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WHEELS OF INDUSTRY.

!* The wheels of wealth will be stowed by all difficulties of transport al whatever points arising, as a carriage is by eke roughness of Ms roads over Tuttle& it yens."—John Beattie Crozier., Traffic Arrangements at the Royal.

The Automobile Association has again been requested to superintend the vehicle parks at the Royal Agricultural Show and to erect direction signs on all approaches to the Borough of Reading.

A special plan has been prepared showing the traffic arrangements. Copies can be obtained from the head office of the Association, Fanum House, New Coventry Street, London, W.1, or at any of the Association's area headquarters. Yellow discs for use on all cars proceeding to the Show are also available on request.

Thornycroft Lorry's Success in South Africa.

In the Three Days' Reliability Trial organised recently by the Transvaal Automobile Club, the 30-cwt. Thornycroft type Al lorry gave a most successful performance. It was entered and driven by the manufacturers' agents in Johannesburg in the class for petrol commercial vehicles, and made a nonstop run over the whole course of 514 miles, gaining full marks for efficiency, reliability and hill-climbing and securing the Stanton Trophy. The course was a most searching test, including long stretches of boulder-strewn roads and sand drifts, causing a plethora of tyre trouble amongst many of the competing vehicles, but the Dunlop-tyred Thornycroft ran throughout at an average speed of 24.97 m.p.h., carrying its full load.

The merit of the success is enhanced in view of the fact that the same trophy was won in the 1925 Trial by a similar vehicle and both were standard products.

Increased Profits of Southdown . Motors.

The net profits of Southdown Motor Services for last year were £47,831, as against 138,948 for the previous year, and to the year's profit must be added £15,405 brought forward.

The amounts at which properties and vehicles stood in the books have been reduced by substantial sums out of reserve.

Profits are the highest on record, but to make provision for the cost of the general strike and of increased motorvehicle taxation it is proposed that the dividend be reduced from 15 per cent. to 12-6per cent., and the amount placed to reiserve increased from £10,000 to £15,000, whilst £20.111 will be carried forward.

Bringing in Overseas Trade.

There is no donbt that if onr export trade in motor vehicles is to be improved, it is of little use merely waiting in this country for orders. It is essential to send representatives fully primed with accurate information who can be on. the spot when orders are available.

We are prompted to make these observations partly as a result of learning of the practical fruits growing from the world tour of Mr. J. H. Bean, managing director of Bean Cars, Ltd. A cable recently received at the Dudley headquarters of the Bean Co. gave instrue E20 flows for 130 Bean vehicles, including many of the commercial type, to be shipped to New Zealand. This order has resulted from Mr. Bean' g first busi

ness call in that country and is a tribute both to Mr. Bean's powers as a promoter of British trade and to the ap

preciation of Bean products. .

The Royal. Show of 1927.

The Newport Council's Parliamentary Committee has instructed preparations to be made for the Royal Show, which is to be held at Newport in 1927. The work to be done includes the layout of the show space in Tredegar Park, the preparation of vehicle parks and approach roads. The new Usk Bridge will have been completed before the show.

C.M.U.A. Parade Postponed.

The fourth annual parade of the Sheffield and Rotherhani. area of the Commercial Motor Users Association, which was to have been held on Saturday, 19th June, has been postponed until industrial conditions are better.

Closing of Strome Ferry.

The Royal Automobile Club has been officially notified that the Strome Ferry, Lochearron, on the road connecting Invermoriston and Achnasheen via Glen Moriston and Glen ,Shiel, was closed to traffic on Sunday last.

Result of Ribble Motor Services Activities.

" Nearly 11,000,000 passengers were carried against 6,500,000 for the pre-, vious year," stated Mr. L. M. Myers, the chairman, at the annual meeting of the Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., at Preston, on June 17th. The receipts rose from £131,000 to nearly £200,000, and the route mileage from 332 to 358. The fleet had been increased from 94 vehicles to 153 vehicles, chiefly Leylands.

During the period under review, he said, competition had been exceedingly keen, and unusual aggression on both sides had resulted in a portion of the increased mileage, run at very low fares, proving unprofitable. On WhitMonday last over 91,000 passengers were carried by 143 buses without accident or breakdown. This was a tribute to the attention paid to the vehicles by the engineering staff and other employees who operated the vehicles.

