News and Comment.
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This journal fosters, represents, and chronicles commercial motoring in all its branches ; it has the largest and best circulation throughout the United Kingdom, the Colonies, India, and foreign countries generally. No part of our exclusive and valuable circulation is due to the forcing of sales in useless quarters.
The contract for the London to Cambridge mail service has been given to Milnes----Dainiler, Limited.
If not ready for presentation on the 13th proximo, the'Judges' report on the recent R.A.C. Trials will be published a week later.
Mr. Arthur Spurrier, one of the directors of Leyland Motors, Ltd., has been elected a member of the Commercial Vehicle Committee of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
At Edinburgh.
The Edinburgh Show, at Waverley Market, will remain open until Saturday evening. The percentage of commercial motors on view is disappointing, but the exhibition as a whole is to be reckoned a great success. There was a big gathering of heavy motorists, none the less, and amongst these we met Messrs. Burford, Raymond Dennis, Siddeley,Murray, Fulton, J. S. Napier, Wet-by Beaumont, George II. Halley and D. MeN. Sharp. We give
short report of the proceedings and exhibits on page 475.
New Customs Regulations.
Recent Customs regulations, with regard to the import and export of motor vehicles, are as follows :---After January irst, i9OS, entries will be required for all vehicles imported, and specifications for all those exported, whether accompanied or unaccompanied. The import entry must state whether the car is imported for sale or on behalf of private persons, and, in the case of exports, the specification must state whether the vehicle is exported as a private effect, or whether it has been sold to persons abroad. Messrs. Frank Oliver and Company, of 43, Exchange Street, Norwich, are of opinion that the trade of that city can be largely increased by the introduction of greater facilities for the dispatch of goods to inland towns. They point out that rates to some towns only so miles from Norwich are exceptionally high, the gross rate being as much as 20S. Md. per ton. Auto-Car Agencies, Limited, of 3, Hanover Court, Hanover Street, W., has, amongst the orders booked since our last issue, sold a 3o-cwt:, Halley van to Messrs. Arnold Brothers, of Great Yarmouth.
Mr. John Cory has given too guineas towards the purchase of a motor ambulance for Cardiff. Mr. Herbert Lewis, Hon. Secretary of the Cardiff branch of the St. John's Ambulance Association, hopes to have ,.,4;Soo in hand within two months.
A Calcutta Enterprise.
" The Times of India " announces that Indian Motors, Li,nited, has just been registered, with a depot at 1, Hastings Street, Calcutta, for the purpose, inter glia, of importing self-propelled business vehicles, postal vans, tongas, ambulances, lire engines, lorries, omnibus-es and cabs.
A Paraffin Thornycroft.
We illustrate on this page a 30 cwt.. van which has just been delivered to the Kilkenny Woodworkers, by John L Thornycroft and Company, Limited, of London and Basingstoke. The chassis is of the company's standard, 3oh.p. type No. 40, and is similar to five others which have been supplied to Messrs. Harris Lebus, the well-known cabinet makers, of rottenham. The chassis is fitted with the paraffin apparatus which proved so successful in the case of the Thornycroft lorry which won the gold medal in its class, and the War Office diploma for paraffin, in the recent R.A.C. Trials. The body, as will be noted, is of the ordinary, boxvan type, but has ample protection for the driver. The top is railed off so that a roof lo-ad may be carried if required. The Coventry Chain Company (1907), Limited, has issued an interesting series of motto cards, as an advertisement, the merits of its chains being set forth on the back of each.
Fastnut, Limited, has been induced, owing to the successful business done at the Dublin Show, to take space at the exhibition to be opened at Belle Vue, Manchester, on the 21q proximo.
More Export Orders.
The Federated Malay States Railway has purchased 14 more Milnes-Daimler vehicles, and another two of the same make are on the point of being shipped to British Guiana for mail work.
Lectures on Commercial Motors.
The Editor has now delivered addresses before the Bristol, Birmingham, Leicester, Aberdeen, Kidderminster, Bath, and York Chambers of Commerce, the last four beingarranged under the auspices of the Commercial Motor Users' Association. The lectures during February will be at Limerick, Belfast, Exeter, and Penzance..
