News of the week (continued)
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FORWARD SUCTION BRANCH ON CORK'S NEW FIRE-ENGINE.
11' INUSUALLY equipped with a Lisuction branch at the front, near the radiator, a new fire-engine was given extensive trials at Cork, Eire, last week. The machine, which has forward controls and a full-fronted body, has been built by Leyland Motors, Ltd., in collaboration with Mr. W. Monaghan, chief officer of Cork Fire Brigade.
One main advantage accrues from the forward position of the suction branch, which is connected to a 800800 g.p.m. pump mounted amidships, It is particularly useful for night work, for the machine can be driven straight to the water supply, such as hydrant or quay-side, and the coupling operations carried out by the light of the head lamps.
During hill-climbing tests the fireengine climbed one of the city's steepest hills in second gear and, despite its weight of 8 tons, made stopand-start tests on the steepest gradients.
" Smalls " Carriers' New Section.
A'°Pen meeting of "smalls " carriers, held at the offices of United Automobile Services, Ltd., Newcastle-on-Tyne, last Friday, was addressed by Mr. G. W. Quick Smith, F.C,I.S„ general secretary of the National Conference of Express Carriers. He gave a brief account of the work of the Conference, and stressed the urgent necessity of "
smalls" carriers co-operating, both locally and nationally.
A section for the northern area was formed, Mr. J. Forman being elected chairman and Mr. E. Burton, secretary. The committee comprises Messrs. J. Ridley, G. H. Coates, H.
Armstrong, J. Bell, G. Davies. A
meeting will be held at 8 p.m. on the first Wednesday in each month, at the offices of United Automobile Services, Ltd„ Gallowgate, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
National Chamber and Licensing Case.
REFERENCE to a goods-vehicle licensing case which is to be considered by the Board of Management of the National Chamber of Trade, was made at a meeting of the Bradford Chamber of Trade, on Monday. The matter was mentioned by Mr. Fred Pickering (honorary secretary of the Bradford Chamber), in reporting upon -the conference Of the National Chamber,
At the conference, he recalled, the Cardiff Chamber submitted a resolution urging the need for amending legislation to revise the procedure in the bearing of applications for renewal of A and B licences, The resolution, said Mr. Pickering, appeared to have been prompted, to some extent, by a decision on a certain renewal application, whereby the applicant haulage concern lost the whole of its vehicles. SHOOTING BRAKE CLASSED AS GOODS VEHICLE.
AST week, Mr. Robert M. Robertson, Ury Estates, Stonehaven, was charged at Stonehaven Sheriff Court, with having, on the Aberdeen-Stonehaven road, driven a goods vehicle, at a speed exceeding 30 m.p.h. It was disclosed that Mr. Robertson was driving a shooting brake, and it was maintained by the Fiscal that the -vehicle was constructed or adapted for the eonyeyance of goods.
Mr. Robertson maintained that the vehicle was not being used for the carriage of goods, and that it was not licensed or insured for that purpose. Sheriff Laing found accused ,guilty. He felt the offence was committed in good faith and admonished accused.
Lord Nulfield's Latest Gift.
ASPLENDID new sports ground and pavilion, built and equipped at a cost of £20,000, has been presented to the employees of Morris-Commercial Cars, Ltd., by Viscount Nuffield and. in a picture on this page, the donor is to be seen opening the main door of the clubhouse with a golden key.
Modern in design, the clubhouse embodies all those amenities which enable employees to turn their hours of recreation to good account.
No Separate French Show.
AFTER issuing an official statement that the French commercial-vehicle show would be. held separately next autumn, the authorities have suddenly changed their minds and have decided to hold a combined private-car and commercial show as usual in Paris, the period being October 5-15.
NO SPEED LIMIT FOR FIREMEN: SCOTTISH RULING.
GIVING a rule in the first case of its kind in a Scottish Court, Sheriff Robertson, in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, on Monday, held that any vehicle engaged on fire-brigade business was exempt from the statutory speed limits. The case was one in which Andrew Scott, a fireman with the Edinburgh Fire Brigade, pleaded not guilty to a charge of reckless driving and an alternative charge of careless driving.
Sheriff Robertson, finding Scott not guilty, said that so long as he was a fireman engaged on brigade business, it was provided under Section 3 of the Road Traffic Act, 1934, that the speed limit would not apply.
Licence Lapse Results in Refusal.
AU licence for 20 vehicles, all claimed tonnage, was allowed to lapse by J. and A. Jackson, Ltd., according to information given at a case in Manchester, on Monday, because the boom in the brick trade had kept its fleet on C-licence work.
