PETROL TRACTION IN PUBLIC CLEANSING.
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An Interesting Demonstration at Margate Before the Institution of Cleansing Superintendents.
MHE Mayor f Margate (Councillor P. H. R. Venner) and members of the Town Council were very interested spectators of the display Of municipal eieansing vehicles at Margate last week, where was held the annual Conference of the Institution of Cleansing Superintendents.
On Tuesday •afternoon, before that wonderful panorama of hotels and greensward at Cliftonville, the great macadam stretch of esplanade, usually -crowded • with taxicabs at this time of the year, an up-to-date S.D. freighter designed expressly for refuse collection revolved almost as if on an axis before a large admiring crowd.
The delegates and members of the Institute Conference attended in full numbers and examined the vehicles methodically, a number of them coming from towns whose local government has not yet embraced the labour and timesaving devices so ably demonstrated, and who doubtless were impressed. The firms participating in this demonstration could have had no better advertisement in ratio to the number of 'spectators. Thornyerofts' demonstrated the advantages of their multi-purpose municipal machine for street watering and gully or cesspool emptying with an interchangeable 4-ton hydraulic tip-wagon body for refuse -collecting and road-metal delivery. S.D. freighters demonstrated the ease with which they could be manoeuvred in narrow streets and lanes. Lnere three-wheeled sweepers made a good impression on the onlookers, vhilst the Mibles-Daimler system of collection by containers, created much interest.
Mr. J. C. Dawes, 0.B.E., Chief Inspector of Cleansing, Ministry of Health, in his presidential address following his installa.tiou on Tuesday morning said :— "Horse traction is still economic and effective on short hauls. The ecenomic radius varies in different districts be tween and miles, but fluctuates with the ' carry,' being more effective on long carries where it is necessary to incur ' comparatively long waiting' periods. In these circumstances it "would seem to be good policy to attempt to eliminate, or in any case to reduce, the waiting time.
"As a matter of fact this is the urgent problem on the collection side, and useful efforts are now being made to find a. solution. In several districts a combination of horse and petrol traction is being tried and in one a special electric trailer is to be introduced. The results, when available, should be distinctly helpful.
"Petrol traction (ordinary) is comcomparatively little used on collection work, but there are a few towns where no other form of transport is used, and in some of these the actual' tonnage
costs are distinctly good. Much depends upon the class of refuse and local conditions. In districts Where the :yield is well above the average, and 'especially in ashpit districts, the petral machine is capable' of good service: It is a .mistake, I think, to prophesy the disappearance of the petrol vehicle from the collection service; the data •now available do not warrant the assertions, and so fax as I have been able to translate the figures I am inclined to think there will be scope for petrol machimes on collection work for quite a long time to come. Where thecleansing department is also the central transport department it follows that the useful field of the petrol: machine is greatly increased.
"Other rolling stock, as for instance vacuum gully cleansers, machine sweepers, washers, sprinklers, etc., usually are petrol-driven, and some of these are very successful. So much so, that were one reviewing Secticin (d) (Street: Cleansing) the petrol machine would have to be highly spoken of.
" Petrol traction (container system). This system combines horse and petrol traction, and as yet is new, but the cost, figures produced for my inspectioee sp to the present have been good. Wears, of course, without data, as to the life ' and 'maintenance cost of the vehicles, but there seems to be no reason for anticipating anything extraordinary in this connection: The principal object of this system is to eliminate waiting periods and so to reduce costs, and both are very desirable.
" Capital invested in cleansing vehicles is only productive when the vehicles are in actual use, and the in, hereht difficulties arising out of our method of storing refuSe at dwelling houses are such that waiting .tiMe ' has always been a costly defect in our collection service. Any attempt to eliminate this factor is worth serious in vestigation. When waiting time has been reduced -to is minimum, cleaneing officers will have accomplished a great service to over 90 per cent, of the large local authorities.
" Electric traction. The actual results of this method Of traction are somewhat difficult to summarize. The two largest fleets of electric vehicles in England are in the cleansing, service, and, in botif eases the ma-chines axe doing excellent Work ;,but this type of vehicle is somewhat sensitive to local conditions and calls for effective direction and management—which, of course, is not a defect. All manufacturers have a right to assume good management and proper direction, and where these are missing it is a matter for the authority and not, for them.".