Royal Commission on the Motor Car Acts.
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Some Points in the Motorist's Case.
(Concluded from page 112.)
The Royal Commission on London Traffic has recommended the creation of a traffic board for the London. area. There is a need for such a traffic authority for the whole of the country, exercising functions not dissimilar to those exercised by the Board of Trade in the matter of railways. Another great danger for automobile traffic also arises in connection with tramlines. A tramway company is under an obligation to pave the road within the tramway track and also a few inches on the extreme sides of the rails. The local authority usually insists that these shall be paved with wood, but continues to maintain the part for which it is responsible (the strips by the sides of the roads) with macadam.
This sets up a condition of affairs which is a grave source of danger to the public. An illustration of it may be found any day on the new light railway route on the Great North Road or on the tramway on the main road between Brentford and Hounslow.
The heavy traffic, in order to get smaller rolling resistance, keeps to the centre of the road, and will only pull to the near side for the trams. The automobilist has, therefore, to remain permanently behind a vehicle travelling at three or four miles an hour or to overtake it on the wrong side. The condition of affairs should be altered by making it a statutory obligation (11 for all slow-going vehicles to keep to the left or near side of the road, and (2) far local authorities to pave the sides of their roads with wood when that material is used in the centre. A by-law to this effect is already in operation in the city of Nottingham and certain other towns.
Bridges have been closed to commercial motor vehicles under Sec. 1 of the 1896 Act. This section has no provision for appeal, and as there are instances where bridges have been closed to motor traffic for which there was no justification, or which could have been strengthened at small cost.
Fines and Fees.
All fines and fees imposed and levied upon motorists should be paid into Imperial funds:— (i) Fines for other offences are mainly imposed upon people living in the county in which the offence was committed —in most motorcar cases the offender lives in a distant locality.
(2)
There is a strong belief among motorists (whether justified or not it is impossible to say, but of the existence of the belief there is no doubt), that the knowledge that fines go to local funds influences the justices in some cases, and induces them to convict and impose heavy fines freely.
The Public Service Vehicle.
The public service vehicle more than the private motor requires protection and encouragement from the central authorities. A hostile local authority could absolutely prevent the establishment of a public motor service, however much that service might be in the interests of the public. There are obvious reasons why a local authority might not desire a public service. The question of a license should, therefore, be in the hands of a central authority, or there should be an appeal to a central authority. In the London area the arrangement is satisfactory, as for all practical purposes the Metropolitan Police are a central authority, and are not susceptible to those influences which make a small local council quite unsuitable as the final authority for settling whether a public service vehicle should be licensed, although the local authority should always be consulted.
Universal Lighting of Vehicles.
There is no one measure which would so markedly increase the safety of the roads and reduce the number of accidents as one requiring all vehicles to carry lights, front and rear, after dark.
The Broad Issue.
The question that has to be dealt with is : Will the State encourage the development of the automobile movement? Will it give the necessary facilities for cheapening the motor, and bring it more and more within the range of the great mass of the population of this country. Further restrictions, increased taxation, tighter regulations press most heavily upon those who desire to use the car for utilitarian purposes, for the doctor on his professional rounds, the business man, the commercial traveller, and it would be quite easy to seriously discourage the use of the motorcar by those classes. The public interest demands that those other people should be encouraged to use the motorcar. Restrictions fall lightest on the wealthy classes who use the car for purely pleasure purposes.
The increasing use of the motorcar will:
Decrease the congestion of traffic in the street—
(a) One 5-ton motor wagon does the work of six twowheel carts; (b) One motor public service omnibus does the work of three horse omnibuses ;
(t) One private motorcar does the work of three horses (see Doctors' Returns);
Improve the sanitation of the streets, and decrease animal suffering ; Reduce the cost of road maintenance ; Spread the urban populations over the country districts and check the flow of rural population to the towns ; Reduce the price of production of manufactured articles by facilitating a system of transport speedier, more trustworthy, and more economical ; Facilitate the collection and distribution of produce ; Reduce the sum of human suffering and lead to the saving of many lives (see Doctors' Returns) ; (8) Build up a big industry eminently suitable for this country, giving employment to much capital and many thousands of workpeople, both skilled and unskilled. (A big home demand is essential to a successful foreign trade.) [The foregoing have been selected by us from a very large number of interesting sections prepared by Mr. W. Rees Jeffreys as part of the motorist's case to be presented before the Royal Commission. If any of our readers have facts in their possession which are likely to strengthen the points of evidence, we hope they will address Mr. Jeffreys, at 16, Down Street, W.—Eu.;
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Impact Measurement.
W. and T. Avery, Limited, of Soho Foundry, Birmingham, has recently patented an interesting appliance for registering the number of foot-pounds required to cause the fracture of a piece of metal with a given sectional area. The machine, which is named an impact tester, is designed on scientific principles for practical use in engineering shops and laboratories. Self-propelled vehicles are peculiarly exposed to sudden and heavy shocks while travelling over our ordinary highways, and many serious breakdowns have occurred, especially in the early days of commercial motors, through the under-estimation of the maximum strength required for certain parts. One of the difficult questions to be faced by manufacturers is the crystallisation of iron or steel, and this applies especially to such parts as the back and front axles, which receive direct road shocks.
