Skates On
Page 78
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TUESDAY was a busy day for that quiet tornado, the
Minister of Transport. Mr. Harold Watkinson formally opened the Road Haulage Association's annual conference at Torquay—the first time a Minister has done so—shortly after 10 a.m., and at 4 p.m. he was presiding at a Press conference at the Ministry in London, giving the latest news of the road programme.
He relied on British Railways to get him to London by 3.35 p.m., where a car was waiting for him. What a pity he couhk not have travelled all the way by motor road.
International Aura
ON Wednesday Mr. Watkinson rose from the mundane to the sublime to preside at the ninth session of the Council of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport at Lancaster House, London, which was opened by the Prime Minister. He is chairman of the Council for the coming year, succeeding Signor A. Angelini, the Italian Minister of Transport. I understand that some of the leaders of the road transport industry were able to meet the European Ministers at a reception at Lancaster House given by Mr. Watkinson.
Seventeen countries are members of the Conference, which was established in 1953 underthe wgis of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation. Its object is to allow Ministers to discuss together questions affecting the efficiency and development of European economy, with particular reference to inland transport_
Out of Control
NTOEL COWARD was quite right when he said that "mad
dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun." By far the largest proportion of accidents (38.54 per cent.) not involving personal injury in Derbyshire last year was caused by dogs straying in the road. On the other hand, pedestrians crossing the road heedless of traffic were responsible for the greatest number (20.23 per cent.) of accidents involving injury. The untrained dog and careless human are equal menaces.
The Little Miracle
A FARMER who had foolishly allowed himself to run out of fuel in the middle of the harvest held a long and earnest telephone conversation on the subject with his suppliers, Staffordshire Farmers, Ltd. While he was calling down heaven's
wrath upon them, Mr. R. North, manager of the machinery depot at Cannock, put down the receiver and busied himself with the two-way radio that links fitters' vans and fuel tankers with the depot.
By a remarkable coincidence a tanker was passing the farmer's gate and before he had time to conclude his imprecations, the Vehicle was in his yard. Rumour has it that he has signed the pledge_
The Right Type
ONE of the problems of operators in the less developed countries is to find supervisors for native mechanics. Experience has shown that, with the improved education of natives, the European fitter is no longer a suitable foreman.
The supervisor must have first-class technical knowledge— as distinct from manual dexterity—presence, sympathy with the workers and the ability to lead. The days of whip-swinging are long past. The right class of man is being found among well-educated apprentices in their early twenties. They can expect to earn about £1,200 a year in Africa, with the possibility of promotion to works manager.
Patience
FRANIC MILTON, the Northern Area secretary of the Road Haulage Association, is one of those men who never seem to age. He was in his usual exuberant spirits at the R.H.A. conference this week, full of anecdotes, as ever.
One I like specially concerns a haulier who telephoned Mr. Milton to ask how to have a licence transferred from his father's to his own name. His father had died, he said, but he could not remember the date.
"Well, how long ago did it happen?" asked Mr. Milton. " Nine-and-a-half years," said the haulier.
Colour Sells
WAS blinded the other day by a van painted a vivid yellow, I green and red. It was operated by a prominent maker of headache remedies. After a quick glance at the vehicle I was in urgent need of the potion advertised. It occurred to me that a soothing colour scheme might, however, have been more appropriate to a pain reliever, although perhaps the operator's object was to create his own customers. Possibly this is another application of the currently fashionable shock-treatment.