The Motor Omnibus World.
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Dr. Alfred Hay, D.Sc., M.I.E.E., liscusses the use of " mixed " systems .Yith storage batteries (page 193).
The first machine on account of a arge order for Leyland standard omninis chassis was shipped to Calcutta ibout ten days ago. Some of the chas3is will, in addition, be used for goods purposes in that city and district.
The Tramways and Light Railways Association recently established a corn-. rnittee on brakes, and the secretary will be pleased to receive any information m brakes, or on sanding arrangements, at the offices of the association, 35, Parliament Street, S.W.
A correspondent advises us that a Hercules double-deck omnibus is in • iervice between Whiteleafe, Caterham and Godstone, and that it is giving ex:.ellent results. There is little question that an efficient service of motorbuses should become very popular in the Ca terham Valley.
Considerable discussion has been taking place in Harrogate on the subject of a central standing-place for the Chelmsford steam omnibuses which were purchased from Torquay, whilst some of the tradesmen have gone as far as to petition for the motorbuses to be brought near to their shops.
The motorbus service which was inaugurated a few weeks ago between the M6i-u Station and Valdampierre (France) is the first to be officially subsidised. It has been established by the Societ6 des Transports Economiques d4partementaux par automobiles, which employs the vehicles constructed by the Darracq-SerpolletiCompany.
The " Hallford " char-h-bancs, of whose hill-climbing powers we gave an illustrated account in our last issue, will cover the road between Dartford and Eynsford, via Hawley, Sutton-atHone and Farnin,gham. It is also intended that the Swanley district shall be included in the service, and other allied developrnents may be expected later in the year.
Are Speed Indicators Wanted?
If the advice of Mr. Lane, K.C., is followed it will not be long before the fitting of speed indicators to motorbuses becomes general. When inflicting a fine upon a driver at the West London Police Court recently, Mr. Lane expressed the view that it was putting a very serious burden on drivers to expect them to judge of the speed of an omnibus without the assistance of an indicator or other scientific means. He also expressed the view that the matter was well Worthy the consideration of motorbus companies. There are, of course, two sides to the question, because, when speed indicators are fitted, at least in the case of private cars, it is the custom of the majority of magistrates to ignore their records when such are advanced in opposition to the stop-watch figures of the police constables who are called in support of the prosecution.
The Paris Streets.
During the two months which preceded the last elections for the London County Council, various reports were put in circulation by pro-tram politicians to the effect that each motorbus in Paris contributed" some a year towards the cost to which the community is put for the maintenance of the highways." A perusal of our Paris correspondent's. notes on page 196 will show how inaccurate these statements were, as was pointed out by us at the time, though in less detail.
Evidence Necessary.
The London Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, successfully advanced a plea some time back, in a defence to an action in the Bloomsbury County Court, that one of its employees had exceeded the scope of his employment in taking out a motorbus for testing purposes after the completion of a repair. The case came into Court as a claim by a Mrs. Aldridge, who was travelling inside a horsed omnibus into which a " Vanguard " motorbus ran when it was being driven by a fitter named Melmore. It is interesting to note that the Court of Appeal, in reversing the .decision of Judge Bacon, held that the onus of proof rested upon the proprietors to show that the fitter in question was acting other than upon his instructions, or beyond the scope of his employment, and, in the absence of evidence to prove that anybody at the depot endeavoured to stop the man from taking out the bus for testing purposes on the road, Justices Darling and Phillimore agreed that the appeal must succeed, and refused leave for a further appeal by the company.
A Manchester Proposition.
A further meeting in connection With the liquidation of the . Manchester District Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, was held in Manchester yesterday (Wednesday). The liquidator of the company, Mr. E.I. Husey; reported that he-had been unable-to sell the company's it motorbuses by advertisement, and sought authority to sell at anction without reserve. Opposition to this scheme was put forward by a committee of shareholders, who advanced the alternative proposition that a new company should be formed with a capital of some .4.:to,000, and should make an offer of L2,200 or thereabouts for the purchase of the vehicles in question. Another reference to the proceedings will appear in our -next -issue.
Omnibus Engineers.
A Council Meeting of the Society of Motor Omnibus Engineers was held at the registered office, r, Albemarle Street, Piccadilly, W., on Monday last.
The following gentlemen were elected in the Members' class :—Mr. Frederick B. Breakell, Lancashire and Yorkshire Rly. Motor Omnibus Department ; Mr. William B. Burchall, The Scottish Motor Traction Company, Limited, Edinburgh; Mr. Harold H. Carter, London Motor Omnibus Company, Limited; Mr. Robert Henry Collen, Great Eastern Motor Omnibus Company, Limited ; Mr. Percy Ellison, Eastbourne Corporation Motor Omnibus Department ; and Mr. William E. Hardy, Bath Electric. Tramways.
