Passing Comments
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Eyes that Never Close 1-17,10 members of the staff —and Mouths that of "The Commercial
Should Motor" recently travelled
separately to the same town to visit a manufacturer and a conference respectively. On their return, they were discussing their journeys. One said, "Had a grand day, talked haulage the whole time!" The other enthused, "I had a good time, too. D'you know, l passed though the operating territories of 10 different bus companies during the day! " A third staff member averred that there was a moral in these experiences—all men are liars.
Legendary PerTALES of the longevity and formance in Actual 1 economy of the Ford Operation . . . . Model T have long been a
subject of discussion among transport operators. Last week, such stories became current again in Paisley, where the Paisley Motor Co., Ltd., local Ford agent, held an exhibition, at which an unexpected visitor was Mr. Gavin Baird, who arrived in his 30-year-old Model T, still carrying out its duties as a general-purpose lorry. The owner was surprised at the interest • taken in.it, and Said that that morning it had taken a large load of tubular scaffolding to nearby Johnstone. "It will take any A26 hill," declared Mr. Baird. Bought second-hand for £80, the old lorry had never had a breakdown and had never had to be towed in. Technically, said the owner, it was not very dkferent from present-day designs, except for the gearbox and paraffin lamps. Pressed to consider buying a new vehicle, Mr. Baird said, "Why should I, when the old one has served me so well?"
14-ton Lorry Named CHILDREN, and small boys .Betty Amuses a Small in particular, it seems, are Boy given to asking awkward ques
tions, which require all the skill of the adult either to answer or to avoid answering. The small son of one transport specialist is an example. Probably because of the growing awareness of the existence of girls as well as boys 'in the world, he noticed how some large multiwheeled vehicles were given some quite ridiculous female names. For example, it amused him to report that he had seen a 14-tonner named Betty—which he considered most unsuitable. On the other hand, he said, two male names seemed especially favoured and he wondered why.. As the two names were "Dennis" and "Guy," professional operators could no doubt explain their popularity.
,A Case of Familiarity A TECHNICIAN was Breeding Complete 4-1 recently being shown Contempt . . around a works. At the final
assembly line he commented upon certain "gadgets," and asked one of the erectors what would happen if one or more of them failed. The man addressed explained what could be done in the circumstances, adding: "But anyone who buys one of these vehicles deserves all he gets."
Rounding-off Decimal IT may be unknown to many Fractions Ending with 'people that in rounding-off Five decimals that end with a five, if the penultimate figure be even, it is unchanged, but if odd it is increased by one. For example, 1.8765 would be rounded-off as
1.876, but 1.9875 would be Simplified as 1988.. , This interesting tit-bit of information is contained in a guide to threading dies published by W. -11. A. Robertson and Co., Ltd., Bedford, in which details are given of over 300 types of British, American and Continental dieheads, screwing machines and handstocks. The company has a special service for recutting and regrinding dies, and this, it is claimed, obviates delays in the supply of new dies in these days of steel shortage. FROM all parts of the country come alarming stories about the state of municipal transport depart ments' finances. Usually, if this be the first such story to be heard about the undertaking, reference is made to the shortage of staff, which makes services difficult and expensive to run. 'There is no doubt that staff difficulties are causing great concern, and Birmingham Transport Department has already threatened severe service cuts this winter if staff cannot be found. From Blackpool comes the news . that university undergraduates and school pupils on long vacations have been helping the municipal undertaking in the past few months as temporary, but apparently most efficient, conductors. The idea seen in Oxford commends itself as likely to afford a more permanent solution of the problem. There, a new City of Oxford single-decker has been on display in the streets bearing on its windows posters giving details of the cost of running public service vehicles. The company points out that, several more such vehicles are ready for service, but cannot be used because of the shortage of staff. Such efforts bring home better than anything else the need for new staff in the industry and we hope that the novel effort may prove successful.