News and Comment.
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This journal is the only one which has the confidence to disclose the total of its orders from newsagents and subscribers : these exceed 7,500 copies for this issue.
The opening ceremony at Olympia, to-day, will take place at one o'clock.
It is expected that the Lord Mayor, Sir W. P. Treloar, M.I'., will arrive about noon, but an inspection of the exhibits will precede the formal opening, after which the Lord Mayor will attend the Society's luncheon, and will propose the toast of " The Exhibition."
Members of the public who are in. tending to visit the show will do well to note the fact that they will not be admitted until after one o'clock, whilst all exhibitors and other ticket-holders will be able to enter, at any time after to a.m., by the entrance on the Hammersmith side of the buildiag.
The Patin Tyre Syndicate, Limited, ciC 6, Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C., advises us that the 6,o-mile trial of its tires, at the hands of the A.C.G.B. and I. will be resumed as soon as fresh rims have been obtained. This tire has the appearance of being a pneumatic, and feels like one, but its interior is filled with granulated cork mixed with rubber.
Smith, Parfrey and Company. Limited, report that they have trebled the sales in their motor department during the last eighteen months. It will be remembered that this company has special facilities for motorvan and motor wagon repairs at their works at Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, AV. Exhibits of their work will be seen in the forthcoming shows at Olympia and the Agricultural Hall.
Apropos the series of steel articles, the first of which appeared in our issue of last week, we have pleasure in announcing that we have concluded arrangements for dealing with any enquiries that may be addressed to us on the question of steels for motorvehicle construction. This important subject is one which promises to attract increasing attention, and we believe that many of our supporters will appreciate this offer. Sixteen pages of this issue, numbers 603 to 618 inclusive, contain Part I of our Show report : a larger section will appear next week.
We are indebted to the Editor of the " Automobile Club Journal " for the figures in connection with Dr. Watson's paper (pages 624 to 627).
Gaidois. Tyres, Limited, of do, Great Marlborough Street, W., has intimated to the trade its preparedness to consign a stock of tires to agents in districts where the company is not represented.
The Metropolitan Fire-Brigade's re. cent form of tender for a petrol-driven motor specifies De Nevers grooved tires, and this course has been adoptzd as a result of the Brigade's satisfactory experience with this 'speciality of J. Liversidgc and Son, Limifed.
The East Lancashire Motor Transport Company, Limited, with registered offices at .18, Cemetery Road, Church, Lancashire, has been registered with an authorised capital of 42,000 in -L7t shares. The object is to take over the business of general carriers previously carried on by the East Lancashire Motor Transport Company.
The Annual report of Beyer, Peacock and Company, Limited, of Gorton Foundry, Manchester, for the year ending the 31st December last, contains evidence of encouraging improvements ia the company's condition. The profit for the year amounted to £84,000, and this left a balance of L5,47° for disposal after payment of various capital charges. We congratulate the company's general manager, Mr. H. A. Hoy,. M.Inst.C.E., on the change that has come over the company prospects since he took charge of its destinies.
The i6h.p. Albion delivery van, which was exhibited at the recent Calcutta Motor Show, has been awarded the only first-class diploma for commercial vehicles.
A motor exhibition is to be held at the Agricultural Hall, Norwich, from tile 20th to 27th April, and particulars may be obtained from Mr. Charles Jones, 81o, Salisbury House, E.C.
The first meeting of the British Ahnufacturers' section of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders will be held at Maxwell House, Arundel Street, Strand, W.C., on Thursday, the 2ist instant, at 3 o'clock.
Ins Cars, Limited, under which new title our old friends, Messrs. Legros and Knowles are now trading, has taken extensive premises in Bird Street, Oxford Street, W., and these are situated in the same building as the " Times " Book Club.
Mr. Frederick George Isaacson, who for many years was resident secretary, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, for the Century Insurance Company, has been appointed to take charge of a new branch of the Car and General Insurance Corporation, Limited, at 29, High Street, Whitechapel, E.
The Dublin depot of the Sirdar Rubber Company, Limited, is now located in one of the principal streets of the Irish capital, the address being 6, Harcourt Street, where a large stock of pneumatic and solid-rubber tires is at hand, ready for immediate delivery or fitting. Another provincial Sirdar depot, which has been opened recently, is at 249, Deansgate, Manchester_ The company's large works near Bradfordon-Avon are being worked at full pressure, notwithstanding their large area, which extends to close upon six acres, and the Managing Director, Mr. J. M. MacLulich, reports excellent business, both from new and old customers. One of his present repeat orders is to tire 54 wheels for the War Department, and another is for the Stores Department of ll:e General Post Office. Notices prohibiting any petroleum, or any product of, or residue from, petroleum, from flowing into sewers are to be served by the L.C.C. on a large number of petrol users including the following :--Motor Bus Company, Limited; Messrs. Sidney Straker and Squire, Limited; Motor Del:very Company, Lhnited; Messrs. Bryant and May, Limited; Messrs. Barclay, Perkins and Company, Limited; Amalgamated Motor Bus Company, Limited; City and Suburban Motor Cab Company, Limited; Messrs. Maple and Company, Limited, etc.
