A Real Bid for Success.
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We have carefully followed recent proceedings of the parties to the amalgamation between four of London's motorbus companies, and we are satisfied that a genuine effort is Icing made in the shareholders' interests. The new company, which has practically been in active business existence for three months, cannot hope entirely to escape the handicaps and consequences that have inevitably followed upon She terms of the original promotions, but the board of the :new Vanguard Motorbus Company includes the best and most qualified men from the contributory directorates, and these will sit under the chairmanship of a trained financier
who is not without administrative ability. Mr. Samuel 'Wheeler's varied experience in the Official Receiver's Depart'meat of the Board of Trade, and not least of all as receiver and liquidator of Mr. Jabez Balfour's " Liberator" and other -undertakings, should now stand his new charge in good -stead, and the astute handling of matters which have arisen out of the defaults of the Motorbus Trust provides the first
-evidence of his efforts towards concentration. The new -company, however, still labours under the disadvantage of its having to essay the earning of a dividend upon mare than 4-250,000 of issued capital in excess of the issued 'capital of the four companies from which it was formed, in which connection we are completely at a loss to appreciate -certain passages in a leading article which appeared in ' The Financial Times " of the 26th ultimo. We quote from this : " The combine is made up of four companies . . whose authorised capital was ,1,318,000, and the new enterprise—the Vanguard Motorbus Company—has an authorised capital of ..i,000,000 (sic), of which £990,500 is re:served for the shareholders of the absorbed undertakings . They have, at all events, got rid of more than a quarter of a million of watered capital, and that is much to the good in an industry like the motorbus, which is still to all intents and purposes in the embryo stage." The extraordinary confusion between authorised and issued capital is certainly unexpected in the columns of a financial journal, and the fact remains that, after allowance for cancelments, the issued capital has been swollen in the course of the amalgamation from, approximately, 4;599,000 to .4.'865,000 The Vanguard Motorbus Company desei-ves the goodwill of all who have observed its pioneering difficulties., and we hope it will be successful in the future. Its early troubles under the heads of organisation and claims, to which frequent references have appeared in this journal, are surely lessening, -and we have every reason to believe that the new board will make a sustained fight to place the company in a sound and healthy trading position without reference to the Stock Exchange. There is nothing to be gained from any disguise of the fact that at least two years of steady, plodding work lies in front of the management, before it can possibly be claimed that orebanisation has been evolved in all essential branches, whilst the police factor simply defies estimation. We were not -enamoured of the various circulars th-at were issued in December last, but we are satisfied that all the shareholders will have a second chance, and that the scheme is clearly the outcome and dictate of expediency. Agitation by shareholders is worse than useless now : it will do positive harm by absorbing the attention of officials, whilst no good and sufficient reasons for the interference of the Courts can be found.
No Disappearance of the Penny Fare.
Several important London papers have taken the view that an increase of motorbus fares will mean the disappearance of the penny stage, but no impression could be further removed from fact. The -penny stage is a fixed institution in the Metropolis, and the proportion of passengers who wish to pay that Small sum must ever remain a high one. Fares can obviously be increased without disturbance of the penny fare, and the proper way to set about a revision of existing conditicas is, as we have repeatedly insisted, that proprietors should gradually get back towards lengths of stages which are a compromise between the -old horse stages of 1934 and to-day's two-mile, motorbus stages. The -penny fare cannot and will not disappear.
The experiment of halfpenny stages appears to be growing in extent, if not gaining in favour. The public, however, -does not take kindly to the change on a number of routes, and not a little confusion exists in different parts of London as a result. Halfpenny increments have been known on the fare boards of London omnibuses for many years, although they have been limited to particular roads, and the last six weeks have seen abnormal developments of this fare in the East End of London. Exactly why one of London's oldest companies thinks it advisable to carry passengers two miles for a halfpenny is, of course, a matter for the manager and directors of the particular company to which we refer, but we question if this practice is in agreement with the same company's professicn of a willingness to see fares raised.
It is clear that the period of strife between motorbus companies in London, which we forecasted in our Editorial columns of 4th December, 19o5, is not yet at an end, but we discern the slow grinding of the mills which, after a further spell of individual action, must bring about a tacit understanding in the first instance, and lead to a firm agreement at a later date.
The "Automobile Engineer."
