Passing Comments
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THERE ca:, be little doubt as to the advantages of subways to pedestrians who may be exposed to considerable danger at heavily trafficked street crossings. The London County Council Highways Committee, reporting on their use; states that at two subways, Piccadilly Circus and the Ralik, the traffic amounts to over 30,000 pedestrians a day. A large volume of traffic also occurs at the Elephant and Castle and Blackiriars subways, whilst those at Hammersmith Broadway, Trafalgar Square, Mansion House, Marble Arch, Parliament Street, and Tottenham Court Road, can also be classified as heavy. There is a possibility that further subways will eventually be authorized, but they are expensive.
IT has sometimes been suggested that Australia does Inot give this country a fair share of its trade. Actually, it is only second to India in the purchases for the 10 years ended 1933, the total being £457,000,000 against the sales to Great Britain of £503,000,000, the adverse balance over the period being only £46,000,000. Only one foreign country, the United States, exceeds Australia's taal with a figure for purchases of £499,000,000, but against this it sold to Great Britain products to the value £1,616,000,000. The Commonwealth also pays each year over £30,000,000 to British investors in. a number of Australian securities, to British shipowners, etc. DURING the past few months we have received "from persons who wished to consign goods, several inquiries concerning the address of the operators of the Green Arrow Service, which was presumed to be a haulage undertaking. We were unable, for some time, to obtain any information relating to this alleged company, but it eventually transpired that the service in question was a special railway facility !
WHILST the problem of satisfactorily testing applicants for driving licences is a difficult one, that of selecting the testers, upon whose judgment the granting or refusal of the licences largely depends, is. perhaps, still more so. It has been suggested that the examination for testers should consist of making them all test one driver whose skill is a known quantity, and that their capabilities should be assessed by comparing their reports on his performance.
CONSIDERABLE doubt still exists regarding the ‘--"licensing of vehicles which carry lift vans, some operators being under the impression that if a lift van be carried on any occasion its weight must be included in the unladen weight of the vehicle for taxation purposes. This is not, however, the general opinion amongst licensing authorities. If the vehicle be, in the ordinary course, used as a platform lorry and the lift van be carried only on special occasions, then the latter does not count as unladen weight. A T the Transport Conference Mr. J. G. McArthur 1-1.1odged a Complaint against weighbridges, many of which, he said, are defective, and he suggested that in cases where the authorities base taxation or legal requirements on weight, they should make a 5 per cent. allowance for inaccuracies in the machines employed, which, he considered, would, in many instances, only just compensate for the possible error.
IN the days—not so very long ago—when pneulanatic tyres were very expensive, a taxi driver entered the premises of a tyre dealer and asked how much it would cost to replace a tyre which had burst. He had apparently only recently acquired his cab, because, on being informed of the cost, he said, " Why, I could buy a horse for that I" " Ah," said the tyre salesman with a knowing air, "hut you could not wrap a horse around your wheel."
THE increasing employment of steel tubing for
• seats, etc., has led to the use of. special alloy steels, which are ductile, lending themselves to -bending and other manipulation. For instance,Accles and Pollock, Ltd., utilizes chrome molybdenum, which is a remarkable alloy giving an ultimate stress of 45 tons per sq. in. against 26-28 tons for mild steel. It was really introduced for the vital parts of aircraft, and is particularly suitable for welding. The greater strength also 'permitslighter weight.