Correspondence.
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A Visitor from India.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. "
Sir :—I think it well to let you know that Mr. Arthur Hoare, who is the managing director of the Bombay Motor Cat Company, Limited, is shortly proceeding to England on a few months leave, but as Mr. Hoare contemplates arranging fresh agencies and otherwise expanding the business of his company in India, you might consider it desirable to mention the fact in your paper, so that English manufacturers might get into communication with Mr. Hoare, if they desire to do so. Mr. Hoare's address is :Arthur Hoare, Esq., M.I.C.E., care of Messrs. John Birch and Co., Ltd., 3, London Wall Buildings, London, E.C. For EDITOR, " Indian Motor News." W. G. WARBURTON. Flphin stone Circle, Bombay.
The Standardisation of Parts.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—The following is a copy of a letter we have addressed to the Secretary of the Automobile Standardisation Committee; it may be of interest to your readers :- " We are very pleased to notice the work you have undertaken with regard to standardisation in motor construction. With our large works here we are every day dealing with motors of all types, and are continually receiving enquiries for renewal of parts in cases of breakdown. We heartily sympathise with the general object of your committee, and, without making any specific suggestion, we are of the opinion that, if three or four standard sizes were agreed upon by manufacturers, we ourselves would be enabled to make very considerable reductions in our prices for wheels and spare parts, and this will obviously be beneficial to the private owner as well as to those engaged in the trade."—Yours faithfully,
SMITH, PARFREY, AND Co., LTD. ALGERNON HOLLIS (Secretary). Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith.
Motorbus Destination Boards.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—Your correspondent Mr. Hollidge (p. 183) is kind enough to agree with me as to the need for adequate destination boards, and he approves of the idea of two hoards on the front of the bus. His question as to the desirability of placing the names in alphabetical order arises, if he will allow me to suggest, from a want of appreciation of the time-saving properties of the alphabetical method, and perhaps also from some lack of sympathy with the needs of the provincial who arrives all confused and ignorant, and has so much to learn in so brief a time. The names in rotation of place might be useful as a geography lesson, but is there not a touch of cynicism in attempting to fire geography, Gatling-gun fashion, from a passing bus? What does it matter to the country cousin whether Holloway or King's Cross comes first on a certain route? Let him rely on the alv■ays careful conductor to set him.down at the proper place.
As a kindred illustration, suppose that one wishes to journey from London to York one dbes not try to read over Bradshaw till one finds York ; one consults the alphabetical index as such, and easily finds the name York and a reference to the particular line and train required. My proposed signs indicate almost instantly which bus will do, and the conductor attends to the rest at leisure.
The essence of the advantages of the alphabetical arrangement is this shortening of the time needed to choose the bus. Possibly your correspondent has not given the attention to my article to see how this is shown and can be proved by any reader who tests it. Possibly, too, the arrangement might look odd to old-fashioned folk, but people would soon understand it and wonder why so obvious an improvement was not thought of before.
As to the bearings of the destination, even country cousins usually have an idea of it ; besides, I have indicated a provision against mistakes of this kind.
Towards the end of his letter, Mr. Hollidge asks if I am aware that certain buses have destination boards on the back. No, I was not aware of this further proof of what
appears to be the fact that the motorbus companies have not yet really applied their minds to the subject of destination boards at all, for what can be the object in placing a sign which cannot be even glimpsed till the bus is out of reach?—
Yours faithfully, J. BnowN.
A Road Trial of Resilient Wheels.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—We have pleasure in enclosing you. herewith a photograph of a " Hall gear "lorry fitted with Vim wheels, which has now been subjected to the severe test of 9,5oo miles (see page 192.—ED.). According -to the users, the wheels have saved them considerable expense, as, when compared with other lorries that they have had in use doing similar work and fitted with ordinary wheels, those wheels have had to be rebuilt at least three times during the same time in which thcs. Vieo wheels have been running.
The lorry to which these wheels have been fitted weighs 3 tons unladen, and it has been carrying an average daily weight of 21 tons, at an average rate of seven or eight miles per hour, so that you will see they have been used for fairly heavy work. The only repairs which have been effected to the wheels during the whole of their running, are the following :—Owing to the iron tire on the floating rims cracking, apparently at the weld, because they were too light in the first instance, these had to be replaced, and some of the rubber rollers renewed, but the wheels now appear quite as fit for their work as they did at first. We have no doubt that some of your readers will be interested in the result of such prolonged trials.----Yours faithfully, For V1EO, LIMITED.
