Out and Home. —By " The Extractor."
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When Mr. Julian A. HaHord, the managing director of Commercial Cars, Limited, reaches the " easy chair and pipe " stage, and when, in about another 30 years or so, he ventures to relax his efforts somewhat, there will be still another Halford on deck—at least, I hope so; at any rate, a second son has made his bow during the month, and Halford is very properly in high spirits about it.
Everyone who has come into the motor trade from the cycling side will be well acquainted with Mr. P. G. Bradbury, of the Continental Tyre Company ; he was a familiar figure in the old cycling days, and was a " world's record " holder in the early nineties. He started in the tire business with the Preston Davies people, and annexed many prizes on that company's silk-fabric tires ; he then became attached to the Dunlop Company, and stayed with it seven or eight years, nearly half of that period being spent with Mr. A. :F. Greene, at Birmingham, where Bradbury has, I know, many friends, Next c:-.1me the period which seems to overtake most men: he went into business for himself, and well I remember him at Croydon, because it was .my lot to make business calls upon him. I was selling a singlecylinder engine made by a firm bearing the same name as himself. Anyhow, he gave up that .business, after .a few years, rind now he -is assistant manager with Mr. Paul Brodtmann for Continental tires, and, if I am any judge, is likely to acquit himself excellently.
The .facetious young gentleman on the staff who ventured into service, in the issue of the :loth July, to account for the absence of my copy because of
the holiday season, gave the •impression : (1) that I was seen poring over a Bradshaw ; (2) that I was spending my vacation fishing ; (3) that I should be home in a week's time, With the exception of the. facts (t) that I never looked at a time-table, as I went on a motorcar which took me safely " out and home," (2) that I never used a rod
and line in my life, and hope I never .shall, and (3) that " Home in a week's time " I" The Inspector " asks us to point out that he obviously meant a week's time from the date of publication of the notes in question.—Fo.1 was never contemplated (it makes me shudder to think of it), his announcement was perfectly correct. " The Inspector," as he is pleased to call himself, knows all about the insides of motors, steam wagons, taximeters, and gas meters, I believe; I know he is clever, because people have told me so; but, when he comes to writing about other members of the staff, he reminds me of George Washington—he is so different !
It is exciting to chase a motor fire engine. It has novelty ; and, if you are only in a horse cab, the fire quencher has a good deal of advantage. It happened in this way. I met Mr. Raymond Dennis; of Dennis Brothers, at -breakfast, at a Sheffield hotel, and he was in a rare glow of enthusiasm over some demonstrations he had been making with his company's new fire engine before the authorities of various Yorkshire towns. He had just sold Lord Lonclesborough a shooting brake, and he was about, that morning, for the second time, to demonstrate, before the Sheffield Fire Brigade, the effectiveness of the pump for which he holds the sole selling rights, and he would like me to see it. I, however, was off to Birmingham in an hour, and I had several calls to make. Two of my people were not in, and I found myself with a spare half hour, so off I posted to the chief Are-brigade station. The engine had just left for the markets, whither I fled in pursuit, and just saw the vermilion monster in the distance leaving for a further demonstration. I told the cabman to hie after it, and we had a thrilling time, occasionally catching a glimpse of it, and then losing ground, until at last I had to give up the chase, and to turn towards the railway station. The only impartial information about it was from a local constable, who had seen the engine at work, and his remark was : " Well, mester, it fairly caps owt 'at ivver I've seen ; it's champion "—like the hills.