Passing Comments
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Pis concerned over the fuel used by its sixcylindered bus engines, and the Prefect of the Seine Department has stated that tests have recently been carried out with four-cylindered engines of two different types, the results attained indicating that it will be possible in future to use these and obtain the same power with reduced consumption. IT has apparently been appreciated that soma 'technical knowledge of motor vehicles is. desirable in police officers. According to the Police Review, one of the questions included in the generalknowledge paper in the examination for entrants to the new Metropolitan Police College required a. description of an oil engine. EXPERIENCE with some of the smaller compression-ignition engines shows that the wear on the cylinders averages .0005 in. per 1,000 miles, and that a rebore is necessary only when the wear reaches .025 in., representing 50,000 miles of use. .
AODERN thought often upsets conservative Vilopinions. For example, the latest Perkins oil engines start their life with comparatively slack pistons, new rings being fitted after 12,000-14,000 n.iles. This allows plenty of oil just when the engine requires it, i.e., while being run in.
COACH operators should be grateful to Mr. J. B.
Priestley. Coaching, in the modern sense, has yet to find its place in current literature, and there is a distinct tendency for " superior persons" to despise the coach and those who travel by it. The effect of this may not be considerable, but it is nevertheless bad propaganda. Mr. Priestley has taken quite a different line in his new book, " English Journey." This contains a warm appreciation of coach travel_ In fact, Mr. Priestley's remarks on the subject are among the best that we have read. He has a wide public, and his latest work will accordingly benefit the industry. " English Journey" is an account of a tour taken last autumn mainly through the industrial areas.
THE police authorities of Berlin are determined to stop careless walking and are taking drastic measures to this end. On a recent occasion 1,607 persons were fined in the streets in a day, 207 summonses were issued and 7,786 verbal warnings were given. Whilst one would be reluctant to advocate such severe steps in this country, some system of summary " education " for pedestrians is certainly necessary.
Iis seldom appreciated that a flat tyre on a heavy vehicle may be the origin of a serious fire. Very high temperatures are sometimes caused by the brakes, which may result in oil leaking through the hubs and giving off an inflammable gas, whilst the tyre may fail by disintegration of the beads resulting from the heat. When these two factors synchronize and the tyre rubs against the chassis, the friction may set up enough heat to cause combustion.
WHILE talking at the Southend Conference' to Mr.
E. Belcher. of the Ransome and Marks Bearing Co., Ltd., we queried the reason for the use ot very small ball bearings, and elicited the information that one radial pattern was made with a bore of 1-64 in.—about half the diameter of an ordinary pin. Such bearings appear to be used mainly for surgical instruments, the one mentioned specifically being used to carry a drill employed for the human eye.