A sum of £8,738 was paid for licence fees. Under the new Budget the increate in licence charges will add nearly

/3,000 to this amount.

A property has been purchased at Preston covering about four acres, upon a portion of which an up-to-date repair depot, capable of dealing with a fleet of 250 buses, is being built. It is hoped to be in possession of the new depot, in which an outlay of nearly £35,000 is involved, by the end of September.

Trouble in obtaining licences has now been largely overcome, partly by the judicial action of the Ministry of Transport after exhaustive inquiry, and partly by the increased recognition on the part of the authorities of the pressing demands of residents and others in widely separated areas for through bus connections of the character provided. by the Ribble Co. Satisfactory agreements had been entered into with the corporations of Bolton and Ramsbottom, but the Rawtenstall licensing authority, which was recommended by the Ministry of Transport to issue licences to the company, has so far failed to do so.

During the year running depots have been established in Chorley and Bolton, making a total of six depots in all.

The company has taken over the bug business of the Chorley Auto Co., Ltd., Chorley, and the business of Kenyons, Coleman and Robinson (known as K.C.R.) buses.

Help for Rural Roads.

Mr. Churchill has promised more help for the rural roads from the Road Fund. Until his statement, a sum of £2,500,000 had been expected for this purpose, of which £1,000,000 goes to improvements, £750,000 to maintenance in England and Wales, and £250,000 to maintenance in Scotland. It was announced that after Christmas an additional £546.000 would be set aside for repairs and maintenance, of which £100,000 was earmarked for Scotland.

Mr. Churchill's recent statement was to the effect that a further 1150,00044 could usefully be spent on the unclassified roads, bringing the total for rural roads up to £2,050,000.

Latest Licensing Returns.

The licensing figures for commercial motor and other types of vehicle for the first six months of the present licensing year, viz., from December let, 1.925, to May 31st, 1926, have just been published.

The growth during the year, as reDreaented by the _number of hackney vehicles, private cars, cycles, commercial vehicles, tractors, ploughs and exempted vehicles (which phrase covers fire-engines, ambulances, etc.), is shown by the following figures.

At the end of May, 1925, the number of licences issued was 1,392,825. A year later the figure had grown to vist24s.

The figures in respect of commercial goods vehicles are as follow : May, 1925, 215.966; February. 1926, 232,482; May, 1926, 243,542, representing a growth of 11,060 in the last quarter and of 27,576 in the 12 months.

Road locomotive licence figures are: May, 1925, 2,226; February, 1926, 1398; May, 1926, 2,231, showing a slight increase of five. in the year.

Motor tractor licences numbered in May, 1925, 1,252 ; in February, 1926, 1,170; in May, 1926, 1.382, an increase of 130

during the course of the year.

For motor hackney vehicles the figures Were: May, 1925, 92,024; February, 1926, 77,424; May; 1926, 91,918, showing an increase of 14,494 in the quarter, but a decrease of 106 as compared with a year earlier.

The number of exempted vehicles has risen from 14,912 in May, 1925, to 15,277 in February, 1926, and to 16,104 in May. 1926.

The number of motor ploughs has fallen from 14,079 in May, 1925, to 13.797 in May, 1926.

The sums 'paid in respect of licences for the six months were as follow : Commercial goods vehicles, £4,236,204; road locomotives, £36,122; motor treetors, £19,827; motor hackney vehicles, Li ,753,813 ; motor ploughs, £3,449, the . sum total of these payments being £6,049,415.

The decrease in the number of hackney vehicles in the last six months as compared with the like period of 1924-25, and the increase in the licence fees reeeived in respect thereof arise from the fact that there is a substantial increase in the number of buses licensed in the provinces, the falling off, therefore, being in respect of small-capacity vehicles.

Bean Cars, Ltd.

We are informed that legal formalities have now been corhpleted permitting the title of the company which manufactures Bean ears and commercial vehicles to be changed to Bean Cars, Ltd., under which name it will henceforth be known.

Mr. Robert. Hadfield, in addressing the shareholders of Hadfields, Ltd., two months ago, announced that that corn-' patty had secured an 82 per cent. financial interest in A. Harper, Sons and Bean, Ltd., Dudley, and said that the reerganisati on of the latter company had now placed it in a sound financial condition, ensuring its permanence and full facilities for obtaining supplies.

Both the Bean car and commercial 'vehicle will continue to be built as thoroughly British productions of the highest possible Class, their vital components, such as erankshafts, axles, gearing and springs, being made of steel supplied from. the Hadfield works.

