of the week (continued)
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GOODS AND HACKNEY VEHICLES STILL FALLING.
HE number of new motor vehicles 1 registered, for the first time, in February, 1939, was 33,907, this figure contrasting with 30,332 in February, 1938. Of the total, goods vehicles were responsible for 4,617 and hackneys for 430, the corresponding totals for last year being 5,238 and 513, respectively. It will thus be seen that although the total made a useful advance in the year, the actual figures for those two classes with which we are concerned showed a fall. In our next issue we shall publish our usual analysis of the monthly statistics.
These figures are contained_ in a recently issued Ministry of .Transport return, which also shows that the gross amount received in payment for licences issued " in respect of road vehicles during the three months ended February 28, 1939, was £24,419,180, compared with £23,281,509 in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Gas Vehicle Tests in U.S.S.R.
WE learn that an 18-day trial of four lorries equipped with engines running on compressed gas, was recently carried out on motor roads from Stalin° to Gorlovka. A lorry running on compressed gas, under difficult working conditions, was found to be as good as one running on petrol: The slight weakness of this type of engine is f ally compensated for by the cheapness of the fuel burned and, owing to the reduction in the formation of carbon, the engine has a
longer life. The distance covered without refilling, by a 14--ton lorry, was about 144 miles. The gas equipment, constructed by the NATI, worked without a hitch under all conditions.
A conference of specialists, held, after the trials, recommended an increase in the production of gas engines and the building of gas-filling stations in Moscow and the Don Basin, also a change-over, on a large scale,• from liquid fuel to gas.
British Makers' Poor Share of Norwegian Market.
FROM figures published in the Norsk Motarblad we learn that 4,005 new vans and lorries were sold in Norway, during last year, as compared with 4,186 machines in 1937. On the other hand, the number of new motorbuses sold in that country increased, during the two periods, from 413 to 442. Of the commercial vehicles, 2,459 units (61.4 per cent.) were American, 439 (10.9 per cent.) German, 112 (2.8 per cent.) British, 109 (2.7 per cent.) Swedish, 40 Italian, 27 French and 5 Czechoslovakian. As regeds motorbuses, the United States Was again at
B6 the head of the list with 257 vehicles, followed by Sweden with 94. Norway 38, Germany 34, Great Britain 3, and France 2.
Dual Carriageways on Folkestone Road.
STIMATED to cost £58,000, dual L-icarriageways are to be provided on the Sidcup Road, the Minister of Transport having made a grant from the Road Fund towards the cost, upon the application of Woolwich Corporation. The existing road, which is the LondonFolkestone road, has a single carriageway 50 ft. wide. Peak-hour traffic is heavy, and separate carriageways for vehicles travelling in opposite directions are urgently needed in the interests of safety.
New Edition of "The Motor Manual."
THERE are few manuals throughout 1 the world which have seen such a wide distribution as "The Motor
Manual," of which the 30th edition has just been published.
There are 240 pages of reading matter and over 200 explanatory drawings. It is 'published by Temple Press Ltd., and is priced at 2s. 6d.
Bendix Old-time Music Hall.
'THE employees of Bendix, Ltd., 1 recently entertained themselves in novel fashion. Captain Irving, with the traditional churchwarden pipe, watched with amusement the chief accountant, Mr. T. Marshall, in period garb, complete with moustachio, act as an old-time music-hall chairman, wielding a mallet in the interests of law and order, whilst a programme was given by Bendix artists in the old-fashioned style. BRITISH MANUFACTURE FOR AMERICAN AIR CLEANER. WjE learn that an air cleaner which IN has been imported into Great Britain in large quantities, in the past, is now being made here. It is the AirMaze, which will, in future, be handled by Air-Maze (Great Britain), 'Ltd., Bush House, London, W.C.2. Various sizes are being produced and there are two main designs. In the one; dust is trapped by a multi-mesh system. The other is similar, but the filter element is automatically washed in oil, thus improving the efficiency.
New Engine-tuning Equipment.
DURING the week commencing May 8, Auto-FaCtors,' Ltd., Kinterbury Street, Plymouth, is holding an exhibition of Dunlop garage equipment, and all motor traders in Devon and Cornwall are invited to attend.
In addition, on the opening day, the company is organizing a lecture which will be given by Mr. S. G. Mundy, M.I.E.E., A.M.I.A.E., M.I.M.T., on the technical and commercial sides of scientific engine tuning, It will include a preview of an entirely new item of equipment for engine tuning. The lecture will be delivered at the Cornwall Hotel, Plymouth.
International Conference for Welding Industry.
AN international Acetylene and Autogenous Welding Conference is to be held in Munich, Germany, from June 25 to July 1 of next year. At the same time, there is to be an exhibition of acetylene generating and using apparatus.