The Wheels of Industry.
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"The wheel of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs.'"--John Beattie Crozier Proposals and Purchases by Local Authorities.
The Electricity Committee of the Dover T.C. wants to buy a steam tractor.
Bacup T.C. recently had the desired L.G.B. approval communicated to it for the fire-engine loan of 21100.
The Newton Abbot U.D. C. is paying .2727 for a .steam lorry, which is to be used for haulage and streetwatering.
The Cleansing Department of the Rochdale Corporation, of which Mr. F. W. Brookman is superintendent, is about to purchase an additional motor wagon.
Pudsey Town Council had an exciting meeting on, the evening of the 21st inst., in regarct to fireengine matters. It was ultimately resolved to approve the purchase of a new petrol fire-engine.
Southend-on-Sea Corporation has now sold its petrol road roller to the Road Board, for £400, for shipment to France. The Economies Committee of the same corporation is in favour of the use of further motor vehicles.
The Cleansing Department of the Burnley Corporation, through Mr. Oswald Tillotson, of Guy Street, Gannow Top, Burnley, has ordered a three-ton Leyland tipping wagon, fitted with petrol engine, at £792, this being a repeat order.
The Rugby R.D.C. has sent back to its Highways Committee a, report in which it is recommended that consent to the continued use of the roads by motorbuses should be refused on the ground that the proprietors had refused to contribute towards the cost of highway maintenance.
Government Contracts.
The following further tenders have been accepted by the War Office during the past month :— Motor bodies: Alford and Alder ; J. Bartle and Ca.; Carrosserie Latymer (1915), Ltd. ; Charlesworth Bodies, Ltd. ; Grosvenor Carriage Co., Ltd. ; London Improved Motor Coach Builders, Ltd. ; MillionQuiet ; Salmons and Son ; J. E. Thomas (Auto-Coachbuilding Co., Ltd.) ; J. Young and Co., Ltd. Motorcars and motor ambulances: Rover Co., Ltd. Fire-engines and accessories: Dennis Bros., Ltd. ; Merryweather and Sons, Ltd. ; Shand, Mason and Co., Ltd. Motorvehicle parts : Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co. Petrol tractors and parts: Motor Rail and Tramcar Co. Steam wagons: Clay. ton and Shuttleworth, Ltd.
A Recent Registration.
Chase Bros., Ltd. (R2000), with its office at 12a, Station Road, West Croydon., Gazette.
Meetings ,of the members of the Bradford Transport Co., Ltd., and of the Chippenhaan (Wilts.) Motor Works, Ltd., will be held, on the 17th July, at three o'clock, at the offices of Messrs. Gardner and Beanland, 2, Darley Street, Bradford, and on the 20th July, at one. o'clock, at the offices of Messrs. Edmonds and BullM, Prudential Buildings, Portsmouth, respectively, for the usual purposes.
Concerning Petrol.
• The Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the Committee stage of the Finance Bill last week, made proposals •° under which the increased scale of carriage taxes on private motorcars is to be abandoned, and a special licence-duty of a further 6d. per gallon taxation on petrol is to be imposed. There appears to be a great deal of misunderstanding and uncertainty about the effect of this intended new legislation upon commercial vehicles.
We must point out in • the first place that there are yet nearly three weeks to run before the Finance Bill will become law. Next, it is to be noted that Mr. McKenna's estimate of yield is £962,000 per annum which sum represents under 40,000,000 gallons of petrol, and a reduction on the present rate of private-car consumption of fully 25 per cent. That yield makes no provision for anything from commercial vehicles, which fact is of great importance to readers of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. Had Mr. McKenna included commercial motors, or intended to include them, he must have added to his figures at least another E625,000, representing the proceeds of 3d. per gallon on 50,000,000 gallons of petrol per annum.
We are of opinion that supporters of this journal can be re-' assured in respect of any application of the new taxation to them. We are hopeful that owners of commercial vehicles, along with doctors and others who have previously enjoyed a rebate of 50 per cent, of the petrol tax, will not be called upon to obtain petrol under the new system of permits, in so far as the payment of a new licenceduty is concerned.
