Horse or Motor ?
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The Case for the Small Motorvan.
Pages 355 to 357 of this issue contain an article, from the Editor's pen, in which the case for the smelt mororvan is set out in some detail; we anticipate that there will he numerous requests for permission to reprint the text and tables. The year 1911 opens with every indication that it will tnark the collapse of the last stronghold of the horse, of minial superiority for small loads, low mileages and town deliveries. The Great Western and other railway companies have given no-uncertain lead in this branch, whilst large trading owners of road-delivery plant, who only -two ),ears ago refused to entertain the project of motor service in the presence of those factors, are now hitying motorvans, confidently and steadily, to meet them. We adduce arguments and comparisons Which are intended to convert the small trader. It is idle and wrong to imagine that none but wealthy houses in Londou are able to make motoryans pay. The ascendancy of the one-horse van is drawing to a close.
Conclusion of 1910 Review.
[In spite of our efforts to secure reasonable trondenaation, upwards., of four pages of last week's issue were occupied with the major portion of our review of the year 1910. The remainder of that review, which balance was unavoidahla held over for a week, is now published—Fin.]
Police Methods.
In June last (issue of the 2nd of that Month), we dealt at some length with police, methods in Lancashire, from various parts of which county we had received complaints from owners abont the treatment meted out, to them by the authorities, arid also by the magistrates. On that occasion, as may be found hareference back to the article in question, we somewhat. sevt rely censured the police at large for the repeated proseeu• lions, followed by heavy penalties, in respect of mere technical excessca of registered axle-weights, such as the finding of a steam lorry with a few hundredweight too many upon the hack axle we also protested against the infliction of heavy fines for nominal excesses of the, low speed-limit of fivc, miles per hoar. On that occasion, whilst we had certain specific in tances before us in regard to county boroughs, and particularly about Bolton, we also had received certain verbal and other assurances about the attitude of the Lancashire county police. Now, after an interval of several months, during which we have been able to investigate the allegations against. he county police, we are happy to state that. it is certain of the county boroughs which have taken action against owners and drivers in a mariner which we consider wholly oniair and unneces,ary, and contrary to the intentions of the Legislatnro
rir the Local Government Board. The county surveyor of Lancashire, and the county chief constable, naturally olijoot to teally-execssive speeds of steel-tired wagons, and also to loads which are appreciably or continuously in excess of the regis tered axle-weights, but they dissociate themselves from the occasional prosecution) of motor-wagon drivers for stopping on bridges, which manner of halting, in respect of a heavy motorcar, is not an offence against an.y statute, although it is an offence if such stoppage be made by a traction engine. All the Lancashire authorities, and we think with some measure of justification, contend that it is no more than their duty to observe and to inspect, in order to safeguard, against the consequences of gross excesses of any kind, both themselves and owners who behave in legitimate fashion. We would commend some important precedents to the county and countyborough police of Great Britain, and would claim from them reaaunable latitude in keeping with the commercial nee& of -this country's manufacturers and general trade, In the Royal Parks, although the speed limit is 12 mp.h., summonses arc not issued unless the excess be considerable—say cue of at least 30 per cent. It is only the " hooligans " who are wanted. Likewitse, with Sir Edward Henry's speedalarm scheme, the indicators are set at margins of 10 per cent. ltrh. Nobody suffers, and prosecutions for technical offences are. uncommon. Why not a measure of latitude for heavy traffic? However stringent the penalties for systematic evasion and excesses., the accidental slight excese is of mi real account and the industrial needs of the community ohould not be overlooked, nor fair traffic harassed,
Railcars.
Developments of railcars, both steam and petrol, for use in mines, has been a feature of the year, and two such equipments were described in our issues of the 14th July and the 13th October. In our issue of the 1st September, we drew attention, editorially, to other developments in railcar construction, and particularly described in the same issue a fine example, to the specification of Mr. Everard R. Calthrop, from the works of AlcEwan, Pratt and Co., Ltd., for His Highness the Rao of Cutch. For rail-inspection purposes, for motorcoach services upon narrow-gauge tracks, for passenger services in small town and pleasure grounds, and for the conveyance of contractors' materials under numerous circumstances, the internal-combustion•engined railcar is rapidly taking a firm hold, whilst its wide use on dock estates and in dock-yards is already well assured.
