Passing Comments
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Natural Rubber Still NAUCH has been said con Holds the Pride of cerning the qualities of
Place synthetic rubber, but it-seems, according to the .president of B. F. Goodrich, of America, that there is no equalto the natural crude material in the production of large Lyres for commercial and military vehicles. He also, states that tyres made of synthetic will give a reasonable performance if run at lower speeds and lighter loads, but at a great waste of materials and time, both of which can be vital, particularly in war. On the other hand, smaller varieties made from synthetic, with a little crude to give better adhesion, are comparable with those made from natural rubber.
A28 simple Radiator Baffles -nURING very cold spells it
to Avoid Over1-"" it tten advisable to blank Cooling . . oft part of the radiator of a vehicle, and some of the materials and methods employed give unsightly. results. In this connection, the Albion concern uses neat steel strips, roughly the width of the radiator and about 4 ins. deep. Each has two spring catches, which are merely pushed between the radiator tubes and turned. There are also strips of Ferodo riveted at the top and bottom to prevent metallic contact, noise and wear. One advantage is that one or more of the strips can be fitted in a few moments, as conditions warrant. I N a paper , recently read before the Industrial Transport Association, B. T. Squier, M.Inst.t, MITA., joint transport, manager of United Dairies, Ltd., referred to reasons why battery-electric Vehicles have become popular since the end of the war. Recruits to. the retail distributive trade were now mechanically minded, he said, and the increase in urban traffic made things difficult for the horse. In comparison with electrics, a horsed cart required at least three times the-depot ground space, not only on account of the room needed for the cart, but also for the animal, Fodder, and manure, dumps, and harness and lamp rooms. H.e exploded the fallacy that a good horse assisted delivery salesmen, but said that he spoke as an engineer and expected his listeners to make due allowance for his prejudice against the "comparatively inefficient I h.p. hay motor." .At the same time, he admitted that the electric machine did not possess the flexibility of the 'petrol-driven or horse-drawn vehicle.. Referring to milk, transport in road tankers,
Reasons for Increasing Popularity of Battery electrics
he said that, owing to regulations affecting drivers' hours, such haulage over leads greater than 100 miles was generally found to be uneconomic compared with rail transport.
An Idea for Mirrors ('NE Of our readers has to Obviate Blind drawn attention to the risk
Spots which may occur with some
vehicles when a-person crosses immediately in front of or behind one which is stationary and the driver is about to start forward or to reverse. In certain cases, there is an area at one or both ends where such a person is obscured from the driver. It is, therefore, suggested that suitable mirrors should be fitted at the front and rear which would show to the driver anyone in this area, including children who might be playing at this spot. Accidents which have occurred indicate that some such precaution is often necessary. Our correspondent has taken out provisional protection for special mirrors intended to obviate this risk.