WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.
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"The wheel of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crozier.
Road Transport Registration Markings
The vehicles registered by the Area 'Road Transport Committees under the Road Transport Order of 4th Juno last are now appearing on the roads with their new registration markings. They are classified in four main groups: (1) petrol-driven (gas as an alternative) ; (2) steam-driven; (3) electrically-driven; and (4) horse-drawn. The markings adopted consist of a series of initials and 'numbers taking in London this formation (for example) :—
Translated this would mean that it was registered in the first category of petrol_ driven vehicles, the large initial P standing therefor ; that the area in which it was normally stationed was that indi: cated by the code sign J.N. • that the general number of the registered owner was No. 57, and that this was the fifth of his,fleet of vehicles; Vehicles registered in the provinces are marked slightly differently, the -letters and figures appearing in one line, the owner's registered number following the area indicator and being followed by the fleet number thus—
P N v. 49.7.
Lubrication of Tractors.
Two handy and informative booklets are to hand from C. C. Wakefield and Co., Ltd., dealing with the lubrication of farm tractors. One of them refers specifically to the use of Agricastrol on Yordson tractors, whilst the other treats the subject in a more general way. This latter booklet contains some interesting hints for farnaers and points out that Agricastrol is an oil specially manufactured for tractors running on paraffin. The booklet on the Fordson unit makes reference to some lubrication trials which were carried out by the Food Production Department. The Fordson tractors were run for eight days of ten hours each, and the results secured with Agrieastrol were highly satisfactory.
Lubrication is little understood, although in these enlightened days one would have expected a more lively interest to be displayed in this allimportant subject.
Laundry Transport.
The Road Transport Board have issued an instruction that, as from 1st October, where laundry work is collected or delivered by a vehicle which is capable of being used for road transport, and which is not used wholly or mainly in agriculture, it must be collected and delivered on the same day, and no customer may be visited on more than one day per week without the leave of the Divisional Road Transport Officer. The instruction does not apply to laundry work for hospitals.
Rossington Main Colliery Co., Ltd., intend to run a service of motorbuses between Doncaster and Rossington.
Hendon Special Constabulary. have raised £380 to buy a motor ambulance, which it is proposed after the war to band over to the district council.
Protection of Commercial Motor Drivers.
The C.M.U.A. has been in commimi-cation for some time past. with the authorities with a view to drivers of steam wagons and petrol vehicles, used for industrial purposes being included in
the list of Certified purposes, The
new list which came into force on the 26th September, 1918, now includes the following:—
Men certified it
occupation. born in or before
the year stated.
Grade I. Grade II.
Steam wagon driver... 1888 1888 Steam wagon drivers' mate ... 1875 1883 Driver of petrol or other power-driven vehicle :— Of 1 ton and over ... 1875 1885 Under 1 ton load ... 18751875
Road Transport Order 1918.
The secretary of the C.141.U.A. has communicated with the Road Transport Board with reference to the position in which the numbers which have been issued by the Board and which have to be displayed upon the vehicles should be placed, and has received a reply from the Secretary to the Board stating that so long as vehicles are legibly marked with the transport registration number the Board do not intend to insist that the number should be placed in any particular position. It is, however, suggested that the number should be marked on the near side of the vehicle following the name and address which is already, in most cases, thereon.
Commercial Aviation.
There are in this country at the present moment. a number of colonial and foreign journalists, and an opportunity was taken last Monday by the directors of Messrs. Handley Page, Ltd., to invite these journalists to the aerodrome of the company at Cricklewood to show them Handley Page machines in the making and afterwards in the air, a number of them being given short flights. So great was the desire on the part of the visitors to experience a flight in a Handley Page that London Pressmen, who were also invited, as a body stood down and gave preference to their Visiting colleagues. The conditions for flight, whilst not unfavourable, yet were not of the best, as the air was very bumpy and there was a threat of storm, but the machines took their little body of passengers out: and returned, unloaded, and re-loaded and went off almost, as it were, like a London General Omnibus service.
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu presided at the subeequent luncheon and reminded everyone of the interesting fact that just 10 years ago this very month the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright came to this country to explain what they had done in the way of actual flight at Dayton, passing on to Le •Mans, where demonstrations were given of the Wright biplane, convincing the French people of the practicability of human flight.
