From Our Berlin Correspondent.
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Electric Mail Vans for Stockholm The Swedish postal officials are giving a trial in Stockholm to an electrically-propelled mail van on the lines of the type which has been running for a year or more in Berlin. Should it prove satisfactory, some dozen vehicles of the kind will be purchased by way of a beginning. So far as I can learn, the German firm which secured the Berlin contract, placed the trial van at the Swedish P.O.'s disposal, and so made the running.
Austria's Subsidized Lorries.
'The Austrian War Office have granted the following subventions :
Fross (Bussing), ; First Bohemian-Moravian Machine Yorks, IS ; Graf and Stift, 10; Austrian Fiat Works, 6. According to the terms of subvention, each lorry must have a motor of 35 h.p., and carry a useful load of 2 tons (trailer, 3 tons u.1.). The buyer of such a lorry receives 5,000 crowns down, and 1,000 a year for five years towards up-keep, with a bonus of 1,000 in the sixth if the vehicle should still be in good condition.
Wurtembergian Motorpost Lines.
Inspired by the happy results of Bavaria's network of motorpost lines, the Wurtemberg Post Office and the Ministry of Traffic have resolved to establish a number of such lines in districts more or less out of touch with the railway system. A special engineer has been appointed to deal with the technical questions, buy the rolling stock, arrange for and supervise trial runs, etc. German firms are likely to get the bulk of all orders, but there might be a chance for British makers of accessories. Austrian Motorpost Lines.
Official statistics on Austrian motorpost lines (which pay 4i per cent.) show that the number of State, &ate-subsidized, and Austro-Bavarian post lines totalled
41 in the year 1910. The Stale lines numbered 26, and these were worked by 68 motorbuses and four trailers, which covered over 250,000 miles, and carried 307,311 passengers in the course of the year. The two Austro-Bavarian lines carried 57,116 passengers, their total mileage for the twelvemonth coming out at 72,500. Upwards of 100,000 miles were covered by the 13 State-subsidized lines, worked by 41 motorbuses and a couple of trailers, the total passengers of which numbered 736,907.
A Benz Disinfecting Automobile.
As a further instance of the varied applications of the internalcombustion engine nowadays, I send an illustration of a Benz automobile equipped with a disinfecting apparatus. This vehicle, I may mention, obtained an award at the recent Hygienic Exhibition in Dresden. The chassis presents the usual features of the Benz-Gaggenau type, and has a four-cylinder motor developing 25 h.p.
The disinfecting chamber is rectangular in shape, and consists of leaded sheet-iron about t in. in thickness. Its dimensions work out at. 7 ft. 2 in. for the length. 3 ft. 10 in. for the height, and 3 ft. 2 in. for the breadth. Inside this chamber, and co-extensive with its roof, is a galvanized-iron drop-pan for catching the water formed by the condensation of the steam applied for purpose of disinfection. the water being drained off through pipes to the floor. A cover
ing of felt on the under-side of the pan prevents aqueous deposits here, so that the articles undergoing disinfection are fully protected against drip-water. The fire-box lies underneath the chamber, and admits of coal, coke, or wood as fuel. The steam is conducted through a pipe into the upper part of the apparatus, and leaves it at the bottom. Amongst the accessories fitted to the vehicle are a safety-valve, a steam-conducting pipe, a thermometer at the steam-exhaust, a water-gauge, a. drain-cock, a three-way cock for disinfecting, ventilating, and creating a vacuum, etc. In front of the chamber is a feed-water heater, and below this, right and left, a coalbox. Cork and iron sheets serve to insulate the apparatus all round. The outfit. gets over the, ground at useful rates.
Berlin's Street washing Machine s. Cheaper and More Efficient than Horsed Machines.
Berlin's fleet of electric-propelled street-washing machines, acquired by the Corporation at. the suggestion of Engineer Szalla, will shortly be increased to 24. These machines first made their appearance in Berlin four years ago, and have answered very well. Compared with the old horse-drawn machines, they can deal with 46,400 square metres. as against 36,800, in an eight-hour day. Not only is their efficiency greater, but they have also proved cheaper in working, a saving of some £84 having been effected last year alone. Then again, these electromobiles can be more easily handled in busy thoroughfares. The Berlin system was illustrated and described in THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR at the time of its adoption.