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Correspondence.

28th February 1907
Page 22
Page 22, 28th February 1907 — Correspondence.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Keywords : Tar

The B.T.H. Petrol-Electric System.

The Editor," THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."

Sir :—In looking over your description of the above system, on page 561 of your issue of the 21st instant, we find that your printers have made an error, which is a most serious one, and which would have appalled any electrical engineer, in respect of our communication to you on the ith instant. Under the control operating-box illustration (fourth line) you say " the voltage is 130-165 volts." This should be 65 volts. Further, you say : " the input at 130-165 volts." This should be 65 volts, and, " . . between 1,400 and 1,500 r.p.m." should be " 1,400-po r.p.m." Your compositor was, undoubtedly, led into these errors owing to our using a diagonal line to separate the numerals instead of a horizontal line. If you can kindly see your wav to correct the above, in your next issue, we will greatly appreciate it.— Yours faithfully,

TILE BRITISH THOMSON-HOUSTON COMPANY, LIMITED, Rugby, February 25th, 1907. C. L. °EC:USHER,

"Borneo" Spirit.

The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."

Sir :—This letter, giving the results of certain chemical tests which I have made on " Borneo " spirit, may be of interest following, as it does, the publication, by Mr. S. F. Edge, of certain practical tests which he made of the same spirit. When I first came across this spirit, I was struck by its smell which is exactly that of henzol (or coal-tar spirit) and then, in view of its high specific gravity, and of the fact that it required more than the usual allowance of air for its combustion, I wondered whether this "Borneo" spirit could, possibly, only be an admixture of ordinary mineral spirit (i.e., petrol) with " tar " spirit. But I knew that such admixture could not be commercially possible, owing to the price of the tar product, and, so, dismissed the idea as absurd. However, I made the usual chemical tests, and my suspicions were confirmed by finding that the spirit contained about 25 per cent. of liquid which was, for all intents and purposes, "tar" benzol. Similar tests were, very kindly, carried out by Mr. Wilton, of the Gas Light and Coke Company's Tar Works, and his report confirmed my figures.

I was much puzzled to know how, when, and where, this proportion of " tar " benzol had come into the spirit, but, happily, one day Mr. Hunter, of Messrs. Thompson and Hunter, the well-known oil-well experts, asked my opinion on a remarkable set of tests, which they had made of a new grade of crude oil front Russia, and for the source of which they could absolutely vouch, being direct from the earth, without any admixture. This sample showed the presence of " tar " spirit or benzol, in the same way as did the " Borneo " spirit.

So, evidently, in some wells, we have a new source of, socalled, "tar " benzol in quantity—but, at the present high prices of petrol. it is very unlikely that the industries using benzol will find its extraction from mineral oil remunerative.

—Yours faithfully, A. DUCKHAM. Phcenix Wharf, West Ferry Road, Miliwall, E.,

The Side-Slip and Skid Prevention Trials.

The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."

Sir :-1 was a spectator of the trials held by the Automobile Club, on the 6th instant, and I was more than surprised to find that the conditions imposed by the Club, in the printed rules, had been departed from Co such an extent as to render the trials, in my opinion, somewhat farcical and, as a competition, absolutely useless,

In Part 2 (preliminary test), section 7, the rules of the Club state, " the devices must be fitted to a motor omnibus which will be supplied by the Club," and section 8 goes on to state, " the vehicle or vehicles will be driven by the same driver throughout the test and " the driver will be supplied by the Club." The departure from section 7 doe.!s not appear to be very serious, but the same cannot be said in connection with the alterations in the conditions of section 8_ It is the contention of the writer, and of many of his fellow spectators, that had the same driver been Cmpioved throughout, quite different results would have been achieved. The officials themselves, evidently, felt the same about the matter, as they compelled several of the drivers to repeat their performances, their first and second efforts being unsatisfactory. It is, surely, a question for argument how far

the Club is at liberty to alter the conditions of trials, without proper notice to competitors, and whether such a serious departure from the rules does not render the whole competition null and void, and point the way to further trials, where the rules laid down shall be strictly adhered to.

There is still another matter of interest, in connection with the trials. In the opening sentence of the printed rules, issued by the Club, and under the heading " Object," it is stated that the devices must comply with the regulations of the Local Government Board. Now these regulations are most emphatic, and clearly state that motor vehicles of the bus type shall have their wheels fitted with a " soft or elastic material." It would be interesting to know whether, for the purposes of these trials, the Club has obtained any relaxation of this order, otherwise I fail to see why certain metal devices, in direct contact with the road, were passed for trial. It was the knowledge of this order of the L.G.B. that kept back a number of devices from entry. If the Club had received the sanction of the L.G.B., or of the Police, for such relaxation of the orders why was it not publicly stated? The competition could, then, have been made a genuine trial and not resulted in the farce it has. But we have heard of Automobile Club trials before! As a suggestion to the Club in connection with their present efforts to prevent the discovery of a really efficient non-skid, I would repeat the preliminary test, viz., Part 2, after the ',ono miles have been run under ordinary road conditions : it would be interesting to see how far the wear and tear had affected the devices as non-skids.—Yours faithfully, FAIR PLAY. February 24th, 1907.

The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."

Sir :—The private non-skid trials held by the Automobile Club, and the process of elimination adopted by that body, seem to have left very few devices for the final test. The result almost warrants the opinion that the methods adopted by the Club, for the discovery of a successful non-skid device, are not the best and, probably, further trials may be necessary. It is hoped that, if these are arranged, they will be conducted on broader, and more reasonable, lines than the competition, now partly concluded. The idea of conducting these trials in a semi-private manner, and on the premises of a private trading concern, does not appeal to the general public as a good one. Why could not some well-known venue have been selected? There is no doubt that the immense influence of the Club is sufficiently great to have arranged for this.

The rules, in connection with the present trials, leave too much in the hands of the Club, or of the few members nominated to act in the selection of devices to pass the preliminary test, at the examination of the drawings. Why could not a competition be arranged at, say, the Crystal Palace where any device, the entrant paying for the privilege, could be entered and tried? The matter could be made sufficiently attractive to the public to bring a large number of visitors, and the competition could be repeated daily for, say, six days. Prizes might be offered for the most successful device, whose aggregate of marks for efficiency, throughout the week's trial, reached the highest total. Such a test would be much more conclusive than that made on a few yards of wood pavement at Ladbroke Grove. The Local Government Board and the police are, probably, anxious that some simple device be found to attain the object desired and would, no doubt, assist at such a trial. Let the competition be thrown open without preliminary examination of drawings by a coterie of Club experts whose investigations are conducted in private and who are " not required to give any reason for elimination," vide the Club rules. The result should well repay the experiment.

The competition, if sufficiently open, might be made to pay all expenses, including the prizes, if some small charge were made for admission. It is highly probable that the bus companies would interest themselves, and there is no doubt that sufficient entries could be made to guarantee a success ful show.—Yours faithfully, J. YARWOOD. February 22nd, /gel.


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