" London General" Intentions.
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Idle rumour has, probably, seldom been more active in any sphere of commercial work than in relation to London's motor-omnibus undertakings. A section of the daily Press continues to give publicity to wild assertions, by correspondents, in relation to Che number of deaths caused by these vehicles each week, notwithstanding the Home Secretary's official statements in the House. -These journals are comparable to gossipingold ladies, in the West End, who are short of something to discuss! It is one thing for an irresponsible individual to circulate an unfounded report to the effect that so many people were killed in Cromwell Road, at a particular crossing, during a certain week ; but one would expect more discretion on the part of the sub-editorial staff of London newspapers. 'Apart from these mere scintilice, a few statements of a more serious character are current in the Metropolis. The first of these is a bold and circumstantial statement to the effect that the London General Omnibus Company is : (a) about to abandon motor omnibuses; (b) has ordered 600 horses as its first instalment on account of new purchases ; and (c) has a number of men busily occupied in renovating its discarded horsed omnibuses. We are happy to be in a position to give an official and categorical denial to the whole of these statements, whilst further references will be found on page 273.
Variable Speed for Road Vehicles.
Dr. Hele-Shaw, F.R.S., in his own inimitable style, has taken a comprehensive, if brief, survey of the all-pervading subject of power tranmission in public service vehicles, and his paper, which was read before the Society of Motor Omnibus Engineers on Monday evening last, and which is published elsewhere in this issue, will, we feel sure, be read with great interest. It is a matter for regret that no words of ours can convey the illuminating digressions of the lecturer
when, as is his wont, and not infrequently, he departed from his text, either for the purpose of making reference to the wall diagrams, or in order to send home certain of his points by additional illustration. These personal touches are, inevitably, lost to all who were not present. Dr. HeleShaw repeated the chief arguments in favour of steam, and we agree that the merits of this expansive medium are, sometimes, overlooked by directors who are responsible for the conduct of motorbus undertakings. At the same time, nobody who has followed the dispiriting experiences of those who have, during the past two years, owned vehicles with flash or semi-flash generators can fail to admit that the balance of results is, so far at any rate, on the side of the internal-combustion engine. We have, from the first, refused to give our support to the suggestion that steam is doomed, because we have recognised that the differences of absolute temperature in the working cylinders of engines fed with superheated steam have been wide enough apart to provide incontrovertible and physical justification for the survival of that form of energy transmutation, subject only to the elimination of generator vagaries. Dr. Hele-Shaw's remarks must serve to stimulate manufacturers of steampropelled omnibuses to further effort, to the end that the comparatively small reproaches of dependence upon water supply, and of unpleasant heating effects upon the passengers; shall, pari passu with the control of the degree of superheat, be outweighed or mastered.
Turning to the alternative systems of transmission for petrol vehicles, as reviewed by Dr. Hele-Shaw, we concur in his belief that step-by-step gears of the sliding type will, notwithstanding their crudities and mechanical faults, remain in the ascendency for the next year or two. Quality of material has contributed to this survival, and it is more likely that modifications which lend themselves to incorporation as part of such gear boxes will commend themselves to proprietors and manufacturers than that inventions which involve fundamental changes will be embraced in any burry. It is for this reason that we look very hopefully upon the prospects of the Ravensbaw system of magnetic clutches, to which the lecturer made passing allusion. We have enjoyed the experience of a trip in a vehicle go equipped, and fitted with a 2oh.p. engine, but we are bound to secrecy as to details. This much, however, we may state : A separate magnetic clutch causes each gear ratio to become operative, a disc, some seven inches in diameter, adjoining each loose gear wheel inside the gear box; all toothed gears are constantly in mesh ; the foot clutch is, also, magnetic ; control is effectively obtained, for all the clutches, from two cells— sae, a pressure of four volts, and a current of one ampere; the additional weight involved can be kept down to less than solb., if necessary ; current from the two cells is sufficient to hold a clutch, without slip, when Roh.p. is being transmitted ; the ordinary change-speed lever is replaced by a small one on the steering wheel; the cost of manufacture is low. This system, upon which the patentees have been engaged for over five years, has now been perfected, and its wide applieaf on to both commercial and private motors is anticipated. It will, we are satisfied, prove a useful alternative to the Hart-Durtnall system of petrol-electric transmission,
to which we referred at length, on May loth Li., in conjunction with our Editorial entitled " The Coining of Electric Transmission," provided its ability to resist wear, so far as mechanical parts are concerned, is demonstrated.
Motorvan Orders at Olympia.
