'Drive Near Lett Kerb."
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We reproduce elsewhere in this issue, by the courtesy of the Commissioner of Police, a recentlyissued notice in regard to steps which are being taken in the Metropolis to reduce obstruction to traffic. This new development is evidently not unconnected with the campaign of the Commercial Motor Users Association, one phase of which useful work took the form of a deputation to Sir Edward Henry on the 26th April last. We may remark, incidentally, that we have reason to believe that the recent application of the Bromley (Kent) U.D.C., in respect of certain desired special powers to keep slow-moving traffic to the near side of the highway, %ill not receive the sanction of the Local Government Board, but will be held to be ultrr rires the powers of the Council, on the ground that the Bromley area is within the Metropolitan police area, and is therefore presumed not to require any rriw by-law of the kind. This decision of the L.G.B., if we are correctly advised, may have been taken in relation i o the new action by Scotland Yard, for it must be obvious that the latest traffic notice, copies of which are available in window-bill form, in addition to their being prominently displayed upon the notice-boards outside all Metropolitan police stations, will be of salutary effect upon drowsy carmen who seem to imagine that they are doing a service to the community by crawling along the centre of the highway. The C.M.U.A., by the way, is diligently carrying on propaganda work in this matter of steps to lessen traffic obstruction.
Laggard Auxiliary Trades : Supplies Falling Into Arrears.
British shops are. full of work. It is hard to get. supplies in many quarters, and new orders still mean new difficulties. This is because. many raw-material and part supplies are behind. Cannot subsidiary trades gauge the inter-effects of the steady growth of commercial-vehicle output, and prepare themselves for the leaping demand upon their resources? Successive increases of output capacity have brought six at least of our leading factories into visible approximation to a balance between sales and production of chassis, but unexpected handicaps are threatened in respect of radiators, tanks, wheels, stampings, bar steel, forgings, steel and malleableiron castings, and finished detail parts and units which are frequently manufactured out by specialists. Bodywork, too, is accountable for irritating delay, whilst the same may be stated in respect of tires. They seem to manage these things better in America, where orders for stock are put through factories of all classes apparently before sales are even in view, hut seldom with any disadvantage to the producer. Rather, in fact, there is distinct advantage in America's superior confidence in the world market. We must confess to a measure of surprise, in view of the soundness of developments on the commercialvehicle side during the past VI years, that manufacturers have not responded as they might have done in some of the many branches which affect production as a whole. More trouble of this kind in the future may be avoided by : (a) the ordering of supplies further ahead ; (b) the producers of supplies no longer being satisfied with merely working up to present capacity. Failing these revisions of practice at home, we foresee encouragement for increased purchases from the States, Belgium, Germany and France. It is high time that British engineering works did more to safeguard the future, no matter how busy they are just now. Not the least important section of industry in which delivery is an uncertain factor is that concerning machine and hand tools of proved quality.
Goods by Aeroplane.
Some three months ago, a consignment of Osram lamps was taken by aeroplane from London to Brighton, and some people gave support to the view that this heralded the approach of the commercial use of aeroplanes. We have waited for any evidence of further so-called application, but, unless one places the aerial mail in that category, nothing has occurred to substantiate the plea. We would refer back to our short editorial comment of the 30th September, 1909 ; we then, whilst unwilling to say that we held occasional commercial applications to be impossible, seriously discredited the practical employment of aeroplanes, chiefly by reason of the area and space difficulties, and of the cost. The records of the past few years in regard to the progress of aviation are nothing short of amazing, and we have little doubt, that the voyage from Europe to America will be completed through the air before the end of 1913, and probably at a speed which will be in the neighbourhood of 200 miles an hour. Such an achievement, should it prove to be encompassed, will in no wise alter our views about the commercial application of the aeroplane, by which we wish to indicate its routine employment for the conveyance of merchandise. People who come forward with glowing schemes for that employment of such machines are generally guilty of allowing their enthusiasm to overcome their judgment. For special purposes, or for the sweet uses of advertisement, the aeroplane no doubt meets all requirements, but it is a long way outside the pale of a definite cost per mile of flying to schedule, unless in the hands of one of the comparatively-few pilots whose honoured names need not be recounted here.