WHEELS of INDUSTRY
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The wheels of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs."John Beattie Crozier.
Direction Indicators on Motor Vehicles.
The report to the Minister of TransportSof the Departmental Committee on Traffic Signs, dealing with direction indicators on motor vehicles, has now been published, and can be obtained from U.M. Stationery Office, or through any bookseller, at 3d. net.
Any regulation which the Minister may decide to make in pursuance of the committee's recommendations will apply only to vehicles registered for the first time on or before October 1, 1933.
The committee has unanimously come to the following conclusions :—(1) The fitting of direction indicators should not be made compulsory.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph 5, (a) if signal of intention to turn right or left be given by mechanical means, this should be by an amber sign with a minimum illuminated length of
6 ins., and a shape long in. proportion to
Its width ; (h) any such signal should not be more than 4 ft. behind the wind screen and not more than 6 ft. above the ground ; (c) the right-hand signal should, temporarily alter the ordinary outline of the vehicle and should be visible to the extent of at least 6 ins. from any point to the oft side of the vehicle, which is a reasonable distance in front or in rear of the signal, and which point is not nearer to the centre line of the vehicle than the extreme pro jecting point of the last-named (exclusive of the indicator) on that side. A similar proviso is made for the left-hand signal ; (d) it should be apparent to the driver that the signals are operating properly.
(3) If mechanical signals be repeated at the rear of the vehicle, they should be given by an illuminated amber signal of a minimum length of 6 ins, in proportion to its breadth, and shown coincideutly with the front signals. (4) Flashing or occulting lights should not be used.
(5) Signals for vehicles without electric-lighting may be in the shape of a hand, painted white and projecting at least 6 ins.
(6) Indicators in the neutral position should not be liable to mislead other drivers.
(7) Stop signals should be given by a red or amber light at the rear.
Mr. Pybus Resigns.
Mr. P. J. Pybus, after a somewhat stormy period of office, recently resigned his post as Minister of Transport to return to the businesSovorld. It has fallen to our lot to criticize the policy of the late Minister over various matters, particularly in connection with the Salter Conference, the appointment of which may, at first, have appeared to him as an easy way out of a difficulty, but which proved itself to be a thorny path. At the same time, we realize that he was the butt of conflicting interests, so that his position was by no means a happy and congenial one, and we wish him every success in his future career.
314 Death of Brig.-General Conway Jenkins.
It seems only the other day that SVP, together with a large number of other representatives of the Press, attended a function at the works of Chrysler Motors, Ltd., Kew Gardens, Surrey, to welcome the new chairman of the company, Brig.-General P. Conway Jenkins, and we learned with much 'regret that he died on February 22 following an operation for appendicitis. General Jenkins became one of the youngest brigadier-generals in the Army as Director of Aircraft Acceptance to the Director of Aircraft Parks and Depots. For some time before joining the Chrysler concern he was associated with the Royal Dutch Shell group. The L.C.C. and the Salter Report.
The general purposes committee of the London County Council has now published its comments upon the report of the Rail and Road Conference.
The finance committee states that the proposed increases will raise the amount payable by the council in respect of its goods-carrying vehicles by approximately £3,810 per year, of which £3,185 would be in respect of vehicles used in connection with the tramways. • The highways committee states that, so far as expenditure in providing the permanent way is concerned, tramways and buses would be placed on a more even footing. The use of vehicles with solid tyres is considered to have beeii responsible to a large degree for Toad deterioration; therefore, the proposed increase to be borne by the heavier class of vehicle is equitable.
The special committee on traffic says that it would not violate any established principle if a direct charge were to be put on horsed v.ehides, even when used solely for the conveyance of goods. There is still a substantial proportion of such vehicles, and 12 per cent, of the heavy vehicles passing through the Thames tunnels consist of slow-moving horsed vans; thus, motor traffic in the Rotherhithe Tunnel, for example, is rarely able to run freely, being hampered by horsed vehicles. At busy times motor traffic is slowed by horsed traction, which reduces the effectiveness of the streets. It may, in some quarters, he considered that the conference proposals may have a retrograde effect by giving financial preference to horsed traction, and tend to postpone its abolition from London. Horsed vehicles damage the road, cause obstruction, increase the difficulty of traffic regulation and necessitate street scavenging.
