Mail Transport to Australia in a Week.
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THE GREATEST of the year's achievements (looking not so much at the actual accomplishments as at what, they portend) has been the establishment of rapid long-distance transport by air. From America, communication with this country by document has been made (allowing tbe time occupied in transmission to and from the aeroplane) in less than a day. Capt. Ross Smith's flight to Australia in 120 hours flying time has clearly demonstrated that by a relay system, communication !between the Dominion g and the Mother Country, could be relied Upon in a week.
The advantages to business of the possibilities thus opened up are incalculable, but they are so obvious that the establishment of regular mail and passenger services between London and the outlying parts of the Empire at an early date is certain. And credit for having demonstrated the possibility must go not only to Capt. Sir John Alcoek and Capt. Ross Smith for their demonstration o1 human endurance, but to Vickers, Ltd., and Rolls-Royce, Ltd., for as great an (some say a greater) achievement. The tax of a long flight, such as that just accomplished by the Rolls-Royce-engined Vickers-Vimy commercial aeroplane is greater on the 'plane than on the man. That test, in fact, was almost: unnecessarilyonerous on the machine, which makes the successful achievement, all the more remarkable and all the more encouraging.
Capt. Ross Smith's own story (to hand too late for commenting upon in our last issue) shows that, with really 'suitable landing places and adequate shelter for machines, much uncertainty and disappointment in the start of each stage of the journey could be prevented, for the chief disadvantages of bad weather always seem to obtrude themselves orr-the resumption of flight. In the air, bad weather (except, sometimes, fog) can be countered.
The country will now look to the Government to KJ, about the opening of the imperial air routes. At present, it is perturbed over the lukewarm diffidence of those set in authority. They seem to be afraid to show enterprise, initiative, or even mere eathusioam.: When the cross-Atlantic Vickers7Virny 'plane was presented to the nation last Monday, the guests seemed to be listening to a whole .string of apologies from officials who were prevented by .their duties from accepting theinvitationste be present or from others' who, having accepted, were prevented at the last minute from being present. it was no mean gift that Vickers and Rolls-Royce were making to the nation, yet there was not a single representative of the Government (supposed to represent the nation) there to receive it. It was next to a deadly' With, but it was rather characteristic of the gracelessness which affects certain elements of the British nation Unless pressure be applied to the Air Ministry and to the Post Office and other departments; the advantages which have been visioned in the flight to Australia wilt only be realized after perilous delays: National Emergencies and Public-service Vehicles.
WHEN DISCUSSING the relative merits of buses and tramcars, we have frequently made reference to the fact that in time of national emergency the former, and the organization in support of them, can be promptly and extensively utilized, mainly because the vehicles do not run only upon fixed routes, but can travel or be transported to any point at which their services are required. A recent statement made by...Sir Albert Stanley forms a good concrete example of this argument. He states that at the outbreak of war some 1,200 omnibuses were transferred from his companies to Government service. A number of these, it is interesting to note, have been overhauled and some are back upon the streets, which is a valuable testimony of their durability under extremely bad conditions. The organization in support of the Londonaomnibua serviced also built enormous numbers of lotries, ambulances, and special, vehicles for military use and trained at the omnibus depots about 29,000 men for service in the mechanical transport department.
Certainly no tramway undertaking, however large, has been able to show a war record indicative of anything approaching the same military value. Now, of course, there are complaints as to the in adequacy of the serVicea, both of trams and of buses, but in view of the facts stated above, it is clear that the excuse that can be offered on behalf of the bus is by far the stronger. Trams were not taken away for military service on the Continent and elsewhere, and the rolling stock of tramway concerns was therefore, not forcibly depleted to the same extent as a consequence of the war. ! One more suggestion arises naturally out of the fact that omnibuses which have been in service throughout the war are now being returned to the London streeta More than ftve years have passed since the war broke out. It is customary to allow depreciation of motor omnibuses on the basis of a five years' life, and loans are similarly based when buses are purchased by municipal authorities. It would seem that it is high time that we recognized that the working life of these
vehicles has in the past been underestimated, and that depreciation allowances may, therefore, under most circumstances be fairly represented by lower figures than those that have hitherto been used.
The Registration of a Fire-Engine,
ACURIOUS difficulty, the details of which are more fully dealt with in our news pages, has arisen in connection with the registration of the new fire-engine just purchased by the liromsgrove Urban DistrictaCouncil. Application for registration was duly made to the Worcestershire County Council, the chairman of which reported that, as the weight of the vehicle was given as 5 tons 5 cwt., the question arose as to how it could be registered. To come within the definition of a "heavy motorcar," the weight must not exceed five tens, and, then, if (as is the case with fire-engines) the vehicle be fitted with pneumatic tyres on all wheels, it may travel at a speed not exceeding 12 miles per hour. A vehicle exceeding five tons in weight is subject to the restrictions and disabilities applying to ordinary road locomotives or traction engines. It may, for example, travel only at a very slow speed. The difficulty was laid before the Ministry of Transport, but the Department hedged, and contented itself with the reply that it was not empowered to give any authority on the question.
