Passing Comments
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Some Previous-war FROM a somewhat unex Leylands that Never . pected source—" Motor
Die Sport "—comes a note that Waring and Gillow, Ltd., well-known West End furniture remover and trader, still operates six R.A.F.-type Leyland vans, of 1916 vintage They are the only trailer-haulers in the fleet, and it is stated that until fairly recently they were on regular runs between London, Lancaster and other parts of England. The fuel consumption equivalent is said to be 5 m.p.g. fully loaded, with trailers.
Bradford Utility Makes THE owner of a Jowett Long Journey on ConI 8 h.p. Bradford utility car tinent recently wrote to the maker concerning the performance of this interesting little vehicle during a journey of 7,000 miles, covered in four months, in Continental coun
tries. It traversed the cobblestones of Belgium. autobahn and war-scarred roads in Germany, and some tortuous hilly roads in Switzerland. The writer points out that the ample lock assisted on many occasions, and once the vehicle had to reverse for some distance on a gradient of one in four, with no protection between it and a precipice hundreds of feet deep Everywhere it attracted great interest, and even a group of Russians was puzzled at the performance A20 given by such a small engine. Often six passengers were carried, and on one autobahn it maintained a steady pace of 50 m.p.h., the consumption figure working out at 38 M.p.g. Sometimes it was necessary to remove the four seats at the back and substitute a camp bed. At the end of its tour it was driven to Ostend with over a ton of luggage and a passenger.
Is the Export Horse qomE, company chairmen Being Flogged Too 'Jean always be relied upon Hard? for interesting adresses at annual general meetings. Among them is Sir George Kenning, J.P., chaiiman and managing director of Kennings, Ltd. Speaking on the Government's export policy, he said that if it brought redress of the adverse dollar balance and the provision of more food for our hard-pressed people, no one could complain. I would, however, urge a careful and realistic review of the rate of demand from overseas as compared with the percentage of output directed for shipment," he said. "I believe the day may come when too much emphasis on the export markets may. react to the disadvantage of one of our major industries." Sir George also wondered whether those who are in charge of our destiny fully realised the extent to which the country's road transport system affected the National industrial structure. Poor Attendance at nN January 6, the' chairman Good Automobile of the Automobile Divi Division Lecture . sion of the " Mechanicals,' Captain G. T. Smith-Clarke, delivered his address at a general meeting of the Division at the London headquarters. It was a most interesting re'sumd covering his experience in automobile engineering over a period of 43 years. Further details are given elsewhere in this issue. The vote of thanks was proposed by the president of the main body, Lord Dudley Gordon, D.S.0 The former president of what was then the Institution of Automobile Engineers, Mr. F. 0 Woollard, M.B.E., in seconding this, mentioned that the Council had had great difficulty in persuading the chairman to speak of his own career. Mr. Woollard was eulogistic regarding the address, but caused some amusement with a Spoonerism in his last few words, when he said that members of the Division owed the chairman a deep " grat of debitude." Incidentally, we considered the attendance at this important meeting eNtremely poor, it being about 60, including those who had to be present. Admittedly, it was a wet night and the loss of the " basic" is seriously affecting attendance at peetings of other technical bodies, but the Automobile Division will have to do better than this if it is to make progress or even keep its end up.
Derbyshire Mountains nNE of the many small Now Start Moving to •-f businesses, the existence of Mahomet which is seriously threatened by the abolition of the basic petrol ration, is a modest but highly popular roadhouse in a barren part of Derbyshire, according to a Manchester daily newspaper The proprietor and his wife, however, do not propose to sit and wait for trouble, any more than they propose to sit and wait for customers to walk miles across country to enjoy their hospitality. They are " zoning " their regulars geographically and will shortly start a private bus service to bring parties together for an evening meal, mainly at week-ends.