Chenard and Walcker Tractor-trailers.
In our resume of recently published -patents we published a few weeks ago a note to the effect that patent number 385,597 by Chenard and WMcker had been abandoned.
Trains Chenard and Walcker F.A.R., Gennevilliers, Paris, now informs us that the company owns the English patent, No. 157,504, concerning the carrying of a portion of the weight of a trailer on the back of a tractor, utilizing a worm screw for the attachment. This patent continues in force, and the patent No. 385,597 concerns simply the arrangement as used with an electric motor. The abandonment of this latter patent does not affect the chief patent.
Morris-Commercial and Morris Vehicles for Ilford.
We have been asked by F. G. Smith (Motors), Ltd., of Goodmayes, to point out that the figures mentioned in our issue dated February 10 as the purchase prices of certain Morris-Commercial and Morris vehicles supplied by this company to Ilford Council were arrived at after deducting the value of vehicles taken in part exchange. Personal Pars. •
The Minister of Transport and the Secretary of Mines have appointed Mr. Duncan Bailey and Mr. II. V. Hunter, J.P., as members of the Standing Committee on Mineral Transport.
The new Minister of Transport, the Hon. Oliver F. G. Stanley, M.O., M.P., has appointed Mr. Aubrey Clark to be his private secretary, and Mr. Patrick G. T. Buchan-Hepburn, M.P., to be his Parliamentary private secretary.
The Hon. Oliver Stanley, Conservative Member for Westmorland, has been appointed Minister of Transport. He is a son of the Earl of Derby, and has occupied the position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Home Office since 1931, in which capacity he has shown a grasp of affairs which has marked him definitely as a man of considerable ability, a qualification which he will certainly need in his new office.
The appointmeat is announced of Mr. A. S. Bishop as general sales manager of the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co.
(Great Britain), Ltd. He succeeds Mr. A. G. Robertson, who has resigned.
Mr. Bishop, whose portrait appears on this page, has been with the Goodyear concern for over 16 years and, prior to his new appointment, was the manager of the commercial-tyre department, in which capacity he has always been a well-known figure in the tyre trade. His activities in the giant A portrait appears on this page of Mr. Allan E. Renwick, who was educated at Sherbonie School, and who belongs to the younger generation. His apprenticeship to the motor trade may be said to have begun during the war, when he was an officer in the Royal Tank Corps and was awarded the Military Cross.
On leaving the Army he joined the Principality Wagon Co., Ltd., of Cardiff and Port Talbot, as managing director, and he has ever since -been in charge of the affairs of that company. He is responsible for putting on the market the patent movable lorry floor, a simple and useful loading and unloading device which was first exhibited at the 1931 Commercial Motor Show.
He is the managing director of W. H. Renwick and Co., Ltd., the Cardiff concern of Coal exporters and shipbrokers, which was founded by his father over 50 years ago. He is also a director of Movable Floor (Vehicles), Ltd.
Mr. Renwick has other connections with the motor trade, being a cousin of Major G. A. Renwick, M.P. (a director of Scamraell Lorries, Ltd.), and a nephew of the late Sir Henry Rollingdrake, of Henry Hollingdrake and Sons, Ltd., the well-known concern of motor factors, of Stockport.
• Mr. J. Veitch Wilson, son of the late Mr. J. Veitch Wilson, of Price's, has recently resigned from the sales staff of Karrier Motors, Ltd., where, for the past two years, he had been in charge of the department dealing with the sale of Cob and Colt machines. He has now joined Hughes and Beattie, Ltd., of Carlisle, where he is open to take one or more direct representations in the accessories or allied trades, confining his territory to the northern sections of England, and Scotland. • Bildic Reflecting Road Blocks.