The actual practice, up to the present, has been for each registration authority to grant registration to motor fire-engines as heavy motorcars, whilst the police have turned a blind eye upon any technical infraction of the regulations with regard to speed. In fact, the police, always and without exception, even in Worcestershire, hold up the traffio to give free passage to a fire-engine. This is one of the cases where_ the matter is left to simple common sense.
The way out of the difficulty in which Bromsgrovo U.D.C. finds itself is, to our mind, to give the weight of the vehicle "unladen "—that is to say, without its pump and the remainder of its fire-fighting equipment. Surely they, with the water and fuel, constitute the load ; the fact that they are not readily detachable does not affect the question at all. A jib crane fitted to a vehicle is not regarded as part of the weight of the unladen vehicle, nor are the lighting dynamos on a showman's tractor, and quite rightly so.
In the case of the fire-engine, the taxable and registrable unit is the power-driven vehicle. Its load will consist of fire-fighting equipment, which must not impose a total weight greater than six tons on any one axle. A greater axle weight than this involves a reduction in speed, although, as we have suggested, we doubt whether a police-constable, at -the sound of a clanging fire bell, has the point of axle weight and its effect on permitted speed in his mind as he clears the way for the fire-engine.
Is Government Motor Manufacturing Contemplated?
WE REFERRED recently to the unfortunate fact that the Minister of Transport has not included any expert renresentative of motor manufacturing interests upon de Committee which is to advise him as to the basis of taxation of motor vehicles and the rules and regulations affecting their construction and use.
Since our note on that subject was written, we have heard rather disquieting reports from quarters not connected with the motor industry, such as to generate suspicion as to whether the omission of manufacturers' representatives from such committees is not a part of the Minister's personal and definite policy. Certainly, his recent speech, in which he dealt with the shortage of railway trucks, seems to indicate a desire on his part to nationalize the manufacture of transport vehicles. It is not inconceivable that anyone desiring to work towards this end should start by B24 a somewhat subtle endeavour to give the users of vehicles an Impression that the manufacturer is not a safe and proper person for them to collaborate with.
There must, obviously, be occasions on which superficial facts, as viewed by the user, are unfavourable to the manufacturer. If, when such factors are under discussion, the manufacturers' representative is not present to explain the other point of view, users— without all the information which they really ought to have—may be inclined to come to the conclusion, perhaps unjustified, that the manufacturer is in some way letting them down. Thus their minds and those of the public generally are gradually prepared for a proposition in favour of the Government becoming its own manufactUrer.
The 'principal interest of this journal is that of the user of motor vehicles. If the manufacturer does not. deal fairly by the user he lases our sympathy completely, but we consider that, in common equity, the manufacturer should be given an opportunity of putting his own point of view when matters of great moment to him are under discussion.
Failing this, users not possessing the full technical knowledge of the manufacturer, may, quite probably, come unwittingly to conclusions, ultimately detrimental to the manufacturer and handicap his attempts at economical production of really efficient machines. Of course, if the user wishes to see a Government i monopoly n vehicle manufacture gradually established, he can work in that direction by refusing to listen 'to the point of view of the independent manufacturer, thus making the latter's position untenable.
We feel convinced-, 'however, that ilsers have no such ambition, and we trust that, when they are asked to advise Ministers on matters affecting nianufac-hirers as well as themselves, they will use all their influence to ensure that they shall be given an opportunity at all times during their preliminary deliberations—and not merely by the calling of occasional witnesses—of hearing and analysing the strength of the case which the manufacturer may desire to lay before them.
Power Alcohol on a Commercial Scale.
IT MAY BE recalled that the report of the Inter. departmental Committee on the utilization of alcohol for power, issued last June, included an indication that 'there is available in Great Britain a large potential source of power alcohol, in the synthetic conversion of ethylene' extracted from coal and coke-oven gases, into ethyl alcohol, but, it was added, further investigations were necessary in this connection 'before definite figures as to quantities and prices could be given. The announcement by Mr. Ernest Bury, of the Skinningrove Iron and Steel Works, that he had succeeded in extracting the alcohol from coal oven gas on a commercial scale is, therefore, of the highest importance. The practical working of his process reveals an average yield of 1.6 gallons of alcohol per ton of coal carbonized and, as the quantity of coal reduced to coke in this country last year was about 14,635,000 tons, the application of this process to the whole of that coal would yield, apparently, 23,416,000 gallons, the value of which at 2s. per .gallon would
be £2,341,600. Mr. Bury further points out that from the gasworks of the country a futher yield of 27,000,000 gallons could be obtained, whilst, taking alcohol and benzole together, the total quantity of liquid fuel obtainable by extraction, through the carbonizing of coal, would be 114,000,000 gallons per annum, which would practically meet two-thirds of the country's present needs for liquid fuel.
The value of Mr. Bury's achievement lies in the discovery of the temperature (between 60 degrees and 80 degrees Centigrade) that will give the best results, and among the derivatives obtained by his process limn the coke-oven gas after the benzole has been extracted, are ether, chloroform, iodoform, acetic acid and acetone.