The Van Trials.
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Evidence continues to come to hand that England must lose no opportunity to keep commercial motors in the forefront. A movement is now on foot in the United States to promote a business vehicle contest at an early date, and this proposal is receiving the warm support of the American Motor Press. It is pointed out by our contemporary, " The Horseless Age," that the rapidly increasing number of newcomers in the commercial motor field need a chance of publicly demonstrating their wagons in a well-organised competition, and that business men having a hauling or delivery problem to solve will be glad of a chance to compare the various makes on the basis of actual performance. Almost with one accord the automobile Press of the world has errbraced the commercial motor, a vehicle which certainly received but scant attention from the majority until quix recently, and this sign of the times is laden with promises of results that must be far-reaching in their effect upon the industry of the several countries in which the manufacture has reached appreciable proportions. Whilst we agree that the Automobile Club of Great Britain is not in a position to discharge the task of organisation involved by the conduct of an omnium series of trials this autumn, we do hope that the marked and almost painful eagerness of France and Germany, in particular, to make up leeway in the section of the motor industry where England has secured a predominant lead, %still not be lost upon the committee of our governing body. There is a legitimate demand for another series of trials for the heavier types of vehicles to carry loads of four tons and upwards upon their own platforms, for the interyal that has elapsed since the last competition of that naturt in England has witnessed the entry into the constructional arena of more than twenty new aspirants for favour. We cordially agree that where a choice had to be made between the two classes of vehicles, expediency dictated that trials should be held, for the smaller loads. It is, therefore, to the Automobile Club's competition, which is to begin on September 20th, that everybody is looking forward with a lively anticipation of the benefits that must accrue to the whole industry. In a competition of this kind it is essential that there should be (a) adequate finances; (b) competent organisation ; and (c) impartial judging. All these considerations will doubtless be watched over by the committee of the Automobile Club in conjunction with the Motor Van and Wagon Users' Association and kindred bodies.
On the subject of finances, it may be reckoned that the entry fees will cover the expenses of the trials, especially as the Club insists upon the provision of an observer by each competitor, and the covering of his expenses by such competitor_ We consider that the Club will do well to issue a wide appeal to the various trade and manufacturing interests which they wish to serve by the great work they have undertaken, to augment the special subscription list, in order to supplement the funds which will be at the disposal of the trials' committee, and thereby to render a measure of assistance to make the competition the huge success it deserves to be. It is astonishing how the cost of running trials has a habit of mounting up, and all will agree that the hands of the Club will be strengthened by the existence of an auxiliary fund of the kind we have named, and which has already been contributed to by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Messrs. W. IL Smith and Son, Messrs Cadbury Brothers, and others. The matter of organisation is one where the lessons of the past, coupled with the practical experience of users, can alone be of value. The Club, recognising the value of preliminary criticism, have wisely issued drafts of the rules and regulations to various bodies and organisations. These have already attracted suggestions and amendments which have been acted upon by the Club, and it only remains for the committee to follow up this excellent beginning by taking advantage of the time that is left to them before the trials begin to perfect their organisation at every point. The amount of work which has to be devoted to the trials during the actual period of their continuance is only a tithe of that required to carry the scheme to a satisfactory and beneficial conclusion. The arrangement of the loads, and the completion of arrangements to prevent any hitch over the discharge of the numerous rules, necessitate tedious and prolonged dis cussion in advance. Not the least important part of the duties of the committee is the securing of the utmost publicity throughout the United Kingdom, and one may justifiably say throughout the world, so that the fruits of their self-imposed task may be commensurate with the efforts that have been put forth. What the commercial trade asks for more than anything else is that buyers in all quarters of the globe may be acquainted with the dates of the competition in the first place and with the results in due course_ It is, therefore, imperative that the Club committee should be able to expend the necessary money in the direction of a propaganda which, with the aid of the Press, shall be ceaseless throughout the interval at their disposal. The resignation of Mr. Basil H. Joy, the head of the Club's technical department, is a matter for profound regret at this juncture, in view of his training in the organisation of trials. His successor, whoever the man may prove to be, cannot be too forcibly impressed with the fact that there are months of solid work before him to deal with the preparation for a competition which is to extend over four weeks, which is to include the handling of loads of actual merchandise, and which, presuming that the terms and conditions are generally acceptable, will embrace at least one hundred vehicles. Unless the man appointed to this duty is competent and experienced, there is little doubt that the Club will find itself involved in difficulties through which it will preserve its dignity and reputation only at the cost of enormous sacrifices of time . on the part of its Expert and Technical Committee.
Passing to the question of judging, the task will be a simple one so long as every vehicle covers exactly the same routes. Should it prove necessary to vary the routes, or to vary the pons of collection or delivery, cven by a few miles in each direction each day, the valuable basis of equality of trial will be weakened with a consequent increase in the personal element of judging as opposed to the operation of records upon a pre-determined scale of marks. It seems to us worthy of consideration that there should be what one might term " zones " of performance, as opposed to first, second, and third individual awards in any large class. Group awards have the advantage of allowing machines which are equal in their results within a variation of, say, in per cent, to be regarded, for commercial and practical purposes, as on a par one with the other. Of course, any scheme of this kind would not apply where the entry in a class was small; but any departure from an isolated award, which is necessarily arrived at in a somewhat arbitrary manner, would be welcomed as an acceptable solution of a real difficulty. Where vehicles are given identical tasks, it is hard enough to bring out their points so that the award is really just; and where there is any variation in the collection, conveyance, delivery, or distribution of the loads, either in respect of distances or routes, it is obvious that there may easily be a variation in the tasks as great as To per cent., to cover which the foregoing " range " is put forward as a possible solution possessing the recommendations of simplicity and fairness.
