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News and Comment.

Thin journ.al is known to posoess the influence, the staff, the standing and the leading circulation. It is exclusively read by the heads of many wealthy commercial houses throughout the World..

The " Drive near left kerb campaign is making good headway.

Speculative buyers are in the market, and we revert to this subject on page 221.

Mr. Henry Sturmey found various matters of interest at the recent private-car show, and he writes about them on pages 223-4.

Mr, Justice Joyce, on Tuesday afternoon last, on the application of the debenture holders, appointed a receiver and manager of the Thames Ironworks, Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd.

The Saunderson tractors are now being turned out, in the Elstow Works„ Bedford, at the rate of fully three a week, and we believe that the rate of output will be increased to five a week early in the New Year. Extracts from a report by Mr. W. Worby Beaumont, M.Inst.C.E., are included in an article on pages 224 and 225.

We hope that many of our readers in the Metropolitan police area, and most of all our numerous supporters in the carrying trades, will apply to the Commissioner of Police, New Scotland Yard, W., for copies of the warning notice, to drivers of slow-moving vehicles, which we reproduced three weeks ago. Examples of that notice merit. space for their display upon the boards in the yards of all who have the lessening of traffic obstruction at heart.

The Overseas Annual.

We have decided that his year's "Overseas Annual" shall again be an extra issue, and that 5,000 copies of it shall be printed and circulated. As the contents of our Overseas annuals are intended for Dominion and Overseas readers, and are not mixed up with home news or reports, we do not purpose circulating any of these 5,000 copies at home, except. for voucher purposes. The only exceptions, amongst our regular lists of subscribers, will be made in respect of those who regularly receive our thin-paper edition ; copies will be sent to them. Those of our readers, therefore, who may desire to have copies posted to special friends or companies in the Colonies and Overseas Dominions, or in any foreign countries, are particularly asked to communicate with us at an early date, and to forward sixpence per copy, to cover cost of production and postage—addressed to the Manager.No orders for home addresses will be accepted. In regard to this forthcoming extra number, we would direct attention to the official list of mailing dates which is reproduced on page 226: the dates for posting will show that our arrangements for mailing the issue in December secure that it is " first out " for the New Year. No copies will be dispatched by us without careful reference to the period in transit, as the arrival of the " Overseas Annual" as a New Year incentive is pall of our customary plan.

Irish Development.

Slievarilagh R.D.C., Co. Tipperary, has decided to ask the Development Commissioners to send an expert to go into the question of traffic in the district, with the object in view of sanction for u grant in aid of local motor transport for produce and passengers. The Wilmington Laundry, of Dartford, Kent, is making increasing use of motor vehicles ; its present fleet includes Argyll and Hallford vehicles.

Resilient Tires.

The Public Control Committee of the L.C.C. has adopted a resolution urging the Local Government Board to issue regulations requiring that the wheels of traetion engines and heavy motorcars shall be fitted with resilient tires. No action by Ole L.G.B. is likely without full and protracted inquiry.

fl,The Elemerts of Agriculture.

Any book which is favourably commended by Mr. Thos. McRow, the highly-successful executive officer who, as secretary, has borne so large a share in the revival of the R.A.S.E., must indeed be good. Mr. Mellow says that of the textbook entitled "Elements of Agriculture," which was prepared by the late Dr. W, Frean, and edited by Professor J. R. Ainsworth Davis, of the Royal Agricultural Colle&e, Cirencester. The book is now in its eighth edition ; it, is priced at Ss. net, and is published by Mr. John Murray, of 50a, Albemarle Street, W,

Thornycroft's Cut Price Fine.

The Highways Committee of Westminster City Council reports Chat, with regard to the acceptance of Thornycroft's tender for the supply and maintenance of four petrol motor wagons, one of the conditions of the contract was that four towing hooks and an acetylene head lamp for each wagon should be provided at the expense of the contractors, to meet the requirements of the War Office should they subsidize the wagons in question under the new scheme.

