Correspondence.
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Motor Fire Plant.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL Moron."
Sir :—In your account of the new motor fire apparatus for the Tottenham District Council you state that England is greatly behind the Continental capitals in adopting motor appliances. As the head of the firm which built the first motor fire engine for Tottenham, and which has, since 1899, built a large number of steam and petrol motor appliances for fire brigades, I trust you will allow me to point out that your statement is quite unjustifiable. Our motor steam fire engines are in use, or on order, in London, Liverpool (three in use), Leyland, Brighton, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Penarth, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Heston, Tottenham, and other towns. Our petrol motor fire engines are in use, or have been ordered, by Glasgow, Aberdeen, Aberdare, Grimsby, Tottenham, Finchley, etc. Abroad our list of engines actually in use is a long one; but we need only say that it proves that the British maker is by no means behind the rest of the world. In fact, at the present time, we have not discovered any other firm anywhere making motor fire apparatus which will compare with our own, power for weight. With regard to pumping capacity, we beat the rest of the world hollow when weight is taken into consideration.
As regards Vienna's adoption of motors, as soon as we heard of the matter, we wrote asking for an opportunity to tender. We enclosephotograph of reply. You will see that " no British need apply." They evidently, however, thought they had something to learn from us, as we received a request for our latest photographs and lists. As we naturally supposed they were wanted for the Austrian builders to copy, we have not sent them.
Would it not be well in future if the British Press made more enquiries into facts before publishing statements as to our foreign competitors' superiority? A good deal of harm has been done in the pasL to British trade by British newspapers advertising the foreigner.—Yours faithfully, • J. C. MERRY WEATHER. Motor Fire Engine Works, London, SE., November 6th, 1905.
[We adhere to our statement that England is behind. Thot had reference to the activity of municipalities in respect of orders placed—not to quality of manufacture. We doubt il the whole of the orders named by Mr. Merryweather together equal the single order placed recently by the Vienna authorities. The conversion, as reported in our issues of March 3oth and May I HAI, was initiated by a single order for 53 electrically-propelled chemical engines. We would not hesitate to admit a mistake, were we guilty of one, and it is not the practice of " THE COMMERCIAL Moron " to belittle home manufacturers.—En
More Horse Power for Motor Omnibuses.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—It gives me very great pleasure to see the success the motor omnibuses in London and elsewhere have already met with, and, 1an personal observation and experience, I am gratified to see that tie' are making some headway against the objectionable street efilway obut, after careful consideration of the affair, I am doubtful if the present 24h.p, type of double-deck omnibus is powerful enough for the work which is before it. If the nice things which that gentleman said about taking up the Edinburgh tramways !see page 129 ante.—EH.1 when the lease was up are to come true, I should think an engine of at least 4oh.p. should 1* used -on all doeble-deck public service motor vehicles. If we look back a few years, we see how the power of mechanic
ally-propelled vehicles has grown. In i98, I think, an Sh.p. automobile raced successfully from Paris to Amsterdam; now an 8h.p. car is considered comparatively small for dodging about town in, and is not thought of in racing circles; even the delivery vans of a few years ago are almost entirely left behind, as regards power, by the present-day machines.
Towards the end of toot, when the property owners on F.rist 11111, Wandsworth, were alarmed by a proposed tramway up the hill, a gentleman yell up in motor matters suggested a public motor service of t6h.p. cars for use on that formidable incline in place of the trams. Nowadays, a ser.
vice of this power would not be entertained for a route like this, and we have come to a period when we read, without surprise, of private cars of moh.p., and motor omnibuses of 24114). and 3oh.p. Still, I do not think the latter are powerful enough yet, for, although we invariably overtake from one to three electric cars, while motor-bussing to Peckham, this is mainly owing to the indirigibility of the former, and it must be admitted that, on even fairly slight rises, like those of Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Road, the 2411.p. variety of omnibus does not take them at anything like the speed we would like them to. If, as we hope, the motor omnibus is to compete successfully with the electric tramway, this ought to be seen to beforehand, and vehicles of greater power purchased, so that the inclines mentioned, and those in Cricklewood and Einchley, could be taken at, say, ten miles an hour or so, when traffic conditions are favourable.
I am aware, of course, that more horse-power means more expense at the start; but this, in my opinion, would be preferable to findinp.: a fleet obsolete or unremunerative in a few years, through inability to compete with vehicles more recent;y placed on the road, or with tramway traffic on inclines.—Yours faithfully, ARTHUR E. A. M. TURNER.
1, Prince George's Avenue, Raynes Park, S.W. November gth, two.
Roadside Water Supplies.
The Editor," THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR,"
Sir :—In printing my letter in your issue last week, you
have got the sense of one sentence inverted. It should read as follows :• " This quarter turn also closes the inlet valve, so that no water can flow into the tank while it is being e-noptied."
