The Motor Omnibus World.
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Electrobus Issue.
The Electrobus Company, at the end of April last, offered 240,000 ordinary shares of Li each, and 12,000 deferred shares of 5s. each, for public subscription, but without any underwriting. We find, from the official records at Somerset House, that 20,248 ordinary shares, and 641 deferred shares, have been taken up, no less than s,000 of the former being subscribed by the Asiatic Banking and Trading Corporation, Limited.
Manchester Licenses.
Mr. W. Stanway, the Manchester and district representative of the Ryknield Motor Company, advises us that he is still awaiting the decision of the Manchester City Council in regard to his application for motorbus licenses. In view of the oppositon in the Manchester Council of the licensing of motorcabs, it is rather interesting to recall the fact that the revocation of temporary licenses for motorbuses brought financial disaster upon the omnibus company which sought to serve certain of the Manchester suburbs in two. We hope a repetition of these tactics is not contemplated.
Questions in the House.
Mr. Gladstone, in the House last week, had various .questions addressed to him which arose out of the accident in the Mile End Road, but his replies did not give the looked-for encouragement to those members who apparently hoped for official support of the statements that so many people are killed per week by motorbuses in London. Other questions concerned the discharge of black smoke from the exhaust pipes, and here Mr. Gladstone, who denied that the evil was increasing, pointed out that such emission was not illegal if it were due to any tern
porary or accidental cause, which he believed was almost invariably the case.
We look forward to a statistical battle on the occasion of the Mansion House meeting on the 22nd instant.
A New Splashguard.
Messrs. Albert E. Oakley and Company, of Allsop Street, Upper Baker Street, London, W., have recently placed upon the market a guard which is designed to prevent the dispersal of mud by the wheels of motor vehicles. The accompanying illustration shows the device as fitted on one of the front wheels of a Milnes-Daimler bus. The attachment consists of a pressed-steel quadrant, which is riveted to a steel washer, and from whose lower edge a strip of chain mail is suspended. The steel washer is made a loose fit between the recessed faces of two collars, which are clamped between the boss of the hub plate and the wheel cap. The quadrant can thus hang freely from the hub of; the wheel, while the latter is rotating,. but, in order to prevent the quadrant from swinging round with the wheel as the result of striking an Obstacle, it is. anchored to the wing, or any fixed part of the chassis or body, by means of a spring-loaded anchor rod as illustrated., In the event of the quadrant's striking an obstruction, it may swing round on, the hub until the obstacle is cleared,. and the spring will then cause it to return to its normal position. The chain, mail is secured to a separate plate, and is adjustable on the quadrant, so that the bottom edge of the chain can be raised or lowered to suit the condition of the tires. The device is being tried by the Brighton, Hove and Preston United Omnibus Company, Limited, of which concern Mr. E. A. Eager is the superintendent-engineer.
London Fusions.
The terms of the circulars to the proprietors of the London General and the Vanguard Companies are on the point: of settlement by the directors of the first-named company, and a shareholders' committee in the case of thesecond-named company. We hope to. give their text in our next issue. The objections of the Vanguard debenture holders, as regards the amount of the face value of the debentures which are to be exchanged for their present stock, and the ranking of such new stock, will be met by the terms of the new arrangement, but we refrain, by request, from making any further statement at the moment. It appears to bean open question whether the absorption will extend to other London companies, and it already becomes a matter of speculation as to whether the word' " Vanguard " will be replaced by the word " General," when step number one has been completed.
The Weymouth Omnibus Company, Limited, is to be wound up voluntarily, and Mr. Abbott, accountant, of Minerva House, Weymouth, has been appointed liquidator.
Brighton's Motorbuses.
The Brighton, Hoye and Preston United Omnibus Co., Ltd., put three " Electrobuses " to work on Monday last. This same company has also a " IIallford " petrels( lectric bus at work, the body of it having been taken from a 1902 Milnes-Daimler. This bus, with its " S.B. and S." equipment, is giving general satisfaction, by its silent and smooth running. The company contemplates extending the Worthing service, eastward, as far as Rottingdean, at a fare of is. 6d. for the whole distance. Its vehicles are now running to the famous Black Rock.
Wandering Children.
A prominent member of the London County Council, Mr. Walter Reynolds, in a recent letter to the " Daily Telegraph," strongly animadverted upon the nerve-shattering experiences which befall all motor drivers who have to drive regularly in the London streets, owing to the manner in wilich children aimlessly wander abont in their nlav hours, without supervision of any kind. Mr. Reynolds' letter has prompted some of the remarks which appear on page 355 of this issue.
