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From Our Berlin Correspondent.

26th November 1908
Page 17
Page 17, 26th November 1908 — From Our Berlin Correspondent.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Hanover Machine-building )mpany, Germany's greatest locoative shop, is erecting works, at tenmitz, Saxony, for the construetn of light steam wagons on the olz system. This system has already en illustrated and described in " THE )MMERCIAL MOTOR.

Buessing Sells to the Bavarian Army.

Messrs. Buessing have delivered a ir-ton lorry, with a two-ton trailer, the Royal Bavarian Railway Battan, at Munich. In their general fea:-es, the vehicles correspond to the If-dozen " trains " already supplied the Prussian War Office, but the ivarian " train " is propelled by the w 36h.p. Buessing engine with a re of 125 mm, and a stroke of 130.

eliminary Course for the German Industrial Trials.

The course for the German cornTcial trials, as preliminarily mapped

is as follows :-.-ist stage, Berlin!ssau ; and, Dessau—Nordhausen ;

NordhausenHanover ; 4th, Han ; 5th, 13ielefeld.-Di.isdorf ; 6th, Ddsseldorf--Coblenz; 7th, blenz—Kaiserslautern ; 8th Kaiserutern—Metz ; 9th, Metz—Strasburg; 11, Strasburg—Freiburg; tith, eiburg—Strasburg; 12th, Strasburg Mannheim ; 13th, Mannheim—Rast; t4th, Rastatt—Stuttgart. the daily stage for heavy lorries ?rages some t4o kilometres, and that delivery vans and omnibuses 190. tween Strasburg and Freiburg, the npeting vehicles will have to negote stiffish roads in the Black Forest.

zight-Automobiles in Possession the Prussian Transport Corps.

kpropos War-Minister Picquart's erances in the Chambre des putes, respecting the utility of selfpelted vehicles for military pur;es, and his intention to introduce a I for the subsidising of automobiles table for Army work, it may be of :Test to give a list of vehicles ually in possession of the Prussian tnsport Department. They are, the r of acquisition being in parenses :—

PETROL-DRIVEN AUTOMOBILES.

)f this class, the corps owns 25 veles, thus : N.A.G. (1905) lorry, for ful load of two tons, with trailer rying like weight ; Marienfelde )5) lorry, for same load as above, h trailer for similar load; Ducomn (1906) lorry, for 31 tons; Buessing )61 lorry, for three tons; Buessing

)6) omnibus, for 27 persons; Duero') (19o7) lorry, for 31 tons; Gaglati (1907) lon-y, for three tons; two rienfelde (19o7) lorries with four:tel drive, each carrying two tons . hauling three trailers for two tons ; six Marienfelde (1907) lorries for tons each, severally hauling a ler for a load of two tons ; rienfelde (1907) lorry, for 1-1 tons; ;us (1907) lorry, for one ton ; six .!ssing (1908) lorries, for four tons

each, severally hauling trailer for two tons; two Marienfelde (i908) lorries, for four tons, severally hauling a trailer for two tons,

PETROL-ELECTRIC AUTOMOBILES.

Siemens and Schuckert train, with five trailers, for a total load of 15 tons.

STEA M-OR I V EN AUTOMOBILES.

Two " Freibahn " trains, with four trailers each, for a total load of I31 tons; Fowler tractor ("Mungo"), with two trailers, for total load of to tons; Fowler tractor (" David ") with one trailer, for total load of five tons.

Hence, there are 30 self-propelled vehicles for the transport of 183 tons. This rolling stock has, of course, nothing whatever to do with the large number of lorries already working under the subvention scheme.

" Geheizt " : Warmed Cabs in Berlin.

Messrs. Kandelhardt, cab-owners in the Gitschnterstrasse, upon whose well-organised business I recently commented, have just pleasantly surprised Berlin hy warming their cabs— at any roe, three of them, by way of a beginning. The warmed vehicles bear a notification to this effect, the word " Geheizt " (warmed) being conspicuous, in large black letters, on a white plate affixed to the paneling between the chauffeur's seat and the door. I called at the company's yard, in the hope of securing particulars of the system adopted, but—well, competition amongst motorcab-working companies is keen in Berlin, and one cannot be surprised at Messrs. Kandelhardt's not being strikingly eager to let outsiders into the secret of what is obviously a great advantage at this bitterly cold season. Although the inspector of the yard received me with courtesy and chatted freely about the general working of the concern, he begged to be excused from enlarging on the heating contrivance. Still, I gleaned some information, and even inspected the outward arrangements of the " Heizungsvorrichtung," which, I need scarcely say, is connected with the exhaust. The cab I saw was a two-cylinder Adler, but the Adler people have nothing to do with the contrivance in question.

In the first place, the degree of warmth can be regulated to the passenger's liking. If desired, he can have the heat shut off altogether. Within easy reach of the driver's right hand is a small graduated segment, marked " Warm " (warm), " Mittel " (moderate), and " Kalt " (cold), with a hand-lever adjustable over these points, and working a register that regulates the flow of burnt gases through an exhaust-extension brought up close to the bottom of the cab. The wood of that part of the floor directly over the extension has been cut away—a rectangular space some 18 inches long and 6 wide—and replaced by a perforated brass plate, As to the extension itself, I learnt that it is a patented radiator, standing perpendicular to the floor : beyond this, the " Herr Inspektor " was not to be drawn. He told me that, during the Arctic snap of a few days back, the chauffeurs experienced no difficulty in maintaining 16 degrees Centigrade, or nearly 610 on the Fahrenheit scale.

"And how are Berliners taking to the innovation?" I asked.

" Well," he answered, " the chauffeurs report a decidedly strong demand for the warmed cabs, especially at night, when the theatres empty. The three which are fitted with the contrivance have had a busy time, and we purpose putting it into a dozen more."

Before leaving, I touched upon the comparatively-favourable financial results of the last year's working. " Yes," he observed, " we paid a dividend of 4 per cent., after ample allowance for depreciation and the rest, We work as economically as possible, and make a special point of engaging thoroughly-competent and careful drivers. The driver who won't co-operate with the management must go; he knows what is expected of him —that we make clear at the outset. Careless management and slipshod driving account for a lot of expense in working motoreabs, and these factors we do our best to eliminate. Besides, we have an excellent make, These two-cylinder Adlers "—pointing to the warmed cab—" are quite strong enough for us ; we get more out of them than many a chauffeur does from four-cylinder cabs of other makes."


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