With reference to your Editorial note, even if the penny does not work the four-way valve, will the water authorities allow the use of a itin. plug valve? Clearly, the water will only leave the measuring cylinder at the same rate as it enters it.—Yours faithfully, THE MAX( HESTER MOTOR TRANSPORT CO., LTD., C. B. NIXON, Director.
Chester Street, C.-on-M., Manchester.
November 9th, 1905.
Direct Drive on Top Gear.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. "
Sir :—We notice, in your issue of November 9th, that Messrs. Dennis Bros., Ltd., claim in their advertisement to have " the only heavy vehicle manufactured with direct drive on top speed." We would point out that the British Automobile Development Co., Ltd., is manufacturing heavy vehicles with ditect drive on top speed and with a live axle, the only gearing through which the power has to be trans mitted is, therefore, the bevel or right angle gear. One ol these machines will be on exhibition at Olympia.—Yours faithfully, THE BRIT ISM AUTOMOBILE DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.
Victoria Works, Belvedere Road, S.E.
November 9th, 1905.
Public Service Garages.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—I have read the able article on the subject of Public Service Garages in your last week's issue with great interest. It affords, to my mind, a most conclusive proof cf the fact that owners of horse-drawn plant are fully alive to the value of prompt and efficient action in the establishment of thenew form of traction on a permanent basis. The stables converted by Thomas Tilling, Limited, into a motor garage seem to have adapted themselves wonderfully to their new surroundings and contents. No doubt it will prove an object lesson to other companies which field the motor omnibus creeping into their old horse-drawn systems.—Yours faithfully, ENGINEER. Horses, Motors, and Tar Macadam.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir : --I urged in my recent article, which appeared in your issue of October 12th, that road construction should be
raised front its existing empiricism te the level of a more or less exact sdence; that our highways should be constructed to carry definite maximum loads per inch of wheel breadth; and that within load-per-inch limitations there should be no such thing as " extraordinary traffic." In the laying-out both of paved street and macadamised highway surfaces hitherto, two somewhat irreconcilable elements have, unfor tunately, prevailed. Public thoroughfares have not only been required to support wh.ee.ed-carrying vehicles, but also the feet of the horses by which they are drawn, Horsedrawn traffic has likeniae, up to recent years, been paramount, whilst self-propelled traffic has had to subordinate itself to highway surface conditions more or less adverse to
its satisfactory conduction. Yet for economical draught, even the horse au nature t is hopelessly inefficient, seeing that he is provided with hods instead of claws. On existing roads and gradients, either an un-shod or a flat-shod horse cannot negotiate a paying load. Hence, for the draught horse, armoured shoes are a sine qua n,m, and, on the principle of sauce for the goose being also sauce for the gander, the foot-holding equipments allowed to the horse should surely also be extended to the wheel-holding devices equaliy essential to the self-propelled vehicle.
II, indeed, comparisons are to be made in this direction between the pounding effect of an armoured shoe and the mere rolling effect of it sinilarly armoured wheel, the advantage noted certainly not lie with the horse. Consequently, the exiating usage, which has the effect of subsidising the horse and handicapping the motor, is, to say the least of it, grossly inequitable. Everyone knows the enormous amount of macadamised road surface scarifying which—especially in winter—is without let or hindrance systematically accomplished by the feet of the powerful draught horse. And on paved streets with heavy gradients, the rapid chipping and chamfering of even the hardest whin or granite setts, at all seasons, is common knowledge. It may be urged, doubtless, that the " barring " conceded to the driving wheels of a traction engine, and now to a more limited extent permitted to those of the motor wagon, meets all reasonable requirements for self-propelled vehicles. Well, it may do in a general way, but very far from it in special emergencies, and in timer of frost. As special expedients for frosty weather are tolerated for horses, they should equally be sanctioned for self-propelled vehicles. That they are not so allowed is, at times, not only a gross and recognised hardship to both road motor and tractor owners, but is also very frequently inimical to the best interests of road surfaces. A smooth, metallic wheel tyre is perfectly helpless on either ice or snow, and the surging or slipping round of even a barred wheel before it can " catch on " is certainly not beneficial either to the road or the motor. And it should be remembered that, when, from no fault of his own, the tractor driver is suddenly overtaken by frost, he cannot conveniently stand in the middle of the highway and whistle for a change of weather. He must at once do something to get home, and to avoid slitheringincontinently into the ditch. Hence, as he is debarred by a heavy penalty from attaching such a full complement of frost spikes to his driving wheels as %you'd—without appreciable road surface injury—secure an even wheel hold, he inaerts (when the police are net looking on) three or four spikes only, so that, by a succession of slips alai grips, he may manage-regardless of road effect —to struggle slowly along. Needless to say, however, this L not only a dernier resaert, but a rather expensive expedient for the tractor owner, as, if long continued, the journey home involves a heavy outlay for repairs. Something, therefore, should be done; and I feel sure could easily be done, to meet this exigency, in the mutual interests of motor owners and highway custodians.
