It was my lot, a few days ago, to spend
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a half-hour at a large motor haulage contractors, and there I saw a horse-van being loaded up with motor spirit tins, to the tune of at least 300 or 400; the incongruity of it all forced itself upon me. Here was a leading concern, which must use, to put it at a low estimate, between 2,000 and 3,000 gallons of motor spirit a week, and they were handling their spirit in mst the same way as the owner of a private car, with its incidental waste and time expended in handling two-gallon tins and the consequent handling of empties, whereas they might employ tank storage ; then, on the top of it all, the spirit people conveying all this by means of our ancient, homely, four-legged friend the horse. The change, however, is coming, if slowly. I told the vanman I had that morning seen a splendid new motor lorry loaded with " Shell " spirit, hut he gave a wan smile and remarked that he had not heard anything about it.
A friend of mine in the motor business, who plainly thinks I have a lot of time on my hands when in the Provinces, said that I ought to look in at the Peter Union Tyre
Co.'s branch at Manchester. I murmured something about knowing the chief office at London very well, and then it was put to me that the Manchester office was on a fine scale, by no means of the ordinary provincial type any more than the Midland Hotel, Manchester, is, and so it came about that I walked round there, and was conducted over the splendid premises by Mr, A. P:Coppmger, the North of England manager; certainly they have the facilities for a gigantic business. Great corner premises quite near to the Central Station, have been secured, with excellent storage and showrooms, but the feature which " struck home " most was the press for refixing solid tires. Here is a distinct advantage ; right in the centre of Manchester, within three minutes of the Town Hall, are all the appurtenances for band tire fixing while you wait. Mr. A. P. Coppmger would appear to be making the Peter Union tires very widely known, the operations of his branch office covering an extensive district. It all confirms some observations recently made to me that, with the growth of the industrial vehicle movement, it will take a very short time for the output of solid tires to be largely in excess of pneumatics.
The death of Ernest Arthur Dock the founder of the Dook-Hercules tire concern, comes as a shock, because, although he had been ailing for some months, he was, when last I saw him, so full of life and vigour and hope; moreover, he was but a young man—probably 3i1 or 36. Al though he had been out of harness for some seven months now, he had helped effectively to control, from his sick bed, the steadily-increasing business in Dook-Hercules tires, and he never lost his grip nor his interest in it until the end came. His last thoughts and words would. seem to have been in connection with his business, for he was understood to inquire what was being prepared for the forthcoming Altrineham show—a local exhibition held in high esteem. When I made Ernest Dook's acquaintance, he was a lieutenant in the Shrewsbury and Challiner concern, and, although afterwards in active opposition to his old firm, a feeling of mutual esteem survived ; this is not to be wondered at because 'Ernest Dook was the soul of honour, a man whose word was his bond. It was ever a pleasure to have business relations with him. It is satisfactory to know that the business Dook so diligently instituted is not likely to suffer by his early demise ; there is a strong board of directors and a good staff.