From our Berlin Correspondent.
Page 6
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1_7p to date, the two self-propelled, firebrigade vehicles, acquired by the Berlin Corporation for experimental purposes, have each covered 6,250 miles, an approximate equivalent of to,000 kilometres. The one is steam-driven, whilst electricity supplies the propelling power for the other.
For its street-cleansing purposes, Amsterdam is shortly to have a steamdriven vehicle with a chassis adapted for use with a sprinkler, a salt-water wagon, or a snow-plough. The municipal electric sprinkler, which runs on the tramway rails, is answering very well indeed.
The Transport Department of the Frankfort Board of Works is giving a three-months' trial, with a view to purchase, to a Daimler-Marienfelde lorry of 18h.p., an N.A.G. tipping-wagon, and a Stoltz steam lorry. Some 50o horses are worked by the Board, and up-to-date councillors have arrived at the conclusion that mechanical power should now be applied instead, if found to be more reliable, economical, and expedient.
liuremburg Motorcab Owners and the Police.
In a recent report, I said that Nuremberg motorcab owners had received orders from the police not to soil the asphalt ranks with oil-droppings. As little or no attention was paid to this order, the police have prohibited the use of asphalted roads as cab-ranks; in other words, motoreabs are driven off the most frequented streets, where drivers have the best chance of picking
up fares. Owners suggested, as a compromise, that the vehicles should stand on a paved square near the Mauthalle, but to this suggestion the police objected, on the ground that people _staying in the neighbouring hotels -would be disturbed at night. Hence',forth, after midnight, only two motor-cabs will be allowed to stand in the centre of the city, the rest being relegated to the railway-stations. Neither the public nor the owners are satisfied with these arrangements, Which inconvenience the former, and mean financial loss to the latter. Nobody seems to have hit upon the idea at avoiding this vexatious treatment by introducing electric cabs.
Regular motorbus communication between the Brussels Stock Exchange and the upper city has been established with a couple of vehicles by way of ,a beginning ; by degrees the rolling stock will be increased to about a dozen. The Societe des Tramways Bruxellois appears to have the matter in hand, and interested parties might see whether business can be done. Of course, German firms are awake to the possibilities of contracts in this city. • The Benzal Carburetter.
Director Sprang,er states that, with the new Daimler-Marienfelde carburetter, which has been fitted to a number of commercial vehicles, a saving of more than so per cent. can be effected. The maximum consumption per h.p., and hour, is 285 grammes, and he supplies me with the following comparative table of costs The firm undertakes to convert its own make of petrol carburetters into benzol carburetters for some £30. At the present time, fourteen firms in various parts of Germany are supplying benzol for motor work.
The Austrian /Vianceuvres.
At the Imperial Austrian manceuvres in Kaernten, in which 25,000 men, and 2,000 horses, took part, the transport corps was organised on a motor basis and consisted of the aftermenConed vehicles :— (a) 2 heavy steam tractors, each with 5 trailers and a water-cart, 25 tons of useful load being carried by each train.
(b) 4 petrol trains, each made up of a tractor trailing 2-3 wagons. Useful load per train, 25 tons.
(c) 5 heavy petrol wagons, each carrying a useful load of 2 to 5 tons.
(d) 3 petrol tenders to each train, transporting fuel, lubricants, carbide, etc.
(e) Travelling repairing shop, petrol-driven and fitted with a dynamo for electric-light current, in order that repairs might be effected at night.
In addition to the above there were S motorcycles of the latest type, each equipped with 2-speed gear and with car attached for the conveyance of train commanders and for orderly work. Despite the unfavourable state of the roads and the defective bridges, the trains are said by experts to have ren dered splendid services. Major Wolf and Captain Rechl, of the Austrian Army Motor Section, were in charge of the trains.
German Motorbus Lines.
The recently-opened motorbus line, linking up Oldenburg with Wardenburg, bids fair to be a financial success; up to the present very good business has been done, the accommodation of the single-deckers being often far below the demand. A section of the route is, however, in a bad condition for rubber tires, which are, accordingly, suffering more wear and
tear than usual. Upon the ultimate success of this line hangs a project for connecting Oldenburg and Edewecht by means of motorbuses. Edewecht lies at some distance from Oldenburg, and is also out of touch with the great highways and railway-stations. On the other hand, a couple of motorbus lines have ceased to exist, whilst another company, in a balance-sheet up to the 31st August, announces a loss of over £soo. The two lines no longer being worked are the WiesbadenSchlangenbad and the FreudenstadtAchern, both of which were largely dependent on tourist traffic. Next summer the Freudenstadt-Achern line may be re-opened, but the other concern does not appear to have ever paid at all. As to the company with a loss of over £soo, this is the Automobil-Omnibus-Gesellschaft Mittweida-BurgstadtLimbach, in Saxony. Yet, on looking at the items, I find on the debit side of the Profit and Loss Account a net sum of 15,050 marks (Z753) for an omnibus destroyed by fire. Deducting this amount, debits stand at 24,015 marks, 48 pfennigs, against receipts from fares and advertisement charges amounting to 28,755 marks, 91 pfennigs ; in other words, allowing for the loss of the vehicle, which was an accident, the line worked with a surplus of 4,740 marks, 43 pfennig,s, Or Some „t.,237. I May mention that the Mayor of Burgsthdt has a seat on the company's supervisory board.