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WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.

"The wheels of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crozier.

Compulsory Insurance Bill.

Mr. Wardlaw-Milne has introduced a Bill in the House of Commons to make it obligatory for owners of motor vehicles to be insured against thirdparty risks. In asking leave to bring in the Bill, he said there was no differences of opinion on the subject. Members were well aware of the large number of accidents in which the person injured or the relatives of a person killed had been unable to obtain compensation. He mentioned typical cases,

In the Road Traffic Bill the Government proposed to enact compulsory insurance in the case of public-service vehicles and already in the case of charsit-bancs compulsory insurance was Practically in operation, because it was impossible to get a licence from a local authority unless the vehicle was insured, No member opposing, the Bill was brought in and read a first time without a division. There is, however, only a slender chance of the Bill proceeding further this session.

A Well-built Double-arch Bridge.

A picture which appears on this page shows .a double-arch bridge which is to be found about 51 miles west of Skipton. The bridge carries the main road over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and is largely used by traffic travelling across country. At the foot of a fairly steep hill it creates a bottle-neck in an otherwise fairly wide road, but the difficulties of widening at this point are obvious, in view of the nature of the structure of the bridge.

The thickness of the roadway on the crown of the bridge is only about 15 ins.,

and it reflects much credit on the builders of the bridge that, in spite of the stress of much heavy vehicular traffic, it has suffered no apparent damage. The height from the surface of the canal to the parapet is about 35 ft.

A New Carlisle Bus Concern.

A new north-west-country motorbus company has just been registered under the title of the Lonsdale Garage Co.,

Ltd., to carry on in Carlisle and elsewhere the operation of services. The capital of the concern is 15,000 in 11 shares, and the first directors are Mr. T. Hilliary, of Aspatria ; Mr. W. G. Laidler, Carlisle ; Mr. J. Bell, Carlisle ; Mr. G. Little, Carlisle ; and Mr. T. Henderson, Carlisle. The registered offices are at Lonsdale Street, Carlisle. The L.G.O.C. and the L.P.O.C.

Although it has been rumoured for some time past that the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., had an interest in the London Public Omnibus Co., Ltd., it was not until last week that it was officially announced that the L.G.O.C. had acquired a controlling interest in the latter concern.

It will be recalled that the London Public Omnibus Co., Ltd., was formed as the result of a number, of independent owners deciding to amalgamate their interests and to work under the regis of a common undertaking.

We understand that Mr. A. T. Bennett, the former head of " Admiral " services, will retain a number of shares in the company, which, it is understood, is continuing to operate under a working agreement with the L.G.O.C. -

Glasgow Buying More Buses.

The tramways committee of the Glasgow Corporation has authorized the tramways manager to invite offers for the supply of 50 to 100 double-deck buses of the Titan type.

Bus Routes Restriction.

The Minister of Transport announced one day last week that he proposes to make an Order for regulating, by prohibiting or restricting, motorbuses in over 100 streets and roads in the Metropolitan Police area. The Minister has referred the matter to the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee for its advice,

A New Yorkshire Service.

As from yesterday (Monday) the Pioneer Bus Service Co., Ltd., has been operating a new daily bus service between Whitby and Pickering, connecting at the latter place with the services of Ryedale Motors, linking up Kirbymoorside, Helmsley, etc., and with the vehicles of Thwaites Bus Services running to Melton and York. At the outset three buses are being run each way per day except on Sundays, when one bus will make the journey and enable passengers to catch the 4.1 p.m. train from York to London and the South.

Swansea Licensing Returns.

It was lately reported to the Swansea Parliamentary Committee that over £.50,000 had been collected at Swansea in the first quarter of the current year in connection with the licensing of motor vehicles, as against £75,000 for the .whole of last year and £35,000 for 1921. The number of vehicles licensed at Swansea has increased by at least 6,000 since 1924.

New vehicles were registered at the rate of 100 per month in the summer, and at 60 per month during the winter.

