Passing Comments
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American Railways A N interesting comment on will be Hit by Tyre r". the rubber shortage from Shortage the American Director of the
„ Office of Defence Transportation was that it will, he hopes, give practical demonstration to the railways of the importance to them of motor vehicles, because of railway reliance on lorries to supplement their own services. Thus any injury to road transport would prove of the greatest detriment to them.
MANY people are well acquainted with the name of Rudolf Diesel, and one of the earliest oil engines which he built provided much of the power for the production of this and Other Temple Press journals for a long period of years. Few know, however, that he has a son, Dr. Rudolf, who was a professor at Leipzig. Sorde years ago the latter told us an interesting story. We met at a Paris hotel, and he referred to some incident which had occurred in that city in 1916. We pounced upon this admission,' and asked what he was doing there at that time He replied to the effect that he was acting in the capacity of a French work
German Professor who Worked on French Munitions .
man in a munitions works, that he was there for a year without arousing any suspicion, and was able to convey much interesting matter to the "Fatherland." This indicates to what extremes Germany went at that time to plant "investigators."Incidentally, he had no option in the matter. From being a quiet professor he was suddenly ordered to Paris, and arrived there with a false passport, via Switzerland. The reason for selecting him, however, was the fact that he had been born in Paris. In later years he interested himself largely in the Lanova oil engine, which was designed by Lang, the man who produced the Bosch fuel-injection pump.
OU R American contemporary, "Transport Topics," includes, in a recent issue, an amusing example of humour. Two men are depicted watching a lorry with two drivers. One of the former turns to his companion and says: " He had to hire a chauffeur to drive his truck—said it took all his time to fill out his driver's log." So, it will be seen that our drivers are not the only ones to complain of the time taken to fill in their log books.'
American Drivers also Have to Complete Log Books
AGOOD story is told of a man in the motor industry who wished to increase his overdraft. We cannot say whether he was an ex-communicated tyre dealer or a motor salesman, but, as the tale runs, the banker, who had one glass eye, said that he would allow the addition if the applicant could detect which eye was false. He made an accurate guess, and on the banker inquiring how he appeared to be so certain about the matter, he replied : "I picked the one with the sympathy in it."
A Story Which Will Appeal to the New Poor
Alt Must Combine to A FEW days ago Lord Reduce Danger to -1-1 Leathers, Minister of War
Children Transport, issued a special message appealing for a united effort to improve road safety for children. He pointed out that last May more children were killed and injured in road accidents than in any month on record. Every day five lost their lives and 100 were
hurt. Fresh efforts have been made by educational authorities, the police and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to reduce these casualties, but further help is needed, especially from parents and drivers. Children cannot be expected to acquire road SUM until they are about 10 years old. Every driver must always be prepared for young children to commit foolish acts.
AS an example of the futile manner in which some magistrates carry out their
duties, we may mention a recent case which occurred in the North of England. A driver was summoned for some minor offence, but it happened that when he was due to appear he was snowed up on Shap Fell. The result was that the magistrate suspended his licence for several months, and no explanation succeeded in having this penalty removed.
Punished for Being Held Up by the Weather