Correspondence
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The Editor invites corresPondince on all subjects connected with the use of commercial inz.tors. Letters should be on
one side of ths paper only, and type-written by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibility for the view expressed ,s accepted.
Kent Motor Services, Limited.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR. "
Sir :—In your paragraph last week dealing with Kent Motor Services, Limited, I notice you omit mention of the Staptehurst-Cranbrook route, which is covered by the company's machines. In my opinion, these services suffer from a want of advertisement. The only publicity sought on their behalf, of which I know in Maidstone, is a small time-table exhibited outside a stationer's shop.—Yours truly, V.T. Maidstone.
Vibration of Motorbuses.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :--In you'r issue of the 4th instant, you describe an invention of a Messrs. Brawn and Company, of Clapham Junction, having reference to the outside seats of motorbuses. Permit me to say that, if the device—which I understand to be mounting the seats on springs-has the effect of counteracting the terrible vibration of some motorbuses, the public will be much indebted to the inventor. I seldom travel by motorbus, but, when I do, the shaking-up which I experience always gives roe cause to remember it for a time.—Yours faithfully, J. STUART.
Plain-tube Radiators.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—The use of plain round tubes in connection with cooling apparatus appears to be somewhat ancient, but it has long been recognised that tubes, when utilised for the purpose of heating air by means of water or steam, should be provided with extended surfaces, to receive the heat from the tube, and to give it up to the air. This was recognised by M. Loyal, whose practice has been followed and consistently retained by the majority of motor manufacturers the world over. The Great Eastern Railway Company had omnibuses running with vertical plain-tube radiators quite three years ago.
To produce equal results, plain-tube radiators require three to four times the length of tube needed for a welldesigned gilled-tube type.—Yours faithfully,
London. 4‘ RADIAN.
[We appreciate the superior conductivity and radiating value per foot run pf a gilled tube when compared with a smooth plain tube, but we think our :torrespondent has possibly overlooked the tendency such tubes have to Lose a .arge percentage of their efficiency; they present too many ledges and recesses or the accumulation of dirt and, moreover, are very difficult to keep effectively lean. A plain tube is readily cleaned and does not harbour the dirt. The London General Omnibus Company fitted plain-tube radiators to some of its ?arty Straker-Squires, at the North R)ad Depot, 21 years ago.—En, I Horse or Motor 7—An Offer.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :---Mr. Henry Sturmey's article of the 18th instant, on "A Word to the Waverers," is interesting, but it does not by any means prove the average tradesman to be ,mentally and. :..ommercially 20 years behind the times so far as motor vehicles are concerned. As a small tradesman myself, I can ...'ertainly say that I am fully convinced of the superior merits Df the motor vehicle over the horsed one, and I would gladly make a change could I see how to do so without large apital expenditure.
I am handling a certain amount of transit business with me horse and van, and I have recently had to give up a listrict limply owing to the inability of one horse to do riore than so many miles per day. I preferred to give up he district, sooner than to sink more capital in another horse, which would have entailed snore stable work, etc., etc. With a motorvan, I could have done the additional work, xithout the slightest difficulty, in considerably less time, Ind have taken on still more work that is offering.
I do not think T am wanting in enterprise, but the pur±ase of a good-type motor runs into a very considerableurn, and one which is beyond the possibility of consideraion by the average tradesman. A horse and van can be
purchased for upwards, and they will do so much work ;
there is, of course, little opportunity of developing with it, because one is confronted at once by the inability of the horse to do beyond a certain mileage on any one day, and I have been brought up by this very trouble. Consequently, I stand and see business go by. I am very fully convinced that, with a motor designed for use either as a lorry or van, I could rapidly obtain sufficient work to make a good margin, and believe I am an exceptionally suitable man to develop this on business lines : (t) I have the nucleus of a transit business which is open for extension ; (2) I should handle the motor myself ; (3) I am really a trained mechanic (although out of the trade some years); (4) I should be able to do most repairs myself ; (5) I am a comtnercial man, understand how to run business on proper lines, and believe in method and system ; and (6) 1 have had experience of horse and van work, and am in a position to make comparisons from personal experience. Now, I repeat that I am not wanting in enterprise, and, although I have covered a large district during the past 12 months, I do not remember to have seen one manufacturer's demonstration van in this district. Further, I do not know of one motorvan (unless one reckons a steam lorry of several years' standing) in this country town which is the centre of a large district, and I know of only one tradesman's van in a neighbouring town of 20,000 inhabitants, so there appears to be room for demonstration. I recognise that the running of a demonstration van in any district must be a matter of large expense, and in connection with this side of the matter I put forward the following proposition :— If any manufacturer of recognised standing desires to put into this district a motorvan for demonstration purposes, and is prepared to provide a one-ton lorry with separate van body—not necessarily a new machine—I am prepared : (a) to handle the van as agent for the manufacturer ; (b) to give demonstrations where required in the district; and (c) to turn over to the motor the work at present being done by my horse and van and any new business obtained, provided a basis reasonable to both could be arranged. My object would be gradually to acquire the van as my own, while building up a connection with it, and at the same time to give the manufacturer the advantage of a local man in the handling of his product for demonstration purposes. I do not know under what terms manufacturers send out their vehicles for demonstrating ; but, if my proposition is at all feasible, I am open for business on lines of mutual benefit, and I enclose my card (not for publication).—Yours faithfully, " ENTERPRISE." [This offer will, we fret sure, appeal to some of our trade supporters, and we shall be happy to forward any communications to our correspondent.—En.] An Old Yorkshire Business.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—We beg to inform you that the business which has hitherto been carried on by us as "The Kirkstall Forge Company," and which was originally taken over by our great grandfathers, John Butler and John Beecroft, in 1779, at the present address, has been converted into a private limited company, under the name of " The Kirkstall Forge Company, Limited." This step has been taken for family reasons, it being considered at the same time that the interests of the business would be promoted by such a conversion. The whole of the debts and liabilities of the business will be taken over and discharged by the new limited company, and all debts due to the business are to be paid to the new company.