This brick-making company of Longsight. Manchestet. and various other depots, having about 100 vehicles. on C licences, apparently thought the renewal of its hire-and-reward facilities would be a formal matter now that the brick trade had become normal again, particularly as it asked for only half The previous 20 vehicles.
Mr. Joseph Farndale, North-Western Deputy Licensing Authority pointed out that the B licence expired on November 30, 1938, and in the Meantime no doubt other people had been licensed to do this work. He refused the application. , Demonstration of Scammell Fire-fighters.
()N Wednesday, a demonstration was held at the Watford works of Scammell Lorries, Ltd:, of the company's latest fire-fighting -appliances. Among those who witnessed the performance of the machines and took advantage of the opportunity' afforded to examine them closely were officials of the War Office and of the fire brigades of Watford and the surrounding digtricts, the Mayor of Watford, and A.R.P. officials of factories.
The machines, which comprise equipment required under the Civil Defence Bill, included a heavy-duty trailer pump, a 300-450 g.p.m. three-wheeled tire-fighter, and a 1,250 g.p.m. combined street washer and fire engine.
Many Vehicles Relicensed for L.N.E.R.
IN applications for regrauts in respect
of 277 vehicles and 223 trailers at Manchester, last Wednesday, the London and North Eastern Railway Co. was epposed by Collier Daniels Transport, Ltd., but only in relerence to throughout road haulage from the Manchester base. These applications related to 14 bases, including Manchester, Liverpool, Stockport, 'Warrington and Wigan.
Mr. Walter Bann, assistant to the goods manager, in his evidence, men
tioned that in 1938 only 1.35 per cent. of the Manchester traffic was roadborne throughout; in 1937 the figure was 1.43 per cent.
Mr. Henry Backhouse, for the objector, asked whether any one vehicle was devoted entirely to this work or for any one customer and received negative replies. This satisfied his clients, and the whole of the applications was granted.
"Who is User" Appeal Question.
HEAR1NG of an appeal by the 'London and North-Eastern Railway Co., which it viewed as involving a legal question of considerable importance, was opened before the Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday at York Castle. It %%as indicated that the hearing would probably occupy four days.
The L.N.E.R. appealed against the Yorkshire Licensing Authority's decision to make an A licence grant in respect of one vehicle to Holdsworth and Hanson (Leeds). Ltd., trading as Messrs. Grimshaw and Evans, Leeds.
Outlining the appellant's case, Mr. Merritt said that for two or three years respondents used a vehicle which they hired from a haulage company at Liverpool. They relied on the licence grant which the North-Western Licensing Authority made to the, Liverpool company in respect of the vehicle, but this autitcnization was withdrawn on the ground that the Liverpool haulier had not been using the vehicle in the North-Western Traffic Area.
The respondents thereupon success; fully applied to the Yorkshire Licensing Authority for a licence grant in replacement, and it was this grant against which the railway company now appealed. It did so with the submission that the respondents unlawfully used the vehicle before the grant.
The question at issue in the appeal was as to alto was the user of the vehicle %%itiiiii the meaning of the Act.
BUDGET PROVISION FOR ULSTER TRANSPORT SCHEME.
UTAKMG provision in the Ulster 1V1 Budget, on Tuesday, for £200,000 from Imperial contribution for covering of guaranteed loss of Transport Board borrowings, the Minister of Finance said that the British Treasury agreed to this provision provided the new Ulster transport scheme be established on a sound economic basis.
T.A.C. Report: Statement To-day?
AN official statement concerning the Report of the Transport Advisory Council will probably be issued to-day, when the Report itself may also be available.
Suppressing Television Interference. nWINTERS of television receivers are Vfamiliar with the interference caused by passing motor vehicles, which also affects other ultra-shortwave radio services. 'Special interest, therefore, attaches to a publication recently issued by the British Standards Institution, 28, Victoria Street, London, S.Vv.l, which has been prepared as the result of co-operative effort on the part of the S.M.M. and T., the B.B.C., the Electrical Research Association and the G.P.O. .. In the foreword it is stated that the interference on long and medium waves will, in general, be appreciable in reception in only the immediate vicinity of the ignition system. There are, however, many important services in which short and ultra-short waves are used, and it is found that ignition
systems of internal-combustion engines are capable of causing severe interference even at a distance.
The new publication, which is entitled B.S. Specification 833, Radio Interference Suppression for Automobiles and Stationary Internal-combustion Engines, is priced at 2s. (2s. 2d. post included), and may be obtained from the address given above.