OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.
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The Editor invites correspondence on all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. Letters should be on one side of the paper only and typewritten by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibility for views as pressed is accepted.
"Tank Origin."
The Editor, TEE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1665] Sir,—I was greatly interested in the paragraph in your issue of 16th January entitled "Tank Origin." The Tank having played such wprominent part in the world war,' it is naturally of interest to the public to know of its origin.
What greatly intereSted me in your article is your mention of Major W. G. Wilson, of the Wilson-Pilcher , car, as having been joint designer of the Tank, and my association with this .gentleman in the very early days of the motor industry make me think it not out of place.to mention a few matters which go to prove that Majors Wilson had in his mind the utility of the motor vehicle as a fighting machine, and, in fact, designed and built an armoured car 19 years ago.
I have not seen Major Wilson for 17 years nor had
I heard of him until reading your article hilt so far back as January, 1899, and for a considerable time afterwards, I was employed as general mechanic by Messrs. Wilson-Filcher, Ltd., at their splendidlyequipped little experimental works at Gt. Peter Street, Westminster, and I assisted both these gentlemen in carrying out their early experiments. During my period with them, the armoured car was designed and built, this being theshearly part of 1900. A few particulars of the vehicle are as follow :—The engine was mounted right in the middle of the chassis frame, allowing revolving armour-plate turrets to be mounted, the latter equipped with Maxim quick-firing guns. The car, so far as possible, was enveloped in fairly heavy armour Plate, and one thing I remember which Eihows remarkable forethought in design is that Major Wilson constructed the front axle of his armoured car in such a way that, on approaching an obstacle, the front wheels could travel' over it in their path by climbing as near as possible' to the height of the obstruction. It was also possible for one wheel to be packed up off the ground, the other three remaining on the ground and the chassis keeping in normal position.
These ale a few particulars concerning the type of armoured car of Major Wilson's design of 19 years ago and it would be most interesting to know how much this early experiment helped him in the part he played in the design of the modern Tank.
The helical bevel gears you mention in your article
I cut myself for Mr. Wilson on a Putsman universal miller in 1899. This type of bevel gear, which is now also standard Hupmobile practice, was used where required right through the Wilson-Pitcher chassis. The epicyclic change-speed gears and also the differential gears were all helical, and, so far back as that, were all mounted on Hoffmann roller bearings, "proving that a lot of the early-day design and thought still holds good.
I remember the gliding or soaring machines you mention. The late Mr. Percy Pilcher was experimenting with them whilst 1 was with the.company. ills most unfortunate death occurred, I believe, on Lord Bray's estate at Rugby in October, 1899. He had great hopes in regard to the engine you mention. The latter we hung upito the girders at the.experimental works at Westminster to test, Mr. Pitcher's idea being to test 'it under as nearly as Possible the conditions it would be in when fitted to his soaring planes. Mr. Wilbur Wright, in a paper on aeronautics read before an American society some time ago, paid great tribute to the early .efforts for aviation of Mr. Percy
Pitcher and Herr Lilienthal. • Numerous and most interesting experiments were carried out at the Wilson-Pilcher.works in the early
days, and among the notable constant visitors were the late Hon. 0. S. Rolla and Sir Hiram Maxim. No doubt Major Wilson's early efforts on his armoured car have been of value to him in regard to the part he has taken in the design of the Tank.—Yours faith fully, GEORGE LE RESCRE, Consulting Engineer to Lloyds Dreadnought Motor Policies and Messrs. 'The Co-operative Insurance Society, Ltd.
The Balsall Heath Motor Works,
155, Mary Street, Birmingham.
Damage to Roads.
The Editor, THE COMMEROIAL MOTOR.
[1666] Sir,—One of the outstanding problems which must be solved before long is the road problem, and after carefully reading through the evidence given before the Local Government Board's Departmental Committee, I have come to the conclusion that up to date no person seems to know—
(1) What is the real cause of corrugations or waves being formed in the roads by buses and other heavy traffic ; and (2) How these corrugations or waves can be checked and finally eradicated..
I think it would be of great benefit to the commercial world if this subject was thoroughly discussed in your valuable paper, because of the serious damage which at present is taking place tosall chassis and roads. I have no doubt Whatever that this problem can be overcome but'before tackling such a job, the real cause of the trouble must be known, and I suggest that you should throw the pages of your paper open to alliscussion on this important subject, and thereby confer a benefit on the nation and the whole motoringlworld.—Yours faithfully,
ENGINEER.
