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More Railway Unrest: Owners of Commercial Motors are Largely Safeguarded.

6th March 1913, Page 1
6th March 1913
Page 1
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Page 1, 6th March 1913 — More Railway Unrest: Owners of Commercial Motors are Largely Safeguarded.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Yet another impetus may be given to commercialmotor traffic, both for passenger and goods conveyance, by the trouble which has arisen, between the management of the Midland Railway Co. and large sections of its employees, due to the dismissal of the guard Richardson. There is no occasion for us to enter into the merits or demerits of the arguments which are put forward on each side. For the guidance of readers who may not have read details of the dispute, and as a matter of record in these columns, we may briefly summarize certain points as follow : —(a) on the 17th January, when working a goods train from Nottingham to Sheffield, guard Richardson was ordered by the foreman at Chesterfield to add three additional wagons to his, train for conveyance to Sheffield; (b) Richardson declined to obey this order, on the ground that his train-as 'Already formed contained the number of wagons which, according to the printed regulations of the company, he ought to take, having regard to the fact that only a 10-ton brake was available ; (c) Richardson contends that no verbal orders should override printed regulations of the company ; (d) the company contends that Richardson, who was afforded the opportunity to make, and did make, telephonic inquiry of the Control Department at Staveley, which department ordered him to obey his superior officers, and in view of the fact that he had received written intimation at the end of 1908 of the subordination of the printed regulations to the directions of the Control Department and the district controllers, was in the wrong; (e) the company points out that the instructions to Richardson on this occasion in no way contravened the rules or requirements of the Board of Trade for the safety of the public or persons employed on the railway. So far as we are concerned, whilst naturally regretting any unnecessary conflict between a great railway company and its servants, which existing conflict we trust will not bring about a long and bitter period of industrial strife, either of short duration or protracted in its course, THE COMMERCIAL Almon cannot fail to recognize the influence of these recurring transport dislocations upon road traffic.

The independent features of communication and control, in all cases where commercial motors are .available, are the more appreciated, on each such occasion, by the manufacturing and trading communi ties. It is true that self-propelled vans, lorries,, omnibuses and chars-&-bancs are not in all cases effective strike-breakers. They are not put on the road with the intention that they should be such, for they arc at the service of the employer and the employee alike. At times of withdrawal of any material portions of the ordinary transport services of the country, the existence of a notable total of self-contained commercial-motor vehicles must at least be admitted to possess a national value for services of emergency or urgent character. As transpired in the summer of 1910 more particularly, and as was proved when the great dock strike was in progress in London, new orders are caused to flow commercial-motorwards each time when the fact of the dependence of any great rail system upon many hundreds of interlinked branches of labour is shown so forcibly. We know that the day will never come when the transport of this country can be wholly undertaken by road vehicles ; the huge extent and exceptional concentration of the mineral and other heavy classifications in railway practice demonstrate the fatuity of any such belief_ Motor traffic, none the less, can and does furnish the community as a whole with a welcome means of "keeping going" in independent fashion when normal railway or shipping activities are suspended.

In commending the foregoing aspects of the situation, in which the Midland -Railway Co. and its employees are at the moment placed, to the several thousands of new readers who have been added to our supporters since the occasion of the recent North of England Show, we would urge the point that the possession of one or more commercial motors is an excellent insurance against the sudden cessation of means of transport for their particular businesses. Some of those new subscribers will have the opportunity to make themselves acquainted with the level of strike rates for motor-vehicle hire which were obtainable for some eight weeks on end in the year 1910. Many Lancashire and Yorkshire mill-owners can give that information. Motor-wagon carriers will, of course, give a legitimate preference to parties who have engaged their services at times of normal industrial conditions ; hence, the idea that relief can be found by recourse to hiring will not prove to be correct when times of stress come. The only proper remedy is for such parties to become owners of commercial motors. In no other way can they really be ready for a big transport strike, or even for a sectional one. Finally, a word of warning must be given to them on the vital matter of delivery. All who look to the future—and that category is the one in which organizers are to be found—will take note of the circumstance that vans and lorries cannot be bought over the counter like buns and cakes. If the Midland trouble spreads, this article will be of no avail to help laggard purchasers. It May, we trust, be of use against some other day. From three to six months, it will be found, is the best delivery that can be given. Each maker varies slightly, according to pressure of demand for models of different capacities.

How to Show at Olympia Next July.

The commercial-motor industry and its chief allied branches have, during the past few years; embraced many newcomers. Numerous individuals, companies and firms do not know anything about the mist history of the industry, and they are wholly unable to account for the position which the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders occupies with regard to exhibitions. We are confident that this is the case, by reason of the nature of comments and inquiries that have come before us recently. This short article is written for the benefit of the interests to which we refer. Newcomers merit this consideration.

