Correspondence.
Page 17
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Manchester Show Difeinnka.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—With regard to the notes headed " Manchester Dilemma," which appeared on page 332 of the issue of " Ties COMMERCIAL I'doroR " for the 12th December, it is tolerably certain that the committee of management of the S.M.M.T. is not acquainted with the conditions now prevailing in this city, with regard to motor exhibitions, which conditions have been brought about by the actions of the S.M.M. and T., Ltd.
In your notes, you ask how the Society came to give its support to the St. James' Hall Show. Certain traders in this city state that the Society's hands were forced by the pleasure car makers, and there is no doubt that, if the commercial vehicle manufacturers who are bond signers had watched their interests, in a similar manner, arrangements would not be altogether as they are to-day. At a meeting of the Agents' Section of the S.M.M.T. held in this town a week ago, the unfair and unsatisfactory arrangements with regard to commercial vehicles, at present existing, were dealt with, and the Hon. Sec. was instructed to take action. The position complained of is this, that commercial vehicles will not be allowed to be exhibited at the St. James' Hall by bond signers or otherwise, whilst the motorcar exhibition that will be held at Belle Vue, and at which, it is understood, a large number of commercial vehicles will be exhibited, manufactured by members of the S.M.M.T., and also by non-members, is not available to the bond-signing members of tbe S.M.M.T.
Thus, it appears that bond signers are in this position : they are not allowed to exhibit at the sanctioned show; and they must not, under penalty, exhibit at the unsanctioned show. It is difficult to understand how a body of business men, credited with having the interests of the trade at heart, to say nothing of the interests of their Bond-signing members, would arrange, or permit, matters to stand in such an unsatisfactory state.
Matters are becoming very acute, and it is intended by certain prominent, commercial vehicle manufacturers to take such action as will cause the Society to take a reasonable and business-like view of matters, instead of persisting in the present unreasonable and unsatisfactory arrangements.—
Yours faithfully, " COMMERCIAL. Manchester, 21st December, 1907.
Standard Road Surfaces.
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—The subject of an efficient road surface is of such vital importance that I venture to think that, if you would enter an appeal for discussion on this subject, it might be productive of good.
I would class roads under the following four headings :— (a) Non-porous roads, such as asphalt, and other impermeable waterproof compounds.—These non-porous, smoothsurfaced roads become exceedingly dangerous when covered with mud, and they have to be cleaned frequently. In London, where the surrounding soil is clay, such roads rapidly become covered with clay mud in wet weather, and, even in dry weather, unless the roads are being continually swept, a large quantity of clay and other dust soon collects and is turned to mud directly the roads are watered. On a wet day, a constant stream of this mud is brought into the Metropolis by vehicles coming in from the suburbs, and nothing but water under high pressure will remove this and the animal dust that is always present. The only practical way to make these surfaces safe after rain is to sprinkle them with sand or gravel. Just what percentage of sand or gravel is necessary to neutralise the effect of clay mud has not been determined, hut from 25 to 50 per cent, of the mixture should be sufficient. On a thoroughly wet day, the mud is, of course, swept off hard-surfaced roads, but it is in damp weather, when vehicles and pedestrians are constantly carrying clay mud on to these smooth surfaces, that sand or gravel must be used. Since asphalt roads are so dangerous in wet weather, is it not time a law were introduced making it illegal to use asphalt without reducing
the camber? In certain cases, sections of road have been asphalted without the camber being reduced, and the clay mud carried on to them has caused dire results from side slip. Jarrah, and the other hard woods that are used for tramway track construction, should also be gravelled periodically where clay is present in the macadamised margins. (b) Stone setts.—These are hardly to be considered for use on an ideal road, because of the excessive noise caused when the setts are nun over by heavy vehicles fitted with iron tires. Besides, owing to the mud and dust which lodges between them, they cannot be regarded as dustless. Of course, in some districts they can be used to advantage. In Manchester, for instance, where the subsoil is exceedingly soft, stone setts have been used, but, from the point of view of excessive vibration and its ageing effect on metals, the surface of the setts should, I maintain, be covered with some elastic material.