We shall be glad if the maker of the Bildic reflecting block for road surfaces will send us his name and address.
New Dennis Distributor.
W. S. Yoates and Co., Derby Road, Loughborough, advises us that it has been appointed sole distributor of Dennis passenger and goods vehicles for Nottinghamshire. The company tells us that this make is selling very well and that it has sold 18 Lancet passenger vehicles.
An International " Container " Association.
With the object of organizing international collaboration in connection with the development of " container" traffic, a new body has just been formed in Paris to be known as the Bureau International Container.
It is stated that the railway authorities in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, France and Italy have given their support to the new association.
At the inaugural meeting, representatives of the majority of the railivays comprised in the Interne• tional Union of Railways, commercialmotor organizations, steamship companies and forwarding agencies were, we are informed, present.
Big One-way Traffic Scheme for Birmingham.
We have already made references in our columns to the proposals to institute one-way working in certain thoroughfares in Birmingham, and we now learn that the Ministry of Transport has indicated that it is prepared to issue an Order in respect of the proposals submitted at the public inquiry into the scheme, on December 13. The Ministry has asked that a report dealing with the ' working of the scheme shall be submitted to it after 12 months of one-way operation.
The proposals relate to 15 streets in the centre of the city and have, as their object, the relief of congestion. B15
A Lecturer in Economics Criticizes the Salter Report.
Mr. G. J. Walker, Lecturer in Economics at Birmingham University, strongly criticized the Salter Iteport at a recent meeting of the Incorporated Secretaries Association.
He considered that the railways would discover that the ,Salter Report would not bring them what they were after. lit was obvious that the road transport operator should not be expected to pay the whole of the cost of the roads. He estimated that if there had been no motor-traffic development, the roads would now be costing about 142,000,000 annually, and all• 'they should ask road users to pay was the difference between that figure and 160,000,000.
All the licensing system would do would be to enable the haulier to carry as much traffic as he does to-day at a higher profit to himself, and it would not benefit the railways in the least.
Show Secretaries Meet.
The Central Association of Show Secretaries recently held its annual general meeting in London, when Mr. It. Chawner, of the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society, occupied the chair, the secretaries of a number of important societies throughout the country being present. Captain H. Harvey, of the Warwickshire Agricultural Society, was elected chairman for the ensuing year, Mr. T. H. Edwards, of the Three Counties organization, being appointed vice-chairman ; Captain C. G. Read was re-elected honorary secretary and treasurer.
R.H.A. Meeting in Bristol.
A meeting of the Western Regional Area of the Road Haulage Association will take place on Monday, March 6, at 7.30 p.m., at the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, Guildhall, Small Street, Bristol. Mr. T. It. Sanders (member of the National Council and chairman of the Propaganda Committee), Captain J. W. Jones and Mr. G. Smart (chairman and vice-chairman respectively of the area) will address the meeting.
Large Attendance at R.O.P. Dinner.
A very successful dinner and dance was recently held at the Wharncliffe Rooms, Marylebone, London, by the London branch of Russian Oil Products, Ltd., Mr. G. H. Kent, manager of the branch, occupying the chair. About 600 people were present, and amongst the guests were Members of Parliament, aldermen and councillors of public bodies, managers of municipal undertakings and members of important transport concerns.
The toast of "The Guests," incorporating the board of directors of R.O.P. and the ladies, was proposed by the chairman, and amongst those who made responses were Mr. R. N. Fridman, the vice-chairman of the company (in the absence of Mr. .T. Pevsner, chairman), Mr. E. F. Wise, C.B., Mr. Tom Groves, M.P., and Mr. A. G. Partridge.
Mr. Keat in his speech said that the company's organization was being carried to a successful issue throughout the British Empire. Mr. Fridman dealt very largely with the political and statistical side of petroleum production, and quoted figures to prove that the B16 R.O.P. organization is making good progress. Mr. Wise referred to the work of the company under unexampled difficulties, and expressed the view that trade between this country and Russia is to the advantage of both.