To revert, however, to the main issue. In the construction of roads, it is not merely the question of surfaces which, ., in the past, has been overlooked, but that of gradients. In the planning of a railway, the chief factor is economy of traffic; in that of a highway, on the contrary, the main consideration, hitherto, seems to have been economy of construction wholly irrespective of tractive efficiency. As soon, also, as the raiiwny appeared, and the stage coach gave up ' the ghost, highways heearne merely matters of local importance. So long, therefore, as their rough-and-ready charac
ter and cost of up-keep satislied those who resided in the immediate vicinity, nothing more was to be said. Now, however, we are under a new regime. With the advent of the self-propelled vehicle, our highways have assumed an entirely new role both for commercial and pleasure purposes. Only this week, I was told that in this district there are now scarcely any special trains ordered, simply because of the greater convenience of the motorcar. Only the previous night, my informant added, " Lord —, on reaching Newcastle unexpectedly at midnight, had telephoned from the Station to a neighbouring garage for a motor to convey him and his luggage to a residence thirty miles away, and the motor was back in the garage before 3 a.m." Cross-country runs of this kind are possible by no other means but a motor vehicle, and the saving of time is enormous. For commercial purposes, railway companies themselves are freely recognising the importance of the steam wagon. For instead of transhipping small lot arrivals, at main line termini, to other make-up trucks, for conveyance to local
branch lines, and distribution thence by horsed lorries to consignees, they find that they can save 12 to 24 hours by transhipping direct into motor wagons for conveyance by road straight away to branch line, town, or village con
signees. The same thing applies to feeder traffic. Depots are being established at market towns, remote from railways, with regular steam wagon services, for the conveyance of merchandise, at very low rates, in large or small lots, either to or from their nearest roadside stations. And these are but trilling indications of the growing importance of British highways, and of the urgent need of putting them on a footing of thorough structural efficiency. Not merely then must the surfaces be perfected, but the gradients, which oppose such terrible barriers to tractive efficiency, must be materially reduced. For the real desiderata are roads over which maximum loads can be hauled with minimum tractive effort. And until this becomes a vital principle, our highway authorities should have no peace at motor owners' hands.
I should like to say a word in the matter of road sur
faces, about the now somewhat fashionable tar macadam. Doubtless it is dustless, but it is also costly, and dustlessness must not be permitted to cloak other sins. Excellent as it may be and is for india-rubber tyres and very highspeed vehicles, I cannot but think that it presents serious disadvantages for general commercial traffic of all kinds. It softens under the influence of heat, and I can assert, not only from positive experience with my own seif-propelled vehicles, but from repeated inquiries of other traction engine, steam wagon and horse lorry owners during the past summer, that the increase of draught when passing from ordinary to tar macadam is most marked; as, indeed, it must be on any yielding or elastic surface. But that is not its worst phase. 'far macadam is waterproof and non-absorbent. At a temperature, therefore, of 32 degrees Fahrenheit.and under, every drop of water falling upon it, instead of sinking in, as on a piece of blotting paper, will instantly freeze, so that in any time from a few minutes to a few hours the highway will simply become a sheet of ice on which neither horses nor iron-shod motor vehicles can 1305sibly travel. In this respect, I do not think I exaggerate matters, and, if the incoming winter exhibits much frost and little snow, I expect to. hear more: about tar macadam. At temperatures not excec ling, say, so degrees Fahrenheit tar macadam allows, as I. know, first-rate going : if its then condition could be maintained, I should have little to urge against it. But I should like to ask road surveyors whether, at like expense, it would not be practicable to provide a good Portland cement surface, which would be less influenced by changes of temperature even though equally objectionable in time of frost. I am not a road maker myself, but I have a notion that a thin tar macadam cushion over ordinary penning, and topped by .a paving of concrete slabs, re-inforced or otherwise, would make an ideal surface for all kinds of traffic. It might be expensive—possibly, in this respect, prohibitory—but, after all, a little extravagance in capital outlay might, perhaps, be fully warranted by a future economy in maintenance. It is, of course, the almost universal material used for station paving by railway companies. A concrete surface would, I imagine, be fairly dustless, and its wear and tear might be reduced by an enactment which I should like to see introduced—viz., that all wheeled vehicles should be carried on springs.—Yours JOHN MORRISON.
Newcastle-on-Tyne, November nth, 1905.