H. T. VANE (Secretary).
11., New Burlington Street, W The Vapour Emission Competition.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—No doubt your readers have been rather surprised to read the results of the Royal Automobile Club's Vapour Emission Competition. Now, whilst it is perfectly true, as stated in the regulations of the competition, that there are two forms of trouble from an exhaust of a motorcar referred to, firstly, an improper mixture, and, secondly, excessive lubrication, there is no doubt that everybody who studied the rules of this competition thought that good lubricating arrangements, which never gave too much or too little oil and which oiled every bearing perfectly and automatically, was a system that this particular competition was designed to find out, and to be copied by motorcar manufacturers. I think, therefore, that you, in common with myself, will be surprised to read the report of the Royal Automobile Club which, so far as the lubrication system of the. cars is concerned, merely passes it over in a few words by the judges saying, " the cars on a whole so far as lubrication is concerned were successful." This may, of course, be quite true, but some of the cars in the competition were fitted with the ordinary drip-feed lubrication with all its attendant troubles and emission of smoke and lack of lubrication, unless the multitude of sight feeds are given considerable and unremitting attention by the driver.
When the scientific judges of the Royal Automobile Clubs bracketed this system with the perfect system of lubrication such as is used on Lanchesters, Napiers, De Dions,. etc. (a system which prevents emission of smoke and at the same time lubricates perfectly), and passedoverthe same without a single good word, it makes one wonder what benefit the competition was to the ordinary man in the street, who is anxious to know which is the best system of lubrication for a motorcar engine. The result appears to have been practically decided on the amount of carbon monoxide emitted, which, although no doubt an exceedingly harmful gas, is not visible in the air, and causes no inconvenience when running along" an ordinary road. We have heard from the highest authority (a well-known professor) that infinitely more of this vapour comes from one London chimney than foam a number of motorcars.—Yours truly, J. W. 'STOCIZS,. in, Great Marlborough Street, W., 20th April-, 1907. Motor Threshers and Tractors versus Motor Wagons.
The Editor," THE COMMERUAL MOTOR."
Sir :—Whilst agreeing with my friend Mr. Tritton, that motor threshers would prove an undesirable combination for several reasons, one cannot admit that want of power is one of them. Referring to paragraph i of Mr. Tritton's. letter, I think he has put the heating surface of motor-wagon boilers much too low. Several of the best makers have 90 square feet, which is so per cent, more than he states. Then, again, as regards paragraph 2, careful calculation will prove that the average brake-horse-power of a steam wagon, carrying a 6-ton load but without a trailer and running on good give-and-take roads, is about 19, and, of course, the addition of a trailer will raise this to about 25. Bad and wet roads will again increase this figure very considerably. If Mr. Tritton thinks that it is not possible to develop continuously 45to 5oh.p. with a boiler having only 90 feet of heating, I shalt be happy to convert him by ocular demonstration and incontestable evidence, if he will favour me with a call when he is in town.
With Mr. Tritton's paragraph one agrees willingly, but, when in paragraph 5 he claims for the tractor the life of a traction engine, one feels that his expectations are altogether too sanguine. The tractor is ru.n at a greater speed and, in general, is worked so much harder than its big brother that it is idle to draw comparisons. Moreover, as compared with the steam wagon, its system of springing is not nearly so flexible, and the greater vibration thus caused
must have prejudicial effects on its durability. Perhaps, however, Mr. Tritton is only referring to the advantages of tractors for purely farm and agricultural work, and, in this. case, I think most people of experience will agree with him, in his conclusions at any rate.—Yours faithfully,
H. A. NEAt..
Somerville, Richmond,
20th April, 1907. The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—Referring to Mr. Stewart's letter about steanelorries doing ploughing with a wire rope, I fail to see how it can be done. In the first place, one must have soo yards of cable on a winding drum and where could that be fixed on a steam lorry? I have had experience with ploughing tackle. and I can say that one implement is of no good without the others and that would mean a double, six-turn, furrow plough, a land presser, a set of drags, a. cultivator, and a. water barrel if required. Ilow could a motor lorry pull all these, for it is as much as two Li.h.p. traction engines can pull over bad ground, especially if it is wet. Another point is, can a motor lorry carry a sufficient supply of fuel and water for that work? Although the land may be lighter abroad than here in England, there would be a lot more obstructions there than in our own country. A ploughing, engine can be used for threshing, grinding, pumping, circularsawing, or driving any other kind of machinery, for such engines are always fitted with governors. I have ploughed. some very light soil in Hampshire, and I find it takes about 7cwt. of coal for each engine to plough t6 acres and they have got to be in very good condition to do that. I have seen. several kinds of ploughing tackle about the country, and think the best on the market up to the present time is that of J. Fowler and Co., Ltd., of Leeds. The 4h.p. ploughing tackle is very heavy and cumbersome, but it is suited for the work and the rear wheels are extra wide to allow for the soft ground they have sometimes to go over. They get mired up occasionally, but one engine generally helps the other out, with the aid of its wire rope or by the sling chain.—Yours faithfully, AN OLD STEAM PrOuGFI DRIVER."