Roads.
The more-general use of waterproof constituents in the composition of metalled roads, in place of the old-fashioned method of binding with water, has become a standardized practice of construction, thanks to the activity of road engineers who have taken the trouble to obtain the right qualities of tar and pitch. IL is now recognized that pitch-bound roads can be made to bear the heaviest traffic, which was a matter of controversy until the beginning of the year 1910. Road authorities are themselves largo users of modern motor vehicles, for the conveyance of stores and materials, for road-rolling and patching purposes, and in other departments connected with highway administration, whilst the tarring of roads promises to become largely a mechanical process. From the point of view of road makers, the impact and crushing effects of steeltired vehicles have been closely studied, with the result that yet-another factor to favour the general use of rubber tires has gathered much-increased force. Contrary to the gloomy dire. bindings of peasimiats, the maintenance cost of tar-bound roads is proving to be extremely low, and there are now few people who attempt to sustain the old view that a water-bound
macadam road is cheaper in the end, which certainly is not the case. We again mention the fact that the Road Board has not yet got into practical working order; in fact, it hae only been fully constituted and provided with a staff during the last three months. The Treasury is about to approve its Met votes of money.
Road Transport by Carriers.
In the North of England, developments in connection with the use of motor vehicles for motor-contracting and hiring purposes have proceeded steadily. This branch of haulage, although periodically relieved of some of its original turnover byreason of the purchase of vehicles by parties who had started by hiring only, appears to thrive—subject to proper organization and management, but there are not, contrary to general belief, many " plums " in this class of enterprise. Competition with other carrying intereats, and most of all in the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, absolutely requires efficiency, unremitting supervision, and a. genius for detail. In the South, in the month of November last, a proposal was put, forward for the establishment of a transport service for the county of Kent, hut this project fell through owing to insufficiency of support. The directors of the company in question, which was registered with an authorized capital of £75,000, returned the application money early last month.
.Steam Vehicles and Tractors.
Practically every issue of this journal, during the year which has now closed, has contained references to, and iclustrutions of, typical steam vehicles and tractors, in the manufacture of which machines Great Britain stands pre-eminent. Apart from further developments of models suitable for loads of .4 tons, there is little to record from the constructional standpoint, any minor improvements being in matters of detail, and particularly directed to effective control in traffic. We might, however, refer our readers to the issues of the 27th January, 3rd, 10th and 17th February, in which we published an up-to-date series of articles dealing with representative wagon and tractor boilers, and it is of interest to put on record that, on the application of the War Office, we gave permission for these articles to be reprinted for the use of the officers and men of the Mechanical Transport. Section of the Army Service Corps, and of those sections of theRoyal Engineers which are concerned with mechanical transport.
Tires.
The development of " Pneumatic." as a filling material, appeals to have been somewhat. handicapped by the difficulty of obtaining gelatine of uniform quality, but we understand that this process difficulty has been surmounted ; we have records before us of good service under heavy touring-car cure ditions. Variations in the prices of rubber were acute ie the early part of the year, but a downward tendency, which is likely to develop into a permanent and progressive fall in prices, has been a welcome change during the past three months. In our issue of the 6th October, an article on the preparation and marketing of plantation rubber, from the pen of a gentlemam who has resided for some years iii the Federated Malay States, was published with illustrations. The wisdom of fitting solid-rubber tires to steam vehicles for -74-ton loads, and to petrol vehicles Mr five-ton binds. is now universally admitted.
Traffic.
