Passing Comments
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Cleansing Official IN his recent paper on statis Deed esUse of tics, Mr. J. Stephen, director "Spiv" Statistics . . of public cleansing at Luton, introduced a somewhat amusing point concerning what he referred to as " spiv " statistics, meaning those which do not contribute to the aid of management or supply any useful knowledge about departmental operations. Amongst examples of these he gave the following:— From 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on any full working day, a . cleansing-department vehicle passes Luton Town Hall every 14 mins. If the town's output of refuse for one year were placed on the playing field of the local school, it would rise to 40 ft. Since the war Luton has collected over 500,000 books for salvage: this number is one and a quarter times the slices of bread the average housewife butters in a lifetime, three and a half times the number of hairs on her head, or seven times the number of stitches in a man's suit; the weight of these books would be equivalent A24 to 25 trolleybuses or 150 lorries. There is a glamour about such comparisons, but they are "do-nothings." They show the danger of tabulating statistics as mere hoarders or of abusing or exploiting the statistical method for unfair purposes.
Fitting Skylight into A NEAT method of improvClosed Bodies of " ing the enclosed body of Vehicles a lorry or trailer has been
developed by an American haulage concern. The object was to make the interior lighter, so that labels can be read and loads examined during the day without resorting to artificial light. The means employed is a " skylight " made of transparent plastic sheet, double sealed and spot welded into a 29-gauge steel frame. A hole of the proper size is cut between the bows of the roof, the skylight dropped into position, and holes are drilled for bolts.
TWO Road Transport THE director and works
Engineers Connected manager of Parrs (Leicester), with Racing . . . . Ltd., is Mr. F. R. Gerard, who has other claims to fame, he is a well-known racing-car driver, winning the Tourist Trophy and record lap in the Isle of Man last August, obtaining similar successes in the Ulster Trophy in the same month, and in Jersey in April of this year. His team manager is Mr. Frank Woolley, sales manager of the company, and both are members of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers.
Trade Press Executive DURING a lecture to over Gives Advice to '—'100 secretaries of trade Associations . . . . associations, Mr. A. Milne, director and general manager of "The Drapers Record," told them how they could help trade journals to help them. He said that the 'trade Press and trade associations had similar airristhoSe of developing, maintaining and safeguardingtheir trade or industry. Most industries had separate associations in respect of the manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing • sides, but the trade journal generally covered all three, and could keep an eye on the complete picture. When these associations were trying to achieve an objective, such as the amendment of a Government legislation, they should obtain the backing of their trade paper in the first place, instead of coming to it after they had failed.
The Press would respect a confidence. Notices sent to the Press were often cold, dull and late, and more secretaries might follow the lead of some prominent associations Ad send their official organs before press day. The successful associations were those which treated the Press with respect and co-operated with it.
WE. referred in our issue " dated May 14 to the powerful windscreen wipers
observed at the Geneva Show, and asked whether our instruments are suitable for overseas. Trico-Folberth, Ltd., Great West Road, Brentford, answers the query with an emphatic " Yes." The company claims that its compressed-air type develops a most powerful stroke and is supplied with an elongated, reinforced arm, measuring up to 18 ins., and a blade up to 14 ins., thus covering a great area of screen. It is _guaranteed to be capable of dealing with any snow storm without choking into inactivity. After critical examination by members of the Swiss commercial-vehicle industry, the company is being quoted for its export to Switzerland. Other countries taking delivery of this heavy-duty model include Sweden. Belgium, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. it has also been supplied to many makers in Britain for vehicles to be exported.