In connection with this condition, a letter has been received from Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., stating that as the tender was cut very fine, and the articles in question were not included in it, the company would be unable to supply the fittings. After considering this letter, the Committee is of opinion that the Council should not insist on compliance with the above condition of acceptance, and that same should be withdrawn, as it is stated that the hooks and lamps were only needed in the event of the new wagons being subsidized, and that the initial subsidy (212) payable by the War Office would more than cover the cost of providing the fittings.

The accompanying view is of one of Jacob's biscuit-carrying Leyland vans at work in Ireland. Usually employed in Lancashire, this van ran 2,500 miles in seven weeks, in the south and west of Ireland, during a recent strike period.

New Registrations.

Pragrna Tyre Filling Co., Ltd.. with an authorized capital of £.5,000 in .C1 shares, by Jordan and Sons, Ltd., to take over certain patents granted to R. H. and E. M. Pybus relating to the production of a spongy resilient material in tires or similar enclosed spaces, etc. First directors : F. 0. N. Hurdle, J. Sedgwick, H. Newton, N. Huslninds, and R. H. Pybus.

Rochdale Motor Transport Co., Ltd., with an authorized capita"' of £2,000 in El shares, and with its office at 13, Frectrade Street, Rochdale, to carry on the business indicated by the title.

C. F. Wells, Ltd., with an authorized capital of 23,000 (2,000 ordinary shares of Is. each and 2,900 preference shares of each), and with its office at Craven House, Kingsway, W.C., to carry on the business of proprietors, manufacturers and storers of and dealers in motorcars, etc.. First directors : C. F. Wells and F. Wells.

C. Bertrand, Ltd., with an authorized capital of £12,000 (10,000 shares of £1 each and 20,000 shares of 2s. each), by Ashurst Morris, Crisp and Co., 17, Throgmorton Avenue, E.C., to carry on the business of manufacturers of and dealers in motorcars, motorbuses, etc. Governing director, C. Bertrand.

Carburetters, Ltd., with an authorized capital of £20,000 in ..C1 shares, and with its office at 4, Tokenhou se Buildings, Moorgate Street, E.C., to carry on the business of manufacturers of and dealers in motorcars and vehicles, etc., also to adopt an agreement with A. Downs and the Ultramar Developments, Ltd. First directors: F. Boor, 0. P. Gray, C. Wellington, and J. 'Wright.

Gazette.

At an extraordinary meeting of the members of the United States Wheel and Rim Co., Lid., held at the offices of the company, 541, Salisbury House, London Wall, E.C., a resolution was passed to the effect that the company be wound up voluntarily. Mr. H. A. Wesson, of 541, Salisbury House, was appointed liquidator.

Canadian Public Sentiment in Favour of Good Roads.

Public sentiment in favour of good roads is sweeping over the whole of North America and Canada. This Sentiment is rapidly crystalizing, so far as the western part of the continent is concerned, into projects for two important trunk-line roads, namely, the "Canadian Highway" across the plains of central Canada, through the British Columbia mountain ranges and valleys to the Pacific Ocean, and the "Pacific Highway" down the Pacific coast to the Republic of Mexico. These international road projects arc not dreams of fancy that appeal only to the imaginative mind, but their commercial value is founded on just as hard a Sense of business judgment as any trans-continental railway that has ever been built. When these highways are built, connected, and well finished, first-class paying traffic will be found ready to use them, exactly as is confidently anticipated for the two great railway lines that are now building across the almost-unsettled middle portion of Canada. Strike Safeguards.

We are informed that the proprietors of " The News of the World " are making arrangements for upwards of 100 motor vehicles, in preparation for possible rail or other strikes next month. It is understood that the arrangements are in the hands of Mr. D. Neville, of the Bellingham Motor Works, Catford, S.E., and that Mr. Neville desires to make additional provisional contracts.

Prices of Factory Buildings Halved, Motor manufacturers and other engineering concerns have hitherto considered 6d. a cubic foot a mostreasonable average price for the erection of their factory buildings, and to suggest to them that substantially-built works may be erected at an inclusive cost of 3d. a cubic foot sounds almost incredible, yet Mr. Charles R. Price, of 87, Bishopsgate, E.C., is prepared to build brick or concrete ' factories, under an architect's supervision, at that low price. This firm has long enjoyed a reputation for good work. It was established some 33 years ago, and amongst its most valued clients is the War Department. We recommend all our reader manufacturers who are contemplating additions to their works to allow Mr. Price to submit estimates and plans.

