News of the Week
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AIR MINISTRY BALLASTHAULAGE CONDITIONS NE"'conditions concerning the sand and ballast rates for Air Ministry sites have just been issued by the S.J.C. in agreement with the. Air. Ministry: Whilst the.. rates remain the same as those which were. -published last June, the agreement will apply, as from June 4, to all haulage *to Air Ministry Sites throughout the country, and the rates will be strictly net to the haulage
'contractor There are a few other modificatiOns in the conditions, details of which may be given later.
TYRE ECONOMY EXHIBITION . ATTENDANCE RECORD
T"provincial attendance record for the tyre economy exhibitions pro'incited by the Ministries of Supply and War Transport was broken by the 7,300. total at the Leeds exhibition. -This figure was increased to 8,259 by the supplementary film shows and lectures held hi Hull, as an offshoot of the Leeds event. The previous provincial attendance record was 5,056.
'The exhibition to be held in Sheffield. in a few weeks' time should bring the Yorkshire attendance aggregate to well over the 10,000 total registered at the London exhibition.
SAVING FUEL IN CLOSED FACTORIES
THE attention of the Fuel Efficiency Committee of the Ministry of Fuel and Power has been drawn to the fact that there is a number of cases of' fuel being wasted in factories which have been, closed by concentration schemes, and where heating is maintained to keep the disused production machinery in suitable condition.
Requirements in this direction may vary widely, but there is evidence that precautions can often be taken to protect such plant without the need for heating—metal parts can be sprayed with anti-rust' preparations or sheeted over after applying grease.
Where only one part of the premises is closed down it may be possible to transfer to heated parts machinery from the former. In any case it should normally be possible, when heating is essential, 'to employ lower-, grade fuels and thus save high-grade coal.
Where difficulty arises reference " should be made to the particular Trade Association Fuel Efficiency Committee or the Regional body. FODEN'S BIGGER TRADING PROFIT .
roR the year ended May 31 last, the report of Fodens, Ltd., shows that the trading profit amounted to £164,381, compared with £137,427 in the previous year. After providing for income tax and E.P.T., and crediting interest on investments, etc., the net profit comes out at £32,116, contrasted with £30,182 a year earlier.
As intimated in our issue dated Sep' tember 17, a dividend of 8 per cent. (less tax) is to be paid, and this will absorb £12,296, whilst a further £15,000' is transferred to the reserve account, bringing this up to 2120,000. A sum of £1,500 is transferred to the war risks fund. After deducting directors' fees, there' is a balance of £18,843 to be carried forward, compared with £,17,748 brought into the accounts,
M.P.T.A. NOT IN ASSOCIATION MERGER
STATEMENTS concerning the merger of the national road-transport organizations have, in some cases, included the claim that all the: existing national mad-transport organizations w ill thus be merged into one federation
The Municipal Passenger Transport Association paints out that this is not correct, that this particular body has not lost its identity by fusion with any other road-transport organization, and is the only one exclusively representative ' of road passenger transport operated by local authorities. Actually • it includes in its membership the whole of the 95 undertakings in Great Britain and Northern Ireland operating tramways, trolleybuses and buses under municipal ownership, and covers some 17,000 vehicles.
TYRE ECONOMY EXHIBITION AT SHEFFIELD
(AN October 22 a Tyre Economy ‘../Exhibition will be opened at the Central Library, Sheffield, when Mr. P. S. King, Deputy Director of Tyres, will speak on behalf of the Ministry of Supply. Sessions have been arranged as fallow:—Monday to Friday, 10.30 to 11.30 a,m., 3 to 4 p.m., 7 to 8 p.m.: Saturdays, as' on other days, except evening session only by special arrangement. Application for tickets for drivers and operators should be made to Tyre Economy Exhibition Secretary, Park Grange Road, Sheffield, 2.
WELLWORTHY'S NEW SERVICE • DEPOT
WE are advised by Wellworthy Piston Rings, Ltd., that its new service depot to COWT the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk is now open at 15, Prince of Wales Road, Norwich.
A. E. Plurnstead and Co., Ltd., King Street, Norwich, has for many years been official stockist for all Wellworthy produas and continues in that capacity.
Personal Pars
COLONEL ARTHUR WA 1TE, MC., director of the Austin Motor Co., Ltd., has been appointed Deputy Lieutenant to the Lord Lieutenant.of the County of Middlesex.
MR. HARRY GROCOCK , Of Sheffield, chairman of the Yorkshire Controlled Undertakings' Coknmittee, and Couarclia.oit CH ARLES HOLDSWORTH, • Of Halifax, have been elected to represent that body on the controlled undertakings' central panel of the S. J.C.
