Page:Report from the Select Committee on Steam Carriages.pdf/188



Mr. W. A. Summers. 19 August, 1831. would be requisite to stop in a much shorter distance, could you do it instantaneously by reversing the Engine?—We could certainly stop in the space of three feet by reversing the Engines; but it would not be prudent to do so in less as it might endanger the lives of the persons on the vehicle by their being pitched or thrown forward.

Have you turned your attention to the question by what mode Tolls would be most fairly charged on such Carriages?—I have not turned my attention much to that subject.

What is the horse power of your Engine, according to the common modes of calculation by engineers?—About twenty horse power.

On the Liverpool and Prescot road the toll for Steam Carriages is as follows: for every Carriage not drawn by horses, but propelled or moved by machinery, any sum not exceeding the sum of 1s. 6d. for each horse power; would you be able to run your coach subject to a toll so high as that?—We certainly should not be able to run it to any advantage.

What advantage in point of expence do you anticipate to the public from the use of steam in propelling Carriages over that by horses?—I have no doubt that when they arrive at tolerably practical state of perfection, passengers will be carried the same distance which they are carried now by horses at the same velocity for one half of the expence, it may be even at less than that in future.

What mode should you suggest as the fairest for placing tolls on those Carriages, by passengers, by the wheels, by the horse power, or by the weight?—I should certainly suggest that the tolls should be levied by the number of passengers the vehicle carries, provided the breadth of the tires of the wheels be increased in proportion; as to vehicles for carrying merchandize. I think the tolls should be in proportion to the weight which such vehicles are capable of carrying, the velocity of the vehicle travelling on the roads not materially affecting the state of them.

Many Turnpike Acts having passed this Session, which place tolls on Steam. Carriages, how would