County Fire Brigades.
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Tho business of junior counsel is to repeat die arguments lit his leader. Our old-standing argument, that it is the duty of County Councils to establish fire brigades, has been taken up more slowly than we eould have wished by ± he general Press, and with greater eagerness north of the Tweed by County Councils than in England. We seize, if reluctantly, upon the occasion of the ii re. last e:ninlav. at Lees Court, near Faversham, in the occupancy of Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Halsey, who appear to have had narrow escapes. The customary and inevitable delay, which 111114 occur where local authorities depend upon horse-drawn vehicles, took place, and this handsome mansion, with it's irreplaceable contents, was destroyed. Whilst sympathizing, with both the owner, Earl Sondes. and the tenants, we are again constrained to urge upon County Councils in general the expediency of their taking Ill) 1 new department of responsibility. Modern conditions do not justity its being " shelved " by them, because the self-propelled fire-engine has entirely altered rho condition of only three years ago. We also strongly urge makers who are identified with the production of mum: flue-engines and other equipment of a like naeure, that they should approach the Clerks of the County Celincils of the l'nited Kingdom, in furtherance of the eempaien which we initiated nearly two-and-a-half years ago.
Special Transportation Methods.
We published, in our last issue, a short. summary of the refeeenres by Sir John MacDonald, K.C.B., in his paper before the Scottish Society of Arts, to the matter of special vehiele-frames, with sunk rollers, in order that special bodies might readily be transferred to or from a correspondingly-equipped railway truck, or another motor wagon. We expressed the view that a vital objeetion exists in the necessity for any special form of rolling-stoek, including standard heights of platforms, and that the ordinary Manchester " flats " were superior.
We ere unaware whether Sir John MacDonald has personal knowledge of the wide use of these soperimpused pletforms, which are known in Manchester and Eneu Lancashire is " flats," but, considerations affecting this Ivellunderstonil system of working having been revived by his references to a proposed alternative, we now have pleasere in publishing (page 210 four illustrations whie;1 eon vey an neettrate impression of what. the " " method reaily is. Its great charm and economy reside in the leek of necessity for uniformity in every vehicle, or railway truck : there is no occasion for rollers on the frames, or for the frame-members to be of the same gauge as runners on the platforms; there is no call for uniform heiehts of platform. or for ally kind of particular or costly fitting. It will be obvious, on consideration, that reasonable first cost, low ma intenenee charge and common application are desiderata of the highest importance in any development
1)f this no practice. The superior claims of the " ;lat. " system over any contemplated system in whieh die vehicle is mounted bodily upon an ordinary railwny trio-k, are outstanding: the lesser weight and die saying of height are but two of many advantages.
The Show.
Next month's special issue of this journal will be finished and dispatched in ample time to enable our staff to attend to the requirements of the third all-commercial show of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. We believe in that show, we have supported the Society iii the course which—at the request of its Commercial Vehiele Committee --it adopted, and we know that the exhibition can and will he made a success. We do not limit that forecast to its effect upon the coffers of the Society: the likelihood of gain or lose there does not affect the opinion to which we have held. It is sufficient, however., for readers to draw their own conclusions, that we recall the profit of -,1,400 which was realized in
There cannot be a loss in 1911.
Our concern is the benefit to the industry, and particu• !arty to the enterprising and younger members whose. names were unknown, cm: less well known than is the ease to-day, in London first, and in the country-at-large afterwards, three years ago. It should not be overlooked, that London is a splendid market, and that it is worth several hundred pounds to " get in " there; a show of this class gives the entr6e. Too many comfortable people profess the view that .shows do not pay; yet, they backed the earlier and less-successful shows. Why? Was it not to help to establish their names? We admit that they might not find a commensurate return next Mardi, that there conceivably would be even risks for some of them were their goods to be exposed alongside those of particular competitors, and that others, too, might decide to stay away were they " in the sante shoes." Be that as it may, the deliberate abstention of some two or three makers, which is threatened, will not wreck the display as a whole: the commercial-motor side of the industry is large enough to spare as many as a dozen non-contents, and yet to be representative in. this country's pre-eminence. Further, the motorcab and inotorvan sections must have their outlet. Why " end) " them After an interval of three years, with the assuredness of large ntterdances of the right (lass—owners and intending owners, with the Society prepared to spend money freely upon well-considered advertising, and with literally hundreds of fresh na,mes and sound arguments which were neither in c..,.sr nor in pesse in March, 1908, the more we probe the reeeut eleventh-hour agitation to cancel the show, the more do its genesis and justification become mysteries. We nre glad that the opposition has been overruled. Let every intending exhibitor write up and get the good spaces uhiell would otherwise have gone tothe men who have elected to drop out.