Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
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Ten Shillings Weekly for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for anything else published.
Drivers of commercial motor vehicles and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garages or shops, are imvitcd to send short contributions on any subject which is likely to prove of interest to our readers. Long and successfu! runs ; services with no "lost journeys" ; workshop tips and smart repairs :all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter ho a. short, or how written, or how worded. We will "knock it into shape" before publication. When writing you must mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona files (not for publication), and you should state whether you wish your own name, or initials only, to be published. Payment will be made immediately after publication. Address your letters to The Editor," THE COMMERCIAL Moron," 7-75, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.G.
An Awkward Repair to a Charron Cab.
The sender of time following communication has been awarded the zos. prize this week.
[5011" ROT.T.ER SKATE " submits to us a description of a troublesome repair which he effected to a Charron motorcab :—" I enclose a sketch to illustrate a repair job I had to do this week. The trouble was that the gunmetal casting, which connects the lubricator supply pipe to the crank chamber, was choked up by the core wire and casting sand. The casting had not been properly cleaned when the engine was erected; how the engine ran for three months in this state I cannot tell, but it did.
" When I had unscrewed the casting from the enginecase, I found that I could not draw the former away, because the flywheel was in the way. This meant that it would be a long job if I had to take down the flywheel and the clutch, so I cut through the casting with a hacksaw, and this enabled me to draw out the piece that remained, together with the oil-distribution pipe, through the flywheel and clutch. I then found that I had, amongst a box of oddments, an old brass tap, union and pipe, just the right size; so I cut the screwed end off the tap and soldered it into the bottom part of the casting, as shown in section in the sketch; the casting, of course, was drilled out to receive it. I next cut the copper 14e to length and sweated it into the top part of easting, was thus enabled to reinsert the bottom half of casting, together with the oil pipe, through the flywheel, and to screw the same into the case again. The joint could then be remade at the union, and I was able to couple up the pipe as before,
" This repair saved at least a day, as the whole job only took abcaa 1,1 hoars to complete." Westminster Wagons_Work Well.
[502] " (iS.'' (Westminster) sends us the following interesting account of the running of the City of Westminster's steam wagons during the recent severe weather :—" I am taking the liberty of sending you a short account of how our four Leyland wagons have behaved during the recent period of abnormal weather conditions. The wagons I refer to belong to the City of Westminster, and are housed at Monck Street, Westminster. Fires were lighted under the bailers at five o'clock on Monday, the 1st March, and they were not drawn except for ' clinkering ' until the following Saturday evening at 5 o'clock. The longest time during which the vehicles were at rest was while the drivers were relieving one another; there were two drivers to each wagon. During the week the machines were engaged in dusting, clearing snow, carting ballast, and conveying salt from the premises of a firm in Camberwell—loads of salt which varied in weight from four to six tons. During this period the wagons were as a rule hauling trailers. " No. 4 wagon is fitted with one of Jones' Odometers, and it registered rso miles, for the week's run. Practically speaking, this was all covered within the precincts of the City of Westminster.
" We were ordered from the depot on Tuesday night, with the water tanks on, to meet the Assistant City Engineer at the City Hall, Charing Cross Road, for orders, and it was a treat to see the four of the wagons ploughing their way through 3 inches of snow through Whitehall up Morley's Hill. " Of course, Sir, we had to thank our lucky stars that our driving wheels were fitted with Shrewsbury and Challiner rubber tires, but, apart from that, I think the week's work speaks volumes for the makers of the wagons, as the going was very heavy in the slush and srow which you, no doubt, noticed."
Cancellation of Drivers' Licenses.
[3031 " GREAT EASTERN Bus DRIVER " asks us to insert the following communication in connection with the cancellation of inotorbus drivers' licenses :—" A few weeks ago I read a letter from one of your correspondents who was a motorbus driver, and who complained of the way in which driving licenses are cancelled in the case of those drivers who have been convicted of exceeding the is-mile speed limit. I personally think it is unjust that the Commissioner should take away the licenses from drivers who have had two convictions for exceeding the speed limit. " The case I wish to put before my fellow drivers rests on a comparison with the treatment which is meted out to the wealthy owner of a private car. In many instances such a man mar have had two or three convictions against him, and yet no attempt is made to cancel his license. I suggest that it is quite well known that the 12-mile speed limit can safely be exceeded under certain circumstances, and that such excess not only is not dangerous to other users. of the highway, hut actually expedites the traffic. In nine cases out of ten the traps in which we drivers are caught are arranged down gradients, and the excess complained of is, as a rule, but very little above the legal limit.
" I do not think it is realised by those in authority what a severe sentence is implied when a license is definitely cancelled. When there is so much unemployment about, and when it is difficult for a skilled workman in almost any trade to find sufficient to do, it practically means that a bus driver who has his license cancelled has of necessity to join the ranks of the unemployed, in all probability for a long period. On conviction the driver is invariably fined for his offence, and it does not seem to me just treatment that he should subsequently be punished again by the cancellation of his license. Speaking for a large number of drivers in the Great Eastern Company, I would say that there is very bitter feeling about this matter, and we have very little doubt but that drivers of other companies realise the injustice of the police action.
I am inclined to think that united representation on the part of all the motorbus drivers in London to the authorities at Scotland Yard would perhaps have a beneficial effect and would ensure that only in the very worst cases would a man's source of livelihood summarily be removed from him. I should be glad to hear the opinions of other drivers on the subject."
[If our correspondent wishes to attempt to make out a case for those drivers who have been convicted of driving to the danger uf the public, we have no hesitation in saying that he will receive no support from this journal. The disappearance of a large number of what have hitherto been known as '' opposition roads" has undoubtedly reduced the tendency to racing between the units of rival companies that was unfortunately evident some while back. It is quite possikle, however, that a man who is habitually a careful driver may have The bad luck to he caught In a trap when his speed is hut slightly in excess of the legal limit; under such circumstances, when no danger or risk to other users of the highway is being incurred, a fine, as a warning, should he sufficient to deter any reasonable man from repeating the offence. Careful and skilful handling of all motor vehicles must, however, be insisted upon under all circumstances, and where a man is proved deliberately to have disregarded the law on the subject, he is not likely to he cured by a fine. Our correspondent must remember that the driver of a public-service omnibus is responsible for the lives of a number of members of the public, and, pro rata, the risk is therefore much greater. En.]