Visitors Not Welcomed.

At a meeting of the Barry U.D.C. a protest was made against the proposal to lay out a vehicle parking ground at Cold Knap Bay, on the ground that to expend money for visitors "who are more or less of a nuisance to residents in the vicinity" was unjustifiable .and unfair to ratepayers.

Several members protested that such non-provision of accommodation would result in making the resort unpopular to visitors, but the motion to allocate a site for parking was, none the less, defeated.

Buses in Poland.

Owing to the large number of applications which are being made for concessions to run public motor services, it is reported from Warsaw that the Polish Government has decided to regulate and systematize such undertakings. It is also reported that 80 Rochet-Schneider 24-seater vehicles have been purchased.

Recent Vulcan Activities.

It is pleasing to record that the Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co. (1966), Ltd., Crossens, Southport, have reeeived a large number of orders from various parts of the country during the week ending June 19th.

Conrtaulds, Ltd., have ordered a 2-ton van, whilst repeat orders have been received for four 30-cwt. vehicles for the Barker Transport Co., Ltd.. Liverpool, and others from Joseph Lyons and Co., Ltd., London; Snowden, Sons and Co., Ltd., 1iillwall; the Co-operative Wholesale Society, and the Warrington Corporation. For the 21ton Vulcan there have been repeat orders from Rowe Bros., Ltd.; Weir and Kent, Ltd. ; Brighton Corporation. Swansea Corporation, Atherton Urban District Council and Crosby Urban District Council.

A Severn Ferry Service.

The Commercial Motor has several times previously had occasion to mention the proposals for erection of a road bridge over the River Severn from Beachley (Mon.) to Aust (Glos.) to create a direct route for Welsh-Bristol, London, and south, west and midEnglish traffic, averting the 60-mile detour now necessary to cross the river by Gloucester city bridge. The scheme was finally shelved by the Government until such time as definite decision is made on the Severn barrage scheme (an electricity supply scheme) for national power, purposes.

Despite continual outcry at the delay by English and Welsh local authorities and Cardiff and South Wales and Bristol transport owners, no change in the Government attitude is indicated. However, an alternative method of crossing the river between Beachley and Aust is now available through the enterprise of a private company. A service of motor vessels has been procured for carriage over the river between the places named, the one-mile passage taking ten minutes as against the five hours necessitated to heavy traffic by the road detour.

The three motor launches now in service cater only for passengers and light vehicles, such as motorcycle combinations, but larger vessels for the transport of heavy road traffic are th be available in a month or so.

The preparation of this service was aided by consultation between the proprietors and the C.M.U.A. and the A.A., which enabled an estimate of traffic likely to use the ferry to be made and the fixing of reasonable rates.

By the present service boats leave the termini at hourly intervals. Notice will be given of the commercial-vehicle service time-table and charges before the service • is commenced.

It should be stated that the ferry service is rendered the more practicable by the excellence of the roads connecting the piers and the main roads.

No abatement of the agitation for a road bridge is to be permitted by the availability of this alternative service, and it is understood the question will soon be raised in the House of Commons.

Examination For Motor Agents. 'About 50 agents sat for the examination of the Institute of the Motor Trade, which was held on Friday, June 256, simultaneously at London, Liverpool, Brighton, Leeds, Nottingham, Southampton and Rhyl. Under ordinary circumstances new members are only admitted to the I.M.T. by examination, the object of the Institute being to make its inembettship synonymous with the highest standard of capability.

Bradford's Passenger Services.

The accounts of the Bradford Tramways Department fur the year ended March 31st last show a reduction in the net profit from £47,132.in the preceding year to £23,400. The accounts of the tailless vehicles, treating this section as a separate entity and not taking into account the feeding value to the tramcars, show an income of £22,700, which is equal to about is. per mile run. The revenue for the year on the general traffic account amounted to £606,300, or about is. 10d. per mile run.

The principal items in the expenditure • were repairs and maintenance, E140,500 (£135,900 last year), and this Included £39,500 for repairs to permpent way, £77,000 repairs to cars and 03,000 maintenance of equipment. Presumably, in addition to this amount, a sum of £20,100 has been taken from the reserve and renewals account for renewal of permanent way.