The C.M.U.A. is naturally taking active steps to protect the interests of all users. Never was there, in fact, a more urgent call to users at large to support that body, and we recommend those of our readers who do not yet belong to it to send El us. 611., being 10s. 6d. for the remaining half-year of 1916, together with El is. entrance fee, to Mr. F. G. Bristow, the Secretary, at 83, Pall Mall, London, S.W. Users in certain northern and north-western areas will be referred by Mr. Bristow to the Secretaries of the local Associations.
A Ministry of Commerce.
• Mr. Ernest J. P. Benn, whose services have been voluntarily given to the Ministry of Munitions for many months past, is the author of a book which is to appear under title "Trade as a Science." This bock will be published by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons. It sets out in full detail Mr. Benn's scheme fora complete system of Trade Associations, headed by a Minister of Commerce. A preface is contributed by Lord Burnham.
The/A.5.C., M.T., Fund.
The next list of cash donations to our Campaign Comforts Fund, for the officers and men of the Mechanical Transport Units of the Army Service Corps, will be published in ourissue of the 20th prox. It is evident, from the progress which support is making, that the total will then be in the vicinity of £11,500, apart from the value of gifts in kind. Additional cash support, from new members of the industry, will be heartily appreciated, as the necessity to proceed with purchases to meet the requirements of the early months of next winter will shortly involve big outlay in advance.
Damage in Dublin.
Mr. T. W. Murphy, sub-editor of " The Motor News" (11, Findlater Place, Dublin), is responsible for the production of an illustrated souvenir of the six days of semi-civil war in Dublin which occurred at the end of April. General J. E. Maxwell, writing to Mr. Murphy under date the 13th June, says:—" Dear Mr. Murphy, I beg to thank you most sincerely for your well-got-up little booklet, which will serve as a souvenir of a most distressing occurrence.—Yours sincerely, J. E. Maxwell."
The souvenir is priced 8d. post free, and we are confident that not a few readers of this journal will be desirous to order one or 'more. One of the illustrations, which we reproduce by permission of Mr. Murphy, Shows a Straker motor lorry, from. the fleet belonging to W. and R: Jacob and Co. Ltd., while passing along Eden" Civay. Motor lorries are helping in much rebuilding in Dublin.
After the War.
One of this country's best-known makers of components and units, E. G. Wrigley and Co., Ltd., of Foundry 'Lane Works, goho, Birmingham, which company is taking steps to put forward, on the cessation of hostilities, exhaustive sets, both of designs and parts, to cover assembly and unit construction, remains for the present time almost exclusively committed to supplying Governmental requirements. It is, therefore, still unable to offer to the trade or the public any new output of components.'
Guy Motors.
Guy Motors, Ltd., of Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, has recently sold numbers of its two-ton chassis to buyers who are engaged upon war-service manufacture and transport. Particular cases are two twotanners which have been sold to A. Harper, ,Sons and Bean, Ltd., of Dudley, and one to Messrs. Rubery, Owen and Co., of Darlaston, manufacturers of chassis frames for so many of our trade friends.
Spring Cushions for Passenger Vehicles.
Char-à-banes and motorbus proprietors will, we are sure, appreciate the fact that it is most necessary to have the vehicles which they operate fitted with springy and flexible cushions. This remark, of course, applies to all vehicles engaged in passenger service, but is perhaps of more importance where the machines of this type are utilized for long-distance journeys. For this class of work, where roads of varying grades are encountered, it will be obvious that comfortable cushions are desirable from several points of view. On this account it is interesting to note that G. D. Peters and Co., Ltd., Moorgate Works, Moorfields, London, E.C., is marketing a cushion which is particularly manufactured for use on motorbuses and chars-h-bancs. One of the chief claims made for this spring cushion is that it possesses flexible qualities which are stated to be a great improvement over most other types at present in use. Considerable numbers of motorbuses being operated on the London streets at the present time are now being equipped with the spring cushions made by this concern.