WHEELS of INDUSTRY
Page 42
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"The wheels of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport at whatever point's arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it rune."—John Beattie Crozier, Halley's Trading Loss.
The report of Halley Motors, Ltd., for the year ended March 31st, 1932, shows a loss of £16,485, after making allowance for depreciation. The balance" sheetshows sundry debtors at £6,174 and sundry creditors at £5,850. The balance of the profit-and-loss account is shown at £42,118.
During the year two rigid sixwheeled vehicles of 10-tons and 12-tons carrying capacity were introduced, whilst a new fire-engine was designed and is now operating in the service of Glasgow Corporation. In the report mention is also made of the fact that trials of the company's new doubledeck bus have proved satisfactory.
R.H.A. Busy With Protest Meetings Against the Report.
There is much activity throughout the country, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, among hauliers who are holding protest meetings against the findings of the Salter Conference. Officials of the Road Haulage Association are being kept busy attending these meetings, and posters and literature are being supplied to contractors.
Many people interested in local haulage have written asking in what way they can support the Association in its campaign against the recommendations.
An enthusiastic meeting was recently held at Dumfries, where, as at Chatham, a large number of those who attended filled in their application forms, and similar meetings have been held at Birmingham, Oxford, Liverpool and other big centres. At the time of writing meetings are being arranged in West' London, at Lincoln, Plymouth, Oxford and Nottingham.
The largest number of applications for membership ever received in one month will be presented to the council at its next meeting.
Meanwhile, the special committee is nearing its detailed conclusions upon the report, and will lay them for confirmation before the next meeting.
• Selling the Movable Floor.
We are informed by C. H. Johnson and Sons, Ltd., Manchester Wire Works, Smedley, Manchester, that it has taken over the sole selling agency for the greater part of the 'United Kingdom for the patent Movable floor. This floor consists of a belt which is wound backwards and forwards, according to whether it is desired to load or unload the articles or material carried upon it. If required, the body can be subdivided by partitions which move with the belt.
Infra-red Rays to Give Warning of Approach.
The action of infra-red rays upon a selenium cell has already been applied to various practical purposes. A French inventor, M. L. Carre, of Etoges (Marne), has just evolved a new application of the system, which, says our c20.
Paris representative, may have an important bearing upon road traffic particularly in the ease of slow-moving heavy vehicles.
The Carr° appliance is extremely simple in conception. The selenium cell is mounted in a parabolic reflector, carried on the rear of the vehicle, and is connected up with the circuit of an electric bell placed beside the driver.
The driver of the overtaking vehicle has only to direct his spotlight beam upon the reflector, when the bell will give warning to the driver of the slower machine that someone wants to pass.
The object of the parabolic reflector is simply to show the overtaking driver when he has "hit the mark."
Interesting Beardmore Test Bun.
We are informed by William Beardmore and Co., Ltd., that a Leyland Bull vehicle equipped with the Beardmore six-cylindered, 100 b.h.p. oil engine has made a test run front London to Glasgow, covering the 404 miles in 16i hours, thus averaging nearly 25 m.p.h. The fuel consumption was at the rate of 13.5 m.p.g., and the gross load was 91 tons, the pay-load amounting to 4 tons: New "Road-up" Traffic Signal.
A new traffic-obstruction signal for use where road repairs necessitate oneway traffic has, we learn, been perfected and patented by Mr. G. A. H. Wootton, chief engineer at Scotland Yard, and it was exhibited last week by the Edison Swan Electric Co. at the annual conference of the Association of Public Lighting Engineers held in Blackpool.
The now signals, consisting of electrically operated discs mounted on wheels, one of which will be placed at each end of the obstruction section of road, will be controlled by an operator at some point of vantage in the check by means of an electric switch. The switch is so constructed that, although both signals may be placed at "Stop," both cannot possibly show "All Clear."
Town Gas for Motor Vehicles: Trials in France.
Evidence of the increasing attention which is being devoted in Prance to the problem of utilising town gas as a fuel for the engines of motor vehicles is afforded by the fact that, in addition to those of the Paris Gas Co., trials are at present being made by the gas-works authorities at Lille, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Orleans.
In the course of a paper recently read at Lyons, Mons. E. Wibratte expressed the view that there is a big future for the use of town gas in this connection and that the development of the use of compressed gas will eventually necessitate the production of two sorts of gas --ordinary lighting gas of 4,500 calories per cubic metre and a gas of 6,000 calories per cubic metre for compression into cylinders and holders for traction and remote house-lighting purposes.
The Railway Staff Census.
A return dealing with railway staffs has been published and may be obtained, price one shilling, from U.M. Stationery Office, Kingsway,. London, W.C.2. It gives particulars of the staff employed by the railways in Great Britain during the week ended March 12th. The total number employed was then 597,971 compared with 615,592 a year earlier, a decrease of 17,621 or 2.86 per cent.
The total amount of salaries and wages paid by the railways for the year 1931 was £105,835,000 compared with • £114,536,000 in 1930.
Carrying Soldiers Without a Road Service Licence.
That he thought he was covered by his hawker's licence was the explanation of a Marytavy garage proprietor when recently summoned at Tavistock Pollee' Court for having used a motor vehicle as a public-service vehicle without holding a licence or road-service licence. Defendant, who said he brought soldiers from Willsworthy Cimp to Tavistock at a charge of 7s. 6d. per load, was fined 10s. in each ear,e, the presiding magistrate saying defendant ought to have male himself acquainted with the law.