Glossop's Requirements.

Glossop Watch Committee has decided that all hackney carriages licensed by it must be insured against all risks to an unlimited amount, and that no vehicle of the front-entrance type will be licensed unless a rear exit is provided. Moreover, each vehicle must run en pneumatic tyres and be equipped With lifeguards. A British Steam Wagon Climbs Mow Cop.

The illustrations which are published on this page are of particular interest, in that they depict incidents during the course of what is claimed to be a record performance by a commercial motor vehicle. The pictures show Foden 10-12-ton overtype, rigid sixwheeler on test on one of the steepest hills in the conapy, this, as many of our readers will recognize, being the famous Mow Cop.

This well-known hill has. often proved a barrier to touring cars, but the Foden. six-wheeler recently climbed to the top of the gradient with an 8-ton load, plus the weight of fuel, etc. Mow Cop is an excellent test hill, for its summit is over 1,000 ft. high, and the gradients grow steeper as the top is approached, rising at the rate of 1 in 7 to 1 in 4.5 and finishing on a long, steep gradient of I in 3.5.

The pictures were taken when the vehicle was passing over the steep section opposite the well-known landmark, "The Railway Inn." It is.said that no other vehicle has ever reached the topwith so great a load. The returnjourney provided a.splendid test for the power and efficiency of the brakes which, we are told, were quite equal to the demands made upon them.

A Remarkable American Turtnel.

Much attention has lately been focused on the tunnel which is now being built between the estuary that divides Oaklands and Alamedia, Cali

fornia. This tunnel, which will be opened early in May, is 4,436 ft. long. It is built mainly of pre-east concrete cylinders, the walls of which are 2 ft. 6 ins, thick, and are 87 ft. in diameter and 203 ft. long. The cylinders were Constructed about 10 miles from the actual site of the tunnel and were floated and towed down the river—no mean feat of navigation, considering that each cylinder weighs 5,000 tons and draws 26 ft of water.

The roadway of the tuhnel is constructed 7 ft. 5 ins, above the lowest point of the cyiinders„ and it allows for two pavements, each 3 ft. 5 ins. wide, elevated above the road level. The carriageway has a width of 22 ft. 10 ins.

between the kerbs. The cost of the construction of the subway is estimated at dose on nocono. The tunnel is being. built as a public highway.

Progress of the Belgian industry.

According to a recent report issued by the Department of Overseas Trade, great progress has been made during the past few years by the Belgian motorvehicle industry. The output for the past year has been estimated at approximately 6,000 vehicles, including 1,000 commercial motors. Since 1923 the total number of vehicles of all kinds in use in the country has practically doubled, the 6gures being 47,277 and 92,192 (January 1st, 1927) respectively. Of the latter, 25,901 are given as in dustrial vehicles. Progress has also been made in the construction of heavy passenger vehicles for use on the many new services throughout the country.

Death of a South Wales Motor Trader.

The death has taken place of Mr. D. J. Bassett, J.P., a member of the Swansea Borough Council, proprietor of Auto-Engineering and Car Co., Ltd., Swansea, and a director of a large number of South Wales industrial companies. Mr. Bassett, -Who was Mayor of Swansea in 1926-1927, was one of the best-known figures of the South Wales motor trade, and had interests in all branches of the industry. Pullman Coaches for Transatlantic Passengers.

An inte,resting motor-coach development will be seen in France this summer in the form of a regular Pullman service between Cherbourg and Paris, connecting up the French capital with the great Transatlantic liners which call at the port of Cherbourg.

The service is to be inaugurated by a Franco-American company, and the coaches, which will have luxurious bodies, will be De Pious.

A halfway halt will probably be made at Lisieux, in Normandy, and there is little doubt that the service will be very popular amongst American tourists wishing to see as much as 'possible of France during their stay. The company hopes to get its first coaches running by Easter, but should this not be• possible there is no doubt that the service will be in full operation before Whitsuntide.

