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Passing Comments

20th May 1955, Page 22
20th May 1955
Page 22
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Page 22, 20th May 1955 — Passing Comments
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How Many People Drive?

INTERESTING figures as to driving licences were I given recently by Mr. Boyd-Carpenter. They were in response to a question by Mr. R. Gresham Cooke, formerly director of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

The total number of ordinary licences current then was 7,013,437. Provisional licences, which are. available for periods of three months only, were issued this year to the number of 2,553,558, but owing to their duration it was impossible to give current figures. The number of persons who passed the driving test in 1954 was 433,670.

Home-work

A READY reckoner for drivers' wages recently r-k published contains an unfortunate error that may be a portent of things to come. It shows a man working from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., with an hour's break, as being entitled to 12 hours' pay and 13s. 6d. subsistence allowance. It does not specify whether the driver should be put to the inconvenience of collecting his wages or whether they should be delivered to him at his home by express messenger.

This state of affairs is, however, not so farfetched, in the light of a strike of newspaper workers, because they were not paid 21 times the normal rate for work that they had not done.

New Toll Road in U.S.A.

REFERENCE to the possibility of instituting tolls in connection with the new British programme for the construction and improvement of roads, adds interest to what is being done elsewhere.

The latest toll highway in the U.S.A., which is still partly under construction, is the New York State Thruway, which will ultimately have a length of 427 miles and connect New York with Buffalo.

Intended for cars, lorries and buses, this express highway, which has four to six lanes, has been built at no cost to the State. It has no traffic lights, steep hills or sharp curves and the opposite lanes are separated by a minimum of 20 ft. which, in some places, expands to several hundred feet. At 25 service areas there will be good restaurants , and fuel stations, whilst emergency vehicles provide a constant patrol. A well-equipped maintenance staff keeps the road surface repaired and takes steps against seasonal hazards.

Tolls are as follows:—buses 3-1 cents a mile, lorries to 5 cents and cars I cents la cent is a little less that id). Tolls are collected as drivers leave the highway at any of 35 controlled: interchanges which connect with the regular main thoroughfares.

The speed limits are 60 m.p.h. for cars and 50 m.p.h. for all other vehicles. Hitch-hiking is prohibited and vehicles may park on the grass sides only in case of emergency. State police are on duty throughout the 24 hours.

Big Business in Dry Cleaning •

A CONSIDERABLE number of vans is employed " by dry cleaners and their agents throughout the country, but few people realize the size and importance of the businesses concerned. According to the National Federation of Dyers and Cleaners, the industry employs some 40,000 persons of both sexes and has an annual turnover of approximately f30m., whilst some 400,000 garments are cleaned every working day.

Despite this, in Britain the average yearly expenditure per head on dry cleaning is only 8-10s., whilst in the United States it is £4. Americans have their outer wear cleaned regularly every three or four weeks, Britons about six months for suits and dresses and once a year for overcoats.

The average weight of dirt removed in cleaning a suit is about l oz. Dry cleaning is claimed to prevent fabric being damaged by impurities in the air and, of course, is an excellent protection against the ravages of moths.

It all started in 1849, when a Parisian tailor knocked a turpentine• lamp over a tablecloth. To his surprise those parts which had been soaked with the fluid were several shades lighter than the rest and he lost no time in following this clue, using a mixture which he termed " camphene." His method was introduced into Britain in 1866, but soon the original mixture was replaced by one of petroleum, benzine and benzole.

Now the main solvents are white spirit and trichlorethylene and much machinery is employed, including a "steam gun" for removing stains, and "Steaming Susie" which resembles a dressmaker's dummy. On this garments are shaped by steam, followed by hot air.


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