WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.
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Many Private Bills.
A notable feature of the present session of Parliament is the large number of Private Bills introduced by local authorities and private concerns.
There are over 100 of these Bills, containing a wide variety of proposals materially affecting the interests of vehicle owners. Amongst the subjects which have been investigated are charges for parking on the public highway, prohibition of vehicles taking in petrol while standing on the highway, extra charges for washing water, restrictions on the passing of stationary trams, restrictions on roadside petrol pumps, railway level crossings, ferry charges, tolls on roads, application of hackney-cairiage by-laws to motor vehicles plying for hire from private premises, etc. Every Bill has been scrutinized by the Motor Legislation Committee, and whilst in some cases negotiations with the promoters are in progress, in others arrangements have been made for the strongest opposition before the Parliamentary Committee to any proposals inimical to the interests of road users.
Morris-Commercial Overseas Developments.
Most of the important British commercial-vehicle manufacturers . are now paying increasing attention to overseas markets and, as an example of the enterprise which is being displayed, it is interesting to learn that Mr. C. F. Lawrence King, assistant general manager of Morris Commercial Cars, Ltd., of Birmingham, has just left England in connection with an extended tour of Egypt and the Near East. He will undertake an investigation of the requirements and possibilities of these markets, as well as negotiating some important contracts for Morris-Commercial six-wheelers, for which there is a growing demand, particularly from countriee overseas.
Mr. King, will arrive in Egypt in time to attend the Cairo Motor Show, at which exhibition a range of MorrisCommercial lorries will be shown.
Temporary Seats in Buses--An Interesting Point of Law.
The reserved decision of the Tredegar .(Mon.) magistrates in a series of cases against bus owners and drivers, heard at the December Court sittings, has been ' given.
A number of bus drivers had been summoned for using buses which, It was contended, had been altered in construction so as to increase the seating capacity. The uaners were summoned for aiding and abetting.
The plea of the defence at the hearings was that drivers could not be proceeded against and penalized as principals for an offence which, if committed, the bus owners were really responsible. The owners pleaded that no offence had been committed within the legal meaning of " altering the construction of vehicles." The alleged offences were the use of temporary and removable seats which the owners claimed did not alter the vehicle's construction.
In20 The magistrates announced that all cases were proved and offences had been committed. Fines ranging from 20s., with 20s. costs, down to payment of court fees were imposed.
Tilling and BAT. Dividend.
The directors of Tilling and British Automobile Traction, Ltd., are recommending the payment of a dividend of 10 per cent. on the ordinary shares of the company for the year ended Decent her 31st last, and the payment of an additional dividend at the rate of 2 per cent, on the cumulative 8 per cent, participating preference shares, making 10 per cent, for the year. The dividends are the same as last year, on increased capital.
How to Avoid Road Accidents.
Mr. A. Drysdale Wilson recently delis-red an address on "How to Avoid Accidents on the Road" at a meeting convened by the West Midlands Division of the Commercial Motor Users Association. Mr. Wilson advocated public highways being brought under one set of regulations which would govern the movements and actions of all users of the. road. It is not surprising, in his opinion, that pedestrians are often the victims of accidents, for their actions, unfettered by official regulations, are often suicidal. He deprecated the practice of walking in the same direction as the traffic when proceeding on the outside of the pavement.
Garner Works Busy.
We learn that the works of Garner Motors, Ltd., at Tyseley, Birmingham, are working at high pressure in connection with many repeat orders which the company has received, particularly for its forward-control model. The Garner chassis has achieved much success since its introduction and its merits have been well recognized by the furniture trade in particular.
We are told that Carter, Paterson and Co., Ltd., has recently placed a large repeat order with Garner Motors, Ltd., whilst Russian Oil Products,. Ltd., is shortly putting a fleet of 16 Garners on the road.
