Opinions from Others.
Page 16
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The Editor invites correspondence on all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. Letters should be on one side of the paper only, and type-written by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibiliby for the views expressed is accepted. In the case of experiences, names of towns or localities may be withheld.
Tickets in Exchange for Taxi-Extras.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,195] Sir,--Why should not. the taxi companies inaugurate a system of tickets for the extras? Let the " clock " register the fare as now, but issue tickets for the extras, these to be handed to the passenger on payment, or at commencement of the journey.—Yours JOHN PLACE.
fWe think there is Bumething in the idea. It does not, however, go so iar as the Rogers recorder, which we described and illustrated on the 30th
December last.—En.]
Bad Treatment of Pneumatic Tires.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,190] Sir,—We think you will be surprised to know how ignorant some members of the trade are still with regard to the care of pneumatic tires. A prominent motor and cycle agent writes to us as follows, with regard to the tire that has been deflated, and which has been utterly destroyed :— " Surely you must know that a cover that has not been shifted for six or seven months (the Sirdar was fitted about January, and has not been punctured) is very difficult to shift by fair means. The plan the majority of chauffeurs adopt is to run the ear for 20 to 30 miles with the tire quite fiat; then the most obstinate tire will shift in a few minutes."
This letter may be a warning to owners of motorcars or motorcabs, in case any of their chauffeurs should attempt to remove a tire, in order to repair a puncture, by running it deflated.—Yours faithfully, THE SIRDAR RUBBER CO., LTD. 21, Crawford Street, W.
Horses or Motors for Ploughing?
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,197] Sir,-1 feel I must again thank you for the splendid way in which you have helped along the claims of the light agricultural motor, and for the space you gave to my previous letter in your issue of the 18th ult. We do not want enormous engines and ploughs in England; they knock the ground into hummocks and do. more harm than good. People forget that we have no 10-mile furrows here, and that there are gateways and hedges; too many builders only study the conditions abroad. I am sure that 30 h.p. and two tons of total weight is enough for the hardest and heaviest ground. I again ask why some of our big engineering houses (in Lincolnshire, or elsewhere) do not take up the right type of agricultural motor for England? A weight of five tons is too much to be on the ground at ordinary times, and is too much for getting about when the weather is wet. The smaller motor, owing to the enormous margin of saving between it and the cost of horses, will pay when it does only its three furrows, because it can also cut chaff, do the hay cutting and harvesting, and be kept in employment nearly all the year round. It is folly only to build machines which want a lot of work and big loads for them to pay the owner,— Yours faithfully, " ST. ALBANS.'
What Should a Driver Know?
The Editor, TILE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,198] Sir,—Recent publicity, which has been given to the opening that still exists for men to become taxicab drivers, prompts me to ask some of your readers to state what they consider should be the training that a driver should receive? Should the men be taught to understand thoroughly the mechanism of which they are in charge ? I personally consider that the less the man knows about the mechanism of a good machine the less is he likely to maladjust it. A driver should be kept to the steering wheel—so far as is possible.—Yours P. A. JAMESON. Southall.
"Flats" on Front Tires.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1,199] Sir,—The formation of " fiats" on the front tires of vehicles which are fitted with solid-rubber treads is, I agree with " Traveller," a matter of great interest to owners of such vehicles. I have reason to believe that this trouble is of frequent occurrence, and I hope it may be properly ventilated in your columns.
Tomy mind, a possible explanation is found in the smaller diameter of the front wheels, which differentiates their running conditions from those of the hind wheels. Another factor may be, to some slight extent, connected with the purely-rolling motion of the front wheels, whereas the back wheels, owing to their propulsive function, have a tangential thrust on the road surface. This latter condition probably tends to distribute the impacts which are more localized on the front wheels, and which are more intense in proportion to the more-acute angles at which any part of their running treads makes contact with an obstruction on the surface of the highway. Not only does this more-acute angle of contact detrimentally affect the molecular structure of the rubber upon the front wheels, but I believe that excessive blows have more frequently to be sustained by the front tires, which drop into numerous cavities that are "bridged " by the larger-diameter back wheels. The remedy, to my mind, is to use front wheels of larger diameter than are common nowadays, or to fit tires of larger sections.--Yours faithfully, " Novice."