Stockton's New `Purchases.

As a result of recent demonstrations given in the Stockton district by Leyland Motors, Ltd., with ono of its new 51-seater enclosed double-deck buses, the StocktonCorporation has decided to place an order for six vehicles. of this type. This addition will bring the municipal fleet • up to 39 machines and it is intereiting to note that the Leylands will be bought, as 'alive other additions to the -fleet, out of Profits from the system. The double.deckers will he employed chiefly on the route between the town and the large new chemical works at Dillingham, overwhich seetion nearly 4,000 workmen are at present carried daily.

A Persian Bus Concession: It is announced from Persia that a concession has been granted to the Iran A.ntobus Co., a Danish concern, to establish motorbus services in Teheran. The concession is for 15 years.

Bus Licences for Llauelly Coaches.

The LlariellY Conimil's transport committee recently granted certain owners licences to use open touring coaches as buses, whilst stipulating that this action was taken on the understanding that such vehicles should only be used in this manner in eases. of etnergenc3% A Forthcoming Gas-producer Show at Versailles.

An exhibition of charcoal-using gasproducers for automobile and other purposes will be held in the Forest of Versailles during June next. The demonstration is to be organized under the auspices of a number of French Government departments, including the Ministries of Agriculture, Colonies, War, Commerce, Marine, Public Instruction and Public Works. The Office National des Combustibles Liquieles will also take a hand, in spite of the distinctly solid nature of the combustible to be exhibited ; so also will the National Inventions and Research Office. With all this Ministerial encouragement and interest, and even in spite of it, the gas-producer continues to make steady progress in France and its colonies.

In the French army the gas-producer is steadily gaining favour with the authorities. Following upon the army gazogene trials of last year, the War Ministry purchased all the lorries which emerged successfully from that severe test. Since then, as the machines are rendering very good service, it has been decided to fix gas-producers on various lorries sent to the army repair depot for overhaul.

Under this scheme a number of Bei,het vehicles is now being fitted up with the Imbert-Berliet wood-fuel generator, several Saurers with the B arbier machine and a certain number of Pierce-Arrows with the PanhardLevassor gas apparatus. In addition to this, orders are being passed to the manufacturers of the successful lorries for further vehicles thus driven.

Buying Guy Buses.

A number of additional six-wheelers will shortly be on service in London, for we learn that the London Public Omnibus Co., Ltd„ has just placed its third repeat order with Guy Motors, Ltd„ for double-deck buses of this class.

B14 This well-known manufacturer is also building six-wheelers for the Reading Corporation, these being of the singledeck type. This is the eighth repeat order placed by this municipality for Guy buses, and when the new vehicles are delivered it will have 17 buses of this make in service. Other corporations which arc buying Guy buses include Lowestoft and West Bromwich.

Railway Rates and Bus Taxation.

In the Northern Ireland House of Commons recently the Minister of Home Affairs said that the railways paid in rates about £38,000, whilst publicservice vehicles of all kinds paid in taxation 160,461. Motorbuses over 2-i tons in weight paid £20,987.

• Bedford's Check on Bus Traffic.

With a view to checking the rapid increase of motorbuses plying in the borough and of regulating their transit through the streets, Bedford Watch Committee proposes, in pursuance of the powers conferred upon it by the council, to attach the following conditions to the licences for the present year : That no gravel roads in the borough be included in a bus route and that buses be not permitted to travel through Silver Street in a westerly direction along the south side of St. Paul's Square.

Leyland Titans for a Cambridge Concern.

The Ortona Motor Co., Ltd., which has been running motorbuses in and around Cambridge for a number of years, has just taken delivery of its first covered-top double-deck bus, of which type it will shortly have four in service. The vehicles are Leyland Titans running On pneumatic tyres. Although this type has a covered top deck its actual height is no greater than that of the ordinary open type of bus which the company has been ,running for many years. The eMicerii has a ntunberof Leyland vehiclea ire service. Road Surface Effects on Wear.

