News and Comment.
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This journal commands advertisement support upon terms which do not admit traders of inferior standing to its pages.
We are trying to arrange that next year's C.M.U.A. parade shall be held at the Crystal Palace—see page 315.
The last instalment of our article on The Specification and Testing of Motorcar Steels" will be found on pages 318 and 319.
Dr. S. G. Moore, the M.O.H. at Huddersfield, is responsible for the purchase of a Clayton motor ambulance by the Town Council. It has a 20 h.p. " Valveless" two-cycle engine by D. Brown and Sons, Ltd., of Huddersfield.
The Royal Agricultural Society's report on this year's trials of agricultural motors at Baldock is a disappointing production. The conduct of the tests rendered useful comparisons a matter of difficulty, whilst the positive data which are advanced cannot be held to be as good as they should be. See pages 326 and 327.
Setter Roads for Lancashire.
The Main Roads and Bridges Committee of the Lancashire County Council is proposing to spend an additional sum of no less than £558,622 on schemes of road and bridge improvement, provided it can obtain a proportion of financial support from the Road Board. Trunk roads will receive the continued benefit of such new expenditure, and readers of this journal will be aware that no county council has pursued a more-progressive policy, in the matter of road strengthening, during the past three years, than has that of the County Palatine. Heavy-motor traffic is going ahead there at an unprecedented rate. The Chairman of Hudsons Consolidated, Ltd., which company is behind the Berms undertaking, at the annual meeting of shareholders on the 19th inst., stated that good results were being shown, and that the works were full up with orders for months ahead.
An Insurance Disclaimer.
The Car and General Insurance Corporation, Ltd., in view of the liquidation of the Law Car and General Insurance Corporation, Ltd., again asks that owners of motors, and members of the general public, will not confuse the two companies. We understand that the report and accounts of the Car and General Insurance Corporation, Ltd., for the year ending the 31st inst., will be presented to the shareholders not later than the middle of February, which acceleration of the usual date for the holding of the annual general meeting appears to us to be very desirable in the circumstances which have now arisen, through this lamentable example of confusion between the names of different joint-stock companies, owing to the acceptance, in 1906, by the Registrar, of a title which was not sufficiently dissimilar from an older one.
Lacres in Australia.
Sales of Lacre vehicles in Australia have been numerous, for all models, ranging from load capacities of 10 cwt. to five tons. The vehicle which we now illustrate has an 18 h.p. engine, and is for 20-cwt. loads (net). It is doing well at Melbourne.
F.I.A.T. Motors, Ltd.
The net trading profits of FIAT. Motors, Ltd., for the year ended the 30th September last, amounted to £12,857. Particular special charges, including the loss arising from the law action brought against the company by the Bristol Tramways Co., in respect of motorbuses supplied in the year 1900, reduced this figure to £6,258. The directors, after a distribution at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, carried forward £2,544.
New Registrations.
..knglo-Portuguese Motor and Machinery Co., Ltd., with an authorized capital of £50,000 in El shares, and with its office at 31, Budge Row, E.C., to carry on the business of manufacturers of and dealers in motor carriages, omnibuses, cabs, lorries, etc., also to adopt an agreement with the Sociedade Portugueza de Automoveis. First directors: F. W. Kerr, C. H. Bleck and R. Peixoto.
Ailsa Craig Motor Co., Ltd., with an authorized capital of £10,000 in shares, and with its office at 46, Strand-on-the-Green, Chiswick, to take over the business carried on by S. Mercer as the Ailsa Craig Motor Co. First directors: H. Sutton, E. A. D. Kisch (managing director) and A.
D. M. Sutton (secretary), each of whom may retain office for life.
Commercial Tyre Co., Ltd., with an authorized capital of £5,000 in El shares, and with its office at 534, Old Kent Road, S.E., to carry on the business of manufacturers of and dealers in tires and wheels of all kinds, etc. First directors : L. W. Livesay, E. H. Shearing, R. S. Jones, and F. A. Gates.
W. W. Webber, Ltd., with an authorized capital of £5,000 in El shares, and with its office at 1, Winchester Road, Basingstoke., to take over the business of a motor engineer and dealer carried on by W. W. Webber at 1, Winchester Road, Basingstoke. First directors : W. W. Webber and .J.
E. Thorp. James and Browne, Ltd., has sold its business in repairs and accessories to Rawlings Bros., Ltd., of 82, Gloucester Road, S.W., as from the 1st inst.
Yorkshire Side-tippers.
The fitting of side-tipping bodies to steam wagons is an old practice. We recollect a standard equipment of the kind, of which there are several
varieties, as far back as the year 1903, atwork to and from a quarry in the neighbourhood of Shepton Mallet (Somersetshire). One of the old examples of this design is provided by the Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Co., Vulcan Works, Pepper Road, Hamslet, Leeds : this vehicle, which has been in continuous service for close upon five years, has mechanism which admits of the tipping of the body to either side. with the greatest facility, as may be seen from our illustration.
Good Test for the "Auto-Carrier' Engine.