Extraordinary Traffic.
The question of extraordinary traffic and of damage caused by excessive weights is one which occas'onally occurs in connection with the use of the heaviest types of motor vehicles. The decisions of the Courts are, unfortunately, by no means clear on not a few points which arise out of claims by road authorities against users of traction engines, over which form of transport the majority of actions have been taken. We do not purpose to enter upon a detailed enquiry into the legal aspects of claims against users, because no general rule applies. Each case has to be dealt with solely upon its own merits and features, but it behoves every user of a motor wagon which is employed at any time with an axle-weight approximating to the legal limit of eight tons to be prepared with a defence from the date of recelpt of an intimation of any kind whatever from a highway authority. We are aware that, compared with the number of instances where heavy motor wagons are in service, the number of claims preferred has been comparatively insignificant and exclusively in respect of weak macadamised roads. No trouble need be anticipated from this source where the ro-d: are properly engineered and built upon a good foundation, whilst local authorities are gradually realising that the obligations upon them to strengthen weak strips of the hi,rhway cannot advisedly be delayed very much longer. IL has to be remembered that motor wagons are incrensincrly becoming part of the ordinary traffic of any district, and that the sur.rgestion of their constituting extraordinary lr^ffic will be able to secure less and less support from year to year. We enjoin users who are in any way subject to conditions when a claim of this nature may possibly be made upon thera to communicate the circumstances to the Secretary of The Motor Van and Wagon Users' Association. This Association is keeping in intimate working touch with the Committee of the National Association of Traction Engine Owners and Users, which body has been eminently successful in combating many outrageous demands against those employing the heaviest types of road locomotives. The same statement is applicable to the thorny subject of scheduled bridges, in which matter the provisions of the Heavy Motor Car Order are of a most satisfactory nature. in that any user of a motor wagon can lodge an effective protest against the imposition of any arbitrary limit of axleweight, or any wrongful closing, in respect of any bridge.
We think it unwise to disclose or to discuss in these columns any aspect of the subject in detail, and our sole object in making this reference is to urge the wisdom of concerted action upon those who May at the present or at any future date require assistance. Their clear duty is to support the representative body of users, and, in doing that, they must disabuse themselves of the idea that any imminent risk is upon them because they adopt this protective course in good time. It is only another case of being fore-warned.
Passengers for Electric Trams.
The unqualified supporter of the electric tram scorns to admit any general application for the motor omnibus and points to the fact that each unit of the system he advocates has double the carrying capacity of each unit in the system' he deprecates. The claims of motor omnibuses have been dismissed ab inilio by these critics in the belief that the 36seated omnibus can in no circumstances compete with the 74-seated tramcar. The way in which this statement is often put forward by some of those who speak in favour of electric tramways amounts to nothing less than a clear example of begging the question, because it takes for granted the maintained occupation throughout the day of the major portion of the 74 seats alluded to. We had occasion in a recent issue to refer to a statement made by Mr. J. Williams Benn, M.P., in his speech supporting a reconstruction vote of £351,900 for the L.C.C. conduit system, that 1,000 motor omnibuses would be needed to do the work of 436 tramcars. We then pointed out that this was only true in respect of the busiest hours of the day, but the limitation proves to be even a narrower one than may be generally appreciated, because the suggestion that tramcars are filled to their utmost capacity for any considerable part of the day will not bear investigation. How false a premise this is for any argument in relation to motor omnibuses can be gathered from the instructive diagrams, based upon valuable observations taken by the general manager of the Liverpool Corporation Tramways, Mr. C. R. Bellamy, which appear on a later page of this issue. The records which he has obtained and tabulated may be accepted as typical of the maximum requirements of an average route in a large city during the busiest hours of the day, both morning and evening. They conclusively show that during the hours of greatest pressure four 36-seated motor omnibuses would have carried the passengers taken by three 74-seated electric tramcars. A closer analysis of the figures which are plotted out for the curves indicates that a selection of the two periods of greatest concentration of traffic during the whole day yields no support to the alleged ratio of two motor omnibuses to one tramcar. Thus, on the inward service, between 8.43 a.m. and 9.26 a.m., a period of 43 minutes, the 20 trams could have been replaced by 29 motor omnibuses, whilst on the outward service, between 6.15 p.m. and 6.39 p.m., a period of 24 minutes, 73 tramcars could have been replaced by 22 motor omnibuses. This last example is the worst instance that is discoverable in Mr. Bellamy's figures, and a widening of this period from 24 minutes to 55 minutes, viz., from 5.58 p.m. to 6.51 p.m., shows that the replacement of the 28 tramcars would have required only 40 omnibuses to carry the same number of passengers. It is fallacious to conclude that a tramcar does the work of two motor omnibuses, except in connection with football or other exceptional crowds.