Vindicating the "B" Type Bus.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1667] Sir,—In your issue of the 19th December you commented on the L.G.O. "B" type chassis, and, although I have read your paper for years, this is the first time I feel called upon to question any statement in your interesting journal.
You say, "In grave national emergency a number of these machines were taken over to, the Continent, but that they were altogether too light for active service work very soon became evident."
Now, I feel I must absolutely contradict that statement, and as I have been with some of them since we■brought them over (my lot came over in October, 1914), and am still with the same old buses, I‘think I am in a position to know what I am writing about. I was driving a " B " type in,London for five years before the war, and have driven one for over four years out here, and I ask you if you can produce another type of lorry with such a record. To quote one instance, and to give a slight outline of the life of one-bus in particular. not because it has proved better than any other, hut because it has been under my eyes practically the whole time, I give you an i extract from its log book (every W.D. vehicle s provided with one). "Chassis Number B117 (an early make you will observe). Engine Number 3220. Horse-power 40. Date of arrival in France 21.10.14."
Now, driving the whole of the time between then and now, and carrying loads supposed not to exceed 25 persons, but in a case of "emergency 30 or even e43
more, with full kit, there has been absolutely nothing whatever done to the chassis. The mileage will compare favourably with that of any other lorry out here,, and it has done nearly all its work in forward areas. where the roads are roads in name only.
The same driver has been on it the whole time, and will substantiate everything I say. Should you think it interesting enough, I will send you a short article, giving a brief resum4 of its work out here. and I venture to think it would surprise a few people to know just what the old " B " type really can do. The engine has been changed once, but except for broken springs and repaired bodywork, nothing else has been done to the vehicle. It is going as well now as ever, and it takes a jolly goad lorry to "show us the way" down the road.—Yours faithfully, W. E. FlAYNES, Corpl, 2nd Army Bus Section, B.E.F.
Haulage Contractors' Rates.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1.668] Sir —We thank you for publishing our comments regarding the running costs of a motor haulage contractor's 3-ton lorry, but we must confess that we consider your comments on our letter are not quite fair, and also are slightly inaccurate. With regard to petrol, at the time our letter was written, the price of petrol, even to large users, was undoubtedly in the netghhbourhood of 3s. a gallon, and surely the figure you mention, i.e., 2s. 10id., is "in the neighbourhood" of as. a gallon. With regard to petrol consumption, with the present quality of the No. 2 spirit, we submit that it is a very rare exception that a lorry will do anything like eight miles to the gallon. We have the miming costs of some hundreds of vehicles at our disposal from which our figures are quoted. In regard to your paragraph for tyres, surely it is an error on your part to say that an allowance should be made for more frequent replacements than 10,000 miles interval. In view of the fact that all standards tyres are now guaranteed for at least 10,000 miles, we fail to see what bearing this can have on the matter.
We feel sure that it is your 'wish to encourage fair comment on your articles, but,we must contend that your attitude in holding to inaccurate quotations is not very encouraging, and also must be misleading to any ignorant prospective contractor. You mention that your original inquirer proposed to work in the country districts where roads are not good, and therefore the question of maintenance is surely likely to be on the heavy side.—Yours faith fully, COMMERCIAL CAR HIRERS, LTD. j. C. MOTH, General Manager.
[We are afraid Mr. Moth has missed the point of Our footnote to his previous letter, which is this : The information as to probable costs of running which we give to inquirers, and which appears from time to time in our "Answers to Queries" columns,. is based upon statistics which have been carefully complied over a period of twelve years, covering many thousands of vehicles operating in all parts of the country, and under all possible conditions. They are continually being revised and brought up to date, and although we can, of course, in any particular instance, only give averages, these are Much more to be relied upon than any figures which may be compiled by any one particular user. In every case our statements as to cost are rather above than below those averages which we have ascertained to be current. It was our practice, before the war, to issue standard sheets of what we called "normal" costs. and readers and users, from time to time, after considering our statements of normal costs, and comparing them with their own, finding that their costs exceeded what we stated to be normal, have then, by careful application, been able to discover why their own expenditure was abnormal, and in the majority of instances have at the same time been able to reduce those costs. Mr. Moth will realize, of course, that during the war it has been necessary for us to revise these costs from month to month, but he may take it that that revision has been made, and that our statistics are invariably kept up to date. This general reply covers all the points raised in Mr. Moth's two letters. We would, however, like to add 'that our statement that "it is within our knowledge that most large users in London are obtaining their petrol at prices very considerably below this" (referring to the 3s a gallon which he quoted), was, at the, time when he wrote his letter, one of fact.—En. "CM."]