Answers to Queries.
Page 16
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Our readers will be informed by the Editor on any Points connected with the construction or use of commercial motors. Where a direct reply is desired, a stamped and addressed envelope should be enclosed : if a request for privacy is not spectally made, any query and answer may bre Published. Some replies, owing to pressure on our space, are held several weeks.
Taximeters Wanted.
[1,535] " G.L.C." writes :—" Could you oblige me with the addresses of several taximeter makers ? "
ANSWER.—Very good taximeters are made by the undernoted constructors:— Premier Taximeter Co., 106, Albany Street, London, NW.; Aron Electricity Mater, Ltd., 80a, Sainsbury Road, Kilburn, N.W. Briihn's Taxameter, Ltd., 245, Gray's Inn Road, W.C.
A notice of a new taximeter-recorder device, which delivers a ticket, was illustrated by us last week.
The Illumination of Taximeter Dials.
[1,536] " Cotorsisr, " writes:—' New regulations for taximeter cabs are being discussed here. The matter is under consideration, and a very incomplete and unnece,ssarily-burdensome regulation has been proposed, which we are endeavouring to combat. I, therefore, am desirous of informing myself with respect to the best practice. One of the provisions against which we cannot make any valid objection is the requirement of a lamp to illuminate the taximeter at night. Lamp-makers in this country cannot suggest anything which does not look very awkward and cumbersome. Could you refer us to anyone who makes such a lamp as would be suitable for this purpose?"
Asissvma.—Quite a good lamp for the illumination of a taximeter is that supplied by Brown Bros., Ltd., of Great Eastern Street, London, E.C. We may say that the illumination of the taximeter at night has been found very useful in London, and we have heard one objection only raised against such a lamp, viz., that the lettering "For Hire" upon the blue glass rather reduces -the value of the intended indication, by passing so much white light.
A Motorcab Inquiry.
11,537] "LINOS." writes—' As I am thinking of buying motorcab, would you kindly reply to the following ? What licences are required for cabs, and the cost ? What are the regulations P Would I have to apply to the local police-station to stand for hire? For ordinary motor and motorcycle licence we have to send to —. Cannot get these in —.
"Which do you think are the hest cabs?"
ANSwtn.—The licences required for a motorcab, which is a public-service vehicle, are as follow :—Driver's licence (police), 5s. ; plate licence (police), £2; wheel tax (by virtue of Sec. 4 Inland Revenue Act, 1888), 15s. ; motor tax (Inland Revenue, by virtue of Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896), £2 2s.; motor driver's licence (County or Borough), 5s. The foregoing are all annual charges. In addition to these, there is the registration fee (County or Borough), which is not annual, of £1.
You must secure your licence to ply for hire and your plate from the same local authorities that authorize the working of the ordinary horse-drawn public-service conveyances in your town. This will be at the headquarters of the local police authorities. Ordinary motor and motorcycle registrations, and the licences to drive these machines, are only obtainable from the county and countyborough authorities. PubliC-service vehicles, in addition, have to be authorized by the local police.
We would suggest the following makers :—
Belsize Motors, Ltd., Clayton, Manchester ; Sidney Straker and Squire, Ltd., Nelson Square, Blackfriars, S.E. ; S. F. Edge, Ltd., 14, New Burlington Street, W.; Messrs. Stoeiwer Bras., 35, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. ; Sturraey Motors, Ltd., Widdrington Road, Coventry ; Dennis Bros., Ltd., Guildford; the Albion Motor Car Co., Ltd., Glasgow ; the Lacre Motor Car Co., Ltd., Poland Street, W.; Argyll Motors, Ltd., Alexendria,
Steam Cars for Mail Services.
[1,538] " WESTERN " writes As a, reader of your paper should be greatly obliged if you would give me
the following information. We have secured the contract for the G.P.O. ma-tar-mail service in our district. The roads here are very hilly, and we have decided to use steam cars. We have purchased a — as a stand-by, but we have to have two. For the other, we are offered a 12 h.p. to 20 h.p. Italian-built Serpollet. Our loads vary from 10 cwt. to nil. We are also offered a 12 h.p. to 15 h.p. French Serpollet.
" 'Will you give us your opinion of the two?"
ANSWER.—We cannot recommend you to buy a Serpollet car of Italian construction. Our experience of these cars is that the workmanship is not of the best ; this was due more to the methods of manufacture at the Italian factory, rather than to incompetence on the part of the Italian engineers. The French-built Serpollet cars were undoubtedly well made, but you might experiences sonic difficulty in obtaining spare parts for these machines now. We advise you to get into touch with the Sheppee Motor Co., of Thomas Street, York, if you feel inclined to go in for a new machine, as that company has simplified and developed the Serpollet system.
Overhanging Trees and Motorbuses.
[1,539] " 17.S.A." writes :—" May I trouble you to give me some information respecting the operation of motor omnibuses in London and other European cities with which you are familiar? At the present time, we are in a controversy with the Department of Parks of the City of —, which Department has adopted an ordinance prohibiting the operation of any vehicle having a height of more than 10 ft. from the tread of the wheel to its highest point, over the parkways controlled by that Department, upon the ground that any vehicle of greater height is injurious to the low-hanging branches of the trees. We have been operating double-decked omnibuses in for twenty years, and the question never arose until the motor omnibuses were introduced, owing to the fact that the driver, being placed high with the passengers, was better able to avoid contact with the trees, the speed was less, and the Park Commissioners more reasonable than at present. We should like to know what the policy of the police and other departments is respecting the branches of trees bordering the streets ? "My impression is that the Champs Ely-sees in Paris, with its well-known chestnut trees is a fair prototype of our drives, and, if I am not mistaken, the buses being operated on that boulevard are not only double-decked, but have ' imperials' or canopies as well?"
ANSWEE.--in London, and also in Paris so far as we know, no omnibuses are allowed inside the parks, although they run along adjoining thoroughfares. In all cases, the park authorities have to keep, and do keep, the boughs so lopped and pruned that there is a sufficient clearance for both double-decked omnibuses and high-loaded vans. It is about 14 ft. to the top of an outside passenger's head, when seated, on a London motorbus, but varions loads go through the London streets which reach as high as 17 or 18 ft. from the ground. In this country (England), the matter is governed by a section of the Highways Act of 1835, which requires the owner of any property to keep his trees cut so that they shall not interfere with the free passage along the adjoining highway of any "carriage," which word legally includes a motorbus. An order by magistrates can he obtained. In London, the height to the top of a tramcar is something in excess of 16 ft., and all trees are trimmed to allow their passage.