(c) Granite roads.—Where the granite has been laid on, or over, a clay subsoil, it soon becomes dangerous in wet weather, unless the clay which is carried on to it or which percolates up from the subsoil, is swept off periodically. If sandstone is mixed with the granite, a certain amount of sand will always be present and render the mud less dangerous. (d) Semi-porous roads, such as flint or combined flint and hardstone.—it may at once be stated that flint roads rapidly go to pieces under heavy traffic in dry weather, although, even with excessive camber, side-slip is almost unknown unless limestone is present. Now I come to the ideal road surface and one which appears suitable for all classes, including heavy commercial vehicles. I am referring to the type of road which runs through Hindhead and which bears the London and South Western Railway motorbus traffic and a lot of ordinary traffic very well. The number of cars passing through Hind head is very large. Some of the Hindhead roads are made up of equal quantities of red granite and sandstone. The latter material is broken up into pieces just. able topass through a I inch to 2 inches ring, whilst the former is used in pieces a trifle smaller. When the steam roller passes over the two materials, sufficient sandstone is ground up to form a perfect binder, and a strong, smooth surface is formed. These roads are not liable to be washed out by heavy rains (a marked improvement on flint roads) and, should the sub-surface sink in places, it is possible to repair the hole by adding red granite and sandstone in about equal proportions. This is rammed down by means of a: road man's heavy, wood mallet or by using a hand-roller which may be carried on the same cart as the material; thus a per fect repair may be effected, without having recourse to the steam-roller. This latter advantage is one possessed only in such a marked degree by this type of road, owing to the fact that no extra binding material has to be used. Owing to the hard nature of the Hindhead roads, dust is almost entirely absent, but they may, of course, be tarred near houses, in order to render them quite dustless. Examples of this type of road may be encountered in the splendid, sevenmile stretch from the top of Hindhead into Godalming and on the road from Hindhead to Farnborough. The writer had not had any correspondence with the Hindhead road authorities before penning this letter, but he trusts that his views, which are the direct results of careful observation, will be of interest.
In conclusion, whilst road foundations will have to be strengthened in many cases, the introduction of heavy coni mercial vehicles with properly-proportioned steel tires should not involve the use of harder surfaces than those at present employed, as the passage of a large number of wide steel or iron-tired vehicles over a road surface has much the same consolidating effect as a steam-roller. The use of harder surfaces would give an insecure foothold to horse traffic and would damage the hocks of the horses themselves, and the use of studded non-skids will ever increase whilst hard surfaces covered with clay mud are allowed to exist. The Hindhead roads stand the use of non-skids very well, and I am afraid their use will always have to be reckoned on.— Yours faithfully, " OBSERVER."
A Motorcab Accident : Reward Offered by Motor Union.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—It has been reported to the Motor Union of Great Britain and Ireland that the driver of a tnotorcab collided with a cyclist at the corner of Park Street, in Oxford Street, On 17th October last. It is alleged that the driver, instead of stopping to see whether the cyclist Was hurt or had suffered damage, put on speed and drove away down Park Street.
The Motor Union, in order to emphasize its condemnation of the driver of any vehicle who fails to stop when involved in an accident (whether he is responsible for such accident or not), is prepared to pay to any person who will give such information as will lead to the identification of the driver of the motorcab in question.—Yours faithfully, W. REES JEFFREYS, Secretary. f, Albemarle Street, W.
liAre.published in our correvolulenee columns, on the 31st October, a letter from the cyclist concerned.7-1'ir.J The Supply of Spares for Motor Vehicles.
The Editor, "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR."
Sir :—We have read with much interest the report of the paper by Mr. W. E. Hardy before the Society of Road Traction Engineers, on the subject of "The Management, Organisation; and Working Costs of a Public-Service Garage." There is one point to which we should, however, like to refer, as we think his remarks are hardly fair to some, at any rate, among the manufacturers of vehicles of this class. The remark to which we refer is as follows :— "I believe that makers asa whole have scarcely yet realised that, by supplying spares at a reasonable cost, they would not only keep this portion of the trade in their
own hands, but would greatly assist small owners to keep down their working costs."
We may say that, since we adopted the policy of confining ourselves entirely to the manufacture of commercial motor vehicles, two years ago, we have taken special care to ensure the quick supply of parts for repiacement and for repairs. By a complete system of jigs and special tools, we are enabled to ensure interchangeability of all parts, and we have also, for the past year, issued a list of spare parts with illustrations and prices against each detail. We enclose a copy of this price list, and, as you will see, every part of the machine is known by an index number, and, wherever possible, this number is also stamped on the part itself. As we confine ourselves to the building of standard machines, we always have at least one dozen sets complete in our stores for immediate issue, so that we can supp:y any part within a few minutes of receiving the order, if urgency is required. As an instance, we might say that, last winter, when one of our customers had a cylinder damaged by frost,. we were able to send a new cylinder off, pa4ed and complete in every respect, within about ro minute i Of receiving our customer's wire. We do not know if this constitutes a record, but we think that, at any rate, we may claim some credit for the prompt despatch, and we can confidently claim that almost any part of our machine can be supplied with equal promptitude.
As we believe that this is a point of great importance to users of commercial vehicles, and of interest to your readers, we trust you will pardon us for trespassing on your space to this extent.—Yours faithfully, For THE RYEN/ELD MOTOR CO., LTD., W. H. CLAY, Managing Director. Bu rton-on-Tren 21st December, 1907.