Wheels and Tires.
Westminster City Council recently decided to purchase from the Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., two wheels and four rubber tires to be fitted to one of the Council's motorvans, for -/;54 Ms. 6d. The company was asked to guarantee the tires for 10,000 miles, and for twelva months instead of six months as they proposed. The company wrote on the 4th January stating that it could not extend the guarantee and must therefore decline the order. The Shrewf;bury and ChaHiner Tire Co., Ltd., sent, on the 2nd January, the following quotation for rubber tires for motorvans :16 inches by 4 inches World's endless tires (two wearing treads on one solid base), .454 18s. per pair. Supplying and fitting binding tires machined to suit the above, with side flanges and bolts complete, and one pair of new wood wheels built up on Council's own hubs, £12 125. The company agreed to give a guarantee of to,000 miles under its guaranteed mileage conditions, the distance to be run within twelve months from the date of the invoice. The Council at its last meeting accepted this offer. A Farmer's Wagon. .
It is vet a far cry to the universal employment of steam wagons by farmers, hut We believe the example of prominent fruit growers and market gardeners will shortly be followed by those who lay down cereals and root craps. Not every farmer can provide the traffic to keep a traction engine busy, but large numbers may well turn to account a steam wagon, the power from which can also be used externally for the driving of threshers, etc.
Mr. Sidney Hole, of Yew Tree House, Albourne, Hassocks, Sussex, has used a Foden wagon, for farm purposes, the conveyance of milk, the haulage of grain, etc., for nearly three years, and is well satisfied with the results, although he points out that a certain amount of scheming is neces
sary, in the arrangement of loads and work, to ensure financial benefit in the case of a farmer. it will be noted (page 477) that the body of this wagon is made extra deepi. it is lined with sheet iron when grain is carried.
Ivel Tests.
At the foot of this page we publish two interesting photographs relating to the business of The Ivel Agricultural Motors, Limited. The first•isa recent picture of the demonstration field where customers' drivers are instructed in ploughing. and driving with the handy engine marketed by the company. The held, it will be seen, is entirely under water : in the distance is the shed in which the various implements are kept which are used for instruction purposes. This flooding has naturally rendered impossible the testing of machines on the field, and the motors have lately been tested on the road with loaded fin-hiture vans. Our second picture shows one at work. H or se drawn Taxicabs.
On Saturday next, the 1st February, the new order of the Home Secretary, which we published at length in our issue of the 9th instant, will come into force. Drivers of horse-drawn taxicabs will take 30 per cent, of the receipts up to 16s. per day, and 40 per cent. 'above that sum, the Home Secretary reserving the right to appoint an arbitrator before the expiration of this 'probationary period, if, in his opinion, such a course should be considered desirable. Our con temporary " The Globe " remarks that drivers of horse-drawn cabs " should remember that their fate is sealed, and that, the more strikes that are threatened, the more inclined will the masters be to invest their capital in motorcabs."
Australian Trade.
The trade information department of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has circulated specimen forms for the furnishing of certificates of origin in respect of motor vehicles claimed to be entered in the Commonwealth of Australia under the preferential tariff for British-made produce or manufacture. We are glad to see that a -written certificate from the suppliers or manufacturers will generally be, held sufficient evidence, such certificate to be written, printed, or stamped on the invoice, arid its terms to be as follow (manufacturer or supplier) of the articles included in this invoice, have the Means of knowing, and do hereby certify that the said invoice from myself to and amounting to
is true and correct and that all the articles included in the said invoice are bond fide the produce or manufacture of the United Kingdom, and that a substantial portion of the labour of that 'country has entered into the production of every manufactured article included in the said invoice to the extent in each article of not less than one-fourth of the value of every. such article in its present condition ready for export to the Commonwealth of Australia.
" Witness " Dated at this day of • too
"When this certificate is signed by some person on behalf of a manufacturer or supplier, such person must state that he is dull, authorised to do so."
Yorkshire Orders.
The Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Company, of Vulcan Works, Hunslet, Leeds, has just supplieo its seventh repeat order to C. T. Faulkner and Company, Limited, carriers, of Manchester, and has been fortunate enough to receive an eighth repeat order from them. The vehicle which will be supplied in respect of this eighth order xvill be exhibited at the forthcoming motor show at Belie Vue, Manchester.
Low Rates.
Heavy rates in London have correspondingly low ones at the Garden City, Letchworth, where the recent half-yearly rate was is, in the This happy result is due to the fact that the First Garden City, Limited, which is the ground landlord, has provided, out of the ground rent, a great many of the public services for which rates are usually charged in London. The dividend being limited to 5 per cent. interest on capital, there is every inducement for the company to keep the rates down permanently.
A Star Niotorcab.
The Star cab. which is illustrated on this page, is one which has been specially constructed for the purpose of London service by the Star Engineering Company, of Wolverhampton. It is made to meet the requirements of the Metropolitan police, and it is fitted with a four-cylinder engine having cylinders 3.1 inches in bore, and 42, inches in stroke, the whole giving a stated power of 12h.p. High-tension magneto ignition is supplied, and the body work has been well carried out, the head being made of the best enamelled leather, and the inside of the body being upholstered with leather and fitted with spring cushions. It accommodates two persons inside, and an extra seat, which lifts up, may be used for a third person when necessary. The model illustrated has a chain drive, but this cab can also be supplied with a live axle. Electric Drilling Machines.
The Light Electric Motor Company, Limited, of Mead's Lane, Seven Kings, Essex, has forwarded to this office a copy of its latest catalogue of highspeed, portable, electric, drilling machines. These useful little tools are made in seven sizes and their prices range from for the smallest size, which will drill holes up to * of an inch in diameter, to ,C24, for the largest machine, which can deal with all holes
up to inches in diameter. Any of these machines may be connected up, by means of flexible cables, to a wall plug, from which the maximum current of I.8 amperes at 220 volts may he taken with perfect safety.
The Training of Motor Engineers.
In connection with the Graduates' Section of the Incorporated Institution of Automobile Engineers, a general meeting will be held on Tuesday, 4th February, 1908, at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storey's Gate-, St. James's Park, S.W., of pupils, apprentices, and junior draughtsmen employed in the motor industry, and en;2-,ineering students. Young engineers
who intend to specialise in motor engineering will also be welcomed. At 8 o'clock, a lecture will be delivered by Dr. H. S. Hele-Shaw, LL.D., E.R.S., entitled, "How to Draw the Teeth of Wheels," illustrated by experiments and lantern diagrams. At 9 o'clock the gathering will resolve itself into a business meeting for the following purposes e. (t) To hear a short address by the President of the Institution, Col.
R. E. Crompton, C.B., on the purposes and objects of the Graduates' Section of the Institution. (2) To form a Graduates' Society. (3) To elect a committee of graduates. (4) To draw up a provisional programme. It is proposed that the Graduates' Society, when formed, shall have its own committee, elected by the graduates ; there shall be separate meetings of the Graduates' Section, and papers prepared by members of the section shall be read and discussed. The experience of the older institutions, such as the Institution of Civil Engineers, shows that at these meetings of graduates., very interesting discussions take place. Many young men who are too diffident to get up and speak at the ordinary meetings of the institution do not have the same feeling when discussing their subject before an audience composed of men of their own age and standing. Arrangements will also be made for courses of lectures to graduates on motor engineering and subjects likely to be of assistance to them in their professional career. The programme will also include visits to motor engineering works and other manufacturing establishments, where such visits are likely to be of educational value. This meeting will be quite a general one, and open to those who have not yet been elected graduates of the Institution. A committee will be elected from among those present, but those elected, if they are not already graduates, will be required to apply for election, and become graduates before their election to the committee is confirmed. The committee will appoint its own honorary secretary. Further particulars of the meeting, and particulars of the Institution of Automobile Engineers may be obtained on application to the Secretary, 1, Albemarle Street, Piccadilly, London, W.