The Transport Commission:
We are informed by the chairman of the Royal Commission on Transport that the Commission will meet in public at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 30th, in committee room "E," House of Lords. The business will be to complete the hearing of Mr. Stenson Cooke's evidence on behalf of the Automobile Association, and to hear evidence on behalf of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, Earl Russell and the Municipal Tramways Association.
The C0111ThisSioll will resume at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, January 31st, and at the same hour on the following day.
Details of a Bonus Scheme Required.
A company owning quarries and acting as a contractor for road transport is anxious to operate a bonus or profitsharing scheme in connection with its employees, and desires to have particulars of anything of this kind which has proved satisfactory in a similar business.
We would welcome information on this matter.
Coach and Bus Licensing. at Torquay.
• At a meeting of the Torquay Traffic
Committee it was reported that the number of licences in force during the past year in respect of motor coaches totalled 151, of which number 33 are for long-distance services only (Londom! Torquay), whilst 41 additional applicatiots have been received-for licences for long-distance services.
The number of licences in force during the past year, so far as motorbuses are concerned, totalled 157, of which number 10 at for long-distance services and 42 in respect of limitedstop services to Plymouth, Exeter and other centres. New applications total 23, all but one of which have been received from the Great Western Railway Co. These applications have been refe-red to the South Devon Area Advisory Committee for consideration, it being suggested that the minimum fare in and out of Torquay in respect of long-distance services covering a distance up to 100 miles be Is. Gcl., and 3s. 6d. where the service covers over 100 miles.
Bus Negotiations in the Potteries.
It is stated that negotiations are proceeding for the acquisition of certain motorbuses in North Staffordshire which are outside the group controlled by the Potteries Electric Traction Co., Ltd. The North Staffordshire Omnibus Owners' Association represents owners who control a large number of buses running on city, suburban and country routes in North Staffordshire. Members of the Association would appear to be divided in their opinion as to the desir ability of selling their interests. •
' Six-day non-transferable passes have , been recommended for issue on all kis sections of the Bradford Corporation's passenger-transport system at a charge of 3s. Gil. Personal Pars.
It is with much pleasure that we publish on this page a photograph of Mr. W. G. Reece, brother of Mr. James Graham Reece, of Liverpool., who is a director of the well-known motor concern of J. Blake and Co., Ltd., of Manchester 'and Liverpool. The writer has known " Billy " Reece since the early days of The. Commercial Motor, when Blake's were about the Most important Commer agents and ran a fleet of those vehicles for post-office work in Lancashire.
Mr. W. G. Reece has taken an important part in the Blake management and, mainly in their interests, recently paid a long visit to Australia and iNew Zealand. We ran across him in London on the first day of his return and we retain a pleasant recollection of his enthusiasm for the Antipodes. It is a surprise, all the same, that he announces to us his intention of taking up permanent residence in Sydney and that lie wilt leave England early in March. His interests out there will be mostly in connection with road transport as applied to highway conetruction and the building trade.
Mr. Reece will be interested to hear from manufacturers of chassis or equipment whose products could be marketed out there, and from our own knowledge
we can thoroughly recommend him. He knows the commercial-vehicle business and its requirements from A to Z, and he is a thoroughly likeable, genial soul, who will be sadly missed by his host of friends in this country. Letters will reach him if addressed care of J. Blake and Co., Ltd., Liverpool.
There are not nany connected with the manufacturing side of the commercial-vehicle industry who have not had the pleasure of meeting that very genial gentleman, J. A. Poole, now chief engineer and designer to Commer Cars, Ltd., of Luton, where he has been responsible for the design a that company's new four and six-wheeled fast passenger vehicles of various types.
Mr. Poole will be remembered as one of the pioneer designers of six-wheelers, as he joined Karrier Motors, Ltd., in 1922 in a similar capacity to that which he now occupies, and designed Karrier vehicles, ranging from 25-cwt. chassis to double-deck six-wheelers to carry 68 persons.
Mr. Poole was educated at the King 'Henry VIII Grammar School, Coventry, and Birmingham Technical College, his first connection with the motor trade being with Humber, Ltd., in 1898.
