756 REPORT— 1903. 



In 1803, just one hundred years ago, Telford reported to the Government on 

 tlie stite of" the roads, and as a result the great road to Liverpool from the 

 Metropolis and the other great highways were constructed. It was enlightened 

 wisdom that eighty years ago placed intercouioiunication in the forefront of the 

 definition of engineering ; it still maintains that position, and I purpose to say 

 a, few words on the present aspect of the question. 



lioad Traffic — Motors, 



Speed in locomotion appears to he now the first consideration, whether as 

 regards mails, passengers, or goods. I would refer in the first instance to locomo- 

 tion on our main roads. Here three or four classes of machines appear to be 

 ambitious to drive pedestrians, horsemen, and horee-drawn vehicles oft' the road. 



The first practical steam carriage was used by Trevithick in the year 1802 ; 

 and now, a hundred years later, it is found that for the traction of heavy loads on 

 the main roads steam is still most suitable. The points of importance in con- 

 nection with traction engines and their trailers are their speed, weight, and width ; 

 of course, there is no question that, as regards facilitating traftic, the large heavy 

 waggon replacing many smaller horse-drawn ones will be found a boon. Mr. E. R. 

 Oaltbrop, M.Inst.C.E., one of the founders of the Liverpool Self-propelled Traffic 

 Association, is opposed to any weight restriction, but it must be remembered that 

 the momentum of heavily laden waggons drawn by a powerful traction engine at 

 the maximum speed of five miles an hour, is very great, and causes uncomfortable 

 vibration in the houses along the main thoroughfares of our towns ; on the other 

 hand, light traction engines are now being successfully used, drawing from four to 

 iive tons of market produce through the streets of London without causing undue 

 vibration, and at a cost, I am informed, of about one-half that of horse traction. 



]iut a far more important question is that of the speed of motor cars along our 

 public thorouglifares. The struggle to maintain a trophy at home, or to regain it 

 from abroad, is one in which every inhabitant of this country sympathises. The 

 great Gordon-Bennett Cup llace in July last redounded to the credit of the Auto- 

 mobile Club of Great ]3ritain and Ireland, who made and carried out the arrange- 

 ments and were at considerable pains to find a suitable course in a sparsely 

 inhabited district ; every measure which experience has shown to be needful having 

 been taken to prevent accident. The race was decidedly international in character, 

 French, Germans, Americans, and English contesting for the prize ; and in heartily 

 congratulating the German Automobile Club on their success, it may be noted 

 that M. Jeuatzy covered a distance of o27i miles in G hours 39 minutes, or at 

 the rate of 49] miles an hour, though he attained to a speed of 61 miles an 

 hour between the points of control. Even this speed was exceeded at a trial in 

 Phoenix Park, Dublin, when Baron de Forest attained to a rate of 86 miles an 

 hour. But between racing speed and ordinary travelling speed there is neces- 

 sarily a great dift'erence, and our twenty miles maximum on country roads is in 

 excess of that allowed in France, where it is now fixed, though I believe not 

 enforced in the open country, at 18i miles, and at \2h miles where there is much 

 traffic. The two classes of motors used for higher speeds are the petrol and the 

 electric. The former are mainly internal-combustion engines ; having to be light, 

 they run at the comparatively high speed of 800 revolutions per minute. They are 

 generally used in connection with bicycles, tricycles, or light carriages. They 

 have also been used for light vans and coaches, and successful trials have been 

 made with self-propelled lorries for military purposes, and by local authorities for 

 watering and dust collecting. Their application to omnibuses has not proved 

 economical, owing to the difficulty of providing pneumatic tyres for such heavy 

 vehicles. 



The electric motor depends on storage batteries ; those in general use are of 

 Plante's lead-couple type. Like the petrol motor, the electric motor is rather 

 a luxury ; most of the automobile carriages used in London are of this cla.ss ; th»re 

 is liability of injury to the batteries by over-discharging them. Colonel Crompton, 

 in a paper recently read at the Englneeringf Conference, suggested the use of 



