Twelfth Night
Page 56
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AHEARING before the North Western Traffic Commissioners on January 6 was something of a pantomime. There were bursts of applause from the 70 home supporters when a popular witness gave evidence, to say nothing of the odd jeer on occasions when opposing counsel was out of favour. Once or twice demands were made for the chairman to clear the court, but fortunately things did not come to this pass.
The Prompter
WHEN a small, elderly man entered the box to 'give his evidence he was asked, "Where did you go for your holidays two years ago?"
"North Wales, I think, sir," he replied. Woman at the back of the court: "Oh! no, you didn't, our Sans! You went to Brighton." Sam: "Never mind 'er, sir. It's only my Missis."
Self-kelp
'TWELVE apprentices out of a total staff of 80 is unusual I in these days of high pay and low skill. Mr. D. Boxall, of the Nightingale Engineering Co., Ltd., told me that this was his answer to the continual cries of garage and works managers that it is impossible to obtain skilled fitters and mechanics able and willing to undertake any job.
He thinks that if his fitters are trained within the company they will have that sense of loyalty which is so important, particularly for the smaller organization. The good employee employer relationship which obviously exists at Nightingale Lane bears out this point.
Rotherhithe Retreat
TUCKED away between the loading banks and warehouse I buildings of the new Atlas Express depot at Canon Beck Road, Rotherhithe, is a delightful little cottage, reputed to be some 300 years old. Almost derelict when the company moved in, it is being carefully restored for use as offices for senior executives. A particularly well-proportioned room, with large windows and low ceiling, is to be panelled and decorated in period style, and will become the -boardroom. It is said that the cottage was once a royal retreat and that its weekend guest was obliged to make big grants of land in the vicinity to silence an outraged husband. Of course, contract rates for smalls were higher in those days.
The Backward Look
I N a broadcast the other evening, Mr. Frank Cousins. general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, expressed surprise that anyone should think the unions were still backward enough to consider the employers their mortal enemies. Nowadays, he said, co-operation and understanding were leading the country to prosperity.
I was reminded of this when I -read a booklet which has been produced to mark the 125th anniversary of the National Union of Vehicle Builders. 'Ern it, their general secretary, Mr. c20
F. S. Winchester, declares: "The exploitation of the worker by the boss class still goes on. More and more people are working, but • profits are much higher." The president, Mr. E. G. White, develops a similar theme: "We must strengthen our ranks to meet the employers' attacks on our standards."' The booklet's general story is one of strikes, dismissals and depressions in bygone days. It is a pity the N.U.V.B. leaders are still living in the past. Perhaps • Mr. Cousins could bring them up to date.
Not Forgotten
WHEN a mars retires from David Brown Industries, Ltd., he does not deteriorate into a mere name on the pension account books. He continues • to be remembered as an individual who helped to build up a great engineering organization. One of the pleasant family touches preserved by the company is an annual luncheon for pensioners. Seventy-nine of them, with an average age of 72 and an average length of service of 33 years, sat down to table the other day. One of them had had 54 years' continuous service,
Snow Snare
SNOW on the new Meriden by-pass last week proved to be a snare for lorry drivers, who, because of the flush kerbs, were unable to differentiate between the carriageway and the soft verge. When the driver of a Seddon owned by Parkfield Garage Transport Co., Ltd., halted to clean the windscreen, the near-side wheels sank so deeply into the grass that the vehicle almost overturned. A Foden owned by G. L. Baker (Transport), Ltd., also ran into trouble on the verge. Posts carrying reflectors are to be installed—belatedly—to define the edge of the road,
Faulty Diagnosis
nR. H. HALL-TOMK1N, chairman of Exeter and District Disablement Advisory Committee, demonstrated last week that two and two make five. Quoting the medical journals as saying that bus 'drivers, because of their sedentary occupation, were more prone than conductors to coronary thrombosis, he concluded that the driver-conductor of a one-man bus was less liable to it than one who only drove.
He apparently has a vivid picture in his mind of a driver frantically rushing upstairs and downstairs to collect fares at every stop, thus getting the exercise he needs to avoid the disease. Perhaps unintentionally he had stumbled on an idea that will, at one blow, save the industry from ruin and drivers from premature death.
This Week's Bargain
NOBODY has yet been found to buy a length of railway in Derbyshire, complete with a tunnel, two bridges, and five acres of land, for £5. Although it was worked by gravity— and what can be cheaper than that?—it was abandoned last year because it was too expensive to run. If the present owners could persuade the Government to underwrite a 1100m. loan to modernize the system, they might be able to sell it for £7 10s.