CAPTAIN K. WILKINSON, who for many „years has been intimately concerned with Morrison-Electric and Electricar products, has recently joined the Q Vehicle Co., Ltd. • as sales manager. He will have ,his headquarters at 4, Dean's Yard, Westminster, London, S.W.I.
MR.. FRANK SPALTON has transferred his activities from the lighting service department of the Crompton Parkinson organization to the more re.cently acquired products of electric vehicles and trucks. He will be responsible for the development, in the .Midlands; of Morrison-Electricar . vehicles and .Electricar works trucks.
MR. EDWIN E. ASKINS, A.M.Inst.T., chief assistant to the general manager, United Automobile Services, Ltd., 'Darlington, has been appointed general secretary of the Institute of the Motor Trade. 'He entered the service.of the L.G.O. Co. in 1923, spending some years in _the wages and registration departments of that company. From 1933 to 1934 he was Jttached to the audit office of the L.P.T.B., where he assisted in special financial work connected with the acquisition of inde
pendent undertakings, afterwards being transferred to the office of the actuary, where he remained until joining the staff of United Automobile Services, Ltd., in 1935. Mr. Askins achieved several successes in the examinations sponsored by the Underground group of . conipanies at the L,ondon School of Economics and passed with honours boil the graduate and final examinations of the Institute bf Transport.
MR. W. T. JAMES has been appointed a director of the Northern General Transport Co., Ltd. He has also been elected to the board of East Midland Motor Services, Ltd„ of which he has been made managing director. Bath companies are associates of the British Electric Traction Co., Ltd., of which Ma. R. J. HOWLEY is chairman.
MR S. A. HEAPS retired on September 25 from his position, as architect to the L.P.T.13, This follows 40 years' service with the Board and some of its predecessor. Apart from extensive work in. connectioh with London's Underground Railways •he will leave his mark at many points in the roadtransport area. In 1925 new ideas in garage design were introduced by him, Upton Park Garage being the first of a considerable number of new and reconstructed 'buildings, and the new trolleybus depot at .Bexley is one of many tramways &pop reconStructed for this purpose: Mr. Heaps wasalso responsible for the Victoria Bus Garage, the last to be built. During 1940 he assisted the Ministry of Aircraft Production in the urgent con&traction of. war factories, and has since served on several -committees in connection with 'post-war building activities.
• CO-OPERATION IN BUILDING BATTERY-ELECTRICS ,
J\ N" interesting announcement concerning the production of batteryelectric vehicles comes from the Brush Electrical • Engineering Co., Ltd., Loughborough, which states that it has fused its interests in this sphere of work with those of MetropolitanVickers Electrical Co., Ltd.
The Brush concern has had an extensive experience for the past'60 years in the design and construction of bodies for public passenger transport, and in the construction of other vehicles. It has also taken a ccinsiderable interest in the electric-vehicle field and recently produced a 2-ion electric truck which was accorded an excellent reception.
Metropolitan-Vickers will continue to manufacture motors, controllers and electrical equipment, but •the vehicles will be sold as the Brush, and responSibility for servicing existing Metropolitan-Vickers vehicles will fall upon the Brush concern. ,
It is hoped that permission of the M.O.W.T.' and M.O.S. will be received to enable a limited number of neW ;vehicles to be produced during the war for . the use • of private 'customers, utilizing the existing stoat Of parts.
• DISPOSAL OF LOST OFFICIAL • DOCUMENTS
As so many documents, etc., are left on p.s. vehicles, it is of interest to state how certain of these, which are of an official nature, should be disposed of.
Official documents, including licences, passports and aliens' identity books should be returned immediately to the. appropriate Government Department, local autharity or other body or person by whom they • were issued. Food ration books should be returned immediately to _the appropriate food office concerned; clothing ration books to the nearest food office, and identity cards to the Central National Registration Office at Southport. This, despite any instructions to the contrary °lithe documents concerned.
MOTORWAYS REQUIRE • PARLIAMENT'S AUTHORITY
IN the House of Commons, last week, Wing Commander James asked the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport under what provisions county councils and other highway authorities are precluded from constructing new roads without the
express authority of Parliament. In reply, Mr. P. J. Noel-Baker said he was glad to have an opportunity of correcting any misapprehension which may have been caused by an answer he gave on June 23 last, when he had in mind the trunk roads which are scheduled in the Trunk Roads Act, and for which Lord Leathers is the respon sible authority.
This Act enables the Minister to supersede parts of such roads by substitution, but otherwise the schedule cannot be altered without the authority of Parliament. No new trunk roads, whether they are to be reserved for motor vehicles or not can, therefore, be made unless Parliament has first agreed. County councils and other local authorities have, of course, power to construct ordinary highways, but the authority of Parliament would he necessary before they. can build roads reserved exclusively for the use of motor vehicles.
