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Speed Limits Lead to A REPERCUS.-n I ON. of police Periodic Traffic Conpersecution is road overgestion on Main Roads crowding. On a inain road that is infested by police cars by day, the heavy driver dares not exceed his limit. His employer, consequently, cannot compete with those operators whose vehicles rim by night, when the road is safe. He follows suit, with the result that the night becomes the peak period, and the road then carries a volume of traffic almost beyond its capacity. This is a most undesirable state of affairs for all classes of road user, and the wisest solution seems to be the revision of the absurd speed-limiting regulations. Alternatively, persecute the dangerous driver, not the minor technical offender, who is quite often a first-class man. Compounds of IT has been found that rail. Chromium and Tin iway lines in tunnels must be Reduce Engine Wear replaced three times as often as similar lines laid in the open air, although carrying the same traffic. This is the result of chemical corrosion of the steel caused by smoke fumes. A similar atmosphere of burnt gases exists in the cylinders of internal-combustion engines, which are protected by only a thin film of oil. It is now becoming well known that certain compounds of chromium act as corrosion inhibiters and are largely used for the protection of metals on aircraft, etc., whilst compounds of tin prevent oxidation of the oil. It is for this reason that the ..Castrol people incorporate both these in their engine lubricants. Large Quantities of A CCORDING to The Petro Oil Used by Different leumTimes, the armed serForces vices of the world consumed, last year, over 8,000,000 tons of petroleum and related products, this representing about 3.2 per cent. of the total consumption for all purposes, which is put at the extraordinary figure of over 274,000,000 tons. The approximate proportions of the consumption by the services are :Navies. 6,000,00(1 tons ; air forces. 1,400,000 tons; armies, 850,000 tons. The British Empire heads the list with some 21 per cent, of the total for defence purposes.
London Transport COMMENDABLE as may To Erect Refreshment *.--"be the proposal of London Bars? . Transport to erect refreshment
shelters on the lines of route of its vehicles, such a scheme must inflict considerable hardship on the large number of proprietors of established " pull-ups ': and dining rooms, who depend almost wholly upon the custom of the Board's drivers and conductors. It may be, of course, that these employees may prefer to remain loyal to "Bill's Café" or "The Busman's Retreat," in which event the suggested innovation may prove more of a liability than an asset.
Fire-engines Not MANY people appear to Specially Privileged on Mbelieve that a fire-engine or Roads ambulance is given the freedom
of the road. • Actually, any privilege is purely a matter of courtesy, and whilst other drivers usually make way as quickly as possible, if they do not do so and are involved in an accident as a result, they may be able to make a successful claim against the authorities concerned. Traffic lights must also be obeyed, and in a recent case, where a family was injured through a fire-engine colliding with a car when the lights were against the engine, damages totalling £3;670 were awarded against the