Conducted by EDMUND DANGERFIELD.
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Vol. XX, No, 510. Editor: EDWARD S. SHRAPNELL-SMITH. 17th December, 1914 The Employment of Massed Fire-engines The effects of massed bands are known in the piping times of peace, those of massed batteries in the stern times of war: the benefits of the employment of massed fire-engines may be tested and demonstrated in either. The principal cities of the United Kingdom, and of the world for that matter, are able to mass their fire-engines when any one brigade is called to extinguish a big conflagration. We have been pleased to read, of late, reports of negotiations between smaller authorities, each of which is possibly the owner only of a single fire-engine, to the very desirable end that, in the event of a big fire within the. confines or on the boundaries of the area of any one of them, joint action may be adopted by combination of effort. We commend this idea of the employment of massed fire-engines to all our fire-brigade readers, in the sincere belief that developments of the kind should be eneneraged. We know that there is valid objection, at times, to the removal of the only motor fire-engine iron/ the immediate vicinity of the ratepayers who have bought it, but reciprocity in such matters has its undoubted claims upon everybody concerned.
The Silent Satisfaction of the Steam Men.
Our leading manufacturers of petrol-driven vehicles are not thrusting themselves into the limelight of publicity just now. They have good reasons. There is plenty to do at the works, without much seeking. Their position is well understood by readers of TFIE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, seeing that we have examined it at short intervals since the outbreak of hostilities in August. The healthy state of their order books is a deserved tribute to the confidence which their loyal customers feel in them, respectively. Means to increase output have been adopted. There is, in another important branch of the industry, that of steam-wagon manufacture, and to a lesser extent in the allied branch of steam-tractor manufacture, a gratifying revival. This also dates back to August last, and its intensity was accentuated when the output of the Foden works was literally taken over by the War Office On the 12th September. Steam-wagon men are of a silent race, not to say sometimes taciturn. Steam may not be heavier as a working medium than an exploded' charge of petrol, but it does its work more silently, and possibly our steam friends get their lead therefrom. They are none the less doing well, and we believe they will continue to retain their new hold on business for all time. The disturbance of commercial-motor transport, due to the widespread impressment of petrol-driven vehicles, during the months of August and September in particular, gave steam the chance for which it was looking. It was taken, but petrol has not been hurt. There is room for all, including electricity.
Our "Campaign Comforts" Fund.
We have not made a reference to our "Campaign Comforts" Fund, in the course of any leading article, since publication of our issue of the 12th ult. There has been no necessm to do so. This Fund is practically taking care of itself: it has become one of several items in our current work, and it almost attends to itself automatically. We do not wish to pretend that a_large amount of clerical and routine attention is not involved, for the mere correspondence, to say nothing of the duties which are inseparable from the reception, sorting, packing and forwarding of the woollen and other comforts, is considerable. We have, of course, the additional responsibility of spending the money properly, and to the best advantage. We do wish to emphasize, however, that the support for our Fund has been so regular, due to the inherent and intrinsic merits of the scheme, that there has been no occasion for us to deal with it on this page for the past five weeks. We expect to receive a little more money before Christmas, but we know that the immediate present is not a good time of the year to make appeals, and certainly do we gauge that to be the case this year of all years. We intend, in our next issue, dated the 24th inst., to publish the list of cash reeeipIs to Monday next inclusive, and we shall, of course, be happy to receive any further sums, which Yuletide promptings may lead readers who have not yet given their support to our Fund to make, in time for inclusion. We shall not., thereafter, publish any list of cash donations until our issue of the 14th January, but we shall not refrain from recording, for the information of our many friends who have helped in making this Fund a success, other germane matters, such as the manner in which the gifts, for the sending of which they are primarily, responsible, are being received in France and Belgium, and enjoyed by the naen of the Mechanical Transport Columns of the Army Service Corps of our splendid Army. The Fund will exceed 2900 by the time this issue is in circulation. We purpose, in our issue of the 14th prox., seriously to inaugurate the programme for obtaining the 'second thousand pounds for application to this widely-approved effort. It remains the only Fund which
is officially treated as the correct one for the Mechanical Transport Columns.