Charlottenburg, the large and independent borough adjoining Berlin on its western side, has acquired an electric first-aid fire-engine, at a cost of £875, from a Nuremburg firm,which has long made a speciality of fire-extinguishing plant. The batteries come from the works of the Allgemeine ElektrizitatsGesellschaft, at Berlin, whose enormous business produced last year a net profit of nearly twelve million marks. The vehicle is built to carry twelve men, and all wheels are provided with antiskids. The water-tank holds some 113 gallons, which is forced out under carbonic acid gas pressure as required. The containers are tubular, constructed on a plan worked out by Branddirector Bahrdt, whereby considerable weight is saved.
The adjoining illustration of a 20h.p. Thornycroft van, which was supplied, some short time ago, to the Oudh and Rohilkund Railway, i3 similar to other vans, of the Thornycroft make, which are doing excellent service for other Indian customers of the Thornycroft Company. A recent communication from one of these users states that the van, two months ago, completed a trip of over 3,000 miles, the route lying from Calcutta to Peshawar, and back to Rawal Pindi. Considering the varying nature of the roads, and that very little of the mileage was made by travelling over the same section twice, this is high testimony to the excellence of the Thornycroft vans : it would have been impossible to have covered this enormous distance by other than motor vehicle. Except for the fact that it has a 24h.p. engine, instead of one of 2oh.p., the vehicle in question is identical with the machine we illustrate herewith, and its reliability is proved by its uniform running when out of touch with any repairing base. The Henry Wells Oil Company has removed to the Imperial Oil Works, Salford, Manchester, but there is no alteration in either its telephone number or its telegraphic address.
Taximeter Motorcabe in London.
The M.V.W.O.U.A. has communicated to the Secretary of State for the Home Department the following recommendations for the inclusion of fresh clauses in the proposed Motorcab Order :— " That when a motorcab is hired to be discharged outside the fourmile radius, the driver be empowered to demand payment of the taximeter rates for the return journey to the radius line.
"That a notice be displayed in every motorcab requesting the hirer to insist upon seeing that every extra payment is registered on the taximeter."
The member for the Brixtondivision, Mr. Seaverns, asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on Wednesday of last week, whether his attention had been drawn to the fact that the cabdrivers of London were gravely dissatisfied with the conditions of employment offered them by the company proposing to operate taximeter motorcabs in London ; whether the proposed revolution in the cab system of London involved sweating conditions for the men engaged therein ; and whether he would postpone the operation of the Public Carriage Order until he had satisfied himself that reasonable remuneration would be offered to the men. Mr. Gladstone replied that the Cabdrivers' Union had expressed their dissatisfaction with the terms of the company in question, which terms, however, had been accepted by its drivers. As regards the Public Carriage Order, his attention had been called to certain legal difficulties which might arise from a possible interpretation of the consteuction of section 9, sub-section 3, of the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act, 186e, in reference to certain provisions of the Act of 1853 in respect of fares. He had been advised by the law officers that a reconstruction of certain parts Of the proposed Public Carriage Order
was necessary, and that Order would not, consequently, be issued at present. We quote the sections of the Acts to which Mr. Gladstone referred.
From the 1869 Act.
The said Secretary of State may from time to time by order make regulations for all or any of the following purposes; that is to say— For fixing the rates or fares, as well for time as distance, to be paid for hackney carriages, and for securing the due publication of such fares; provided that it shall not be made compulsory on the driver of any hackney carriage to take passengers at a less fare than the fare payable at the time of the passing of this Act."
From the 1855 Act.
" The proprietor or driver of any hackney carriage within the limits of this Act shall be entitled to demand and take for the hire of such carriage the fares set forth in the Schedule A5 to this Act annexed : provided always, that when the proprietor or driver of any hackney carriage to be paid a fare calculated according to the distance shall be required by the hirer thereof to stop such carriage for fifteen minutes, or for any longer time, it shall be lawful for the proprietor or driver to demand and receive from the hirer so requiring him to stop a further sum (above the fare to which he shall be entitled, calculated according to the distance) of sixpence for every fifteen minutes completed that he shall have been so stopped ; and no proprietor or driver shall demand ex receive over and above the said fare any sum, for or by way of back fare, for the return of such carriage from the place at which such carriage shall be discharged." The difficulty arises from the wording of the 1869 Act, according to which no Public Carriage Order may prescribe a less fare than 6d. for any part of a mile. It is believed, however, that a way of escape will be found by the law officers of the Crown, and that the new Order will be promulgated within the next few days.
The next meeting of the Institution of Automobile Engineers will he held on the x3th instant, at the Institution of Mechanical F.ngineers, S.W., beginning at 8 o'clock, when Mr. Percy Martin, Managing Director of the Daimler Motor Company, Limited, will read a paper on "Works organisation.' Applications for cards of admission should be made to the secretary, Mr. Rees Jeffreys, 1, Albemarle Street, W.
The cab proprietors of Chester, of whom there are stated to be a total of 31 employing 130 drivers, these men receiving an average wage of 15s. a week, are up in arms against the proposed • introduction of motorcabs by Messrs, J. A. Lawton and Company. At the last meeting of the Chester Town Council, the Watch Committee recommended the licensing of six cabs, out of applications for one hundred, but a petition was brought forward bearing no less than 4,000 signatures in opposition to this recommendation. After a considerable discussion, the
proposed licenses were referred back by 16 votes to r3. We are acquainted, personally; with the dilapidated and worn-out specimen s of horses and cabs which disgrace the streets of the Cathedral City, and we feel sure that the interested opposition of cab proprietors, who filled the public gallery and cheered the result of the voting, will not be effective for long.