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111 H E Postmaster-1General is apparently very pleased with the results attending the use of motorcycles, which have enabled him to provide much-improved postal facilities in rural localities. About 900 such machines are regularly employed, and these, as well as a number of light vans, have made it possible to provide earlier deliveries and later collections in many districts.
THE layman is apt to regard stainless steels as somewhat beyond his comprehension, but a recent description is of marked interest, even to the nontechnical mind. The reason for this class of metal being practically immune from chemical attack is really the fact that its chromium content acts as a form of vaccine, giving to the metal an invisible and constant film which resists the inroads of oxidation. This film has the remarkable property of tieing self-healing, so that the advantage of being stainless or' non-rusting is permanent.
BUS passengers in general may welcome the adoption of an idea which is being tried out in Berlin, where a bus has been equipped with a microphone and loud-speakers, so that the 'driver can announce the various stopping-places to passengers. Similar arrangements are in use on underground trains operating abroad,' notably in New York.
AN A.E.C. Regent bus is said to work farther north than any other double-decker—actually within 700 miles of the Arctic Circle. It is run by the Highland Transport Co., Ltd., to link up Inverness, I3eauly, Dingwall and Strathpeffer. In spite of operating over narrow roads the vehicle has Proved easy to control and safe in use.
AN interesting story-lies behind an unusual pre
sentation that was made recently to Mr. R. A. Blakeborough, managing director of J. Blakeborough and Sons, Ltd., the maker of fire-fighting equipment, of Brighouse, on the occasion of his 50th birthday, this taking the form of a mounted and engraved fire-engine funnel. This funnel is all that now'remains of the Blakeborough works fire-engine, which for many years turned out on every occasion upon which a fire occurred in the district, supplementing the activities of the Brighouse Brigade.
Now, however, the efficiency of the local brigade is such that this assistance is not needed, so the company has discarded its engine, but a lasting relic of Its existence has passed into the hands of Mr. Blakeborough.
MANY owners of vehicles equipped with pneu matic tyres believe that the air pressure should be reduced to below the recommended minimum during warm weather, thinking that the heat might cause a dangerous expansion. As a matter of fact, rubber is a very poor conductor of heat, and the climate of this country does not entail such differences between summer and winter temperatures that the expansion pressure of the air is likely to be affected to any appreciable extent. The risks from under-pressure, however, are considerable, as they involve loss of braking power and lessen the road-holding qualities.