Mr. Duxbury, formerly of Crofts (Engineers), Ltd., has been appointed works manager of the Keighley Gear Cutting Co.' of Keighley, which is associated with David Brown and Sons (Huddersfield), Ltd.
A Dual-purpose Freighter.
Illustrations which appear on this page depict an interesting tower wagon which has recently been supplied by Shelvoke and Drewry, Ltd., to the Brighton Corporation. The basis of the vehicle is the S.D. Freighter chassis with a wheelbase of 8 ft.; this has a wide frame and a rear axle similar to that employed in the company's cabledrum carrier. The tower superstructure is built in three telescoping sections and, when extended to the maximum height, the platform is 18 ft. above the chassis level. In the accompanying pictures the tower is shown in both lowered and elevated positions, and in the former its compactness should be noted.
An interesting feature is that the tower can easily be run off the lorry body, for which purpose its base is provided with wheels. In this way it is possible to use the machine for general haulage. Such a 12hicle is undoubtedly an excellent dual-purpose appliance for electricity undertakings, as it enables cable drums to be carried and street-lighting equipment to be inspected and maintained by bringing into use the demountable tower structure. The Belfast Municipal Elections.
Tho motor industry has no reason to feel dissatisfied with the result of the Belfast municipal elections. Three candidates who were identified with either the bus or motor business went forward,
and of these two were returned, one, Mr. W. J, Chambers, without opposition, and another, Mr.W. H. Alexander, by a substantial majority over his opponent, a former Lard Mayor of the city. Mr._Robert Bell, who stood solely as a bus candidate, Was defeated by Sir William Turner, the present Lord Mayor. This was generally expected, in view of the popularity of Sir William Turner, but the fact that Mr. Bell polled 4,203 out of 8,968 votes would appear to show that there is • a large body of the electorate dissatisfied with the way the private bus owners have been treated by the corporation and the Government.
Newport Appeals to the Ministry
An appeal to the Ministry of Transport has been made by the Newport (Mon.) Town Council against the refusal of the St. Melions Rural District Council to issue licences for bus services between Newport and Pye Corner, Besseleg, and for occasional services between Newport and local resorts through the St. Mellons area. It will be recalled, as mentioned in our issue dated January 15th, that in the latter connection sanction was refused after the St. Mellon s Council hail. heard the objections of the Newport Char-A-banes Proprietors Association.
A Stimulus to Thought.
The extraordinary fact that buses which are licensed to carry a certain ntunher of passengets in Northern Ireland are permitted. only to carry a smaller Dumber in the Irish Free State was revealed in an overcrowding ease heard recently in a County Donegal court. The defendant pointed out that he could carry 17 passengers in a bus in Northern Ireland and only 14 passengers in the same vehicle in the Irish Free State. The justice who heard the case described that as one of the beau
ties of the border. Where you have to keep in touch with the laws of two legislatures," he said, "it helps to cultivate your brain."
Private v. Municipal Services at Middlesbrough.
The allegation that privately owned buses were being driven off certain routes for the benefit of municipal seeVices was made at Middlesbrough, when the proprietors of the Safeway Motor Services, of North Ormesby, and the Redwing Motor Services, of Redear,' were summoned for having plied for hire in the town with unlicensed vehicles.
For the defendant companies Mr. R. Nixon stated that au appeal had been lodged with the Ministry. He suggested that the cases should be adjourned pending the receipt of the Ministry's finding. He further averred that the action of the corporation in withholding licences, when they expired in November last, was influented by the desire to help the corporation transport department.
The chief constable, Mr. S. Riches, said that several ,months ago the firms were given the opportunity for running over an alternative route, because these which they used carried considerable traffic. The change was dictated by the interests of public safety. When the companies did not fall in with the B22 wishes of the authorities the licences were net renewed in November. It was decided to adjourn consideration of the cases for a month.
