Passing Comments
Page 26
Page 27
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE Chief Constable of Northampton, Mr. John
Williamson, presented medals to 68 drivers with five years' clean records and 400 drivers with a oneyear record, at the recent meeting of the Northampton branch of the Safety First Association. He remarked that the police are not out to condemn people but to be of service and that he would be glad when the term "police force" is no longer used, and that of " police service" substituted.
R16
influence of motor-vehicle design is to be Titraced in every branch of engineering, even in the construction of farming implements, where it might have been least expected. The latest types of mowers, for example, now have enclosed gear wheels running in a bath of oil. The instructions relating to the care of the gears might have been lifted entire from that part of a motor-vehicle instruction book which relates to the gearbox. ACCORDING to The Motor, a: new solid petrol, known as Solene, has been developed in America after 16 years' research. It is not the first time that such a fuel has been produced, for it is quite 16 years ago that The Motor first dealt with the possibilities of solidified petrol, but the material made very little headway in connection with motor vehicles. We should require strong proof before we could be persuaded that such a fuel has any great value in connection with the commercial vehicle.
IT appears that the Commercial Motor and Motor Shows of 1937 will change their venue to a new exhibition building at Earl's Court. The site will be that of the original Earl's Court Exhibition, which has long been derelict. The ground covers 18i acres, and the new building is expected to cost one million and a quarter. There will be parking accommodation for 2,000 cars in the grounds, and three large exhibition halls with direct access from the Underground Railways. It is understood that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has already signed a contract to hold their shows in the new buildings for 21 years, with the option of reconsidering the matter after seven and 14 years respectively. IT is now clear that the farmer has, at long last,
come to accept the tractor as an essential piece of equipment as needful in farming as the commercial motor vehicle in transport. One farmer in Kent states that he uses five in a farm which includes 500 acres of arable land. He is of opinion that these five machines displace 30 horses.
STRIKING evidence of the opposition to which road transport is subject in Parliament was provided by a recent statement of Sir William Wayland, Member for Canterbury, to the effect that if heavy commercial vehicles, especially trailers, were taxed off the road, it would be in the interests of the country, as this would help the railways, which were vital to its prosperity. It is, perhaps, as well for the safety of his seat that Sir William is not representing a constituency in which employment greatly depends upon motor manufacturing, but even agriculture has benefited to a great extent by road transport. It is difficult to understand how, in these times, even a politician can be so blind to the tremendous advantages of commercial road transport and of the fact that hundreds of thousands depend upon it for a livelihood.