LEAVES FROM THE INSPECTOR'S NOTEBOOK.
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The German Lorry in England. The First Class Habit.
THOSE OF US who were concerned with the very early days of the industrial-vehicle industry, ' will recall that the German motor lorry was one of the first practical examples of the type which it -was possible to turn to service account. We recall, of course, the state of affairs that existed at the time when the sudden demand arose for superseding the tens of thousands of London's bus horses with some' thing or other more or less adapted mechanically to that end. There was an almost total lack of models Suitable for the purpose.
The particular pistol which was presented to the head of the London General Omnibus Co. took the form of the Daimler-Marienfeldbr chassis when the Vanguard Co. , Was 'brought into existenee • to operate them in the streets of the Metropolis as the first practical attempt to establish a mechanical alternative to London's age-long horsedrawn surface locomotion. The L.G.O. Co. showed itself extremely loth to adopt this new thing, and indeed this wonderful old company was lagging behind its virile competitor, the Road Car Co. The directors hesitated very seriously at the prospect of abandoning the whole of this wonderful "horsey" organization, which was, as a matter of fact, the admiration of and the model for the other great centres of the world, But it had to come, and it was the German three-ton modelnf the day which forced this tremendous revolution. There was, as a matter of fact, no other practical design in existence at the time, and by " practical " we must not be taken to include the several experimental 'efforts, British, French or German, of which our trade history has records at this time.
It was not until a great deal later that other German chassis were brought forward with any degree of confidence for similar work. The Dfirkopp and the Bussing were other early German machines of which considerable use was made in this nursery of the industry, the omnibus traffic of London. ' These machines, useful as they undoubtedly were in the task of establishing' at a high speed of development the first stages of the industrial-vehicle movement in this country; were 'Used very little other than in the motor. bus services of the capital. The outstanding example, of course, , was the Daimler Mercedes or the ,MilnesDaimler as it ultimately came, to be called in this country, and with the exception of the Stoewer and. one or two other less 'important German productions, this was the only one which had made any considerable headway in this country up to the time of the war.
There are still a few Daimler Mercedes in service— and some of the model's were exCellent machines in their way. It was not that the Germans had not produced good designs. Their subsidy vehicles particularly were fine accomplishments, but, fortunately, the German industry, in. this particular direction, had established a very small hold here. There appears to be not the slightest reason whatever why a solitary new German model should be imported here. We can build better here now and we can build British! To build British means that we can build to that standard whidi throughout the world has given to British goods a position hitherto unequalled for quality, and lasting' capaoity. Obviously the present generation must uphold this tradition.
The First Class Habit.
It must have been noticeable to most for whom business or pleasure makes it necessary to travel "first-class," that much of the discomfort nowadays characteristic of this choice compartment has for a year or two past been due, in no small measure, to the State's subsidy to its hordes of temporary assistants to enable them to "avoid the mob." The necessity for this preferential treatment must either be ascribed to disciplinary necessity or to the spontaneous generosity of the Powers that Be when it comes tO the spending of other people's money.
The tens of thousands of subalterns, to say nothing of the countless "chief" officials of war-time organizations, whose activities range from the provision of mugs of tea for leave-bound troopers to-a mere craving for uniform, all of these have suddenly become, as to the manner born, victims, and not unwilling ones, of the first-class habit. Hundreds of thousands of men and women have newly become first-class passengers during the past two or three years, even if at half-fare or voucher rates. It will be some long while before many of these lucky, people will feel able or be forced to come back to earth. They will, quite naturally, still desire the alleged comfort and exclusiveness of the premier compartment.
, This war-time necessity of segregating the one-pip froin the three-stripe, whether rifleman or Wraf, will most certainly prove to have encouraged no little extravagance in this direction ; it will have some considerable effect on travel. Likely enough it will be found to have given rise to a general desire for more comfortable -travelling. It will,encoura.ge the taxicab habit, and the exclusiveness, if not the comfort, of the light oar will remain as desirable to those young men and women who have become accustomed to the first-class and the Rolls-Royce or Crossley standard of comfort in war-time, whatever they had before. Straphanging will be more ,detestable than ever to these thousands, and they will never think of standing in a public carriage again in future.
The subaltern, male and female, is not the only sufferer. One has to remember, too, the numbers of now well-to-do war-time manual workers who have made the discovery that first-class travel is an adequately expensive and not unpleasant way of getting rid of surplus profits. We shall, some of us, undoubtedly expect the maximum of comfort at the minimum of expense in travelling in future. But we may not get iti