Steam Motors in the North.
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Lancashire and Yorkshire, of all the Shires, have found the steam lorry and tractor come upon their highways in the largest numbers. This fact is not other than might have been foretold, because the industrial character of this broad belt of country is unique in respect of the volume of support which it is capable of giving to transport facilities of all kinds, whether by canal, rail, or road. A return by the Chief Constable of Rochdale, which is quoted on page 179 of this issue, will be read with interest by all who follow the fortunes of heavy motor traffic, because it provides concrete evidence of both extensive ownership and general use, yet only a foretaste of what is coming. It has taken close upon ten years for contractors and manufacturers to adopt mechanical transport upon this partial scale, and every suecessful application tends to break down the wall of prejudice and scepticism which still obtains in more than 75 per cent. of the instances where loads and journeys are appropriate to the employment of a modern road locomotive. The many who continue to hold aloof do so, it is true, from a variety of causes, but two reasonings predominate. They are found in (a) the alleged, high, first cost of the machines; and (b) the observed irregularity of running of some vehicle or tractor in the district. Both these arguments require answers, and we, at the risk of reiteration, will give two. First cost should be viewed in relation to displaced charges, and to performance : if interest and sinking fund, say, a maximum of ..20 per annum per ,T00 expended, can be more than recouped out of the savings effected, then, for any man with capital at his call, there is real economy in the change. Next, as to irregularity or failure elsewhere. Does anybody ever draw the inference, that a particular trade is rotten, because one or more woo have embarked upon it become insolvent? Gross misuse has admittedly accounted for disappointment and Loss to some purchasers of wagons and tractors, but their unfortunate experiences are completely overshadowed by the successful results which have been obtained in similar classes of work. Let any reader of these lines acquaint us of such a failure : we will undertake to furnish either the explanation, or examples of success under the same circumstances, by return of post I Advices from correspondents in the above-named counties indicate that the advent of the rubber-tired and wood-shod wheel has changed the opinions of large numbers of people who feared for the future of commercial motors. A sixmonths' demonstration with a two-ton, rubber-tired petrol lorry is about to bring a contract for 20 such vehicles, and this is only typical of the developments which are at hand. Lancashire and Yorkshire, together, are rapidly taking an increasing lead in the use of heavy motor transport, and their further demands will be accelerated by a close measure of attention, by makers and agents, before next spring.