Passing Comments Cattle, Garden P ro A S a sidelight on the
Page 28
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
in duce and Glass .in creasing use of trailers Small Trailers . . behind private cars, the East Midlands Licensing Authority remarks, in his annual report, that it is common in his area to see eight or 10 sheep or even a large bullock being transported in this way. Moreover, loads of market-garden produce are often carried on the roofs of private cars, as well as on trailers behind them. One trader carries even plate glass in a trailer hauled by a motorcar.
Road Over the RailTHERE are still hopes that way Under Considersthe extension of West tion Cromwell Road, between Ken sington and Hammersmith. may be constructed over the railway, for the matter formed one of the subjects of discussion at a supper recently given by the Architecture Club, when Mr. R. Holland-Martin, C.B., the President, was in the chair. It was mentioned that by placing the road over the railway, property of a rateable value of about 40,000 a year would be saved. Several others Spoke in favour of the suggestion, and Sir Raymond Unwin urged that the whole of. the scheme shOuld be held up for proper planning consideration. The Post Bus and DOSTAL services have been the Unwieldy Football I enormously improved since Pools the development of the post bus, and nowadays the country dweller, who in times gone by had to catch the first and last collection at about breakfast time, is able to complete his letters at something like the same hour as the suburbanite. Ordinarily the carrying of a post-box is no great burden, but the growth of the football pool and its attendant correspondence on Friday night have reduced many a conductor almost to despair.
hfi ARKING of principal bus "'stops upon maps, which, it is understood, has been suggested to the Ordnance Survey, is hardly so useful an idea as might at first appear. The scheme is intended to be of assistance to walkers, but those places that could reasonably be classed as " principal" and marked on an ordinary scale map would be in districts that the average traveller knows -to be served regularly. Scheduled services .leave but little of the country uncovered and were any Rich plan th be put into operation it might be simpler to indicate the busless roads. Road Passenger Services are Almost Ubiquitous . . . A Tyre-reinforcing nNE of the most valuable Agent Obtained from materials used for the purGas • . . • . . . pose of giving wear-resisting
properties to the treads of modern tyres is carbon black. To obtain this in the extremely minute particle size that is essential, natural gases from the off wells are incompletely burnt, 1,000 cubic ft. of gas being necessary to obtain 1 lb. of gas black. This fact was mentioned in a recent lecture before the Institute of Production Engineers by Mr. B. Dunsby of Fort Dunlop.
Growing Steel ProTHE production of steel is a
ductlon In England good indication of trade and Abroad . . . Progress; it also shows the effect of tariffs. For the United Kingdom, the monthly averages for the past few years have been as follows : 1929, 803 tons; 1931, 434 tons; 1935, 820 tons; January, 1936, 912 tons. Incidentally, for the last-mentioned month the total production in Western Europe was 2,530 tons, and in the United States 3,050 tons. Western Europe is, of course, the main competitor, both here and in the export markets.
An Industry Most Vital to Our National THE ability of some motor
concerns to turn, at short notice, from the manufacture Safety of vehicles to the production of aeroplanes, air engines, etc., is reassuring. So far hack as 1914 this was exemplified in the case of the Daimler Company, which, within three days of the declaration of war, was preparing to produce certain aero engines by making drawings from an actual unit, the first engine going on test within eight weeks.
It Pays to Examine T YRE valves prove so and Test Tyre Valves I efficient that operators and Occasionally. . . . drivers have almost ceased from giving any attention to them, but it still pays to inspect them. occasionally. In the latest Schrader valves the only vital parts are the rubber washer and the knife-edge seating which form the air seal. A good test is to inflate to the recommended pressure, turn the wheel until the valve is at the top, and immerse it in a glass of water. If there be any doubt, replace the inside, which costs only a few pence. Even a slow leak may have unfortunate consequences.