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News of the Week

WBIRTHDAY HONOURS FOR TRADE PERSONALITIES E have extracted the following from the list of Birthday Honours conferred by H.M. The King:— Heights Bachelor:. E. J. Missenden, O.B.E. (general manager, Southern • Railway); AR. Smith [managing director and controller, _Ford Motor Co.. Ltd.) ; W. W. We-kc5eld, tnirector, Park Rnya,I Coachworks, Ltd.). K.B.E. T. • G. Jenkins., C.B., MC. (Demi{ yDirector General, M.O.W.T.).

CB.E.: A., (I. Hartley (chief engineer, AngloIranian Oil Co., Ltd.).

C.B.E. [Military): 'Colonel K T Brook (London Passenger Transport Home Guard).

0.B.E. (Military): LL-Colonel. A_ Buil (L.P.T.B.); -Major W. R. Manton (L.P.T.B.). 0 11E.: W. T. Freestone (deputy chairman and works manager Peter Brotherhood, Lid I; 0. S. C. Lucas (head, electrical dereloPrrieni. section, British Thomson Houston Co., Ltd.); A. L. Moore 'Assistant Direttor, MO WT.); It. F. Newman (general manager, ;John I. Thornycroft and Co_' Ltd.). 11.B.E.: S. Bays :managing director, Port of Hull Road Transport Control, Ltd ); A. Bradford (rollin.g stock controller, Carter Paterson and Co., Lid., sub-district manager, MO W.T..) J 3. Clowtieroy{development superintendent. (road transport) L.P.T.B.); T. Davies 'works superin

tendent, Layeeck Engineering Co., Ltd I; 'T. L. M. Gibson (Assistant Director, Meeho-niza.ten, M.0.8 I; H. Hymns {_departmental manager, Hoilinann Manulaczuring Co. Ltd.); E. J. H. Jones Iworks dire,ctor, Associated Equipment Co.., Ltd ; J. Lesiord (assistantto Director oi Vehicle Maintenance, M.O.W.T.); A. R Rodway .{London regional manager, Petroleum Board/ E. W. Si.041,:ey (director, Charles IL Pugh. Ltd.); A J. Woolcott (deputy managing director, Wellworthy Pistons, Ltd.).

MORE PROGRESS WITH I.R.T.E.

A T a meeting of the drafting subPAcornmittee of the proposed Institute of Road :Transport Engineers, held yes'erday, the memorandum and articles of association, as determined at the previous meeting and presented by a solicitor, were considered and approved for placing before the full committee, including the correspondent members.

HAULAGE ASSOCIATION'S NEW OFFICIALS CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. B. G.

Turner, who has been elected president of the London and Home Counties Haulage Contractors' Association, also to Mr. Henry Dutfield, who has become a vice-president of this body. • • DO NOT IMPEDE MILITARY TRAFFIC THE M.O.W.T. has issued an appeal to all civilians employing slowmoving vehicles, and to cyclists, inviting them to help the British and Allied Forces by doing all they can to assist the free flow of military traffic, particularly vehicles in convoy. They should keep well to the left or quit the main roads while such convoys are passing.

" RIBBLE " REVENUE NEARLY TWO MILLIONS

'TOTAL revenue of Ribble Motor Services, Ltd., in the year ended March 31 last, amounted to £1,951,546 and, after deducting all expenses, including depreciation and provision for taxation, there is a balance of £133,672. An interim dividend of 4 per, cent, on the ordinary shares took. £48000, and an interim dividend on the preference shares £6,500, a similar amount being absorbed by a dividend -on the latter for the second half of the year, A final dividend of 6 per cent. on the ordinary shares takes £.72,000, and leaves £78,694 to be carried forward, compared -with £78,022 brought in.

