ne DayS Work
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Third Series
Mere early rising, providing the weather be at all reasonable, seems to most of the members of our staff hardly to in
volye sufficient personal discomfort to warrant them in claiming that the journeys connected with this "One Day's Work r' series are really disagreeable. The writer, to whose turn it fell to carry out the fourth run, came to the conclusion that it might be well to choose a user operating in some or other particularly-trying part of the country, and the West Riding, an old familiar hunting ground, promptly suggested itself. Who more suitable to approach for facilities then than Clayton and Co., Ltd., of Huddersfield, whose factory is situated in a countryside that is "wild and woolly" indeed? We were offered a great range of users, but, we wanted to read mark and learn about the behaviour of one of Clayton's unique over-type wagons, one, moreover, which had already seen much service.
An Astonishing Performance on Abominable Roads.
It turned out that the 4-tonner belonging to T. Liversidge and Sons, Ltd.. old-established and well-reputed wool and cotton dyers and cotton merchants of Huddersfield, would just "fill the bill" for us. Both Messrs. T. Liversidge and T. H. Holdsworth,. with exceptional courtesy, readily offered us every facility to accompany their wagon for a complete day, and they hinted at a pretty busy time for us. As a result, we were afforded a remarkable demonstration of
what a modern motor vehicle can put up with in the way of hard work in regular service. Our final impression, after spending a day with this owner's machine, was one of considerable astonishment that, over such villainous roads, and in a country where fiat surfaces form no considerable part of the topography, a petrol wagon of medium axle weight could stand up to the work in such a wonderful way. We have participated in no stiffer "One Day's Work."
The Type of Wagon it Was.
The wagon in question is what is known by the makers as one of their A60 type, that is to say, it is of that alternative design of leirs which provides for the seating of the driver over the engine, as distinct from the bonneted model. This particular machine has a 30 h.p. engine with four cylinders, a bore of 4 in.. and a stroke of 51 in. A metal-to-metal cone clutch drives through a normal type of gearbox, the casing of which is also made to house the differential and cross shafts, the final drive being by roller chain.
A Good-tempered Wagon.
The machine itself is, as we have indicated. a 2-ton over-type Karrier ; it appears in most of the illustrations which are included in the present pages. We presume it is about three years old, and, after this most strenuous period of service, its owners tell us very cheerfully that they have had practically no trouble
with it at. all. A statement of that sort is common enough where the con ditions of road surface and gradients and delivery hours and maintenance facilities are propitious, but those of our readers who are familiar with road-delivery work in the West Riding, around Bradford, Heckmondwike Huddersfield and Leeds, will realize that such testimonyis of remarkable value in this instance.
Both Mr. T. H. Holdsworth and Mr. T. Liversidge think worlds of their Karrier wagon ; neither are they by ally means grudging in giving considerable credit for its successful service during the past few years to its driver, J. Pickup.
As a general rule, Liversidge's Karrier does the work of seven horses. It carries. wool and cotton, either in the raw or after it has been dyed in the Canal Bank Works. Its duties consist of carrying the wool or cotton between dye works and mill, for blending, weavins.' and spinning after it has been bleached and dyed, or in bringing it in for the latter operations before going to the blenders.
sulky Deliveries in Congested Yards.
This special over-type model off facilities for delivery in congested mill yards which we were anxious to observe, and of which we were eventually convinced. Some of our pictures tell their own story in this respect.
The loads all consist of sheets or kedges (which are half-sheets) of wool or cotton, either raw or dyed. They make a very bulky load, and require stacking with considerable care, and roping down firmly to prevent their swaying. It is a
remarkable fact that the cleansed and dyed material forms a more stable load than does the dirty wool or cotton.
A Hard Country for Road Transport.
Overnight, Mr. Roldsworth, who had kindly made himself responsible for the arrangements for our day's work, told us that we ought to leave the mill at 7 a.m. The country in which we were to deliver all day happened to be familiar to us, and on our journey North on the previous evening we were reminded of the severity of road-delivery work in this part of the county of Yorkshire by the glimpses of far-stretching, hill-crowned valleys, crowded with stone-built mills of all kinds, which for a long while past have been working at high pressure, both day and night. After sundown, these great factories, ablaze with lights like multi-dotted dominoes, render the scenery thereabout peculiarly characteristic !