The loss of £5,840 on the railless vehicles is in addition to a loss of £5,300 recorded a year ago, and is accounted for by the increased cost of repairs and maintenance of the vehicles, which amounted to £6,900, or £800 more than last year. During the year £9,200 was .expended in relief of rates and ' after crediting the net profit of £23,400 there remains a balance in the reserve and renewals account of £137,700, compared with £143,600 last year.

German Railways and Road Transport.

The adoption of motorbus and motor lorry transport is under consideration by German railways, according to Herr Geheimrat Otto Kopeke, of Dresden. who has just returned to Germany after a month's tour of the United States.

With the assistance of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Kopeke made a special study of the operation of motor units by leading American railways in handling their B22 short-haul business. Mr. Kopeke is chairman of the board of directors of the Saxon Public Traffic Corporation, and made his American trip as an official delegate from the Saxon Government.

M. of T. Licensing Inquiry.

The north country, which has been the scene of quite a number of important Ministry of Transport inquiries during the past few months, is to have yet another in the near future. This will be held at Darlington on July 7th, and is the outcome of a licensing—dispute between the Darlington Corporation and the, United Automobile Services, Ltd.

The position, as already described -in The Commercial Motor, is that since the end of March last, when the old licences expired,. about 150 United ,vehicles,, or about 75 per cent. of the total number of buses engaged ia maintaining services between Darlington and the sur

rounding neighbourhood by private undertakings, have been running without the sanction of the corporation.

The difference arises from certain conditio•is which the corporation desire to have fulfilled by applicants for licences. One is the question of fares to be charged in cases where private buses operate over routes catered for by the • municipal trolley-bus system.

It is expected that important questions relative to this proviso will be raised at the inquiry on july 7th, and the result will probably have a bearing which will be more than purely local.

Bus Enterprise iu South Africa.

According to a recent report by the South African Motor Traders' Association, there are now 437 motorbuses in operation in the principal towns of the Union. Durban heads the list with 250, Johannesburg following with 72, Port Elizabeth 40, Cape Town 38, Pretoria 35 and East London 2.

A Satisfactory Balance-sheet.

The 15th annual general meeting of the Maidstone and District Motor Services, Ltd., was held a few days ago. Reference was made by the secretary to the death of their esteemed chairman, Mr. W. F. French, and the appointment of his son. Mr. G. P. French, to fill the vacancy on the board.

Dealing with the position of the company, the revenue for the year has been increased by the sum of £56,024. This is largely accounted for by the fact that the company have been able to make use of the additional £35,000 capital paid up in the spring of 1925. £35,815 has been placed to. reserve for depreciation, against £20,683 for the previous year. It is proposed to carry £10,000 to the reserve fund and take forward a sum of £7,754.

During the year 12,000,000 passengers were carried, an increase of over 3,500,000 on the previous year, and the fleet has grown from 158 to 194 vehicles.

A dividend of 15 per cent, for the year has been declared.

Preserving Accumulators.

If accumulators are to be expected to give a long, serviceable life, it is essential that the water and acid employed for them should be as free as possible from impurities, but few people, even amongst those familiar with batteries, know how the purity of the ingredients can be ascertained. For this a booklet entitled "Acid and Water Testing," and issued by the D.P. Battery Co., Ltd., Bakewell, Derbyshire, whose London office is at 11, Victoria Street. S.W.1, should prove of great value. The necessary tests are briefly but clearly described, a list of the materials given and colour standards for acid provided.

Wolseley Loss.

Although Wolseley Motors, Ltd., ar, not nowadays manufacturing commercial motor vehicles, it is interesting to glance at the annual report and balancesheet just published covering tile year ending September 30th last.

There is a trading profit for the year of £62,059, but bn the other side of the profit-and-loss account appear several substantial items which convert this into a very big loss. National insurance has cost £13,748; £51,628 is devoted to meeting depreciation on buildings, plant and machinery ; interest on debenture stock absorbs £98,247; the debenture stock redemption has involved a premium outlay of £2,002; interest on bank overdraft, etc., has absorbed £21,921, whilst the large sum of £66,664 has been set aside for the purpose of writing down stocks to market value.'

Taking into acount £3,096 received by way of interest, there is a loss on the year's working of £189,055. This, added to the debit balance brought forward from the last accounts of £760,928, leaves a total debit balance of £949,983.