A series of tests Which was carried out at Washington (U.S.A.) State College, to determine the rate of wear of tyres over various classes of road surface, showed that the average tyre will travel more than six times as far on a concrete highway as on an ordinary macadam road. It was found that the average distances travelled before the failure of one type of tyro under constant load and at a definite speed on four kinds of road were as follow :—Macadam, 5,900; good gravel, 6,200 miles ; bitulithic, 26,700 miles; concrete, 40,500 miles.

. Buyers of Thornyeroft Products.

Apart from a number of repeat orders which has recently been received by John I. Thornycroft and Co., Ltd., the company has secured orders from a number of new users. These include Messrs. Wort and Way, of Salisbury. who are buying four 2-3-ton rigid six-wheelers. Amongst the names of users placing repeat orders are the Southern Railway Co., which has indented for four 2-ton chassis, and the London and North Eastern Railway Co., which is buying ten 2-ton chassis. In addition, the company is building chassis for shipment to Singapore, Australia, India and the Transvaal.

Gellygaer to Run Buses?

The Gellygaer Urban District Council is considering the question of founding a municipal bus service and is reported to have declined to grant additional bus _ licences to Messrs. Lewis and James, Newbridge, who wished to extend their Cardiff to Blackwood (Mon.) service into Bargoed.

It was stated by the council that in the event of its having to pay compensation to private owners on founding a municipal service, it would be increasing the liability to give Sanction to more piiVate services at the present time.

Excursion Motor Coaches on the Riviera.

A Monte Carlo correspondent reports that all the pleasure resorts on the Riviera are well supplied With motorcoach servio— which appear at present to he doing a thriving business. in Monte Carlo the majority of the vehicles in use is of Panhard construction, the `...2-passenger bodies having seats of the armchair type, and the outside coachwork of the newer vehicles being fabric finished. A number of Saurer vehicles is also to be met with, as also are several other makes.

The vehicles make regular schedule trips (every half-hour) from Monte Carlo to Nice (the fare being 10 francs, a fraction over 10d.), and do the run in just under 40 minutes; to Mentone (5 or 6 francs), and daily to Cannes, whilst there are also excursions to Grasse, San Remo, Mortola, and the usual Riviera sight-seeing places.

Distributing Garage Equipment.

Andrew Page and Son, ttcl., 68, Albion Street, Leeds, has been appointed sole distributor in Great Britain and Ireland for the Manley range of garage and breakdown equipment. This range of machinery is well known in the trade and is in considerable use in America. It includes hydraulic presses, arbor presses, screw presses, towing chains, wrecking cranes, tyre-changers, jacks, brake-relining machines, vehicle washers, hoists and a variety of other devices.

Electric Vehicle Taxation.

The cleansing superintendent of the Tynemceith Corporation has recently reported that two years ago the Government made a concession respecting the taxation of electric vehicles employed on

refuse collection and other public services by reducing the tax to one-half of that which applied to vehicles of similar size used on ordinary work. He says that as the concession was granted on account of the• nature of the work on which thel-ehiclers are engmt4ed-, there seems to. be no logical reason why the same concession` should not apply to

petrol-driven or any other type of mechanically propelled vehicle engaged on similar duties. The town clerk has been instructed to communicate with the Ministry of Transport on the subject and to ask the Association of Municipal Corpokations to take thematter into consideration.

A New National Benzoic Depot.

The National Benzoic Co., Ltd... has constructed a neW fuel-storage depot on the site of the old speller works at Morriston, the filling plant, etc., being of the latest type.. The new depot will facilitate the distribution of the company's products in West Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire, and is a link in a chain of depots now being constructed.

Fleet-owners in America.

At the beginning of the present year it is said that there were 278,809 fleets Of two or more commercial vehicles in the United States. Of this number, 98,761 owners ran three or more Vehicles; 33,270, .five or more vehicles ; and 9,663 fleets numbering ten ..or more. Motor Lorry Displaces Caravan in Persia.