Within ten years, the advances towards commercial aviation had been almost stupendous, and if all the energy that has been applied to war aviation can, when peace is concluded, be turned to commercial aviation, the time cannot be.very far disthnt when the flying machine will have entered nearly as fully into the lives of the people as the railway has done. Of course, the greater the distance, the greater will be the utility of flying over other modes of qavel,, because, of course, there is the handicap of the delay at starting, involving a preliminary journey .to the .aero: drama, and a like, delay at the finish.Taking a. long journey, the average speed of railway trainineluding.iritoppageS, may be put at about 40 miles an hour, but it has recently been demonstrated over an exceedingly long journey that the average speed of the aeroplane is just double, viz., 80 miles an hour. In Lord Muntagu's opinion, mails will be the first to be carried by 'plane as a regular Service, following Will come passengers, and then certain kinds of goods will be despatched by this the quickest and most direct means of transport. Lord Montagu looked forward to the time when it would he able to get between London and India in a few days.
The practicability of the flying machine as an aid to commerce is, of course, undoubted. All who are concerned in the export of cotton inn India will realize what it would mean if the cotton samples could be brought to this country in four days, instead of the enormously longer period now necessary.
Mr. Handley Page, in his reply, said that commercial aviation is undoubtedly looming large in the" mindsof many people, mid when the driving force of war can be turned to commercial use, enormous strides will be made. He referred to the flight made last year between Londoe and Constantinople, and hinted at a much longer flight hyian unnamed machine whi011 had recently taken place. Mr. Handley Page is full of confidence in the future of commercial aviation, but, unfortunately, he did not go into statistics, perhaps preferring, like many another wise man has done, to let statistics prove themselves, but -believed that commercial aviation will first of all start with a mail and passenger service; in his opinion, if something slightly over first-class fare is charged, a big dividend could he paid. He points out that the ordinary railway fare is no great cri terion, because railway trains are not always .full -; in fact, often empty trains have to run in' orderto maintain an 'adequate service, but an aeroplane.aervice would virtually run on guaranteed full loads, and an enormous source 'of wastage would thus be prevented. Properly' organized, he considered that there was an enormous future for aviation, but it is absolutely essential, that up-to-date machines be employed and that full loads and a constant service are guaranteed. If these conditions Can be obtained, the early difficulties attaching to 'the establiehment of a commercial aviation service would be overcome. There are, of course, ground conditions to be con.' sidered, and help from Governments is necessary in order to secure the aerial analogy of coaling statiens of the different nations, viz. aerodromes, at all desir
able places, and considers that now is the time for different nations to be looking about for-suitable aerodromes. The. mechanical and constructional side of the .air force will be looked after by private enterprise, and, with official help, within a very few years, all the outlying pests of Empire will be brought together. •
The longer flight that he had hinted at proves that commercial aviation is here already,and if anybody urged the possibility of the failures of service due to damage to !planes, or quick deprecia: tion of machines, he would point to two circumstances : one, the damage to a Handley Page machine which had a por. tion of its left lower wing shot away, and which travelled 60 miles to its destination in that condition ; whilst his second 1point dealt with a machine 'which was built early in 1916, which is still flying, -with never a change of wings or fuselage, and • which recently went through a long bombing trip. Mr. Handley Page concluded his speech with -a high tribute to the Rolls-Royce engine, and said that Britieh engines shouH keep for us', our aerial supremacy.
Storing Gas.
A new method of storing gas has been patented by F. O. Short, of 15, Sutton Oracent, Walsall. Advantage is taken of the absorption capacity of a combination of charcoal and a metal. The capacity of this mixture for absorbing coal-gas varies considerably with the metal employed, and itappears that expensive metals, like gold and platinum, are more effective. It is evident, therefore, that there will he a more direct relation between the cost of the container, with its absorbent material, and the capacity. Using iron, it is stated that One pound of cocoanut-shell charcoal, impregnated with finely divided metallic iron, the mixture to consist of 18 per cent, of its weight of iron, the remainder being charcoal, and fine enough to pass through a sieve having 30 meshes to the inch, whilst being at the same time too coarse to pass through another having to meshes to the inch, will absorb half of a cubic foot of coalgas at, atmospheric pressure, and larger quantities' of course, when the gas is compressed.