The directors regret the unsatisfactory result, and say that the company had been compelled in tile face of severe competition to reduce the selling price of certain of the ears in process of manufacture at the end of last season, and they say that the present year's trading does not offer any encouragement and they therefore, anticipate further losses. The R.A.F. Display.

The seventh Royal Air Force display takes place at the Royal Air Force Aerodrome at Hendon, on Saturday next, July 3rd, flying taking place from noon until 6.30 p.m. Their Majesties the King and Queen and H.R.H. the Duke of York will be present, whilst amongst the royal guests will be H.I.H. Prince Chichibu of Japan. Members of the Cabinet will be in attendance, and it is expected that nearly 200 Members of Parliament will be present.

The object of the display is. to demonstrate the progress in the work, training, and equipment of the R.A.F., and the proceeds will be given to the RAP. Memorial Fund, which has already benefited to the extent of nearly V34.000 since the display was established HilE years ago.

The programme will be extremely in • teresting,, and will include demonstrations of the Cierva Autogiro, which is built to rise and land practically vertically, and a new night fighting scout with a 525 h.p. Napier Lion engine, which has a surprising speed range, and complete case of rnaneeuvre.

Several, improvements have been made at Hendon for the comfort and convenience of spectators now that the aerodrome is the property of the Air Council, accommodation being better and larger And traffic facilities materially improved.

M. of T. Upholds Newcastle's Refusal to License Buses.

The decision of the Ministry of Transport in connection with the inquiry held at Newcastle in April into the appeal made by the Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., and the members of the Chester-le-Street Motor Omnibus Proprietors' Association, who maintain cooperative services under the title of the General Motor Services, has been announced. It constitutes a victory for the Newcastle Corporation Watch Committee, for the Ministry upholds the municipality in its action in refusing to grant licences to private bus undertakings and owners to ply for hire in the city over certain routes.

At the inquiry on April 14th the Northern General Co. sought to have licensed SO buses and the General Motor Services 11 buses for the purpose of continuing services between various parts of County Durham and Gateshead right into Newcastle itself. The watch committee and the Chief Constable of Newcastle, Mr. Crawley, strongly opposed the applications on the grounds that the licensing of the buses would aggravate traffic congeation over, the High Level Bridge, which already bears a tremendous amount of traffic, being the only river crossing in Newcastle carrying through traffic between north and south. It was also urged by these opponents that adequate services were already provided,

Radiators in Northern Australia.

We are asked to mention the fact that the radiators used on the Guy Roadless vehicles which took part in the Michael Terry Expedition across Northern Australia, recently referred to in this journal, were made by the Spiral Tube and Components Co., of King's Cross, London, N.1, and that, in spite of the hardships and difficulties attending an undertaking of this nature, not a single radiator trouble was reported. Why Good Roads are Needed.

At certain points on busy main roads the Lancashire county authority takes a seven-day census at a time of the year especially chosen to avoid holiday rushes and to afford a return of normal daily traffic in summer. For 16 hours on each of .seven consecutive days relays of county officers keep a carefully classified record of vehicles passing a certain point. From these figures a daily average of numbers and tonnage is struck each year.

.Reviewing these official records for the length of road between the Preston borough boundary to Clifton village, on the Preston-Blackpool main roads, some striking facts may be gathered. Twenty years ago, in the early days of motor traffic, the daily average was 175. By 1911 the number had grown to 502 and in 1913 it was 906, with a daily tonnage of 1,279. In 1020 the numbers had jumpedito 2,352 and the weight to 4,616 tons, an increase of about 21 to 1 in seven years. Incidentally, the number of horse-drawn vehicles had decreased from 204 per day in 1911 to 77 in 1920.

In the next two years the increase was less rapid, but still considerable, the daily average in 1922 being 3,044 vehicles. In the same period the tonnage increased to 7,801. Between 1922 and 1925 the number of vehicles was nearly doubled, from 3,044 to 6,022, and the tonnage rose from 7,810 to 14,040. A comparison of these figures will show that between 1913 and 1926 the number of vehicles increased by more than 61 to 1. and the weight by nearly 1,2 to 1. Motervans numbered 10 daily in 1913 as.compared with 171. now. Motorbuses averaged 13 per day in 1913 as against 569 per day, according to the latest figures, an increase of about 44 to 1. • American Tractor Exports.

