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How a Piston of Air IT is, curious to note what a Precedes a Moving I large volume of air is
Vehicle pushed well ahead of a vehicle when it is travelling in a reasonably confined space. No doubt many of our readers have felt the strong draught which precedes an underground train. Even on the London District Railway, where the tunnels'are much larger, this effect is felt, and we are told that, in some cases, windows of offices in the stations often shake under the air pressure while a train may be a hundred yards or more away. This gives some idea of the air pressure which can be exerted upon a motor vehicle when it is travelling at a fast rate.
Long, Fruitless Journey rINE of our readers who to Find a Maintenance •-f recently applied for a job
Position . • . as a maintenance engineer complains that he was interviewed at a very nice private residence, was asked what he considered to be most elementary questions, and was then told that he seemed to be "very good at this sort of thing." He left with the understanding that a communication would be sent to him after other applicants had been seen, but, since then, has heard nothing more. He was not invited to see the equipment, but before returning to Wales from somewhere near London, he took it upon himself to look over the "garage and workshops." He found the lorries parked under a roof with no wall at each end, whilst the " workshop " was a wooden shed, in a bad state, with room for two lorries. He regards the interview as a farce, and was shocked that any qualified engineer might have been persuaded into taking such A20
a position, as the working conditions were, in his own word, "horrible." He looked upon the interview at a. private house as being given with the purpose of deluding applicants. Personally, we should think that any man applying for such a position would, as in his ease, make certain of seeing where he had to work before accepting an offer, although we know full well that quite a number of road-transport engineers have to work under conditions the reverse of comfortable. This is one reason why it is so important to raise the status of this side of the industry.
Mr. Duffield Not a THERE was a roar of Ghost and Haulage A laughter at the luncheon Will Live . . to the Road Transport Execu
tive given recently by the National Road Transport Federation, when Colonel A. Jerrett proposed the toast of the chairman, Mr. H. T. Dutfteld. He said that he had seen the chairman described somewhere as "the ghost of his industry sitting crowned upon his own tombstone." The Colonel is, of course, president of the Traders' Road Transport Association, and in this connection he referred to the C-licensee as the Cinderella of the party. However, Cinderella, he added, would play her part properly if the traders received fair treatment. Mr. Dutfield appeared to be slightly hurt at being described as a ghost, and remarked that whoever had said this was never more wrong in his life. The haulage industry was not dead and never would die. Incidentally, he said that this was probablx the last time he would sit as chairman of the Federation.
R1D1NG the other evening
on one of the latest London buses, we were impressed by the excellent lighting and general finish. What interested us even more, however, was the 'enthusiasm of the conductor, who seemed most proud of his new vehicle. He was particularly pleased with the new bell cord mounted under the roof on the near side, finding this more convenient then pushing down the gangway to reach a roof bell. With this, history repeats itself, for all buses in the old days had a bell cord, although this was nothing like so neat as the present flexible wire type. The rear end of the wire is held in a neat screw clamp allowing for adjustment. The ordinary type of bell push is, of course, available from the platform and above the stairs.
Adaptation of Old Device Pleases London Conductor . .
Heavy Fuel Wastage FROM Fuel Efficiency
to Obviate NonNekvs " comes the interest existing Danger . . ing little story of how a con siderable saving in solid fuel was achieved. An engineer of the Ministry of Fuel. and Power received an urgent call to an old works. There he was told that if more coal were not supplied, the whole works would be waterlogged The difficulty in maintaining the steam supply was real enough, but its major use was to keep down the water level in the subsoil After a careful survey the engineer persuaded the management to shut down the draining pumps. After a time the water rose a few inches, but there remained steady without endangering the works. Yet the pumps had been kept going continuously through three generations at the expenditure of thousands of tons of coal.