Twenty Buses Working Tram Route.
Wallasey Corporation has introduced motorbuses on the Seabank Road route to replace the electric tramcars dealing with passenger traffic between Seaeombe and New Brighton. At the busy hours of the day there will be 20 buses on the route, about a two-minute service being maintained.
A Free State Prohibition Order.
An Order was recently made by the Local Government Department of the Irish Free State prohibiting the driying of any vehide which exceeds 5 tons la weight on the Listowel-Ballybunion road. The local urban council has protested very strongly against this Order, stating that the withdrawal of the buses operating ever the road will be detrimental to the trade of Listowel.
A Presentation to Mr. 0. C. Power.
At a private luncheon held at the Queen's liotel, Birmingham, a few days ago, a presentation was made to Mr. 0. C. Power, traffic manager of the Birmingham and Midland Omnibus Co., Ltd., by the divisional council of the Commercial Motor Users Association, upon his retirement from the chairmanship of the West Midlands Division of that organisation.
The new chairman is Mr. J. H. Stick, the traffic manager of the Birmingham Co-operative Wholesale Society.
" Container " Traffic Progress.
Successful experiments have been made, we are told, by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Co. in the transit of goads by " containers " or road-rail trucks, and, with the co-operation of the Continental railways, the necessary organization has been built up to deal with this traffic on an extended scale. Services by " containers " are now available via the port of Goole to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Ghent, Hamburg, Dunkirk and Copenhagen, and between Tilbury and Dunkirk. The system enables traders to load goods at their works for direct transit to the door ofthe Continental consumer.
Municipal Motor Developments at
Cardiff City Council is to augment its refuse-collection fleet by the purchase of five 80-cwt. motor vehicles. Tenders for the supply of these vehicles have been submitted and will shortly be considered.
The Cardiff tramways department is to convert 28 double-deck buses from solid tyres to pneumatic tyres and tenders for the work are invited from constructors on the King's National Roll.
Full particulars of the work can be obtained from the office of the Tramways General -Manager, Dragon Buildings, Paradise Place, Cardiff.
New Buses Needed.
Now buseS are needed for the Londonderry municipal services, according to the report of the manager. Two of the vehicles have been on the road for nine years and are obsolete in construction. They do not comply with the Northern Ireland Public-service Vehicle Construe-ton Regulations, and for this reason, we underetand,licences for the buses cannot be renewed after March 31st next.
Chevrolet Production.
The Chevrolet Motor Co. has recently announced that, during the first 10.4 months of 1928, 1,200,000 vehicles were built by it, this figure representing an increase of 180,000 over the record production of 1927. The record for any one month was achieved in May, when 140,775 vehicles were produced. This month aIso included the largest single day's output in the 16 years of the company's history, for 7,075 lorries and cars, completely finished, left the Chevrolet assembly lines on May 28th.
At-the recent motor 8how held in New York, Chevrolet officials reiterated the statement which has already been made public, that the company's production in 1929 would be at least 1,250,000 vehicles.
Papers Before the I.A.E.
At the next London meeting of the Institution of Automobile Engineers to be held at the Royal Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, London, W.C.2, on February 5th, Mr. H. Kerr Thomas will read a paper entitled Some Investigations into the Performance of Tubular Radiators for Motor Vehicles."
Mr. Kerr Thomas will also read his paper before several provincial centres of the Institution as follow :—Glasgow, February 18th; Wolverhampton, February 19th; Manchester, February 27th; Birmingham, March 11th.
The paper on "Coil Ignition," by Dr. F. W. Lanehester, which was read before the Institution in London recently, will be repeated at the following local centres :—Bristol, February 4th ; Birmingham, February 11th; Coventry, February 12th.
Establishing a .Bus Board in . Monmouthshire,
The local authorities of :the Eastern Valley of Monmouthshire have formed a joint.bus-traffic regulation and licensing, authority. The aims of the joint boal-cl are stated to be as follow bring about a discontinuance of alleged bus racing.between competitive interests, to secure the no-ordination of bus services, to apply a uniform licensing policy to all the areas and to promote by-laws for , bus. traffic that will facilitate the working of services.