Perth Buses.
A report presented to the Perth Town Council shows that the motorbuses account started the year with a debit balance of £1135, to which has to be added the loss on the year's working of and the hire purchase instalment,
2480 making a total loss on the working of the buses to Whit-Sunday, 1918. of £1681. It is estimated that the loss during the current year will be £189.
Government Cine-motors.
In furtherance of the project instituted for the purposes of disseminating what the war really means, throughout the length and breadth of our isle, to the populace of town, village or hamlet by means of clue-motors; 10 motor vehicles of this description were paraded last week on the Horse Guards Parade previous tn taking a provincial tour of two
B20 or three months arranged by the National War Aims Committee. The convoy was composed of an equal number of Vinot and Riker lorries. Each machine is complete in its entirety and includes all the necessary diverse equipments for successful picture projection. In the case of the Riker lorries, current for the projector is supplied by a four-cylinder Austin engine driving a dynamo which generates 60 amps. The Vinots carry a heavier generating set which develops 100 amps. and is driven by a 12 h.p. Pelapone motor, the dynamo and accessories being the productions of the General Electric Co.
During their tour the vehicles will traverse Westmoreland, Lancashire. Cheshire, North Wales, Midlands, East Riding, West, Riding, Eastern Counties, Smith Wales, and Gloucestershire and Herefordshird. In a few days time 10 other lorries will leave for Scotland, Ireland and the West of England. The cine-motors are visiting the big towns in the first instance and afterwards the country districts. Several Government Departments are co-operating in this scheme, which is in charge of Captain James W. Barber. Captain Guest, M.P. chairman of the m@ ea War Ai Comittee, who was accompanied by Mr. Ian Malcolm, M.P., Mr. R. A. Sanders, M.P. (treasurer to the King's Household), and Mr. 3. Parker, M.P., was present to witness the departure of the vehicles.
West Bridgford Buses.
The receipts of the municipal motorbuses in use at West Bridgford for the year ended 31st March last were, £5422. The mileage covered by the vehicles was 102,484' and the number of passen
gers carried totalled 1,400,000. There would have been a loss of £1200 on the undertaking, equal to a rate of 21d., had the practice of seine authorities been followed in the repayment of loan and interest. The general accounts showed that £915 had been invested in War Stock.
Stocks of Spares.
3. and E. Hall, Ltd., Dartford, inform us that they have a quantity of old type parts and fittings for disposal for cash as follows :—Exhaust pressure valves; sparking plugs (used for tests); road wheels and tyres (second-hand); • wooden dashboards; Brampton and Coventry chains (second-hand); Aster engine parts; old-type road springs; speedometers' cables and pullies; headlamps (acetylene) Duce, Rushmore and Lucas; headlamps (electric); side and tail lamps (oil); horns (second-hand); towing hooks; magnetos (second-hand); radiators (second-hand); Solex carburetters (second-hand) • petrol level indicators; five-feed dashboard lubricator; paraffin vaporizers; carbic generators; steering hand wheels (second-hand); Duco generators; nonskid chains; dual ignition sets,-ctc.
Now that there is much difficulty in securing spares and replacements the above stock of goods will undoubtedly be of valuable interest to our readers.
Electrics in Spain.
The demand for American-built electric vehicles by European countries continues to exceed the supply, and avail
able shipping facilities. Spain is the latest country to evidence a desire to utilize, on a large scale, electric vehicle transportation, not only for immediate use to help out in emergency conditions, but more particularly to form the basis of a systematic mobile transportation development to meet conditions which will obtain with the return of peace. To such end, several engineers, representing important Spanish interests, have been in the United States making careful investigations of electric vehicle developments.
At this "writing, petrol, in Spain, costs shout two dollars per gallon, and consists of about 50 per cent. alcohol. On the other hand, electric current, largely produced by water power, is available for charging electric vehicle batteries at 1. or 2c. per kilowatt hour.
"Safety First."