Although not exactly picturesque, the somewhat-composite tri-car which we illustrate below has clone excellent service on a traveller's round, and has something like a history attached to it. It appears that it was originally the chassis of a high-powered " pleasire" tri-car, and that it was converted and considerably altered at a Croydon garage, for Mr. C. P. Foucar, of Messrs. Stevens and Foticar, of Chalmont Road, Tooting, S.W., who are makers on a wholesale scale of ready-made clothing. The vehicle had to be practically rebuilt, and it was at the time (1906) fitted with one of the earliest " Auto-Carrier " 5-6 h.p. engines (then almost in an experimental stage), a stronger driving chain, additional tubes to strengthen the frame, and some other less-important parts. Since 1906, the vehicle has clone phenomenal service in the hands of Mr. Foucar, who drives the vehicle and travels for the firm. The compartment in front, instead of being a bonnet, carries cloth samples, up to one
ewt. in weight at times, whilst additional accommodation is arranged for more luggage behind. Ordinary daily runs reach upwards of 100 miles a day, through, say, Croydon, Dorking, Reigate, Re.dhill, Bletchingly, Gotlstene, Oxted, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, etc., and at other times tours for a fortnight at a time are made. No less than 550 miles is usually averaged in a week, and a weekly expense of covers all charges, this giving a cost per mile of 1.3d. Michelin 700-by-80
mm. tires are employed exclusively on the front wheels, and the same make (with non-skid) of 710-by-90 ram. dimensions on the rear. The big headlight and general rig fits the machine out splendidly for country work.
Lessons by Correspondence.
The International Correspondence Schools, Ltd., of International Buildings, Kingsway, W.C., is a company whose educational methods have been remarkably successful. The schools consist of two main portions, one with headquarters in London (dealing with I.C.S. work throughout the Empire) end the other with headquarters in the United States of America (dealing with that country, Canada and non-British countries). The departments in London are the following : the instruction department, dealing with the actual tuition of the students; the textbook department, dealing with the preparation, writing and revising of the textbooks and instruction papers; the students' aid department, which acts as en employment, agency; the registrar's department, which deals with the enrolment of students and advises them as to their courses of instruction; the field staff department, which deals with all the branch offices (of which there are over eighty) in Great Britain and their staffs of district managers and representatives, whose duties are to enrol students, to advise, encourage and assist them with their studies, to look after their welfare generally, and especially to assist them in the matter of employment-.there are over six hundred of these representatives in Great Britain ; the controller's department, dealing with students' accounts, etc. ; the secretary's department, dealing with finance and administration ; the record and mailing department, handling all the correspondence inwards and outwards, and distributing the same to proper departments for attention and replv—this department. also keeps a full record of the work done by each student, up to date; the general correspondence department, controlling a staff of .t.pists for general correspondence; the printing department, which looks after the printing and publishing of all printed matter ; and the illustrating department, with a staff of draughtsmen for making the drawings and sketches for reproduction in the textbooks. The schools have complete courses in all branches of general and technical subjects, inclusive of motor-vehicle and gas-power engineering. We have been favourably impressed by the organization and resources. A form of particulars can be
had on application to Mr. R. Jeffreys Adam, at the address given above. They will then he told all about any one or more of these courses advertising; architecture and building construction ; arts and crafts; chemistry ; civil engineering, civil service ; commerce ; electrical engineering; gas-power engineering; motor engineering and aviation ; languages ; marine engineering; mechanical engineering; mining ; window dressing and showeard writing; navigation ; heating and ventilation; steam engineering; and structural and concrete engineering.
Berkshire Roads.
The County Surveyor of Berkshire, Mr. T. Fred. Hawkins, intimates that the dosed roads, of which we gave notice on page 282 of our issue of the 8th inst., still remain closed. The alternative route for heavy traffic, in the ease of Pangbourne-Tilehurst, is that via Theale and Tidmarsh.
Atlas Steel Wheels.
The Atlas Resilient Road Wheels, Ltd., of 37, Cross Street, Manchester, whose works are at Levenshulme, Manchester, has issued a catalogue in the French language, and we understand that the company is doing a steadily-growing business in France. At the Paris Exhibition this year, Messrs. Saurer, of Arbon, evinced great interest in these cast-steel wheels.
Wolseley Motor Sledges.
Following the purchase of Wolseley motor sledges for Captain Scott's South-polar Expedition, which we reported and illustrated in our issue of the 7th April last, it will interest many readers of this journal to know that the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co., Ltd., of Adderley Park, Birmingham, has received an order for three motor sledges for the use of the German Antarctic Expedition. They will in principle be the same as those which were supplied for Captain Scott's expedition, and it is not inappropriate that we should reproduce photographs of the original sledges when undergoing their trials in Norway; these views are now published by the Wolseley Co. as picture postcards.
Motor Mails.
The recent heavy floods appear to have interfered with motor-mail traffic in but few instances; in fact, the only report to reach this office concerns a service in the neighbourhood of Leicester.
Hall Spare Wheels.
The Hall Spare Muter Wheel, Ltd., on and after the 24th inst., will have its London headquarters at 3, Stanhope Street, &Aston Road, N.W,, removal to these larger premises having been necessitated by the increased volume of trade. These wheels promise to take the lead for Use upon light vans and motorcabs. Captain A. E. Davidson, R.E., Secretary, M.T.C., has been elected a member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers.
L,acre v. Albion.
The two main points to which we referred last week, and upon which the Albion Co. won in the Rouse of Lords, were those a : (a) right to disclose place of manufacture; (b) alleged deficiency of supplies. The six Law Lords were unanimous in their finding. The amount of £2,750, paid to the Lacre Co. in respect of particular direct sales by the Albion Co., was reached by settlement, last year, and did not go to appeal.