A Loaded Run of 85 Miles.
We were to carry out a total round for the day of 85 miles, and practically the whole of this was to be under loaded conditions. At 7 a.m. we loaded up in the Canal Bank Works with sheets and fadges of dyed wool of every conceivable shape. The bulkiness of this load may be best realized by reference to our illustrations. The many interesting cleansing and dyeing processes were subsequently explained to us. A clever little loading crane, with its operating gear driven from the shop shafting, piled these sheets higher and higher, until we, in our own minds, became a little sceptical as to the possibility of trouble should we meet anything in the nature of a railway bridge or overhead tramway tackle en route, but all concerned seemed to be cheerily optimistic on this score, anticipating no trouble. We were assured that there were several inches to spare, even at the worst parts of the road !
Skewered Fadges and Filled Sheets.
These sheets of wool are fairly easy to handle. They are bulky, but they are not heavy compared with much other merchandise, of the carriage of which we have recently had experience. The great sacks are made with flaps which are fastened by big wooden skewers, and the filled sheets are readily shifted into posi
tion by the labouiers, who are armed
with the usual short steel hooks. To secure something like lateral stability, the sheets are piled upon one another crosswise on the flat platform body. Two long ropes, anchored at the back of the frame, are then taken right over the top of the load, and ratchet-operated drums soon pull this load down tightly. One of these drums is fitted to each side of the front of the platform, abreast of the driver's seat.
Soon after seven o'clock, we left the yard with as bulky a load on board as
we had experienced recently. It appeared to us that if anything like speed was attained on some of the hills which we knew we should have to descend, we should most certainly capsize. Nothing of the sort actually happened, however, and, other than our preliminary anxiety, the representative of this journal came through the trial quite unscathed.
Yorkshire's Boasted Humidity.
The country was reeking with its boasted humidity when we took to the road, a humidity which we are assured is the genesis of the prosperity of Manchester and the West Riding. It may be a real essential, but it is very unpleasant to a Southerner. By the time we had reached Farsley, by way of Heckmondwike, Gomersal, Birkenshaw, Laisterdyke, Thornbury and Stanningley, the writer, at any rate, was cold through. If a Karrier will, after nearly three years of hard work, stand pushing along at a good speed, with more than an ample load, over the road through Heckmondwike to Gomersal, it will stand service anywhere. Some of the surfaces near the latter town are nothing short of abominable. There appears to have been little attempt to mend the roads intelligently, the authorities evidently considering that any temporary patching methods are sufficient.
Imagining that our load was swaying and surging uncomfortably, although our driver assured us with a smile that it was not, we rattled and crashed at a tolerably good speed right through to our first delivery at Stanningley. If ever there was a good-tempered engine, it was the one fitted in the Karrier belonging to Liversidges. If they buy another machine, they should take care to get one just like it.
Clayton's Engine Still Running.
It is perhaps a little remarkable that some of the ignition plugs which are still doing good service were in the cylinders when the vehicle was bought. In this connection we may here, perhaps, interpolate a tale which is told by the makers of this wagon: so highly are the owners reported to appreciate the actual machine which they own, that they refused Clayton's offer to supply them with a brand. nev gearbox if they would surrender the one wl_ich has done them such good service, for purposes of exhibition.
Eine Continental Performances.
Tire makers could hardly have a better testing ground or more severe conditions than those which we surveyed in the course of this one day's performance. At first, Mr. Holdsworth tells us, they had trouble with their tires, but they eventually decided to fit Continentals, which cost them a little more, but which have undoubtedly stood up to the work in a remarkable fashion, considering the con. ditions of use. We took a photograph haphazard of one of the wheels, and this is reproduced. We subsequently found that this particular .tire had already compiled a total running record of 13,C00 miles, even under such execrable conditiuns as prevail in that district.
Pudsey, Rodley, Bramley, Farsley.