The board has' been joined by the
following urban district councils:— Pontypool, Blaenavon, Panteg, Abergavenny, Usk, Llantamato and Llanfrechfa, whilst the rural district council of Pontypool is also a constituent member. We are informed that there is only one urban district council of the area to remain outside the board.
The joint authorities have appointed Col., P. N. Ford, of Pontypool, to be chairman of the hoard.
L.N.E.B. Road-motor Goods-service Development.
The London and North-Eastern Rail:way Co., which, in the come of. the fast few months, has made extensive headway with its plans to provide both passenger. and freight road services in the north country, is now making preParations for the launching of a special goods service to the East Cleveland
neighbourhood. Guisboroug,h will be the distributing centre for these services. All consignments will be taken to that town by rail and distributed by fast motor vehicles. To prevent waste of dine special unloading facilities will be provided to enable the motors to take their loads direct from the rail trucks.
Blackburn Corporation's Bill..
It was announced at a meeting of Blackburn electors convened to consider the promotion in Parliament of the Blackburn Corporation Bill that the Ribble Motor Service's, Ltd., and the corporation had arrived at a provisional agreement regarding the motorbus .clauses, and it was pot now the cornpang's intention to oppose the Bill.
A Japanese Tank for the Irish Free
' State. "
It is announced that a tank of Japanese deign is due for delivery to the Army authorities Of the Irish -Free State, and that an armoured car and tank section has recently. been brined in connection With the army.
Coach-parking at Brighton.
A joint committee of the Brighton Corporation has further .considered the Orin prepared by the borough surveyor for a parking place in the centre of Whitehawk Road to accommodate 200 coaches at a cost of £6,860, or 300 coaches at a cost of £10284, and the estimate of the expense of providing the ordinary roadway and footpaths (28 ft.) each side of the suggested parklug place, amounting to an additional sum of
The borough surveyor also submitted a plan for providing a suitable parking place fqr accommodating nearly 800 motor coaches at the rear of the Howard Home, and reported that he estimated the cost would be £11,750, or if the somewhat steep gradients be reduced to 1 in 20 £14,750.
Consideration of the reports was deferred pending the decision of the council as to the use of the level as a parking Place for coaches, but the joint committee expressed the opinion that this site should be utilized to the extent recommended in the report of the chief constable.
Buyers of Bristol Passenger Vehicles.
The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd., has recently received orders for its low-leading passenger chassis from the Exeter Corporation and from the Western Valleys Garage and Engineering Co., of Newbridg,e. An order has also been received from the West Riding Automobile Co., Ltd., for the Bristol Tourer—a new type of bus expressly intended for long-distance work.
"By Killarney's Lakes and Fells."
The town of Killarney depends, to a great extent, for its prosperity on the tourist industry, and, conscious of this fact, the urban council is offeriv every encouragement to bus Oomparde,s, to run services to the town. At present, the Irish Omnibus Co. has services running from Cork and from Limerick to Killarney.
An Epic Desert Crossing.
Hamilton Fyfe has written a vivid narrative of the remarkable perform ance of two Morris-Commercial sixwheeled lorries which, a few months ago, undertook the crossing of the Kalahari Desert, referred to as the worst desert in the African Confluent., it appears under the heading of "An Epic of the Kalahari," which has just been published in brochure form by Morris Commercial Cars, Ltd., of Birmingham.
Being familiar with this vast arid stretch, no one is more qualified to relate the hardships and difficulties which the expedition had to face cud one feels, when reading the well-told store, that a first-hand knowledge of the country has enabled . Mr. Fyfe to give the account of the journey in its true perspective. It was a Government expedition and the party set out from Mahalapye, in British Bechuanaland, to reach Ghanzi, on the western edge of the desert. It was intended that the arduous trip should be completed in six days, but well-nigh insuperable difficultiet actually resulted in the period being exactly doubled.
