Heated Motorbuses.
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English railway companies were, until comparativelyrecent years, notoriously behind those of the United States and the Continent of Europe, in the matter of heating arrangements. The early practice of supplying waterfilled foot-warmers (Sic) gave place, in some instances, to the slightly-improved substitution of a super-saturated solution of acetate of soda for the plain water, and railway managers who appreciated the difference between these two so-called "systems of heating" fancied themselves greatly. It was urged, for many years, that the exhaust steam from the locomotives should be utilized for the benefit of long-suffering travellers, and that course was ultimately followed. To-day, in fact, all the northern lines, and the progressive southern lines, have equipped their rolling-stock so that the control of the heat in each compartment leaves but little to he desired : it is certainly immensely ahead of the conductor-controlled heating of many Continental lines, where one is generally " stewed" throughout the winter, as though one were a failing hothouse plant. The South-Eastern and Chatham line, of course, still has much to make good in respect of its arrangements, although passengers live in hopes that the journey between Dover and London will be rendered less trying, in that one respect, in the near future. It is, therefore, a matter for no dismissal in light-hearted vein. that the standard English motorbus is a freezing chamber. Various French and German motorbus lines have turned the waste heat of the petrol engine to account during at least the past four years, to our knowledge, but English makers have yet to recognize how desirable are the small modifications of construction which are involved by the provision of such heating arrangements. Two prime alternatives are obvious—the use of the exhaust gases, or the extension of the water-circulation system. The first-named plan is obviously the better of the two. A few steam buses, it must be owned, are fairly warm, if only in spots, but that is by accident rather than by design, and wary passengers studiously avoid the particular seats which are so affected. With competition for motorbus patronage within the critical zone, and with rival systems of transportation offering allurements of all kinds to secure the extra five per cent. of traffic which may mean the difference between a loss and a dividend, we would urge upon directors of omnibus companies the expediency of their making plans for the heating of their vehicles. There is no good reason why this change etionld be delayed until next winter, as much might be done, once the decision to convert were taken—by means of a little piping and a few unions--before a fortnight had gone by. Has any London company the enterprise to do it P We hope so. It is not very costly to instal a few rows of gilled tubes. Or, is it that the rules of Scotland Yard stand in the way? We fear so, yet something must be done in this matter.
Playgrounds for Young Children. The above subject was chosen, in the issue of this journal for the 11th June, 1905, as a theme for one ef our leading articles. The occasion followed exaggerated reports of an accident, in the Mile End Road, when a motorbus driver unfortunately killed a child of tender. age. We then put forward a demurrer query upon the. fact that the mother of the dead child, who had left three. of her six young children to play by the kerb, was neither censured, nor cautioned against tutere like risks, by the. coroner. It may be recalled that the driver of the motor-. bus in question, who was admitted to be travelling at a rate of only some seven or eight miles an hour, was practically mobbed by the crowd which rapidly assembled after the mishap, that later sympathizers subsequently attacked other motorbuses, and that a considerable force of police. was on duty for some hours before the disturbance calmed down, whilst several more motorbuses had their windows smashed by the demonstrators. The coroner's jury re-. turned a verdict of "Accidental death," and exonerated the driver from all blame, but the suggestion of culpable negligence, or even lack of forethought, on the part of the. mother, was not entertained by its members or the coroner.. The only protest, in addition to our own, appeared in the correspondence columns of the " Daily Telegraph," where Mr. Walter Reynolds, a prominent member of the London County Council, strongly animadverted upon the nerveshattering experiences which befall motor drivers in the streets of London, owing to the manner in which children aimlessly wander about in their play hours, without supervision of any kind. It was, in fact, as we acknowledged at the time, due to the appearance of this letter from Mr. Reynolds that we reverted to the accident and its sequel. One interesting result of our comment, so far as it was possible to trace the effect*, appeared in the columns of "The Morning Leader," when that well-known writer, Mr. Spencer Leigh Hughes, devoted the full column of his "Sub Rosa" contribution to the enormity of our suggestion. We detected, in spite of his maintenance of an inimitable spirit of banter throughout, more than a bare suspicion of belief that justice underlay our protest., and we venture to hope that to-day's further reference may meet with a treatment, at his hands, which is lees-ostensibly unfavourable. It is in the interests of the public at large, that neglect of children shouldhe discouraged.