ALBION MOTORS' TRADING FOR 1943

THE report of Albion Motors, Ltd.., for 1993 shows a profit of £126,899, after including profit earned by subsidiary company and making provision for depreciation and other charges; the previous year's figure was £125,564. A sum of £50,000 has been transferred to replacement reserve, and a dividend on the preference shares at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum (less t,lx), takes £8,032. From the balance of £130,852, a dividend of 12i per cent. (less tax) is to be paid on the ordinary shares, which Will absorb £62,175. and leave £68,677 to be carried forward, contrasted with £61,986 brought in.

P.TA. BIRIT-IDAY LUNCHEON THE a.ga-n. of the Public Transport Association will be held at noon en July 14 at Brettenha:m House, Lancaster Place, London, W.C.2. This will he followed by the first birthday luncheon of the reconstituted body, at 1.15 p.m.,

at the Savoy Hotel, Lord Leathers will be the principal guest.

TFIE EIRE TRANSPORT BILL I T will be remembered that the Eire Government was, defeated over the Eire Transport Bill. Following the General Election, this Bill was reintroduced fast Monday. LABOUR FOR VEHICLE REPAIRS

WHAT is probably one of the most IN difficult problems in respect, of vehicle repairs concerns the labour available. The demand is huge. Upgrading and dilution have helped. It is, however, most essential that operators should not ask for what may be termed unnecessary repairs. The demand should be kept to those classes of repair essential to keep vehicles on the road. It is, for example, a wastage of labour to employ tinsmiths in beating out dents in wings.. At this time of emergency, appearance must go by the board.

Owners should also do everything they can, With the assistance of their drivers, to carry out small repairs themselves, thus leaving the labour free to deal with more important items.

"MAIDSTONE AND DISTRICT" NET PROFIT MAINTAINED

TRAFFIC. receipts and other income of Maidstone and District Motor Services, Ltd„ for the year ended March 31 last, were ,£1,219,877, as against £1,199,455 a year earlier, The net profit was £71,046, against 470,682 in the previous year. A final dividend of 5 per cent. on the ordinary shares, plus a bonus of 11 per 'cent., makes 11I per cent. for the year and, after £20,000 is allocated to reserve, there remains £39,711 to be carried forward, compared with £37,352 brought in.

" PAPER,PACKS A PUNCH" TO TOUR

THE interesting exhibition, " Paper Packs a Punch," staged at the Marble Arch, London, will tour the' larger provincial towns so soon 'as railway conditions permit. It is one of the best of its kind and attracted many thousands of people. It showed uses for waste paper which probably most of the visitors had not appreciated. No doubt they will all now save more paper.

1943 TRADING OF SKEFKO BALL BEARING CO.

IN 1943, the -trading profit of the Skefko Ball Bearing Co., Ltd., was £180,281. after deducting depreciation and taxation, the net profit being £178,082, as against £176,195 a year earlier. A final dividend of 6id. per 5s. stock unit makes 17+ per cent, (tax free) for the year. General reserve receives £20,000, and pensions scheme £10,000. The amount carried forward

is £145.129, against £137,047 brought in.

POST-WAR PROBLEMS: MINISTER'S REASSURANCE AST week,' in the House of Corn

tnons, Mr. Dalton returned' a reassuring reply to Mr. Leach, when the, subject of the British motor industry was raised. Mr. Leach pointed out that the industry was now almost entirely turned over to war production and, on the termination of hostilities, would find itself—eminus standardization and the capacity for

mass production:—at the mercy of American competition. He asked if Mr' Dalton would devise measures, in consultation with the industry, to deal with the situation.

Mr. Dalton said that he was already in touch with representatives of the motor industry and was well aware of the problems which would confront manufacturers at the end of the war. "I shall do all I can," he added, " in consultation with the industry, to enable them to ,change over as quickly as possible to their peace-time production."

PERSONAL PARS G, W. IcsixsErr has left the service of Haulage Supplies, Ltd., Riverhead, Seyenoaks, Kent, owing to reorganization, and his position as manager of the company has been taken by MR. F. BAX.