Mr. Pyre tells of the trials and tribulations of the hazardous journey with a fluency and ease which makes the story absorbingly interesting. The incidents related provide evidence of the adventurous character of the journey.and clearly show how British pluck and British motor trucks successfully accomplished a seemingly impossible task. The pictures which are included in the brochure give .a touch of "atmosphere " to a very readable narrative'.
A Presentation to a Municipal Official.
Mr. R. L. Horsfield. the late general manager of the Cardiff Corporation bus and tram undertaking, who has been appointed general manager of the Leeds Corporation's passenger-carrying service, was recently presented with a silver and cut-glass electric lamp by the engineering, inspection and clerical staffs of the Cardiff Tramways and Motors Department.
Mr. Horsfield, in returning thanks for the gift, stated that in the past two
or three years the undertaking had passed through a serious time, but he believed that shortly it would prove itself what it had been prior to the industrial depression—a great and profitable example of a municipal passenger-carrying organization.
Opposition Withdrawn.
We recently referred to the motorbus service which the Walsall and Wolverhampton Corpokations.proposed to run between the two towns and to the delay, in the institution of the service through an objection being lodged with the Ministry of Transport by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Co. It is now stated that the railway company has withdrawn its opposition and the service will undoubtedly shortly establish itself in public esteem.
Plywood in Bus-body Construction. Tucker Armoured Plywood Co., Ltd., Creek Mill Ply Works, Crayford, informs us that the 1929 model of the S.O.S. bus, which was illustrated in Our issue dated January 15th, incorporates in its eonstruction certain materials of the company's manufacture. For instance, the roof is built in a single piece of plywood, the outside panels, including the door, in plywood bent to shape, the inside panels of plywood, and the dash panels of ArmourPly.
. LlaneLly's Bus Centre.
The Llanelly Borough Council, haying received a gift of land in the centre of the town for the purpose of laying out a public square, has decided to utilize part of the space as a bug centre and a parking place for vehicles. In addition to providing standing Planes for buses, the council intends to provide shelterd and waiting rooms for passengers.
In our issue dated January 15th we briefly described a special type of body built by W. belumford. Ltd., of Plymouth, it being intended for vehicles used on long-distance services. We should have mentioned that the design was provisionally patented, the number of the patent being 28,040.
Bus Working at Middlesbrough.
The fact that, in a comparatively short time, the Middlesbrough Corporation bus system, which has shown losses for the past seven or eight years, would soon be converted into a profit-earning undertaking, was mentioned at a recent meeting of the corporation transport committee, when interesting figures svire produced to indicate the big headway which has been made since the beginning of the current municipal ñathicial year.
In the course of the past year or two the authority has steadily replaced old and obsolete types of machine by modern saloon buses with the result that revenue has been materially increased and working expenses considerably reduced. During the nine months ended December 31st last the total charge of the bus system on the town was only £871, compared with a sum running well into four figures in previous years. Actually the deficit for December was only £63, ccrnpared with an average of about .4300 per month in past years.
The committee agreed further to bring the fleet up to date by the purchase of three Guy Covered-top double-deck buses, primarily for week-end rush traffic.
Northampton Licence Figures.
The number of Read Fund licences issued by the local taxation officer at Northampton for the 12 months ended November 30th. 1928, was 14,878, the sum of £56,041 being received in respect thereof, an increase over the previous year of 670 licences nnd £2,913 in the amount received.
An A.E.C. Social Gathering.
On Saturday, January 19th, over 400 children of the works employees of the Associated Equipment Co„ Ltd., participated in a great Christmas party held in the spacious canteen of the company's Southall works. They were brought from their homes--4n some cases 20 miles distant—by a fleet of A.E.C. buses. The party was entirely organized by members of the staff. Lord Ashfield was present.