Isaac. Bentley and Coirmany, Limited, of 3;s, Euston Road, N.VV., and Trafford Park, Manchester, was elected in the Associates' class.
The Nuremberg Corporation is at last awake to the potentialities of the motorbus to effect an improvement in the town traffic, and recently met to consider the question of establishing municipal lines. Before definitely committing themselves, the councillorsdecided to weigh statistics furnished by towns with experience in this class of traffic. Motorcabs are steadily increasing at Nuremberg.
The Vanguard Motorbus Company, Limited, has taken over the four contributory companies, in accordance with the scheme which was dealt with in our issue of the 27th December last, as from the 31st ultimo. We are officially advised that traffic returns will be issued within the next few days, and continued regularly, but these have not come to hand at the moment of going to press. The capitalisation of this company is ;61,000,000, divided into five hundred 7 per cent, non-cumulative preference shares of Li each, and five hundred ordinary shares of Li each, whilst power has been taken to issue Zsoo,000 of debenture stock. The amounts issued to date are as follows : Ordinary shares, ; preference shares, .4-465,000 and debenture stock,
Doubtful Profits.
An interesting light is thrown upon the action of the Southend Town Council in regard to the now defunct Southend Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, by the unsatisfactory position in which that authority's electric-traction undertaking appears to be. The Chairman of the Electric Lighting and Light Railways Committee, in moving the adoption of the estimates for the ensuing financial year, at the last meeting of the Town Council, stated that a profit of L;t,68o was anticipated on the tramway undertaking. This compares
with an alleged profit of 195. for the year 1906, and an alleged total loss of .,2,422 since the undertaking was opened to the public. How the Corporation can believe that it is making any profit at all when no provision has been made for depreciation, and when the supposed "keeping as good as new" omits all reference to overhead gear and permanent way, is beyond understanding. Further, we are at a loss to comprehend how the corporation can expect to make its electric tramcars pay with the absurdly infrequent service which exists. Four routes are in operation, and, on these, two are at t5-minute intervals, and two, at to-minute intervals. We believe that Southend will yet regret that it did not adopt motorbuses.
No Proof of Negligence.
Owners of motor omnibuses will interested to note the decision of Ju tires Ridley and Bray, in the King Bench Division, on the 20th instant, respect of an appeal by a passeng named Simon : this passenger was u prepared to abide by the decision of tl judge of the Shoreditch County Cour who non-suited him in the first i stance. The claim arose out of an act dent which occurred on the t8th July last, when Mr. Simon was traw ling to Clapton on the top of an omr bus owned by the London Gener Omnibus Company. The plaintiff lu one of his arms resting on the top rtof the omnibus, and, in grating rout the kerb at a sharp corner, his ar came in contact with a fire-alar finger-post fixed to and standing oi from an electric-light standard, had been given in evidence that tl driver turned the corner close to tl kerb in order to avoid a tramcar. was held by the Appeal Court the unless the driver knew the plaintiff Ni.7 in such a position of danger, there w no evidence of negligence to go to ti jury, and that the driver was wr within his rights in driving as close the kerb as he could. Also, that the was no evidence to show that the driv, knew that the fire-alarm finger-pc was there, and that he had the right assume that the plaintiff's arm was n projecting over the side of the orrutibu Leave to appeal further was refused.
A Diplomatic Race.
The accompanying illustration, which we have purchased the origin drawing, is from the current issue I " Kladderadatsch," and we quote fro the " Daily Telegraph " of Saturdr last in reference thereto. This Lonck daily's Berlin correspondent writeE " The intensity of the present pr occupation with foreign politics may I gauged from the fact that Kladder, datsch ' this week devotes three ea toons to the international situatioi The chief of these represents two mot, omnibuses. One is driven by Kir Edward, and contains as passenger Japan, France, Russia, Spain, Port, gal, the United States, and Turke Prince Billow is the chauffeur of ti other, in which sits the lonely figure the Prince of Monaco, from who: pocket flows a stream of playir cards." We cannot agree with this e: tract from the Berlin correspondent the " Daily Telegraph," as Prini Billow has Austria beside him, ar Italy right at the back of his vehicl We suppose the figure of the Kais■ does not appear in the illustration fl fear of the charge of lese ma jest but the fact that Prince Billow dressed in the uniform of an Imperi driver serves the purpose of both di closure and evasion.