Some years ago the question of " What Constitutes an Electrical Engineer " was very much discussed in all the journals associated with the electrical-engineering industry. The principal grievance in those days was that innumerable men who were devoid of any training in electrical subjects, and knew little more than how to put in bells, proclaimed themselves as" Electrical Engineers," the words often being added to others, as" Sanitary Plumber " or " House Decorator." Much the same state of things has occurred in the automobile industry, and examples are not wanting at the present day. In nearly every village or hamlet in England, someone will be found who glories in the title of " Automobile Engineer," but, in the majority of cases, he has no more claim to such a title than the local baker. The bogus automobile engineer, however, is not confined to the small towns : he is often to be found in large towns and in London, where he occupies apparently extensive premises, but probably has no more tools for the purpose of dealing with any motor-constructional problem than a file and a " belly-brace." Such shady concerns as these have undoubtedly been responsible for much of the distrust in which motor vehicles generally have been, and still arc, held by many tradesmen who would find their employment of considerable benefit in connection with their businesses. There is nothing to prevent any man, no matter what his business may have been previously, proclaiming himself as an " Automobile Engineer," and, if he can succeed in finding people who, in their anxiety to get work done cheaply, offer themselves as victims to his bluff and impudence, he is only partly to blame when he takes advantage of such customers' innocence.
The reasonable qualifications of an " Automobile Engineer " provide a somewhat vexed question, yet one to which a satisfactory answer can readily be furnished by anyone who has given any thought to the subject. In the first place, to be an " Automobile Engineer," one must also be a mechanical engineer, and, before being fully entitled to the latter distinction, it is necessary to possess the following record : good general education ; an apprenticeship in a recognised engineering works, in which experience is gained in the fitting shop, machine shop, erecting shop, running shed, pattern shop, foundry, drawing office and administrative department; and a successful course at an engineering college. Following this, the aspirant to the title of " Automobile Engineer" should make a thorough study of automobile problems, and spend sonic years in the works of a reliable motor manufacturer, as a useful man and a wage earner, and not, like so many of the privileged " pupils " of the present day do, in sloth and idleness. Practical work on the road is also of vital importance, and no man can truly style himself an " Automobile Engineer " unless he has had such a training as we outline. The " Automobile Engineer " will be able to bring to his aid in motor matters all the skill and intelligence which he has acquired during his training in the mechanical-engineeringshops.
Briefly, then, an " Automobile Engineer " is a mechanical engineer with a knowledge of the additional and special experience that has been brought into being by the spread of the motor industry, and competent " Automobile Engineers " cannot be created without their adherence to at least ninety per cent, of the curriculum and shop training of the mechanical engineer. The other ten per cent, is merely specialising, and that cannot come until after the other courses have been taken : there is no royal road.
Engineers in the Making.
We reprint, on page 435, the conditions -of a scheme of apprenticeship which has been put forward by Clayton and Shuttleworth, Limited, of Lincoln, and the object of this scheme is to give the apprentice a sound mechanical and technical education, as well as to ensure that, at the ter mination of his period of indenture, he may be a thoroughly practical and capable man, and one who should be both ready and fitted to fill a useful place in any engineering works.
The promoters of the programme in question will, of course,
benefit by its operation, because a better and more intelligent class of youth will be attracted to their works, and, consequently, better results may reasonably be expected from them than from the average run of men. It has long been recognised that the old system of opprenticeship for seven years must give place to some arrangement more suited to the requirements of modern engineering workshops. Many parents and guardians have refrained front putting their sons or wards to a profession, the majority of whose representatives demand an apparently exorbitant premium, or, if the apprentice enters without premium, allow the young fellows to drift aimlessly through the shops, or keep them on one class of work for indefinite periods.
It cannot be denied that the "pupil " or premium apprentice is often a source of annoyance to the management, not only because of the material which many of them spoil, but because of the bad example, so far as discipline and timekeeping are concerned, which this class of apprentice sets to his less privileged, but frequently more competent, " shopmate." No premium, however large, can repay the management of a works for the loss of output for which one or two high-spirited but work-shy pupils may be responsible. We have no desire to attack premium apprentices as a class, because, amongst their number, we have known many men of great ability and resource, who have, by their good work, caused their names to become known throughout the whole engineering profession. The scheme which Clayton and Shuttleworth has introduced is, none the less, one of real merit : it is, in fact, the best which has come under our notice. The appointment of a superintendent, whose duties are the care and management of the apprentices, is a strong point in favour of the scheme's success. Responsible mem:hers of the company's staff conduct technical classes within the works, and—a fact which is worthy of special mention— all the necessary instruments and books are provided by the company free of charge; in addition, a premium, in the feral of an increase to the weekly wage, is given to all apprentices whose work is sufficiently meritorious. There are many engineering shops in which the apprentice is now encouraged to do his best, and amongst these Mr. Drummood's scheme, which is in operation at the Nine Elms Works of the IAmdon and South-Western Railway Company, provides another excellent instance.
We believe that, given proper consideration for their advancement, apprentices will not be slow to make the most of their opportunities, and to fit themselves to take even the highest posts. The scheme which we reprint is, in many respects, a great advance on anything we have previously seen : the apprentice, under it, has opportunities for gaining an insight even into such departments as the drawing office, works administration, estimating and costing. The company is to be congratulated on the introduction of the scheme, which cannot fail to help both employer and apprentice, and we commend it to those of our readers who want to place their sons on the first rungs of the ladder in, according to their position and tastes, the honourable trade, or profession, of mechanical engineering.