Correspondence.
Page 17
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The Editor invites :correspondence on all subjects connected with the use ol commercial motors. Letters should b,. on one side of the paper only, and type-written by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsiklity for the views expressed is accepted.
earn-wagon or Tractor?
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—In reply to your correspondent "Contractor" hay; had a steam tractor several years, and doing all kinds haulage work, I have no hesitation in saying that steam ictors will in my opinion knock steam wagons out. Our tctor will take eight tons anywhere, and 12 or 14 tons on good road. I shall be pleased to give details.—Yours thfully, W. WRIGHT. The Furniture Repository, Rye.
at a Taximeter Lie ?
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL 1410TOR."
Sir :—My view is, yes—they do. I have suffered, both in
cket and dignity. It is unpleasant to argue before a • eet crowd, and one prefers to pay. The men, unfortutely, gain nothing appreciable from such overcharges, three-fourths go to the owner.
In fairness to the companies which put rnotorcabs on the • eets, I suppose it should be admitted that errors occur th ways: mine have been all one way— excesses. It is be hoped that the vagaries of the taximeter, which °inIs say average ten cases a day in London, will soon be Weed to nothing; but, in spite of these occasional disreements and anomalies, who will assert that matters an. t better than in the despotic reign of the hansom-cabby ! e have short memories, nowadays.—Yours, etc., Hotel Cecil. "Up FROM THE COUNTRY."
e Better Protection of Drivers.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
3ir :--In common with thousands of Londoners, I have precialed to the full the recent extension of facilities for Ad transit as furnished by the motor omnibuses and taxi)s, the frequent additions to the latter, especially, calling
• remark. My enjoyment has been somewhat tempered, atever, by the knowledge that the well-being of the driver s not, apparently, been considered at all in the design of vehicles, and the only result of the increased pace is, in • case, greater discomfort.
iurely, Sir, it does not pass the wit of man to devise inexpensive protection for the drivers of these public confiences? The apron tied up with string by the four con 7ti, in front of the bus driver in wet weather, to say the st, is no ornament and affords little protection to the ver. I do think, if they gave more consideration to the nfort of their drivers, the companies would soon realise to he a good stroke of business, even from a financial
point of view, in addition to conferring a boon on the men. The cabby is apparently without remedy or palliative. While it is, perhaps, unwise to apportion much of the milk of human kindness to limited companies, I think that it would be to their interest to adopt some means of greater protection to the driver, and thereby, enable him to perform his daily avocation in some comfort.
I enclose my card, and am, yours very truly, K i n gston-on -Tha m es. " HUMANITY."
Double and Triple Tires.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir note that, according to a paragraph in your cur
rent issue, the houses of Michelin and Berg-oug-nan are experimenting with double pneumatic tires on the leading wheels, and triple pneumatics on the driving wheels of certain commercial vehicles, and you instance the 'case of the Charron motorbus, which was run during the recent Paris motor show. I believe the Pullman buses that are now running in London are also made by Charron, and they are, probably, of the same type as the vehicle you mentioned. I suggest to the company which is running the Pullman buses in London that it could serve the interests of the public, and reduce the upkeep charges for the buses, by fitting the wheels with such double and triple tires : the greater convenience and comfort of the public would he met by the reduced liability to side-slip and the increased comfort of riding, whilst the working company would benefit by the reduction in the intensity of pressure and flexure within the material of the tires. I should calculate that the revenue which might be derived from the letting of spaces on a neat illuminated roof-sign, such as the one that was fitted on the Chart-on bus in Paris, would more than keep the bus in tires each year.—Yours truly,
Kensington. "TANNER FARE."
Inc proprietors tried pneumatics at the outset. They have tested various other tires since, and we expert their enterprise will run to the further tests outlined.--Eu.]
Concerning Motorcabs.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—Your Richmond and Kent correspondents are quite right, in my judgment, when they point out the necessity for four-cylinder cabs. It is quite easy, no doubt, on the welt-paved streets of the Metropolis, where hills are few and far between into the bargain, for the two-cylinder cab to meet requirements, but even there the comfort of travelling is greatly enhanced, as everybody knows, by the fitting of a four-cylinder engine. Why should it be different in cab practice from what has been established by experience in car practice?
It is, however, when one comes to cab ' work in provincial cities, and to the large proportion of London hirings which involve visits to the country, that the twocylinder cab is put completely into the shade by the four-cylinder type. I write more from the standpoint of an average member of the public than from that of the technical man, but I am happy to be able to follow the arguments so ably advanced in your last issue by Mr. Geoffry Wallace. It is satisfactory to know that scientific arguments support the concentrating of the extra weight in the fourcylinder engine, rather than the general strengthening up of parts to take the greater impulses of the two-cylinder engine, which impulses make themselves so unpleasantly apparent when a cab is starting from rest or pulling up a gradient] am, yours faithfully,
R. J. WILLIAMS.