Opposition to a Patent for Detachable
The Comptroller-General of Patents has recently given judgment in a case of some interest to the commercial motoring world, in which Mr. W. E. Rowdiffe sought letters Patent for an invention consisting in the combination with the rim of a wheel, of one or more adjustable flanges haying a transverse joint, the opposing faces of which are adapted to be drawn together by a screw or bolt thus decreasing its diameter, the flange being provided with an inclined edge, at its inner side, .fit
ting into a correspondingly im:lined groove arranged round the rim of the wheel, so that, by decreasing the diameter of the flange, the tyre is laterally compressed and secured. Opposition to the grant was lodged by John Ebenezer Hopkinson, of the Para Rubber Mills, West Drayton, and 121, Cromer Street, W.C. At the hearing Mr. 1. H. Gray appeared as counsel for the applicants, and Mr. C. Terrell for the opponents.
The Comptroller, in giving his decision, said : " The conclusion at which I have arrived is that the opponent has not produced sufficient evidence to substantiate his charge that the applicant obtained the invention from him. It is, I think, impossible from the correspondence to say who is the inventor. The opponent consulted, in April, with his agent, as to the advisability of patenting the invention, and he disclaims any desire to patent it. . . In these circumstances I consider I am hound to grant the patent. . . We give two sketches of the patented arrangement in question. These rims are being exclusively manufactured by the Atlas Resilient Road Wheels, Ltd., of Manchester, and applied to their " Herculean " and " Samsonian " wheels, particulars of which have appeared in our pages already.
A. Franco-British Exhibition and
2N.'71 Omnibus Takings.
The Franco-British Exhibition has now been opened one month, and, in spite of the concentration of services along the Ba2,-swater Road, and rival facilities for access which are provided by the Central London, Great Western, Metropolitan, District, and other railways, it looks as if there were enough patronage to go round. The Whitsuntide traffic should have expunged the deficit on the revenue of the Central London Railway, the old" Twopenny " tube, which is at least j,-,-5,000 to the good compared with its position in the middle of May, whilst the London General Omnibus Company is, by now, enjoying an improved revenue position ot something like L.8,000. The Road Car, the Great Eastern, and other omnibus companies have benefited in lesser degrees, and a continuation of the fine weather should favour them in competition with underground communication.
Eastbourne Accounts.
The motor omnibus accounts for the Borough of Eastbourne have been issued to the 31st March last. They show a revenue for the year of 4.9,965 from passenger fares, ..323 from advertisements, and L:.113 from sundry receipts. The total expenditure comes to £7,570, and a balance of .4j2,831, being gross profit, is carried to net revenue account, which is also credited in the year's accounts with the ,L.750 voted from the district rate to balance the loss of ,,:75o is. 6d. shown at the 31st March, 1907. The charges against net revenue account are : sinking-fund contribution re four De Dion buses, £522; interest and repayment of loans, .-;839; interest on capital account, ,311 ' • transfer to depreciation and reserve fund, ,348; transfer to conversion account, £200; sundry items, Z,51 ; balance, being net profit, .4560. It will therefore be seen that the past year's working has resulted in a profit Of ..560 towards the .4.;750 which it was necessary to transfer from the district rate account a little more than a year ago, on the occasion of the selling of certain early buses at a big loss. The value of the 16 omnibuses and other plant is shown at .4'12,587, and the value of the depot and equipment at .42,762, whilst the value of tires and other stores in hand is shown at £2,104. Under the efficient charge of the Corporation's engineer and manager, Mr. P. Ellison, this municipal motorbus undertaking appears to be doing very well, although handicapped by some six-year-old machines.
Mr. C. W. Mallins, who has been connected with the Liverpool tramways for upwards of 34 years, and who became traffic manager when the Corporation took over the cars from the Liverpool United Tramways and Omnibus Company, in 1897, has now been appointed general manager of the tramway department. We shall be interested to see whether Mr. Mallins
goes forward with the proposition for the testing of motorbuses as feeders to any part of the Liverpool tramways.
The Traffic Department. The following new Sunday services were inaugurated, on the 7th instant, and were also performed on Whit-Monday :— GENERAL.—East Ham to Oxford Circus route now runs, on Sundays, between Rippleside and Marble Arch, vi A East Ham, Barking, Canning Town, Aldg-ate, Bank, Holborn, and Oxford Street.
UNION JACK.—" L" route, Hammersmith to Shoreditrh, has been extended, on Sundays, to Kew Gardens, at its western end, and thus competes with the United Trams, via Chiswick High Road, and Turnham Green.
" T " route, Putney to Stratford Broadway, for Sunday service only, to the Green Man at Levtonstone. A few Strakers on the "T" route are now to extend their Sunday journey, beyond Putney, to Petersham Park, via Sheen and Richmond.