The healthiness of the motorvan trade in the hands of makers who have produced reliable vehicles asserted itself at the Olympia Show, which closed its doors five days ago. There were, prior to the decision of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders that private and business motors should he exhibited on separate occasions, not a few supporters of the combined display who adhered, most strongly, to the argument that a certain number of owners of pleasure cars must, of necessity, be interested in the utility side of the movement in addition. These gentlemen, whilst they are amongst the largest backers of the March Show, at which no private cars will he staged, have derived no small measure of consolation from the satisfactory amount of van business which forced itself upon them, last week, at Kensington. We are assured that these sales were striegy unsought, and that the purchasers insisted upon the transactions. Such insistence is, in itself, a welcome novelty ; but a lesson may be drawn from it. The idea, evidently, existed, in some minds, that the composition of the Show was the same as in November, 1905, and some intending buyers attended in that belief. We hope, therefore, that the Society will not fail, in due course, to give the widest publicity to the fact that its Commercial Show has yet to be held.
The Strength of Motor Wagons.
We believe that no useful purpose is served by giving undue publicity to accidents in connection with commercial motoring, unless some valuable inference can be drawn from the ascertained facts. Some of our readers, in the early days of this journal's: existence, were imbued with the idea that every little mishap deserved both reference and illustration in our pages, and one morbid individual submitted a photograph of a man who had been crushed beneath a traction engine, although the heavy locomotive, which, by the way, did not even come within the scope of the Heavy Motorcar Order, was not included in the pieture It is one thing for a local paper to fill its columns with details of this character, but we feel disinclined to do more than refer to such incidents at rare intervals; in fact, just as rarely as a utility vehicle is found to have had a share in any extraordinary or untoward accident.
An exception to our rule is made this week, because particulars have been communicated to us, as will be gathered from the illustration on page 275, which tend to show the exceptional damage-resisting powers of a standard steam wagon. In this case, it happens to be one of the Yorkshire make, and we recollect that another of the same manufacture, owned by the Great Western Railway Company, sustained but little injury, after turning a complete somersault, in the Tome Valley, some six months ago. Traction engines have been able, in many cases where exceptionally rough work has been undertaken, to go through the ordeal solely on account of their massiveness and structural rigidity, but it looks as though the modern steam wagon were, by reason of the employment of superior material, able to stand an incredible amount of severe usage without appreciable detriment to its capacity for service. There are, at the present time, upwards of ',oats steam wagons in regular daily service throughout the United Kingdom, and the occasions upon which these machines get out of control, or bring their owners into conflict with the law,are really exceptional rather than, as might be gathered from the mere repetitionary accounts of art accident when one does occur, of frequent occurrence.
Manchester Motorbuses : Should the Company Collapse ?
We are sorry to observe the somewhat pusillanimous collapse of the management of the Manchester District Motor Omnibus Company, Limited. It appears that these gentlemen, who, only in March last, invited the public to subscribe £200,000 for the purpose of mechanical transport, both passenger and parcels, in the Manchester district, are willing, and even eager, to abandon the whole undertaking. A circular letter, which was issued by the company on the 211d instant, is now before us, and we cannot express admiration of the manner in which the statement of the case has been put before the shareholders. We object, more particularly, to the statement that, " after consulting some of those largely interested," the directors had_ decided to recommend voluntary liquidation. Who are these largelyinterested parties, and do their shareholdings deserve to reckon equally with the subscriptions paid in by other shareholders? Whilst recognising the difficulties by which the directors have been confronted, owing to the action of the Nlanchester and other local authorities, we fail to understand, having regard to the scope of the scheme as put forward in the prospectus, and to other representations in that document, how the board can justify its proposal to give up the ghost ! Having invited and obtained financial support, and having disposed of -4.13,000 over the promotion, we should have preferred to see the management stand by the undertaking in its difficulties, and make a sincere effort to protect the interests of those members of the investing public who were guided by the terms of the prospectus. The proposal to liquidate will, no doubt, satisfy those who have already had, or who may expect to obtain, their share of the public money entrusted to the charge of the directors, but we believe that, if the directors really intend to study the interests of the shareholders, they will not offer any objection to the adjournment of next Tuesday's confirmatory meeting, so that some of the principal shareholders may have put before them a proper statement of accounts, dis bursements, and commitments. Failing this course, we believe that the directors may find themselves faced with litigation in the High Court, and we would seriously ask them to afford the desired opportunity to their shareholders, and particularly those in the Manchester district, who subscribed at least 1.2o,000 out of a total of ,*7-;,000, to understand the situation. It may be, legally and technically, correct to wind up the company as is projected, but we scarcely think the directors are paying doe regard Co their obligations by this unseemly haste and by presenting the case to the shareholders as tine chose jug*. In any event we urge shareholders, for cash, to attend next Tuesday's meeting, or to send their proxies to the address given on page 271 of this issue, as their action will, at least, prevent the obtaining of the necessarythreefourths majority, and give time for adequate discussion with a committee. Under these circumstances, shareholders who have given proxies to the board should, we think, cancel them.