Lacre Deliveries.

Amongst recent Lacre deliveries, of which reports have come to band, we note an excellent 18 h.p., 25-cwt. model, in the service of Harts Ltd., one of the largest caterers in Sydney, N.S.W., which vehicle has panels of wire netting in order that the contained goods may be kept cool. The wire netting may be covered with curtains when required. Another of the Lacre vehicles recently shipped to New South Wales, and now in the service of Mr. Cecil Maddrill, of Braidwood, is a 38 h.p., five-tonner, which is principally used for the conveyance of dead rabbits. Two recent home deliveries are a 30 h.p., two-ton Lacre with deep hinged sides, for a well-known firm of brewers in Hampshire, and a 38 two-ton box van for T. Wall and Sons, Ltd., of 11, Jermyn Street, W. The output from the Letchworth factory is steadily, increasing, and the Lacre Co. advises us that it is each week receiving testimony from all parts of the country and abroad in regard to the satisfactory performances of its Letchworth-built models in the hands of owners.

North British Band-section Solids.

The North British Rubber Co., Ltd., of Castle Mills, Edinburgh. is now well in the market with its band-section, solid-rubber tires. After many years of careful investigation into the methods of manufacture, its well-equipped laboratories and works have enabled the company to produce a band-section tire which has given remarkable results in prolonged tests under most-arduous-conditions. The company has made arrangements for the manufacture and supply of this type of tire in all commercial sizes, and is prepared to give the usual guarantee of 10,000 miles of service. The British Petroleum Co., Ltd., intimates that it has received the Royal warrant of appointment as purveyors of " Shell' motor spirit to His Majesty King George V.

U.S.A. Electric s.

Mr. Howard E. Coffin, past President of the American Society of Automobile Engineers, in the course of a paper read last week in London, stated that electricity still found very much greater favour for heavy commercial vehicles, even up to load capacities of five tons, for town duty, than either petrol or steam, and that some 10,000 electric vehicles are being turned out per annum in the States.

H He Had £20,000.

One of the finest tributes that could be paid to the prospects of the commercial motor, as against the railway and the slow old horsecoach, was whispered into the ears of one of our correspondents by one of the oldest and most-experienced traffic managers and tourist agents we know. He is a man with experience in many parts of Europe and Africa, and exceedingly able and prosperous. "Now," he said the other day, "I am so confident of a change coming over the transit of men and merchandise that if I were 15 years younger, and had £20,000, I would buy a dozen commercial motor lorries and six or seven chars-a. banes. There is nothing to stop their progress as a means of locomotion and transport People are getting sick of creeping over a 15to-20-mile journey, behind some horses that are punished at every bit of a hill." Roadside Water.

The Works Committee of Stepney Borough Council reports that it has received a communication from the Commissioner of Police regarding the action of the Council in sanctioning the erection of a water post by the Commercial Motor Users Association, and pointing to the probable congestion of the general traffic on the spot selected for the purpose in consequence of the motor vehicles stopping at It to take in water, also further suggesting that before any con sent was given by the Borough Council for the erection of any structure in the street which was likely to affect the general traffic, the police authorities should be given the opportunity for expressing an opinion. The Commissioner of Police has been informed that the Council will be prepared to do this —without prejudice to any of the Council's rights or powers in regard to its control of the highways.

A Motor-mail Mishap. What would happen to the motor-mail service connecting Leeds and Manchester by night if anything untoward occurred ? The question was asked when the service began recently. It was strikingly answered, on Wednesday night, the 8th inst., for the mail van, when entering Leeds about midnight, collided with a tramcar. The motor vehicle had a wheel knocked off, and other damage was done, but the driver luckily escaped. A newspaper van came to the rescue, by taking the mails on to Leeds G.P.O., and the return motor-mail service, shortly after I a.m., was carried out by a relief van. Mishaps of the kind count for little nowadays.