The Triumph of the Motor in Municipal Work.
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IN PEW spheres of activity has the mechanical transport vehicle—whether it be propelled by a petrol engine, steam engine, or electric motor— made more satisfactory progress than in municipal work. So much so that it is difficult to point to a class of this work -where the motor vehicle is not utilized almost, if not quite, exclusively. Such wonderful progress could not have been made if it were not for the inherent qualities displayed by the various vehicles employed.
' The co-operation between municipalities is far more close than is that between ordinary traders and business concerns ; thus the news of a particular success or financial saving achieved in one district rapidly spreads all over the country.
'Efficiency, combined with cheapness, is the essential sought, and the continual spread of the mechanical transport movement proves that this requirement has been met. Speed, combined with cleanliness, is The order of the day. Take for example, the collection of house refuse. When horsed vehicles were employed, houses at a distance from the tips or destructors were often neglected for considerable periods, instead of collections being made at least weekly, and often twice weekly, as happens, now. Accumulations of refuse breed flies and encourage disease, and thus, taking this one direction alone, the motor vehicle has directly contributed to the preservation of the nation's health. Apart from this, horses themselves, unless most carefully tended and kept scrupulously clean, are contributors of disease.
ts Value to the Cleansing Superintendent.
in considering the other phases of municipal work, perhaps the most important is that of street-cleaning. Here, again, vast progress has been made, and motor appliances capable of dealing with many miles of streets in a short time and of being used with ease in narrow thoroughfares, have been developed. Much thought has been devoted to the production of sweepers which will collect the detritus into containers and thus dispense with the need for the picking up of the refuse by following vehicles. • Vacuum gully emptiers may also be said to have reached a highly satisfactory stage of development, although there are one or two instances in which these machines cannot be employed, this particularly applying to the City. of London, where the sludge is of an unusually thick consistency. This difficulty will certainly be overcome ; in fact, we believe it already has been mastered.
Great improvements have also been made of recent years in the development of really satisfactory street sprinklers and washers. Some of the last-named embody engine-driven pumps, and the water is sprayed out under. such a pressure that the mud is practically driven from the street surface. Some of these watering and washing machines form double-purpose vehicles, as they • can be used as fire-engines in emergencies.
The Motor Pump in Fire-fighting.
The motor fire-engine now holds undisputed sway. It is some little time since the London Fire Brigade dispensed with its last horse, but quite recently the London Salvage Corps followed its example. Turntable fire-escapes, which can not only act as such, but also provide eonvenient towers from which to direct the jets of water, have also proved their value, as the water can be directed right into the heart of the fire.
The various tramway and electricity departments, amongst others, have not been backward in ordering vehicles. Thoae employed 'by them include tower wagons, portable welding outfits, and wagons designed with a specially low loading line for the carrying of large reels of electric cable.' Not many years ago the old "Black Alaria,s " were a familiar sight in our streets, but_ these vanished in the new era, their place being taken by neat motor vehicles.
Practically all municipalities of any considerable size have well-appointed ambulances designed to give the maximum of comfort to the patients carried. Many also employ disinfecting vans, and some even mobile libraries and library vans.
Again, in road construction we find the motor vehicle almost supreme. Apart from ordinary and tipping lorries, there are special steam and motor rollers built to meet the requirements of tar macadam surfacing and asphalt paving. These machines are usually comparatively light and little resemble our old-time friend, the ordinary steam-roller.
It is impossible in an editorial to deal anything like fully with the various' types of vehicle, but 'interesting particulars of these and the malts of their employment will be found elsewhete in this issue.
Lower Platform Levels for Municipal Work.