The enterprising London "Safety First" Council has recently issued a furthertwo posters with the object of assisting to reduce the number of accidents in the Metropolis. One of these points out by text and illustration that it is often the unexpected which happens in street driving and suggests ways and means of keeping an alert eye on the possibility of the unusual taking place. The other poster is of special interest. It refers to the institution of a meritorious service award in the form of a neatly designed badge. The object Of the award is co recognize conspicuous acts of merit performed by any persons in connection with the prevention of accidents in the streets, in schools, workshops, factories, munition works, etc., in the Greater London area, and by railway employees within a radius of 20 miles of Charing Cross. The award will consist of the badge, a diploma and an honorarium. A
bar will be added for subsequent awards. This scheme is undoubtedly a commendable innovation.
Tractor Work in Nottingham shire.
Supplementing the tractor work for wbich admirable facilities have been officially afforded in Nottinghamshire by the County War Agricultural Committee, much 'has been advantageously effetoted by private enterprise. Some interesting tests which have been recently carried out with the Fordson tractor upon the farm of its owner, Mr. W. Smith, of Abbey Felds, Newstead, have resulted in valuable data: Working with the help of the Rev. J. P. Ivens, chaplain of Newstead, Mr. Smith succeeded on the first day in mowing 23 acres of barley with a 6 ft. Massey-Harris binder, the time occupied being 10 hours, giving an aver
age, reckoning stoppages, of nearly 2; acres per hour.
Upon succeeding occasions these results were well maintained, 200 acres being mowed with this tractor, which easily surmounted difficulties that could not have been as readily overcome with horse traction. A heavy crop of rye was being cut in the-neighbourhood with the aid of horses, but there were frequent stoppages experienced through the binder becoming choked. The tractor being requisitioned, the work, which had 'been constantly impeded, was quickly finished. The consumption of petrol was at the rate of about three-quarters of a gallon per acre, thus securing most economicalworking and warranting further-tests which it was decided to undertake with the machine in cultivating and ploughing. Operations generally in the county 'in connection with the tractor work for which the Not-. tinghamshire War Agricultural Com mitten is responsible, have, it is satisfac tory to note, been of an enCouraging
character in relation to the expenditure of petrol, and upon this point some valuable data in relation to particular machines have been collected.
It may never be hoped to rival the results achieved in the United States, wheie,vastly different conditions as to tho extent and nature of agricultural holdings prevail, with all-important differences also in regard to atmospheric conditions affecting combustion, but already the improvements and progress effected in Nottiughamshire with regard to the work have been such as to give cause for the greatest satisfaction alike to farmers and the responsible Committee, thanks to well-devised conditions of _control for which the latter have been responsible.
Fares on the Brighton and Hove motorbus routes have been increased by 50 per cent.
COMMERCIAL MOTOR Local Proceedings.
Bradford Board of Guardians has decided to abandon the old hearse and purchase a motor hearse at a cost of :3295.
Dundee T.C. is obtaining information from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Birmingham on mechanical traction_ for dust collecting and municipal cleansing work generally.
The Port of London Authority reports that its electric motor ambulances have been employed from time to time in assisting the rempval of sick and disabled prisoners of war and civilians released from internment who come over from Germany.
An additional war bonus of 3s. per week is recommended by the Glasgow Corporation Wages Committee to the chauffeurs in the Corporation central garage, thus raising their remuneratiou 2Ss, per week over pre-war rate. Thus the new wage will be 38s. and 25s. bonus,
Companies Dissolved.
Notice is given that at the expireUlm of three months from 20th September, the names of the' undermentioned companies will, unless cause is shown to the contrary, be struck off the Register of Joint Stock Companies, and the companies will be dissolved :—Arnold's Motor Co., Ltd. ; British Rotary Motor (Aviation) Co., Ltd.; Deansgate Motor Co., Ltd. ; East Lancashire Transport Co., Ltd. ; Invicta Taxi Drivers Mutual. Supply Co., Ltd. ; Kentish Town Motor and Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd. ; Motor and Aviation Co., Ltd.; Oil and • Motor Navigation Co., Ltd. ; Polyrhoe Carburetters, Ltd. ; Stanfield Motor Co., Ltd. ; Wallasey Taxicab Co., Ltd.