Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
Page 20
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Ten Shillings Weekly for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Lin of ten words For anything else published.
.Drivers of commercial motors, and mechanics and foremen of garazes or shops, who are engaged in any branch of the industr are invited to contribute short, Personal experienres, opinions or suzgestions, an subjects which are likely to prove of interest to os readers. We shall be glad to hear at 0111 thing interesting that has come under any driver's or mechanic's notice, either in the Ow; or on the road. Long and succesfu; runs ; services with tt) "lost journeys" ; workshop tips and smart repairs ; all are suitab subjerts. Send a Post.eard, or a leler, or a sketch to us—no matter how short, or hon.) written, or how worded. We will "knock into shape" before publication. When writing it is as well to mention your employer's )22-Plie as a guarantee of bona fides (n, ior publication), and to state whether -you wish your own abate, or initials only, to be published. Payment wilt he made immediate, after publication. Address your letters to The Editor," THE CO M ME RCIAL M 0 roR," 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.G.
Postal Communications. roads were very soft, viz., in and around Orsett, Rantsd
Selected from a number of communications which are inand Billericay."
tended for these columns and which we are unable to D Date.
acknowledge individually, we have letters from the follow acknowledge individually, we have letters from the follow acknowledge ing correspondents under consideration with a view to publication :--" C,H.E." (Acton Vale), " W.H.W." (Leeds), " J.A." (Manchester), " T.TI).''(Keightey), " G.L.F." (Ful ham), " R.j." (Westbury), " E.C." (Eastbourne), and " W.H." (Axminster).
Choice of a Steamer.
[472.1 In our issue of the 26th November we published a letter from " F.C.W." (Newton Abbot), in which he sang the praises of the Sentinel steam wagon, and claimed that this machine was the best for work on the hilly roads of Devonshire. This statement on the part of our correspondent has produced a number of replies, and the following from " W.H.W." (Leeds) is one which puts the case from the point of view of a driver who is employed in another hilly district—that of Leeds and the West Riding of Yorkshire :—" I was interested to notice, in your issue of the 26th November, that your correspondent E.S.' (Victoria Park) has received a reply from F.C.W.' (Newton Abbot) to his question as to which is considered the best make of steam wagon by the men who have to drive them. In the case of F.C.W.' (Newton Abbot), I notice that he praises the Sentinel wagon, and he contends that this machine cannot be beaten. I beg leave to state that he is mistaken. Your correspondent says that he has had twenty years' total driving experience, and suggests that drivers of other machines would die of fright if they had to go up and down some of the hills in Devonshire, which are like the sides of houses. It gives me the greatest pleasure to tell ' F.C.W.' that the daftest of people should know that, at the present day, there are no hills in England which are too steep for the ordinary vehicle to climb. It is true that I have not half of ' F.C.W.'s ' twenty years' experience, and yet I will undertake to drive my wagon up or down any hill that he likes to select. I certainly think that 3'6'Tb:shire wolds are as steep as any hills in Devonshire. I was up a soft, bad hill, recently, which had a sharp corner in it ; the gradient was t in 4. I took a load of four tons up, and brought one of five tons down. My brakes were in good order, and I found it necessary to use my reversing lever. I wonder how • F.C.W. 's ' Sentinel would have come up there with four tons? I think it would make him long for a low speed with his engine running faster. He says that he has run 170 miles and has carried 115 tons in a week. I cannot see how he has done this in one week. With regard to his statement that there is no noise or rattle, I beg leave to hold my own opinion on this. He says that he has not put a spanner on a nut since he took charge of the machine over three months ago. We all know that the best makes of engines have bolts that shake loose. I should think nuts and bolts are just as liable to shake loose on a Sentinel wagon as they are on any other. I drive a Mann wagon, and I think I can equal the driver of the Sentinel wagon. I was never yet passed on a hill with a five-ton load, and I can show a bit of speed with this machine when it is required. I think a Mann wagon is very suitable for running on soft roads and with heavy loads, and in my opinion its engine will stand as much knocking about as the Sentinel. I will finish this letter with a few figures showing six days' work of a Mann wagon in the flat part of Essex, where the
[We also refer our readers to F. C, NVreyford's reply on page 310.147,13.]
A Punctured Float.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the tos. prize this week.
4731 An ingenious scheme by which a correspond( ” E.A.K." (Brixton) was enabled to reach home, thou, the carburetter float of his Daimler van was punctured, described in the letter which we publish below :—" I are regular reader of 'THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR,' and it h occurred to me that possibly the following account of temporary repair to a disabled float would be interesti to the readers of your Drivers' and Mechanics' con tril tions. I was driving a Milnes-Daimler van one day ir bad storm, and the rain was so heavy that it got through 1 openings in the top of the bonnet and swamped the carbur ter. I took the float out and cleaned the float chamb and, while I was replacing the former, I unfortunat dropped it ; when I picked it up I found it was slig-h punctured. I had no means of repairing it there and th, so I procured a piece of wood and placed it across the top the needle, and then wired a tappet spring from the boa, of the carburetter up to each end of the wood ; the sprir were strong enough to prevent the petrol from passing 1 needle continuously, but, by pumping up sufficient pressu I managed to get enough petrol through to feed the engin(