REGISTER OF HIRED OPERATORS IN YORKSHIRE
THE Federation of Yorkshire Road Transport Employers has invited members who have vehicles on hire or awaiting hire under the Government Haulage Scheme, to supply particulars for compilation of a Federation register
of such. members.
THE LATEST TYNE TUNNEL PROJECT
TYNEMOUTH Corporation has approved a suggestion ' for the preparation,, with South Shields Corporationf of a joint" plan .for the building of a -Tyne tunnel connecting both boroughs. It is expected that the M.O.W.T. will givea grant towards the cost of preparing a report on the project.
MICRO-PHOTOGRAPHS SAVE MUCH PAPER
MANY people do not realizehow much paper can be saved by using micro-photographic apparatus, sucli as the Recordak and the Graflex. By means of thesei documents, large and small, as well as books, can be reproduced on 16 mm. and 35 mm films, and thus occupy only 1 per cent. of the space of their paper originals. They can be indexed and referred to as easily as can documents,. and When seen through the projector are magnified to their original size. They are also
acceptable in courts of law. As a specific example of' saving, Unilever House is sending an average of 52 tons of paper to salvage each Quarter, the bulk being released through documents being micro-photographed, PREVENT THOSE ACCIDENTAL FIRES
LAST year accidental fires cost the country over 212,500,000, and they numbered some 1,000 per day. •The figure represents the cost of 2,000 Spitfires, two aircraft carriers, or a battleship. What is more important, however, is that they often destroyed material in short supply or. seriously reduced productive capacity.
• In one case carelessness Caused a fire at a fuse factory, holding up munitions urgently needed by the Navy, and 1,000 ,people were rendered idle. Another resulted in the loss of 600 tons of rubber, which would have made over 4,000 collapsible dinghies for the R.A.F. Investigation shows that about half the fires are caused by carelessness in. -throwing away lighted cigarettes or matches. ' It has been said that it is a million-to-one chance against a cigar
_ _ ette causing a fire, but 200,000,000 are smoked &Very day!
I. OF T. NEW CENTRE AND • MEETINGS , THE Council of the Institute. of Transport has approved the formation of a Hull and District Centre, which' will be conStituted as a 'Subsection of the Yorkshire Section. Merged with it will be the activities of the Hull Traffic Association, which Was founded in 1928. The address of the hon. secretary is 19, Devon Street, COttifigharn, Yorkshire.
Reverting to the parent -body, the next luncheon meeting will be at the Connaught Rooms on November. 12, at 12.45 p.m., when an addrese. will be given by Mr. P. J. Noel Baker Parliamentary Secretary, M.O.W.T. Another interesting but informal meeting will be on November 23, at 1.15 p.m., at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, when a paper on Post-war Inland Freight Transport " will be read by Mr. R. 0. Squarey, M.Inst.T. A. STIRRER FOR NARROW‘NECK CONTAINERS 'THE difficulty of effectively stirring1 the contents of an oil drum, or other container:: having only a small aperture, will be appreciated by anyone who has tried to do' it by means of a rod or something, Similar. • The need for so doing arises when-an oil additive, for example, has been introduced into the oil, when the whole contents need to' be thoroughly agitated.
A device designed for this purpose has recently been protected by the Wayne V. Myer 6 Co., Ltd., 57-8, Dolben Street, London, S.E.1, the manufacturer of Redex oil additive. The feature of this stirrer lies in the
fact that, for introducing or withdrawing from the container the component parts lie in one plane, it being 'possible to open out the paddle to stand at right angles to the handle. For use in deep containers extension pieces can be supplied. The device is made a steel and costs 32s. 6d.
FODENS OPENS LONDON SERVICE DEPOT
TO-DAY, October I, Fodens, Ltd., is 1 opening 'a London service depot at Eleanor Street, Mornington Grove, Bow, E.3. A comprehensive stock of Foclen and Gardner engine spares will be carried, end skilled men will be -available to undertake general repairs and overhauls. ANOTHER FUEL-LESS VEHICLE FRAUD' REFERENCES to the "fuel-less, car conspiracy" remind us of the many attempts made to foist perpetualmotion machines upon unwary speculators. ,
Four men were recently found guilty of conspiring to induce people to invest money in the first-mentioned " invention," They were stated to have tried to sell ls. shares in it for 5s. each, when they would have been dear at the original price. The device was termed the " Rutt " power unit, Which seems inappropriate, as if its claims had been substantiated it would certainly have been out of the " rut"