The dinner was followed by a dance and cabaret, which concluded a most enjoyable evening.
An Important Meeting.
A further meeting of the conference of national organizations interested in road transport, which issued, in October, the case of trade and industry against the Salter Report, was held yesterday at the offices of the S.M.M. and T.
New Zealand Petrol-tax Reduction.
A reduction of id. in the petrol tax, which is now 101 per gallon, is announced by Mr. Coates, the New Zealand Finance Minister. Mr. Coates states that he hopes to arrange with the oil companies to carry Id., thus saving the consumer 2d. The recent rise of 4(1. a gallon, he adds, has resulted in diminishing returns.
New Smith-Eastern Heating System.
Working in conjunction with Mr. W. Upjohn, the chief engineer of the Eastern Counties Omnibus Co., Ltd., S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories), Ltd., Cricklewood, London, N.W.2, has developed a new system for coach beating. It incorporates Smith-Eastern radiators and the new Smith R.P. adjustable thermostat.
The arrangement is to by-pass water from the engine-cooling system at the thermostat, whence it flows through a two-way valve, controllable from the interior of the coach, through a series of radiators incorporated in the floor of the central gangway and set flush with the tops of the mats, and returns to the suction side of the circulating pump. A. by-pass connects the third union of the two-way valve direct to the suction side of the water pump. Thus the quantity of water circulating through the coach can he controlled through wide limits, whilst the thermostat, which is of the hi-metal type, maintains the engine at the correct temperature in all circumstances.
The Dennis Benevolent Fund for Employees. .
On Saturday last about 400 einployees of Dennis Brothers, Ltd., Guildford, representing both office staff and works, attended a meeting held in the company's canteen to make known details of the employees' benevolent fund, which was instituted at the end of last year. Mr. John Dennis, J.P., the senior managing director, presided, being supported by Messrs. R. Downing, W. Fish and Roy Dennis directors. The sum of 15,00(1 from last year's trading profits had been voted by the shareholders at the last annual general meeting of the company as the nucleus of a fund of this kind, and the chairman now stated that the directors had decided to invest the amount in trustee securities, the income from which would be available for disbursements. The first trustees of the fund are the three directors referred to above.
Mr. Fish announced that, in addition to the sum voted by the company, Mr. John Dennis had also contributed a similar amount to the fund.
Stewart and Arden Display of New Morris-Commercials.
The special display of the six new Morris-Commercial six-cylinder models (fully described in this issue), which was held last Tuesday at the showrooms of Stewart and Ardor% Ltd., 371, Euston Road, London, N.W.1, was important enough to attract a large number of well-known commercial-vehicle operators. Stewart and Ardern, Ltd., is the sole London distributor for Morris. Commercial vehicles.
At the function we met Mr. Oliver Boden, the managing director and general manager of Morris-Commercial Cars, Ltd., also Mr. George H. Upjohn, deputy governing director of Stewart and Ardent, Ltd., both of whom were enthusiastic about the chances of the new vehicles.
An Irish Free State Road Traffic Bill.
A new Road Traffic Bill is being introduced by the Government of the Irish Free State. It covers all road traffic, provides for the complete codification of the Traffic Laws since 1861 and introduces many new provisions, especially with reference to motor vehicles.
Third-party insurance will became compulsory, buses for 14 passengers or more will have to carry conductors, periods of driving will be limited in a manner resembling that contained in our Road Traffic Act, and an advisory board will be set up to ensure that this part of the Act is properly carried out. The nominal abolition of the speed limit foe private cars remains in farce, but speeds in excess of 30 m.p.h. will be regarded as dangerous driving ; the limit for bases will be 33 m.p.h., and for heavy vehicles it will vary from 15 m.p.h. to 25 m.p.h., whilst solid-tyred vehicles will be restricted to 10 m.p.h.