A report issued recently by the Department of Overseas Trade • dealing with the 'commerce oS Persia mentions that the rates for animal transport on the Khanikin-Tehran, Bushire-Tehran and Duzdap routes were between 40 and

50 per cent, lower during last ear than they were prior to the transport crisis ot 19254920. Although trade has fallen off, the chief contributory factor has been the.introdirction of mechanical vehicles on a large cale for the carriage of merchandise. This condition of affairs, has been brought 'about largely as the result of the, 'operations of the Alimentation Service, which has ino ported a considerable number of lorries.

The number of motor lorries in use during 1924-1925 was 103, whereas 967 were in service during 1926-1927.

Generallyspeaking, the motor lorry is rapidly elbowing the caravan off the more important traderoutes; with the result that caravan rates on the less frequented roads are being brought down. It is appreciated that it is only the type of vehicle of 4-5-tons capacity and over that can give good returns.

It is rather regrettable to learn that the British manufacturer is not making progress in this market, which is dominated by United States manufacturers. Actually, the number of British lorries and cars imported during 1926-1927 was only 115, equivalent to 11.9 per cent, of the total imports.

To Meet Bus Competition.

The Great Southern Railways. Co., Ireland, and the Dublin United Tramways Co. have entered into an agreement under which it is proposed to pool all receipts fromthe traffic on the Dublin-Dalkey lines, where, severe bus competition is being faced, the receipts to go into a common fund and to be divided between the two companies. The scheme has been laid before the Irish Railways Tribunal for Approval, and the matter will be considered in the course of the next month.

Merthyr's Bus Manager.

The 128 applications for the position of bus manager to the Merthyr Tydfil Council, in succession to Mr. D. F.

Adey, have been reduced to a short list of three candidates, -who are to be invited to appear before the bus committee before the final• selection is made. The candidates are :—Messrs. Thomas Anthouies, at present in the service of the Sheffield Corportion ; J. Myles, Dundee; and T. H. Thomson, Durham.

Displacing Trams.

Stoke-on-Trent Watch Committee has granted 50 bus licences to the Potterie.s Electric Traction Co., Ltd., under the arrangement recently made for the displacement of the tramcars by motorbuses.

A Pumpless Fire Extinguisher.

The Nuswift fire extinguisher, which is manufactured by J. Blakeborough and Sons, Ltd., Brighouse, York, is very suitable for use with heavy commercial motors.

No pump is incorporated in the new design of this appliance, the necessary operating pressure being obtained by means of an unstable solution of carbon dioxide gas, which effervesces immediately the stabilizing vapour pressure is disturbed on the opening of the actuating valve of the extinguisher.

The device can be easily used with one hand, and a powerful and steady jet of fire-fighting liquid can be directed at the seat of the fire from up to about 30 ft. away. The appliance is arranged to be shut off at will, the excess gas being slowly redissolved.

Leakage and evaporation are avoided owing to the special design of the Nuswift, and refills are in the form of hermetically sealed containers, which, it is said, can be replaced in 6 seconds. It is stated that several well-known manufacturers of commercial vehicles, notably Leyland Motors, Ltd., have standardized this company's extinguisher. The quart size of this appliance sells at £2 17s. 6d. Canadian Exports Lowers

There was a falling-off last year in the exports of motorvans, lorries and buses from Canada, the official returns lately to hand showing a total of 17,514 machines, valued at £1,254,425, as compared with 20,696 vehicles in 1926. It will be gathered from these figures that last year's shipments consisted of light vans, for the average value per vehicle was only about £78. Nearly one-third of the exports-5,644 vehicles—is credited to India, second place in the list being taken by Australia with 1,480, East Africa following with 925, West Africa with 883, and South Africa with 663.

Peter Union's New Address.

The Peter Union Rubber Co., Ltd., has recently removed to larger premises at 104, Southwark Street, London,