A NEW MECHANICAL HORSE.
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
In the course of his speech at the recent annual general meeting of Scammull Lorries, Ltd., Sir George Macdonogh said, in reference to the mechanical-horse activities of the company, that it would shortly have in production a new, small machine of this type. This vehicle possesses novel features and is stated to have a good performance.
Business Lost Through Licensing Delays.
Some operators• handling seasonal loads appear to be losing business by reason of the cumbersome licensing system. A.R.O. informs us of a case in which an operator required a shortperiod licence on May 1, and secured written evidence from all the local traders concerned, as to the necessity of the proposed facilities. As a result of action by a railway company, the case was forced into court, where, owing to an accumulation of business, it would not have normally been heard until July.
The Licensing Authority has, however, given it priority, and it is to be heard to-day (Friday). Even so, assuming that the licence be granted Forthwith, the operator will have lost 14 days' business.
75,000 More Motoring Offences.
A return issued by the Home Office shows that the total number of motoring offences in England and Wales in 1936 was 593,778, which is higher by 75,538 than for the previous year. At 136,762, there was an increase of 15,005 in the number of speeding offences, whilst highway obstruction was responsible for 71,645 offences, which is higher by 13,859. There were 67,199 offences in connection with the neglect of traffic directions—an increase of 18,205, compared with the previous year.
It is satisfactory to record that the offences under the heading of reckless or dangerous driving, at 9,039, were lower by 262. In all, 594 charges were brought in which sentences of imprisonment without the option of a fine were imposed.
The number of persons dealt with in connection with the total offences, either by caution or .prosecution, was 510,126, which is higher by 60,473 than in the previous year. The amount of fines totalled £441,459.
Wallasey Butchers Run Own Transport Compan Retailers in Wallasey who draw their supplies of meat from the Stanley Meat Market, Liverpool, operate a carrying company known as Wallasey Meat Traders' Association, Ltd. This company has its own vehicles, which are used in the interests of retailers in collecting their purchases from the market and delivering them to the shops.
At the company's 18th annual general meeting a few days ago, Mr. G. E. Jones remarked on the changed condi
tions in local transport. Several members were now carrying their lambs, etc., in their own vehicles, except in the case of emergency, or when it was not worth while making a journey to the markets. Others were carrying light carcases, such as lambs, sheep, etc., and leaving the heavy consignments, like beef, to the carrying company. A further difficulty was caused through wholesalers making free deliveries of meat from the market.
• Tyne Toll Bridges Acquired.
Grants from the Road Fund, totalling over £112,000, have been made towards the cost of acquiring the toll rights of the High Level Bridge and the Redheugh Bridge, two of the four bridges connecting Newcastle and Gateshead. They were freed from toll on Monday last.
The High Level Bridge, a combined rail and road structure 1,350 ft. long,
was opened in 1849, and, for publicservice vehicles and tramways, in particular, it forms an essential length in the road communications of Tyneside.
Redheugh Bridge was rebuilt in its present form some 36 years ago and is about 1,370 ft. long. With the freeing of these bridges, a programme, initiated some years ago, when Scotswood Bridge was freed, is completed.
Green Front Stop Lights..
A suggestion, by a Member of Parliament, that motor vehicles should have brake-operated green lights at the front to tell pedestrians that they were slowing down to let them cross the road, was turned down by Mr. HoreBelisha on the ground that the light might be confusing.
D.E.U.A. Summer Meeting.
The summer meeting of the Diesel Engine Users Association will take place at Crewe on June 9, when .the locomotive works of the L.M.S. Railway will be visited. PERSONAL PARS.
Mu. M. C. VICKERS, of A.R.O. Yorkshire Area staff, has been appointed hon. secretary of the Leeds branch of the Industrial Transport Association.
MR. P. S. DRINKWATER has been appointed sales manager of the Valor Co., Ltd., Birmingham. He has been associated with the company's sales department for about 16 years.
MR. F. M. ABBEY has been appointed district representative in the eastern counties for David Brown and Sons (Huddersfield), Ltd., Huddersfield. He has been in the service of the company, in various technical capacities, for close on 20 years, and will be in a position to advise on all design and service matters relating to gear drives. His address is 42, Henley Road, Ipswich.
MR. C. F. LUCAS, chairman of Edgar Allen and Co. (South Africa), Ltd., Johannesburg, is shortly coining to England, and MR. G. N. NicHoesoar, a southern representative of the company in this country, has left for South Africa to look after the sales side of the business during the absence of Mr. Lucas; he expects to return to England towards the end of the year.
An I.M.E. Award.
The council of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has awarded a Water Arbitration Prize, to the value of £10 each, to Dr. H. F. Haworth, Ph.D., M.Sc., B.Eng., of Leyland Motors, Ltd., and Mr. A. Lysholm, for their joint paper on "Progress in Design and Application of the Lysholm-Smith Torque" Converter, with Special Reference to Development in England."
Position of Identity Certificates.
The Minister of Transport has made the Goods Vehicles (Licences and , Prohibitions) (Amendment) Regulations, 1937, which provide that the identity certificate may be carried on the windscreen near the Road Fund licence. In the case of a vehicle operating under a general trade licence, the certificate may be affixed to the trade plate, either at the front or at the rear of the vehicle.
Hepworth and Gra/nine Still Extending.
Yorkshire could not live by wool alone ; it needed new trades, and he felt that the products of Hepworth and Grandage, Ltd., manufacturer of pistons, rings and cylinder liners, could be described as a new Bradford industry, said Mr. G. R. Hall Caine, C.B.E.. M.P., chairman of the company, at a luncheon which followed the laying of the corner-stones for the new office block last week.
At first Mr. William Hepworth and Mr. George Hepworth did all the work themselves, said Mr. Hall Caine, af the
stone-laying. They had kept pace with modern developments, adding extensions from time to time.