The Original " Ernie "
Page 62
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I N preparing his Henry Spurrier Memorial Lecture to the Instituteof Transport, Mr. E. R. L. Fitzpayne did some deep digging. He unearthed a speech made in 1921 by Mr. Ernest Bevin, who rose from a conductor to be Foreign-Secretary. Mr. Bevin said that when he was a conductor " we were• even instructed which way we had to stand on the platform and which way we had to look, and one of the instructions was to salute the general manager of that day when he got on
the back of a car." • Mr. Fitzpayne commented approvingly: "it was this military discipline which produced such a first-class service throughout the country, in contrast with the untidiness, incivility and indisciplinewhich, unhappily, prevails to some extent in every bus undertaking today, and about which the workers themselves through their various organizations constantly complain." . The odd thing is that the workers seem to do nothing about it.
Once Bitten
AMAN whose first application for a haulage licence was refused tried to discomfort the Yorkshire Licensing Authority by complaining to his Member of Parliament, who dutifully took the matter up with the Minister of Transport. Needless to say, he got no change.
Nothing daunted, the tyro made another application last week, but withdrew it just before the court sat. • Several objectors had made long journeys to attend. The solicitors for the British Transport Commission and Road Haulage Association found common ground in protesting against this inconsiderate action and agaiqst the absence of provision whereby penalties could
be inflicted. .
Even a deposit of £2 with each application, to be returned at the Licensing Authority's discretion, would be better than nothing.
Bulge Anxiety
iuTR.H. W. HEYMAN, managing director of Smith's M Delivery Vehicles, Ltd., is uneasy about the training of apprentices. The bulge in the post-war birth rate makes the
problem particularly, urgent at the present time. There is nothing to prevent a boy from doing nothing but make tea for five years, and atthe end of the period to be admitted as a skilled craftsman. Mr. Heyman would like to see more in the way of graded examinations by the trade unions before a member could be regarded as fully qualified.
Smith's Delivery Vehicles give every apprentice the opportunity of keeping a record of his activities in a special craft journal, which enables the company to ensure that he is allowed to tackle more difficult work as his skill improves. Moreover, they actively help to make classes at the local n7.8 college available to boys, who are released to attend them, on one day a week at full pay.
Perhaps as a result of this enlightenment, one of their apprentices, George Landreth, has received the prize of the National Union of Vehicle Builders for the best coachhuilding apprentice in north-east England and Tyneside.
• Wading In
-THERE is apparently a movement afoot to persuade bus .companies to compensate football clubs who are fined for starting matches late because they have been delayed in transit. The Biggleswade Club, picturesquely known as the Waders, arrived for a match against a Northampton team 32 minutes late after their bus suffered a series of minor breakdowns. culminating in the loss of a big-end.
Members of the United Counties Leakue's management committee want bus companies to pay compensation in such cases.
The idea opens up interesting possibilities. •
Blameless
nURING the 25 years for which Mr. G. N. C. Swift, clerk tp Cumberland County Council, has been sitting at the Quarter Sessions, no bus driver or conductor has ever appeared before the court. Two hundred drivers and conductors of Cumberland Motor Services, Ltd., beamed virtuously when they heard this tribute from Mr. Swift, who presented them with safety awards. They cover nearly 8m. miles a year and carry 38m. passengers.
Lucky Exporters
AT the moment, Leyland Motors and Atkinson Lorries are the luckiest commercial-vehicle exporters. They have on their doorstep a motorway on which they may drive export vehicles flat out to their heart's content without a long journey to Nuneaton to use the Motor Industry Research Association's facilities; which, at best, can hardly be an adequate substitute for genuine high-speed road conditions.
But a shadow flickered over Leyland's good fortune on the Press pre-view day on Preston by-pass, for Mr. Tom Dawson, their assistant publicity manager, nearly met with an unpleasant end Driving at about 70 m.p.h. in mist, he suddenly came upon a workmen's hut which had been left in the fast lane.
Looking Back
THE veteran vehicle movement is certainly catching on. Mr.
John Houghton, managing director of the London General Cab Co„ Ltd., is now trying to set up a collection of old London taxicabs. Interest taken in •the matter by B.B.C. television and steam radio produced a flood of letters from all over the country. Mr. Houghton is flaw battling with them.