Midland Counties Electric Supply's Good Report.
ne Midland Counties Electric Supply Co. is a holding concern with interests including buses and trolley-buses. More capital is being employed, but the revenue continues to increase. The gross net income was 1307,270, compared with 1285,505 a year ago, the net figuresbeing 1294,650 and £271,600 respectively. A dividend of 7 per cent. has been declared for the fourth consecutive year.
A Flaw,„In the Traffic Act?
Stating that he believed an entirely new and unforeseen difficulty had arisen in connection with the operation of the insurance obligation imposed on goodsvehicle operators under the Road Traffic Act, Mr. R. B. Stockdale (of the Road Haulage Association) obtained the support of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, on Tuesday, in the action proposed to be taken by the road transport section to have matters put right.
The section had received a complaint ef the hardship imposed on a Liverpool haulage contractor through the cancellation of an insurance policy without notice.
The section recommended that the matter be taken up with the Ministry of Transport and with the insurance company concerned with regard to the period of notice to be given before policies could be cancelled. This was agreed.
• Foden Experiments in the Passenger Field.
Fodens, Ltd., Sandbach. having for some time specialized in the production of four-wheeled and six-wheeled Gardner-oil-engined goods vehicles for maximum legal loads, is now producing an oil-engined passenger vehicle, which is to serve for the transportation of members of the famous Foden band. Naturally, in this way, data will be obtained as to the suitability of the vehicle for passenger work, and later a decision will be made whether or not to develop a passenger chassis to place on the market.
R.H.A. Activity in Lancashire.
About three months ago the National, Council of the Road Haulage Association agreed to a division of the northwestern area into two sections, one operating from Liverpool and covering the larger portion of the original area including North Wales and West Lancashire, and the other the more industrial portions of Lancashire, radiating from Manchester.
At that time the actual membership was less than 20, and the members formed a preliminary committee with the object of organizing the district. A general meeting of members was held at the Grand Hotel, Manchester, at the beginning of this week, in order to report progress, when it was stated that the membership had grown to 62. At this meeting a new committee was formed, with Mr. F. Topham as chairman and Mr. C. N. 'Christensen as
secretary. Practically all the original members of the committee were_ reelected, leaving a few vacancies to be filled by towns not at present represented. Mr. G. A. Hotter, the national general secretary, then delivered an address on the work, aims and objects of the Association.
Several suggestions were made to the committee for the future development of the area.
A few days earlier over 60 hauliers attended a hot-pot supper in Rochdale, when Mr. W. Tweedale occupied the chair, and was supported by Messrs. F. Tophain, C. N. Christensen, S. Royle and other members of the East Lancashire area a the Association.
Presentation to Mr. Thomas P. Headland.
We were amongst several hundred guests at the dance and excellent cabaret show which were given at the Suffolk Galleries, last Saturday, by Mr. Thomas P. Headland, the well-known engineers' merchant, of 1a, Pearman Street, London, S.E.1, his family and staff. It was a most enjoyable affair, which was much appreciated by all present.
The opportunity was taken for making a presentation to Mr. Headland, this being in the form of an illuminated address from his staff.
Employers and Workers to Confer.
Terms of reference have been drawn up for the consideration of a joint committee of representatives of the Amalgamated Horse and Motor Owners' Association, Ltd., Manchester, and the United Road Transport Workers' Association of England.
They include :—(1) To considersways and means for improving the position of the members of both organizations ; (2) to deal with matters arising out of the operation of Section 19 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930; (a) to consider periodically wages and conditions of employment in the road-transport industry; (4) to consider suggestions brought forward from time to time for improving road transport generally ; (5) to consider any question which, it is deemed, affects road transport or the members generally.
Big Order for Brush Bodies.
The Brush Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd., Falcon Works, Loughborough, has recently received an order for 48 86-seater bus bodies from the Western National Omnibus Co., Ltd., of Exeter. Brush bodywork is well represented in the south-west of England, for the company has, during the past year, supplied products to the Devon General Omnibus Co., Ltd., and Exeter Corporation. An order for Hants and Dorset Motor Services, Ltd., in now in hand.