We return, now, to this important matter, and again ask whether we are to accept present-day street conditions as an inevitable factor of twentieth-century civilisation in the Metropolis, by reason of a decision which was given in the Court of Appeal, on the 17th ult., by L.JJ. Vaughan Williams, 'Farwell and Kennedy, in the case of Schofield wens-us the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the County Borough of Bolton. This was an appeal by the defendant Corporation from the judgment of Mr. Justice Coleridge, on a trial of the action with a common jury, at Salford .Assizes; 2500 and costs had been awarded. A little girl, who at the time of the
aveideut was of the age of PI menthe, sued, by her father, as next friend, for injuries sustained in the following circumstances : it was the practice for children to play in a certain sand pit, at Bolton, from which sand pit a cart track led to a level crossing over a line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The child wandered to the level crossing, and was subsequently found near the line in an injured state, due to her having been knocked down by a passing train. We bridge the mass of evidence which was put before the Court of Appeal, and we content ourselves by quoting from the judgment of U. Vaughan Williams, who did not even call upon counsel for the defendant Corporation to reply. He said, inter olia: "This child was only one year and nine months old, and any person of commonsense must have known that it was wrong to let such a child go into the field alone. The real masa causans of the aecident was the gross neglect of the father and 'mother, and the appeal must be allowed." Theitalics are ours. LT. Farwell, who agreed, remarked: " Whatever the invitation of the Corporation, it was not given to children who were so young as not to appreciate the danger of a passing train." The cases of this sand pit and any London highway are not, of course, strictly parallel, but there are points of analogy which should not be overlooked. We adhere to the view that such allowance, by parents, of unrestrained wanderings of irresponsible children, who are deliberately turned out by them to play in the gutter, is " gross neglect," although the sad necessity for some playground is admitted by all sides. As we wrote, 20 months ago: " Much has already been done, in the matter of the provision of open spaces and playgrounds, and, possibly, no statutes or by-laws exist under which steps can be taken to bring home to negligent parents the fact that they have imposed upon them, alike for the protection of their own offspring as for the safeguarding of the interests of others, both duties and obligations in this matter." Will " Sub Rosa " help. or will he encourage the other attitude, i.e.. the general sense of freedom to leave children of tender age at the mercy of passing traffic? We would appeal, rather, for the impressing of the fact that such parental indifference is deserving of the severest disapproval, if ilot of actual punishment. The latter, of course, we know to he hedged about by practical difficulties which may serve only to accentuate the. evil.
Should Motor Manufacturers also conduct a Business as Carrying or Haulage Contractors ?
There are indications of a growing division of opinion in megard to the ultimate value, from flue business standpoint, of the undertaking of contracting and luring-out work by motor manufacturers, whether this be arranged departmentally or through the medium of a sub-company; the subject is clearly one of wide interest, and we refer to several germane factors DYi that aceonnt. A hiring-out branch appears, at first sight, to offer an attractive outlet for the maker who wants more trade, or more experience if he be a newcomer to the industry. To the case of the former, the likelihood of two profits—one on the mannfaeturing and one on the hiring—has its influence, the probability of steadier occupation for the repair department is perceived, and the belief is also entertained, in some quarters, that an organization of the kind is an aid to sales; in the case of the ;atter, the. embryo mannfaeterer is seeking data foe the benefit of himself find his early customers, and he considers himself justified in using the capital at his disposal, in this manner, as a means of differentiation between his resources and those
ies.s-favoured competitors. The foregoing points flirtstrete sufficiently the general attitude of those members of the industry who inn l ice to favour the courees under notice. There ere, additionally, instances where it is felt that preparedness to undertake a contract for maintenance and running, at an inclusive charge per mile, appeals directly to mere, insures the proper running of the vehicles, and avoids risk of disappointment te either side:
this scheme is nothing more than an elaboration of the ordinary maintenance contract, so long as outright sale ha a been effected, and we fail to see any objection to it in fact, we have more than once urged its adoption. The opposite end of the scale provides the instance where an ill-advised manufacturer hopes to force the hands of prospective buyers, and to cause them to make purchases, with the general result that the traders affected do make purchases, but not from the manufacturer who has upset their old routine by the running of motors locally. Let us turn, therefore, to the other side of the proposition, and see how this development on the part of manufacturers affects the views of existing contractors whose sole business is to carry and to haul for other people. There is no occasion to theorize, but we do not mention names. It is a fact that particular carriers and contractors, who were predisposed in, favour of certain makes of vehicle, have—largely, if not entirely, in consequence of the class of competition which we have in mind—given their later orders to other makers. They have become offended, and have not accepted the view that the makers in question were seeking to gather data for the improvement of their models: this explanation, as we have pointed out above, can only hold good in the case of newcomers. Many pros and eons exist in this connection, and we must point out, incidentally, that no traction-engine makers, one adays, conduct hiring and contracting branches; such work is regarded as a separate business in the heavier and older branches of road locomotion. Steam-wagon makers, some six years ago, after the earlier motor-wagon-carrying companies had proved unsuccessful, essayed the work, either directly or indirectly, but they, too, have abandoned it. Van hiring, a course, may appeal to different classes of users, but it is extremely doubtful, in our judgment, if to-day's phase of direct contracting by makers will be a, lasting one. There is, without doubt, a genuine demand for new motor-hiring facilities: the old carrying and forwarding agencies do not rater for all new requirements. In this, we detect a short-sighted policy, as fresh competition is fostered by such unwillingness to move with the times. So far as any motor manufacturer's action has been purely of a tentative character, and prompted by motives al' policy, we do not condemn it, but we think it is trenching upon dangerous ground, where more will probably be last than gained, and that this class of undertaking will be vested in other hands before many years are over. Enormous scope is offered for local agents to secure support for such purposes, and garage proprietors, who have free capital at their disposal, will find it a profitable branch of development. Whatever the benefits may be, fin. the time being, from time manufacturing standpoint, we feel sure that equal trading results for them will be forthcoming if there be a closer concentration upon Grganization amongst regular buyers of transport plant. Manufacturing gets its return out of the capital accounts of other trades; hiring has to win out in competition with specialists. The two occupations are distinct.