So far as municipal transport is concerned, unless the municipality runs a bus, trolley-bus, or tram.. car service, the most important work is to be found in house-refuse collection. The health, comfort, 'and even: welfare of a community depend upon the quickness and thoroughness with which the disposal of its refuse is effected. Hence, at all points in the collection and transport of that refuse, time and labour must be saved. There is, therefore, a great deal to be said in favour of the development of vehicles which shall have a low loading line suitable for this class of work. One hears many an ill-considered argument in favour of a general lowering of the loading line on all vehicles, but such a course is not only not feasible, but would actually be incorrect in the case of a large proportion of transport work. The height of platforms in docks and loading bays was first determined by the height at which a. porter carried a package on his back. This height then determined the height of van and lorry platforms, and when the motor vehicle came to be developed the need for clearing the wheel arches and to avoid the limitation of body width they would otherwise impose prevented platforms from being disposed any lower. With the absence of need for speed in the case of the refnse-collecting vehicle, wheels of smaller diameter and modified forms of drive may be employed, and the whole body may be substantially lowered so as to permit a dustman, standing on a pavement, to tip a dustbin conveniently from his shoulder over the body side, and, at the same time, to give a depth to the side which shall not restrict the capacity of the vehicle. The system employed at Southport (where, whilst the refuse is being collected, the containers are horse-drawn, the containing vehicle, when filled, having the horse and shafts removed and being hauled up ramps on to motor carriers) is one means which has been found entirely satisfactory in overcoming the trouble, and, at the same time, saving the waste of the motor's superior speed capabihties. The Newcastle-upon-Tyne Corporation employs Yorkshire wagons with a load line so low that the dustman stands breast high above the dropped side. Electramobile. Ltd., and Shelvoke and Drewry, Ltd., have each developed vehicles-having very low load lines, whilst similar efforts in other directions have been made or are contemplated.
Besides its appeal to the 'cleansing-department of a local authority, the engineer finds the low-load-level vehicle extremely useful for the transport of such materials as paving-stones, because it saves time arid labour, in both loading and unloading. It is well worth inquiring into the reasons for the success of the engineering department of the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., in the design of a bus with a floor which is no more than about 18 ins, off the ground. It has been secured partly by raking the shaft line, but chiefly by the use of a double-reduction back axle incorporating a final internal-gear drive. We believe that municipal engineers and cleansing superintendents will press for a lower platform height, and that ultimately it will be generally provided.
The Advantages of Multi-purpose Vehicles and Interchangeable Bodies The Advantages of Multi-purpose Vehicles and Interchangeable Bodies
THE REQUIREMENTS of many municipalities are peculiar in that they call for vehicles which will perform widely divergent functions. The re-Suit of this has been a great development in the design of individual machines, the principle adopted being "one job, one machine." This policy has not proved altogether satisfactory, for few of the tasks occupy the whole time of a single vehicle, and thiai there is overlapping and a consequent waste of transport. Both manufacturers and municipal authorities are realizing this point, and efforts—already highly successful in some instances—are being made to develop vehicles which can cope successfully with more
than one class of work. .
In certain areas refuse collecting can only be performed during a few hours in the early morning and late at night ; with vehicles designed solely for this work there would be lengthy periods of enforced inactivity, whereas considerable saving could be effected if the vehicles could be employed on other classes of work during this time. Similarly, in rural areas the services of, say, a cesspool emptier may be required only on one or two days per week, and it would be manifestly impossible economically to employ a mechanically propelled vehicle for this work alone unless arrangements could be made for its hire to other local authorities.
Fortunately for the future of the motor vehicle, it has not proved a very difficult matter to adapt it to perform more than one task, and multi-purpose vehicles are steadily gaining favour and confidence in many quarters. Improv ements have also been made in the development of vehicles with interchangeable bodies, which can thus be rendered suitable for different tasks in a few minutes, providing that proper arrangements are made for slinging the bodies and -storing those which are not required at the moment. There aa'e many obvious ways in which the duties to be performed can be linked together. Thus, a street sweeper can be so constructed that it also collects the material with which it deals, and a street-watering vehicle can be so built that the water pressure is sufficient to allow of its being used for street washing or even as a first-aid fire-engine. With interchangeable bodies the duties performed can be even more varied, and it is quite usual for the tank of a cesspool emptier to.be interchangeable with a lorry body, which is rendered more useful by the permanent addition to the chassis of either an end or three-way tipping gear.