For Two Municipal Uses.
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1%/FTNICIPAL authorities in provinJYLcial centres sometimes find that certain of the tasks which they have to undertake do not provide full-time employment for a motor vehicle. They realize from the experience of many other municipalities that, in most instances, the work can best be performed by a power-propelled vehicle or appliance, but naturally enough they hesitate to incur a. big capital expenditure when the field, in which it is to be used offers.sych little scope for securing material benefits. To such authorities the dual-purpose outfit is invaluable, always assuming that the two distinct classes of work come within the province of the road motor, for it means that two machines are virtually available for an • outlay which is only slightly in excess of the cost of a single vehicle or appliance.
The adaptation of a machine for two purposes sometimes merely involves the addition of extra parts to the body, but in others it is effected by the use of interchangeable bodies. The latter is the case with the Dennis vehicle which has recently been acquired by the autherities of elevedon, the small but well-known
Somerset health resort. The chassis, which is an example of the maker's 2tanner having a four-cylindered engine
developing up to 55 b.h.p., has been supplied with a tipping body and a tank and the necessary equipment to enable cesspools to be emptied as well as transport tasks to be carried out.
The tipping body is constructed of steel and can be raised to a high angle, a two-stage telescopic gear which is operated by hand being used for the purpose. The wheel arches are made to a special contour so as to allow the body to rest low on the chassis and thus give a low loading line. A central ridge pole extends across the top of the body and to it on each side are connected three canvas flaps, these being weighted at their loose ends so as to keep them in position and thus provide an effective protective covering.
When cesspool work is to be undertaken the tipping body is removed and a 504-gallon cylindrical tank placed in position, the task of mounting it being facilitated by lifting eyes. The operation of emptying is carried out on the vacuum principle, which avoids leakage occasioned by imperfect joints in the hose. As the action of the pump can be instantly reversed, the hose can be
cleared of all sludge. A feature of all Dennis cesspool emptiers is that the contents of the tank can be discharged at a higher level than that at which the vehicle is standing—an arrangement of great convenience in many eases.