MR. ARTHUR C. RH:HARDS, chairman and managing director of the Aero Piston Ring Co., Ltd., Leeds, and chairman of the Yorkshire Region of the Institute of the Motor Trade, has been re-elected a member of the I.M.T. Council. He and MR. T. I. BENNETT, of T. I. Bennett, Ltd„ Leeds, were the successful candidates in a recent election to appoint two Yorkshire

representatives to the Council. Mr. Bennett is also a member of 'the council of the Motor Agents' Association.

' OBITUARY We regret to announce the death of Mr. L. E. Bennett, of the sales department of the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd. He was 35 years old, and had been in the service of the company over 13 years. At the outbreak of war he was in charge of A.E.C.'s Eastern Counties sales area. At the time of his death he was with the Ministry of Supply. ANOTHER ASSOCIATION PREFERS AFFILIATION TO MERGING

THE committee of the Leicester and 1 District Transport Operators' Association has adopted a resolution against the merging of that organization into the Road Haulage Association under the Perry scheme. Like the committee of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire. Hauliers' Association, the decision of which against merging in the R.H.A. has already been reported in this journal, the Leicester Association's committee offers affiliation to R.H.A. as an alternative.

CHARGING A BATTERY IN, 60 MINUTES

" I THINK the day of the eight-hour

lcharge will disappear and that one occupying 60 minutes will take its place," said Mr. S. T. Lawson-Helme, of the Crypto Equipment Co., Ltd., Bridgwater, Somerset, speaking in Manchester at a meeting of the Northwest Region of the I.M.T.

" We have all been given to understand that the normal charging time is from six to eight .hours," said the speaker, " but it has been proved that by ' fast charging' a healthy battery, that is one mat sulphated, it can be brought up to a substantially full charge in one hour without doing the battery any harm."

Mr. Lawson-Helnie said that vigorous tests had-,been carried out with a threemonths-old battery in good condition. It was fully discharged and then immediately recharged. This was done 35 times consecutively without any serious damage resulting.

NEW BOOKLET FOR FARMTRACTOR OPERATIVES ANEW publication which should be of direct value tO many thousands Of operatives who have been called upon to take charge of farm tractors with little or no experience of such machines, has lately been issued by the publishers of " Power Farmer," 101, Kings Road, Reading. It is entitled " How Your Tractor Works," and is edited by Mr. D. N. McHardy, N.D.A., A.I.A.E., M.S.E. It forms a guide to the constructional details and operation of farm tractors, and is written in simple language,the matter being illustrated by a number of clear and readily understood diagrams. It is priced at le., postage extra, and can he obtained from the address we have given.

EXPORT PERMITS CANNOT YET BE GRANTED XPORTS to neutrals must depend La upon what can he spared after our own requirements, and those of the Empire and of our Allies, have been met, stated Mr. Dalton, President of the Board of Trade, in the House of Commons, last week. Industrial trucks, he explained, are in short supply, and the whole output is urgently required for war purposes. He regretted, therefore, that he could not, at present, license their export to

Spain. Mr, Dalton was answering a question by Sir Patrick Hannson, who had asked, to what extent reputable British concerns are precluded from -the issue of permits for export to Spain..

B.E.T. REVENUE SHOWS SLIGHT ADVANCE

'REVENUE of the British Electric Traction Co., Ltd., for the year ended March 31 last amounted to 4767,962, cornpared with 4760,293 for the previous year. After deducting 459,365 for general expenses, etc., and 4312,677 for income tax, and after charging 479,470 for c'ebenttire stock interest, there is a balance of 4316,441 available for appropriation, compared with 4309,916 for the previous year.

The directors recommend the payment of the following final dividends, less income tax:-5 per cent, on the participating preference stock (making .8 per cent, for the year); 4 per cent. on the preferred ordinary stock (making 8 per cent. for the year); 30 per cent, on the deferred ordinary stock (making 46 per cent, for the year). A sum. of 466,961 is left to be transferred to undivided profits account.

Investments now stand in the balance-sheet at 46,795,102, of which 44,995,034 is in respect of holdings in subsidiary and associated companies. The amount standing at the credit of reserve account remains at 4520,000, The amount standing at the credit of undivided profits account is 42,261,208.