The regulation of traffic on the Thames Embankment reeived attention in our issue oi the 7th April. and various features are occupying the attention of the Roads Improve meet Association. The setting back of pillar boxes, lamp posts, street orderly-bins. and other road-side obstructions has been systematically taken in hand, whilst reductions in the camber of road surfaces, as well as more-suitable methods of cleansing and gritting, have received attention from numerous authorities which had previously not properly taken into
account the demands of metier traffic.regulations for the control of motorbus and other trafficthe City of London hive been introduced. but their working, so far. has to lie regarded in a tentative spirit. There are now fewer than 110,000 horses in the area of the London County Council, compared with upwards of 450,000 six years ago. The Central Committee on Road Statistics, which was formed in 190g at the instance of the County Councils Association. rind of which committee the Editor of this journal is a member. has brought to a satisfactory issue various important matters connected with road signs and direction posts. The Royal Automobile Club, at the request. of the Commercial Motor Users Assecia
thou and other bodies, is investigating the question of reflex tail-lights for farm and other carts (see issue of the 27th October). Road-side supplies for steam vehicles, particularly of Welsh steam coal arid good water, are in increasing demand, and we have recently urged the expediency of their putting up adequate signs in relation to such supplies by people who have road-side depots of any kind. The equity of precedence for main-road traffic, and the expediency of requiring traffic from side thoroughfares to give way and to emerge slowly, is commonly accepted in well-informed quarters, although the law on the subject is rather ambiguous, each set of circumstances usually being settled on the alleged facts, which means that a case often resolves itself into one of " hard swearing." The applications of " flats " and special trans, porter-cans. to which passing references have alreadybeen made in this review, are shown in our issues of the 17th and 24th Nevem/or, and the 1st December. Wood pavement is, according to Colonel Crompton, challenged by tar concrete and other metalled roads which are bound together with tar or asphaltic matrices.
The importance of bridge links deserves a paragraph to itself. In our issues of the 10th, 17th and 24th March, Mr. H. Howard Humphreys, the well-known authority on roads and bridges, contributed a series of highly-instructive and carefully, written articles, from the legal and traffic standpoints. These articles were subsequently reprinted, and copies of that reprint were, by request, furnished to the Road Board. The same subject, it will be remembered, also occupied the attention of a joint committee of the C.M.U.A. and the S.M.M.T., which committee was formed at our instance.
Various.
It is somewhat difficult to draw this review to a close, without the risk of omissions. The year has been a sad one in respect of deaths, those of His Majesty King Edward, H.S.H. P rince Francis el Teat, and the how C. S. Rolls being instances which called, at the respective times, for obituary leak-es in our pages. Public authorities aee now sanctioning increases in petrol storage with less difficulty than formerly, and this is probably a result in sympathy with the larger ownership of motor vehicles of all classes of municipalities. Mr. H. C. Monro, C.B., was appointed, in January last, Permanent Secretary to the Local Government Boerd—a matter of real importance to all heavy motorists, in view of that gentleman's detailed acquaintance with the steps which preceded the issue of the Heavy Motor Car Order of 1004. We have nut failed to report, in adequate fashion, various importantmotor and other shows, and we have been happy to serve supporters of this journal by finding numbers of good drivers for employment in Spain and various other parts of the world. Mr. H. Kerr-Thomas, our correspondent in the U.S .A., visited England during December, and he is now on his way back to Buffalo, per the R.M.S. " Caronia." Regular notes have been published from our correspondents in Berlin. Paris, Australia, and other eentres. It must be recorded that in all cases there are indications that a dwindling interest is ow taken in read trials—e.g.. these in France.
The use of motorvans for long-distance runs, their unequalled value during seasons of pressure, and the fact that they require no Sunday or holiday labour, which is of great importance. in comparison with any horse-equipped esteblishmeet. trove been emphasized on numerone occiesions. Waterballast rollers have sold freely, and the demand for motor lawn-mowers has improved; in both these sections of the industry, demand from the Colonies and abroad has been brisk.
Our usual features of " Anewers to queries." Opinions from others," " Contributions from drivers and mechanica," and " Patents completed," have been included with regularity. and they are appreciated by our readers generally. At the Institution of Automobile Engineers, in November last, Mr. L. A. Legros contributed an admirable survey of the cornr mercial-motor movement, and in the course of his paper gave due acknowledgment to this journal for certain information which he had turned to account from its pages. One of the best tables of working costs, and one over the preparation of which an enormous number of hours had clearly been spent, was that issued by Leyland Motors. Ltd., and published in our issue of the 23rd June. This table, to our knowledge, has been widely circulated emonast cooperative societies. With 1910 inn the background, it now becomes our duty to make some announcements about the immediate future, and fel! us to express the hope that everybody will pull together to consolidate the intert.sts of commercial motoring as a whole. We have no apace, this week, even to outline certain prepositions which are shaping in our mind to that, end, but, we promise early and full particulars.