Passing Comments
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WHEN Lieut.-Colonel J. A. Cole, 0.B.E., pmsided recently at the 24th annual general meeting of Humber, Ltd., he laid particular emphasis upon the growing value of the export market, and said that the products of the companies were now being sold in countries where even a year ago there appeared to be no hope for British vehicles Motor exports during the present year had shown an increase of nearly £500,000, raising the total to over £6,000,000.
CERTAIN interesting experiments are being made
in connection with smoke abatement and are likely to interest makers and users of steam vehicles. If the results prove promising details will appear in this paper.
IT is estimated that bad traffic regulation with its consequent congestion and accidents causes an annual loss to this country of £83,000,000, of which £35,000,000 results from the congestion and £48,000,000 because of accidents. The insurance companies alone pay out in cash £25,000,000. IN America many accidents have been prevented by simple rules which are nearly always followed. For example, drivers must not turn into main roads without first stopping, whilst in busy thoroughfares no vehicles are allowed to stop and thus cause other vehicles to draw out to pass.
IT is always a good plan for vehicle purchasers to check the utility of the equipment before a machine is put into service. A new owner was faced recently by the need for changing a back wheel ; he found that the jack would lift the rear axle only when the lorry was unladen.
AN entirely new type of shock absorber, which may
have distinct possibilities in connection with commercial vehicles is now being fitted to Humber cars. It is fitted with a thermostatic device by which the temperature regulates the size of the aperture through which the oil has to pass, thus overcoming the difficulty of alterations in the shock-absorbing properties through differences in the viscosity.
IT seems hardly fair that the police should be so actively engaged in trapping commercial-vehicle drivers at a time like this when road transport has to work at its full capacity. The trap in Camden Road, between the Athentrum and Holloway Road, is operating three or four times a week, in the morning and afternoon, and the cost of delivering many a Christmas parcel has thereby been increased.
THE membership of the Road Haulage Association,
at the annual meeting held last April, was 325. We understand that it is now approaching 1,500. There is little doubt that this remarkable and rapid growth is mainly due to the feeling regarding the Salter Report. It is a representative indication of the attitude that exists among hauliers throughout the country.
THE inherent flexibility of road transport is well Illustrated by a recent incident. A lorry was sent from London to a Yorkshire town, carrying eight tons of canned food for stock at a local depot. Two hours after its despatch an urgent order was received for a similar quantity for Newcastle on the condition that delivery was made • within 24 hours. A 'phone message to the proprietor of a driver's' caf6 enabled the lorry to be stopped and diverted, and the load reached Newcastle two hours before the time limit.
DESIGNERS in the U.S.A. have done a great deal to lengthen the life of engines. Some of the latest models for buses will run 200,000 miles without being taken down and without the need for even regrinding valves, whilst the tappets are selfadjusting.
AS an example of the efforts being made by the railways to obtain passengers, the L.N.E.R, is providing free transport between 150 of its suburban stations and the London terminus for passengers travelling to Peterborough, Marks Tey, .Audley End, Calvert or beyond; for instance, passengers from Amersham to Yarmouth will be given return tickets to London worth 4s. each. The scheme applies only during the Christmas period.
A NEW coil-ignition system has been recently
brought out by the Mallory Electric Corporation of America. The chief feature appears to be vacuum governing of the timing which adjusts the spark to load as well as to speed conditions. If the throttle be opened suddenly from medium speed the system retards the spark to avoid the ignition knock which usually accompanies the increased compression. Two secondary coils of 15,000 turns each are hermetically sealed with rubber gaskets in a plastic moulded case. The resulting device is said to give hot sparks, using only two volts.