Our illustration shows the machine complete, with the pendulum ready for use. As will be seen, the instrument consists essentially of a double A-shaped cast-iron frame, at the apex of which are two hardened steel conical centres carrying the swinging pendulum. This pendulum consists of a very light steel tube, longitudinally stayed by two wire tie-rods, and having a cast-iron head at its lower extremity, whilst the upper end terminates in a finger which passes over the face of a graduated brass segment. A friction tight point, which is normally in the centre of the segment, is capable of being pushed forward by the finger when the pendulum swings beyond the vertical line. A vice for holding samples of metal to be tested is placed in the centre of the base of the machine ; the specimens have to be prepared to the given section of gin. in width by 3-16in. in thickness. The instrument is used as follows :— Tile pendulum, which is normally in the vertical position, is lifted up until the linger is opposite the figure corresponding to the number of foot-pounds required for the test. A block, holding a spring trigger, is then brought up under the oscillating arm, and bolted in that position. The trigger is then disengaged, and the pendulum lowered by hand until it assumes a vertical position exactly over the vice. A section of the metal to be tested is placed in the vice in such a way that its upper end just touches a stop placed in the weighted hammer head. The pendulum is again lifted up to the trigger, which holds it in position until it is released. A general rule is to bring the finger round to the maximum number of foot-pounds—twenty-three—whatever the nature of the material to be tested, although any height may be used, provided that sufficient fall is allowed to break the sample at the first blow. When making the test, the trigger is pressed, and the pendulum swings downwards, the finger carrying the recording pointer with it, and the latter shows the actual energy in foot-pounds absorbed in breaking the sample of metal placed in the vice. The following notes will be of value to the many who are interested in this important subject :—(A) The tensile strength test is no guide to the results which will be given by the impact test. (B) If the material is homogeneous, the results of the testing of a number of specimens from the same bar or piece, by impact, will agree closely. (C) A marked variation in the results of a series of impact tests shows conclusively that the material is " patchy " and nonhomogeneous. (D) Heat treatment has a more marked effect upon the result of impact tests than upon any other form of trial. (E) The behaviour of the specimen when struck by the pendulum weight should be carefully noted, as in some cases the test piece breaks off short, and in others only just fractures. The machine is of the highest finish throughout, and gives accurate results. Skilled labour is not required when using it, and as many as sixty experiments can be made in one hour. The price of the machine inclusive is L..40.
Omnigrav Carburetter.
We are enabled to give a description and a sectional elevation of the Omnig,rav Carburetter, sold by Messrs. Gunstone and Tucker, of 3, Westmoreland Mart, Bath. This carburetter is constructed on an entirely new principle, and will successfully use petrol, paraffin or Borneo spirit with a gravity of .780. The carburetter has no float chamber or float ; but the fuel is only admitted on the induction stroke of the engine. Directly the induction stroke is finished, the supply of fuel is cut off by a needle valve, which eliminates the danger of taking fire, as there is no surplus spirit left in the carburetter. An important point is that the quantity of petrol or paraffin is always taken in proportion to the power required from the motor. The construction of the carburetter, as will be seen from our illustration, is very simple, for it consists essentially of only three principal parts. The centre portion is placed between an automatic air regulator and a gas throttle; it has a vertical needle valve (E), and the point of the valve is at the top of the air passage (N). This needle valve is removed from its seating by a wing (F), connected to the valve by a lever (G), oscillating on the pivot marked U. The point of the valve (E) is held against its conical seating by a spiral spring (J) and, when necessary, it can be adjusted by the screw (K) at the bottom of the carburetter and locked immovably by the nut (L). D is a two-way tap which allows of the driver's altering the supply of fuel from petrol to paraffin, or vice versa, as he thinks fit. The makers. claim the following advantages over the forms of carburetters now in daily use :—Greater power and speed with the same consumption as the ordinary spray carburetter; easy starting, due to the new principle of the carburetter and its method of atomising; absence of deposit in the carburetter or in the internal parts of the motor, as the carburetter is not heated, but keeps practically cool; perfect combustion and, therefore, no smoke from the end of the exhaust pipe.
The carburetter can be fitted to any existing type of engine without alteration, and no sparking-plug troubles when using ordinary paraffin have been experienced. The makers tell us that the carburetter has been successfully run on Borneo spirit of .78o specific gravity, and that no difficulty occurred when starting up. A thorough test was then made with the same spirit, and the makers will fully guarantee the working of the carburetter under any conditions, or with any form of kerosene. Three types are manufactured, these being termed a, 1}, and c. The first two types are for petrol and paraffin, and have a two-way cock on the top. The c type is for Borneo spirit only. As there is an undoubted want for a carburetter which will successfully use heavy oils, particularly for public service vehicles on which it is imperative that the working costs should be kept as low as possible, the use of Borneo spirit, which could be used with the c type, should prove comparatively cheap. Such a spirit, too, is procurable in large quantities. The price of the carburetter is only js. for the size used on a zoh.p. engine, so that anyone interested in the carburetter question can purchase one of them, for the purpose of giving it an exhaustive test on some form of commercial vehicle without much risk.