Tramway Finance: Instructive Figures and Ratios for the United Kingdom.
Time Board of Trade return, for the year ended the 31st March last, in respect of street and road tramways in the United Kingdom, has now been issued by the Railway Branch of that Department. It is an instructive return of .55 pages, and its bearing upon motorbus enterprise will call for further treatment at our hands hereafter. The return shows that, at the date given, 2,526 route-miles were opened for traffic, and that the capital expenditure per mile of single trade open was .13,002 for lines and works, or 17,3,15 inclusive of all items. The passengers carried per mile of route open were 1„05f3,049. The financial results are those which will be of most interest to readers nf this journal, and they are of a description winch is certainlynot calculated to encourage the launching of further capital into electric-traction schemes. The repert furnishes all the returns under two divisions, so that the results of local authorities' undertakings may be kept separate and distinct from those of companies' undertakings. Of the total route-mileage quoted, 1,680 is owned by local authorities, and only 109 miles out of this total are leased by such local authorities to companies; in the whole kingdom, only 166 route-miles are worked otherwise than by electric traction. Of 298 undertakings, 176 belong to local authorities, and 122 to companies or other parties. In the prefatory memorandum to the report, it is stated: " In the cases of four local authorities and four companies, the returns show an excess of working expenditure over gross receipts." This statement might lead the uninformed reader to imagine that electric traction was extremely remunerative, but such is not the ease, as figures which we quote below will prove. Incidentally, it may be remarked that 45 local authorities and 43 companies, although they manage to show meagre excesses of income over expenditure, have been wholly unable to make any provision for "depreciation and renewals reserves," whilst, of these, 15 authorities and 15 companies have also failed to meet their sinking-fund charges. This is one of the matters in respect of which it is our intention, at an early date, to present some analytical statistics—and to point the moral.
The local-body capitals, with the route-miles and numbers of cars owned, for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, respectively, are: £39,380,838, 1,290 route-miles, and 7.267 cars: £5,108,961, 162 route-miles, and 1,013 cars: £1,167,961, 38 route-miles, and 238 cars. The corresponding figures for undertakings owned by companies and other parties, are : £19,951,291, 794 route-miles, and 2.896 cars; £1,983,361, 116 route-miles, and 998 cars; £2,752,743, 126 route-miles, and 462 cars. The percentage of net receipts to capital outlay, for the whole of the United Kingdom, is stated to be 6.47 per cent., or 7.06 per cent, when amounts expended on construction or purchase of old lines and works now superseded are eliminated. The working results are instructive, if not ominous. So tar as the 140 local authorities are concerned, the net receipts amount to £3,268,514, and the disposition of this total is shown to have been in the following ratios: interest, 33; repayment of debt or sinking fund, 30; rent of leased lines and sundry charges, 4; depreciation and renewals reserves, !21; relief of rates, 9; other matters (including balances carried forward), 3. These ratios, for the 122 companies, in respect of total net receipts, amounted to £1,327,265, are: dividends and interest, 57; debt reduction, 1; other sundry charges, 21; to reserve, 15; balance leeward, etc., 6. Extracting the separate allocations, the net receipts are found to be as follow, those in parentheses having reference to companies' undertakings: for England and Wales, £2,687,831 (£968,071); for Scotland, 1:494,592 (£233,198); for Ireland, £80,091 (£.125,996). The disposal of these balances, according to country, is found to be, respectively, the figures for companies again leing in parentheses: interest or dividends, 30, 20, and 44 (61, 33 and 80); repayment of debt or sinking fund, 32, 18, and 28 (1, 1, and 0.1); sundry other charges, including rent of leased lines, etc., 4, 4, and 1 (16, 46, and 14); depreciation and renewals reserves, 16, 48, and 15 (16, 17, and 0.2); relief of rates, 10, nil, and 11 (not applicable); carry forward, etc., 2, 10, and 1 (6, 3, and 5.7). There is much in these ratios to cause deep reflection, uninteresting though they may look in cold print, and especially in the comparisons between the practice of municipalities and companies, under certain headings in the accounts, and between the practice of the several countries in regard to the amount of provision necessary for depreciation and renewals reserves. The fact that no fewer than 90 local authorities and companies, in a joint total of 298, are faced by financial difficulties is one that we must "send home " for the benefit of the mctorbus.