There were, ten years ago, two trade societies which contended for the support of the motor manufacturing and trading world—the Automobile and Mutual Protection Assotiation, of which Mr. Charles Cordingley was a, leading supporter, and the S.M.M.T. Mr. Cordingley had entered into an agreement with the A.M.P.A., under which agreement that association undertook to give its whole-hearted and unreserved support to a series of motor exhibitions at the Agricultural Hall, Islington. This clause in the agreement proved a stumbling-block with some of the leading makers, and they secured the assistance of the Automobile Club (now the R.A.C.), largely on the plea that the SAI.M.T., which was not party to the above-mentioned contract., deserved to gain the upper hand, and to secure the profits of successive displays for members of the industry which promoted them. So sound was this contention held to be, and so successful was the first exhibition at Olympia, in the month of February, 1905, that the A.M.P.A. did not stand any further chance of holding its own. The Society has, we may mention incide.ntally, recently been reconstructed for patent-case purposes. It is a heritage of the old days of rivalry between Mr. (lordingley and the S.M.M.T., that the early principals and bond-signers of the Society are granted certain rights of priority in the ballots for space. The conditions of that ballot have been widened on several occasions, but the fact remains that the firms who were first in the industry are, on many grounds, entitled to the advantages which they enjoy by reason of their early adhesion to the S.M,M.T. That position of affairs, however, can by no means be held to preclude fair treatment for other manufacturers and traders, not a few of whom have only themselves to thank for the consequences of their own error of judgment in past years. They elected not to support the S.M.M.T., and they cannot very well justify grumbles to-day about the position in which they find themselves. Any inferiority of position in which they are now placed is really of minor importance, and is more largely a question of sentiment than anything else. Olympia, enlarged, has room for very many well-placed stands. The Exhibition at Olympia, which is to be held in July next, is owned and promoted by the S.M.M.T. It is a simple statement of fact for us to assert that parties who do not like to exhibit under the conditions which have been adopted can remain entail& without exception, if they choose to do so. We, none the less, advise every newcomer to the industry, and every maker of accessories, components and stores which come into use through the purchasing departments of vehicle manufacturers or owners, to address themselves at the earliest convenient moment to the Secretary of the Society, at Maxwell House, Arundel Street, Strand, London, W.C.

The Plough of the Future.

Engineer von Barsch-Olichschlager, who has practically as well as theoretically interested himself in the application of mechanical power to farming, declares that it is still a moot point whether the tractor-system, whereby the hauling unit remains stationary, or the travelling-combination will eventually predominate in favour with the farmer. Our German friend is convinced that, for moor-cultivation, the former cannot but hold its ground; whereas in mineral, sandy or firm soils the latter is superior in many respects.

But the costs of acquiring and working the tractorsystem being comparatively higher, no matter whether the land is ploughed by means of single or double tractors, both farmers and designers, he observes, are devoting more and more attention to the production of travelling motor ploughs or, as they may be designated, agrimotors. Such machines he divides broadly into two classes, namely, those fitted with ordinary shares, which are drawn through the land, and those possessing rotating shares. Upon the working of these two classes he writes : "The advantage of the work done by rotating-share ploughs compared with the other category is that harrowing becomes dispensable, although fixed-share ploughs can, with sufficient motor power, also draw along behind their shares a harrow broad enough to deal with the ploughed width. "Respecting the work of the rotating-share ploughs, I have conversed with many farmers from all parts of the Empire as well as from abroad, and received confirmation of my observations to the effect that this class of plough can work through a stone-free soil covered with artificial manure, but not when the land has been manured with long stable manure. In the latter case, the manure is not worked down to the farmer's satisfaction, about half of it remaining on top_ The working is still more unfavourable for the rotating-share plough when stony soils have to be cultivated, as then one cannot quite correct the defects of the fast-rotating shares." From the foregoing and other reasons, von BarschOlichschlager ventures to predict that, in course of time, the machine with rotating cutters will bear to that with fixed shares a proportion approximating to. the ratio of electric-driven vehicles to petrol-propelled. Hence, this German engineer awards the future to the type represented by, say, the Wyles.

It will have been noticed, in the brief review, which we published last week, of the agrimotor exhibits at the recent Paris Show, that French constructors, whilst admittedly paying much attention to the small self-contained motor plough, of the Wyles type, are inclined to favour the rotating-share mechanism. The above-quoted German authority's opinion is of particular interest in view of much recent French development. Our own efforts in this country are, so far, largely confined to huge Colonial models.


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