therefore, be very interesting to hear some opinions as to whether a combined show of pleasure cars and industrial vehicles, or separate events, would meet with the most favour.
The Glasgow proposition is, of course, quite different to the Edinburgh one, for the West of Scotland forms, perhaps, the second biggest field for the business vehicle in the United Kingdom, and, up to the present, it has never been properly exploited. i The writer s by no means alone, in considering that the industrial-vehicle movement in the north would receive a great impetus by the holding of a reallyrepresentative show in the second city of the Empire. As Mr. Clayton asserted in his letter, there is a good deal of pioneer work yet to be done, and the combined show offers facilities for interesting the public. But this means less space for the business vehicles, which, with pleasure cars, are apt to be relegated to a back position, and, for the reasons given by Mr. Phillips-Conn (Leyland), with regard to Manchester, it would probably be advisable to hold separate events. Mr. Claude Browne (Lacre) very evidently looks askance at all shows, and considers them a waste of time. This attitude is probably partly justified in connection with Manchester, where the merits of mechanical traction are widely known, and the use of the power vehicle very general. Glasgow, as the centre of one of the greatest manufacturing centres in the world, hardly presents a parallel, as it is largely an untried field. Personally, I do not know of any Lacre vehicles in use in the West of Scotland at the moment, although I am open to correction, but I presume Mr. Browne would be pleased enough to find a market there ? How better and cheaper than by means of an attractive show ? As one whose business brings him into touch with potential buyers, the writer has thought it a good opportunity to ventilate the claims of the West of Scotland, for at least equal consideration with Manchester as a show centre.—Yours faithfully,
Paisley. SENEX.
Roads and Finance.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,328] Sir,—Mr, Harcourt Clare, of the Lancashire County Council, has undoubtedly done excellent ser vice to the whole of the heavy-vehicle industry by attracting its attention, on the occasion of the opening of the Manchester Show, to the occasional disastrous effect of motor haulage upon the surface of our highways. It is not only upon the roads, however, but also upon every single part of the vehicle that so much damage is often done, and that by continuous vibration. Tires and springs, in the very nature of their construction, cannot cope adequately with this trouble. They may disguise it, they may minimize it, but they do not overcome it. So long as powerdriven rigid wheels are allowed to bump and thump over the roads, no finally-economic results are likely to be achieved from the operation of any type of motor vehicle.
The late Sir Clifton Robinson, a man of great experience, declared that nothing on wheels in London ran profitably. The vehicle owner ought to realize this was largely so, because of the great waste that is involved by vibration and road shock.
With the object lesson of such constant waste before him, the outside investor is continuously advised that reduction in cost of maintenance is the urgent pre-requisite to financial success, hence the inflow of fresh capital, which this giant industry needs, is still retarded.
Progressive engineers are now beginning to recognise, however, that radical reform in wheel construction is the one thing needful to remedy this state of affairs. Those who have given this all-important subject close attention lately have become convinced, in spite of abortive efforts in the past, that successful means to overcome this great enemy, vibration, have been found at last. That this conversion is taking place is proved to the hilt by the fact that the largest users of motor vehicles in the world, after a protracted road experience of several years, are convinced of the limitations of rigid wheels and the ordinary type of wagon springs.
The obtaining of experience, however, has cost so much that cash is scarce to complete this far-reaching reform in the industry, but, fortunately, the financial papers are now announcing the initial steps for the formation of a company with 2500,000 capital to supply wheels which do overcome the difficulty. In the cases of those users who will find it convenient to pay for the remedy out of revenue, because of a too-rigid adherence to the cruder methods of the past, it is proposed to supply wheels on maintenance contracts.
On account of the undoubted economy that may, in this way, be anticipated, on roads, tires, engines, chassis and bodies, through the overcoming of vibration effects or shock damage, the whole industry may soon hope, instead of being admitted on sufferance, to take its attractive place in the list of solid and stable investments, and to flourish accordingly.—
1. ours faithfully, JOHN MI_7IR.
The Rating of Petrol Engines.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,329] Sir,—Some misleading errors have crept into
your report of the discussion on " The Rating of Petrol Engines" at the Institution of Automobile Engineers, partly due, 1 understand, to the way in which the official reporter's notes of the meeting, as furnished to you, were set out. The principal error is that in which many of the remarks of Mr. L. H. Pomeroy are given as emana,tMg from Mr. Dugald Clerk, who, owing to an engagement elsewhere, was unfortunately prevented rom taking part in the discussion, beyond furnishing the explanatory note referred to at the commencement of your report. It should, therefore, be made quite clear to your
readers that the remarks in the lower half of column 2 on page 14.were all made by Mr. Pomeroy and represent his opinions, and not those of Mr. Dugald Clerk. This error has evidently occurred through Mr. Pomeroy's reference to Mr. Dugald Clerk's note referred to above. If this correction is not made it would appear that Mr. Dugald Clerk disagreed very strongly with the formula for which he and the other members of the Committee are largely responsible for producing and recommending.
Some corrections are also necessary as regards my
own remarks at the discussion. Directly I saw the report of the Committee, I realized that the first constant (.45) was too high for engines in ordinary use, and I therefore suggested that it shoyld be multiplied by the factor .6, and I was very pleased to find that so high an authority as Mr. Dugald Clerk accepted my suggestion and embodied it in his note. This alteration of the constant, however, does not affect the formula as affording a comparison between motors of different sizes, the law or curve remaining exactly the same but giving proportionately lower results. The suggestion to use .45 for the first constant was made by the Committee in their report, and this caused me to suggest the further simplification to alter the final constant from 1.18 to 1.2, but I stated that this change would only make a difference of .135 h.p. to a 5 in. by 10 in. cylinder and only .045 h.p. to a 2i in. by 24. in. cylinder, these being the two sizes respectively at the extreme limits oi the range which the formula is advocated by the Rating Committee.
The formula as simplified then reads as follows .45 (d+ s) (d -1.2) or for cars in ordinary use (d+s) (d1.2) At the discussion the formula was only opposed by one member of the h.p. formula committeeMr. Pomeroy—and apart from this the Committe presented a unanimous report, and it should be remembered that besides the reasons given in the report for adopting the formula, the names of which the Committee is composed are such as to command the greatest respect, and we may be sure that their immense practical and professional experience was fully brought to bear on the matter in arriving at the result.—Yours faithfully,
T. B. Fluovegv.
125 and 126, Temple Chambers, Temple Avenue, E.C., 10th March, 1911.
We regret the inconvenience-both to Mr. Dugald Clerk and omselves by reason of the inaccuracies named. We naturally felt justified in working upon the text of the official transcript of the proceedings, which we in fact did-Er.]