Past the Bradford city tram terminus, where one of those modern hybrids, a trolleybus, was rnanceuvring about under its overhead tangled canopy of live wires, the first delivery was made at 7.45. The second one was at Rodley. and the third at Bromley. A return was then made to Parsley, to pick up a load of raw wool which had to go back to be dyed. Tho outward load consisted of 20 bags, and the weight was 31 cwt. The return load from Pudsey consisted of 15 sheets, and weighed 2 tons 2 cwt. Some of the hills that were climbed on this first journey, notably White Cote Hill, were of exceptional length and very severe gradient. The turn of speed shown by the Karrier under load up these hills was quite impressive.
Seven Times as Much Work as a Horsed Lorry. • ,e
When We got to Parsley, we found there a carter with a tandem-horsed flat lorry. He was in the service of Messrs. Mirror and Co., indigo dyers of Honley,
near Huddersfield. He had to go to Parsley on the same service as we ourselves. With his wagon he carried 11 sheets; he left Honley at 2 a.m., and would probably return to his dye works at nearly 11 p.m. the same day. This meant a day's work of 21 hours, and, the carrying of only 11 sheets, withra total mileage of 35. Assuming 11 sheets in each direction, we get a total day's load of 22 sheets. The 2i-ton Karrier handled during 12 hours 84 sheets and
travelled 85 miles. The horsed-wagon team would be fit for nothing the next day, so that really the comparison between the two methods is as follows:—
Motor wagon : 85 miles; tonnage, approximately 10 tons 15 cwt. ; average load 1 ton 15 cwt. 148 ton-miles per day of 12 hours.
Horsed wagon: tonnage 22 sheets, say 1 ton 12 cwt.; average load 16 cwt.; total of 35 miles in 48 hours; 28 tore miles per day of 24 hours. The next clay is a rest-day.
The second journey was to Pudsey and Comersal, and we left the works at about 12.15, with 19 sheets aboard. Three-quarters of an hour was taken for lunch on the road, and we arrived at Moorhead Mill at 1.45, leaving a small consignment there, then to Parsley and Pudsey, bringing home a load of seven sheets from a mill in the latter town, Canal Bank Works were reached again at 4.5. The last journey of the day was to Batley, and we left the works at five o'clock. Seventeen sheets were delivered at the mill of Messrs. J. T. and J. Taylor at 5.45, and at 6 p.m. we started on the return journey with 16 sheets of raw material. The day's work was finished at 6.45 at Huddersfield. In Batley, a van-horse took fright; the driver, Chasing after it, managed to apply the brakes.
Easy Manceuvring in Narrow, Badly-paved Mill Yards. Over and above the fact that this van was capable of such a heavy day's work in such good style, and that its cost of running is so low, we were particularly impressed with the ease with which the bulky loads could be run through narrow,
twisting mill lanes and yards. No vehicle but, one with the driver over the engine could be used to deposit the loads right under many of the mill cranes. Its turn of speed up long heavy gradients was an eye-opener to the writer. A word may be added with regard to the rapidity with which load
ing and unloading was effected. Our driver worked with exceptional will, perhaps not unmindful of the fact that his day's log would meet the public eye, but it was distinctly pleasing to find that we were often off-loaded and away o ith a fresh bafteh in under 30 min.
This is the Tale we Tell.
We may summarize the day's performance with the following table, which will surely tell its own tale to those who are at present struggling with the difficulties of transport by rail or horsed roadvehicle in such country as that in the West Riding. A perusal of the record of a one day's work of this kind should surely convince the most antagonistic owner. The 2.ton Karritir of the type employed by Messrs. T. Liversidge and Sons, Ltd., should be capable of being operated at an inclusive rate of 7.5d. per ear-mile, if fully loaded, such a figure including all possible charges, deprecias tinn, interest on capital, etc., etc.
A.-Hu dd ersflel d to IIPcdcinondwike, Gomersal, Birkenshaw, Dudley Hill, Laisterdyke, Thornhury, Stanningley (1st delivery), Parsley, Redlev (2nd delivery), Brantley (3rd delivery), Stanningley, Parsley to load. Return same route as to Stanningley. B.—Huddersfield to Heckmondwike, Birstall, Gildersome (1st delivery), Parsley, Pudsey (three calls), Stanningley (3rd delivery), Pudsey to load. Return same route.
C.—Huddersfield to Heckmondwike, Birstall, Batley, deliver and load, two calls.
Return via, Dewsbury and Mirfield. Petrol consumed 11 gallons.