Italy is beckoning to King Edwar and his party, and the text below tt illustration as it appeared in " Kia deradatsch " may be freely translatr thus : " If the timorous chauffet (Billow) does not soon decide to put c the pace, there is a danger of his lo ing his last two passengers as well, the opposition will probably reach i destination first,"
Mr. P. Ellison, the Eastbourne Corporation's motorbus engineer and general manager, has rapidly got his department into good shape : his arrangements were thoroughly tested during the Easter holidays, and they stood the initial strain well. Residents are more than ever pleased that they rejected electric traction some five. years ago.
The accompanying illustration is of a Milnes-Daimler vehicle in which it has been sought to combine the Dennis live axle and worm drive, in substitution of the usual Milnes-Daimler rack and pinion. It will be noticed that the propeller shaft is still disposed with considerable obliquity, and this circumstance cannot help but result in very considerable wear of the slipper-blocks of the universal joints. We are informed that this angle is less than in previous similar conversions, but that only makes it clear that there must have been very frequent renewals.
Our fortnightly census of the motorbuses in London shows a diminution of . is within the fortnight. This is the first time that we have had to chronicle a reduction in the total, and it is partly due to the fact that the police are still very exacting in their treatment of omnibuses submitted to them, but more to the fact that several omnibus owners have withdrawn their vehicles from service, and are endeavouring to sell them. Those which have been withdrawn include the ii Chelmsford omnibuses of the Atlas and Waterloo Association, belonging to Burtwell Brothers, Limited, and to J. Sharland and Son, and the two Milnes-Daimler and four De Dions belonging to Henry Turner. The " Ensign ' omnibuses, belonging to the London and Westminster Motor Omnibus Company, which have been working a much reduced service, have now been entirely withdrawn for the third time since they started work.
A Prejudiced Report.
It is a pity that some local journals allow their zeal to outrun their discretion, and we are sorry to observe the manner in which the occasional necessity for a coroner's inquest in connection with a motorbus sometimes gives rise to what we can only stigmatise as an effort to stir up strife. A case in point is before us at the moment of writing, and, in this instance, less than a fortnight ago, a North London paper boldly heads its lengthy teport " Terrible motorbus fatality in --; driver blamed." It opens the report with a wild diatribe on the whole question of motorbuses and any casual reader, who did not take the trouble to analyse the facts as presented before the coroner, could not fail to conclude that the motorbus was, in the words of the report, " claiming as its victims the unwary adult pedestrian, and the playful juvenile alike, as a futile sacrifice to the progress of science in a mistaken direction." The foregoing extracts are hardly in agreement with the finding of the jury, to whom the coroner specifically referred the point as to whether there was any negligence on the part of the driver. The verdict was—" Accidental Ce:th."
Street Foundations and Vibratiors.
The members of St. Pancras Borough Council are to be congratulated upon the sensible manner in which they view the matter of vibration from heavy motor traffic, and the action which they take in regard to same. At the meeting of the Council on the 17th instant, a communication was received from Mr. J. F. Horner, one of H.M. Commissioners of Woods and Forests, respecting the repaving of Albany Street, and expressing the hope that the Council, when relaying that thoroughfare, would see that the work was done in a sufficiently thorough manner, and the foundations of the street as solidly constructed as, for instance, those in Oxford Street, so as to render the street strong enough to bear heavy-motor, traffic without danger of damage resulting to houses from excessive vibration. In the opinion of the Writer the course which he recommended would be found the most economical in the end, and he suggested that an interview should take place between the Crown Surveyor and the Borough Engineer on the subject. Mr. J. .Inman, of r8, Cumberland Terrace, N.W., also wrote, asking that the Council would provide sufficiently solid foundations when repaving the street to resist and prevent the transmission of vibration. The Highways Committee, to whom the letters had been referred, reported, in regard to the first, that they saw no objection to an interview taking place between the Crown Surveyor and the Council's surveyor. The Council resolved, in view of the growth of heavy motor traffic, that means should be taken to insure a good
concrete foundation for the roadway in question, and the Town Clerk was instructed to inform H.M. Commissioner for Woods, etc., and Mr. Inman of the Council's decision.
Drivers and Water Troughs.
At the meeting of the Westminster City Council on the 18th inst. the Works Committee reported that on 3rst May last it was decided to affix notices to cattle troughs cautioning persons against taking the water therein for any purposes other than drinking. The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association had written, stating that the men employed by them to clean the drinking trough at Hyde Park Corner in the beginning of the present month observed during the week no less than seven conductors of motor omnibuses take water from the trough. The Association asked the Council to consider the advisability of prosecuting the men who appear to take little notice of the tablets placed on the structures. The Highways Committee recommended that the Town Clerk be instructed to institute proceedings against the next person rcp.)rted for taking water from the troughs for any purposes other than drinking. The recommendation was adopted.