During April, 1925; the United States exported 4,303 wheeled tractors, 104 track-laying tractors and 51 tractor engines. The corresponding figures for March, 1926, were 4,868, 159 and 66 ; for last April 5,504, 81 and 117. Canada led the way during the last-mentioned month by taking 1,196 machines, followed by France, 1115; Italy, 942; the United Kingdom, 590; Argentina, 231; Russia, 214; Australia, 119; and Mexico, 95. A Peruvian Motor Show.

The Department of Overseas Trade is informed that the first Peruvian Automobile Show will be held at Lima from July 25th to August 8th.

Application for space should have been made by June 25th, but applications received after that date will be considered if any space remains unallotted. The charge for space is £2, Peruvian, per square metre.

The schedAde of exhibits includes commercial motors, accessories, lighting equipment, tyres, licence plates, signals, road signs, etc.

RaiBess Service Difficulties.

At a.meeting of the Oldham Corporation tramways committee the chairman stated that he had interviewed the chairman of the Ashton-under-Lyne tramways committee and the general manager of the Ashton-under-Lyne tramways, and after discussing with them the difficulties as to the railless vehicles on the Oldham and Ashton route, he had suggested that, in view of the proposal of the Oldham tramways committee to adopt railless vehicles of a lighter type with pneumatic tyres, the Ashton tramways committee should also adopt similar vehicles to run between Rathershaw and Star Inn. The chairman further stated that the chairman of the Ashton-under-Lyne tramways committee promised to bring the matter before his committee for consideration.

A New Radiator Shutter.'

In order to obtain the greatest efficiency from a petrol engine it is essential that it should run at a fairly high temperature, yet its radiator must be so efficient that boiling does not occur under the most arduous conditons, consequently the cooling is often excessive.

This eau, however, be obviated by employing shutters by which the area of iadiator exposed to the air current can be controlled, and a series of special shutters which are designed for operation by Bowden controls is being placed on the market by the Benjamin Electric Ltd., Brantwood Works, Tottenham, London, N.17. These are made either in black or aluminium finish in prices ranging from 33s. to 60s.

Restriction3 on Worcestershire Bridge.

The important bridge over the River Severn at Holt, Worcestershire, is to be closed to vehicles over three tons in weight until it has been strengthened. The estimated cost of strengthening, by electric arc welding, is £8,300.

Passenger Services in French IndoChina.

Owing to the lack of adequate railway facilities a large number of public motor services for the transport of passengers, goods and mails are now in operation in French Indo-China. The vehicles operating on postal contracts are subsidized by the Government. French makes of chassis are the most popular, whilst bodies are made locally. Purchases are usually made by instalments.

Useful Advice on Lubrication.

We have received from the Vacuum Oil Co., Ltd., Caxton House, Westminster, London, S.W.1, two useful booklets on lubrication which should prove of great use to motor-vehicle owners. One deals with all details covering ordinary chassis, whilst the other is devoted to a lubrication analysis of the Ford. The first publication also has a section on "Troubles and their Remedies."

Copies of either booklet will be sent post &co on application to the above address.

Local Proceedings,

Glasgow Corporation Tramways Committee have decided to purchase 20 motor omnibuses.

Glasgow Chief Constable recommends the Watch Committee to provide modern motor police vans and motorcycle combinations.

Beckenham U.D.C. Parks Committee recommend the tender £123 of Alexander Shanks and Son, Ltd., for the supply of a motor lawn Mower.

Chesterfield ;Corporation has decided to appeal to the Ministry of Transport against the refusal of the Clay Cross Urban District Council to grant licences for buses to ply for hire in the district beyond the present route.

At a meeting of the streets committee of the Warwick Corporation the town. clerk reported that he had gone into the question of the legality of making charges for public parking places in the borough, and that he had found that such charges would be illegal.

Hackney B.C. Works Committee recommend the purchase from the Chloride Electrical Storage Co., Ltd., of an electric-vehicle battery of a larger size than that previously used, viz., a 40-cell I.M.V. 8 Exide-Ironclad accumulator in ebonite boxes, with a capacity of 258 amp-hours at the 5-hour rate of discharge, for the sum of £182, less an allowance for the old battery of £24 7s. 6d.

• Buses v. Trains in Egypt.

Even in Egypt the motorbus appears to be successfully competing with , the electric tramways. Thus, in its report for last year, the Cairo Tramway Co. states that as a result of the competition it has been found necessary to reduce fares and to start a number of new routes. At Port Said, too, buses have also recently been introduced.