The conversion of the business into a limited company will not in any way affect the general conduct of the business, which will continue to be under our personal supervision as before.—Yours faithfully, AMBROSE EDMUND BUTLER. BERNARD FAWCETT BUTLER. HUCK MYDDLEION BUTLER. Kirkstall Forge, Near Leeds.
The Italian Trials at Piacenza. • The Editor, 44 THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—I beg to thank you, on behalf of the committee, for the articles you have published in your journal regarding the commercial motor trials which will take place at Piacenza next September. The trials promise to be one of the most important industrial motor events on the Continent, in the Southern countries of which, up to the present,. very little has been done concerning the practical application of motors for carrying goods and passengers.
A good number of motor manufacturers have decided to compete in these trials, especially in the one opened by the Italian Army Department, and I shall be much obliged if you will kindly call attention, in your valuable paper, to the benefits that the English motor manufacturers may have by introducing their vehicles on the Italian market. As, perhaps, you know, the Italian Government is giving a very large subsidy to persons who start a motor-omnibus, or motor-wagon service. Thanking you in anticipation, I remain, yours faithfully,
A. G. GRAZIANI,
Delegate of the Executive Committee. zz, Billiter Street, E.G.
[We can endorse the claim that Italy is n, good market, and we havc slimly commended these trials to the notice of British makers—En.] Larger Diameters of Road Wheels.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—I am glad you have again directed .attention to tin matter of larger diameters for the road wheels of rnota vehicles. Every owner should realise that the smaller thn road wheels of his vehicles, the greater the cost for annua upkeep of the vehicle and its parts. It is an old and well. recognised fact, in the traction-engine world, that the ab normally long life of these heavy machines is due to the great diameters of their road wheels, some of which wheeb are as much as 7 feet in height. It is all very well foi owners to complain that their platforms cannot be level h large wheels are used, or that they must alternatively be very narrow, with the wheels above their sides, but there are many cases where such objections do not count in respect al loading and unloading. I think the record of the 52-inch wheels of the Folkestone motor coaches is a case which deserves to be emphasised even more than you, Sir, have done in your article and the comment upon it.—Yours truly,
'WAGON OWNER."
[We should very mach like to see motorbuses in London with 52-inch wheels The owners would quickly find that passengers appreciated the difference in the running of the vehicles, owing to the reduction of shock by at least SD pc cont., whilst repairs and noise should also be diminished considerably.—Ev.3 A Misrepresentation.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—During the Olympia Show last March, we had a visit from a gentleman with whom we had been previously corresponding about a motor vehicle. He gave us to understand he would be probably ordering later. One of Out representatives, being in his neighbourhood a few days since, called on him and was somewhat surprised to find that he had already placed his order with another firm, and he informed our representative that, whilst he would much have preferred to have had our " fool-proof " gear and " touch of the toe" control, he understood that our engine was not satisfactory, and that we were changing it. We asked him how on earth he got that idea into his head, and he told us that at the Show he was informed by two independent parties that this was so.
Now, Sir, we are entirely satisfied with our engine, which is quite the best for our purpose we have been able to obtain, and we have not even considered the question of changing it. We can only, therefore, attribute this false statement to that wilful misrepresentation of a rival's goods which is far too rife amongst salesmen in the motor trade, and, as it has already cost us at least one order, we will ask you to be kind enough to permit us to explain the matter in your columns ; the story is an entire fabrication.—Yours faithfully, STURMEY MOTORS, LTD.