COMMERCIAL MANAGER AVAILABLE

AN incorporated accountant, with considerable experience in this work and as company, secretary, requires a

• suitable post. such as commercial manager, company secretary, or general manager (non-technical). Age 47, he served in the war of 1914-18 in the trenches and, later, in the R.A.F. Later he became a senior accountant; then chief accountant to J. B. Brooks and CO., Ltd., of Birmingham. and then secretary to that company and of its subsidiaries and associated concerns. From 1940 to March, 1944, he was office manager to Henry Meadows, Ltd., Wolverhampton. Letters addressed " Commercial Manager," care of the Editor, will be forwarded.

NORTH-EASTERN REGION DOES WELL ON SAVINGS

THE aggregate yield of road-transport war-savings efforts in the Northeastern Region has passed the 41,000,000 mark by more than £150,000. This feat, achieved under the leadership of the Regional Transport Commissioner, Major F. S. Eastwood, is signalized by the fact that the latest regional savings. drive, in support of the " Salute the Soldier " campaign, has easily exceeded its target

figure of 4250,000. At the time of writing the figure exceeds 4374,000.

ROAD TRANSPORT'S CONTRIBUTION TO FOOD FRONT

A NEAT compliment to the way I in in which transport has helped the food front was paid by Col. Llewellin, Minister of Food, when he initiated a debate on the work of his Ministry in the House of Commons last week. He said that, so far as he could see, taking a careful .estimate of the future, we should be able to maintain the existing scale of rations in everything,

except rmik—which had a seasonal flow —for the remainder of the year. There might he temporary difficulties due to transport, but the invasion had been launched.

There would be much military follow-up but, so far, our food supplies were getting through well. That reflected great credit on the M.O.W.T., the railways, the road hauliers, and the divisional and local food organizations.

MORE SUBSISTENCE FINES

DRIVER SHRIMFTON, of Northern l/Motor Utilities, Ltd., was fined 45 at Ealing on June 5 for improperly obtaining subsistence money. A. traffic examiner noted that his vehicle was in a café car park at Brentford at 6 p.m. one night, but, according to the driver's weekly journey sheet, he had spent that night at Reading.

On the same day at West Ham Police Court, Driver W. C. Sealey, of Macks Hauliers, Ltd., was fined 50s, and 50s, costs for fraudulently obtaining 9s, subsistence for an alleged night out at Bagshot.

ANOTHER BRADFORD TRAM ROUTE GOES

ANOTHER section of its tramways has been abandoned by Bradford Passenger Transport Department, The tram route which served Wyke and Bailiff Bridge, in the Hudflersfield direction, now ends at Odsal, and bus services operate between the city centre and places beyond Odsal. The minimum fare on the bus service is 21d.

"INVASION" TRAFFIC AND ROAD-ACCIDENT FIGURES WHEN Capt. Plugge asked the VV Parliamentary Secretary to the M.O.W.T., in the House of Commons last week, what proportion of the 10,497 road casualties, which occurred in April, were directly attributable to war conditions of traffic, Mr. P. J. Noel-Baker replied that he regretted it was not possible to obtain information about the number of 'road accidents in which war conditions 'might have been the principal cause.

In answer to a question put by Mr. Grahame White, Mr, Noel-Baker said that the abnormal rise in road accidents was due, in part, to the heavy traffic resulting from operations which had now begun. Beyond that he had no explanation.

MACHINING LIGHT ALLOY CASTINGS

A MOST useful booklet entitled

" Recommendations for Machining Light Alloy Castings" has been published by Birmingham Aluminium Casting (1903) Co., Ltd., 'Dartmouth Road, Smethwiek, 40. 'In the first instance, it was prepared to assist those now employed on war work, but should serve a useful purpose' in postwar industry, dealing, as it does, with the average job in the average shop, and not with highly specialized cases. Tables are arranged for rapid reference to all classes of light alloy. The price is Is. net.