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The Bear Idea
IF ANYONE would like a three-year-old black Himalayan bear weighing about 200 lb., friendly and decorative, 31-year-old haulage contractor Mr. Eldon Warren, of Copley House, Leeds Road, Birstall (Yorks), has one.
Bobby the bear is housed in a cage trailer at the owner's business premises and although he has had him for a matter of only weeks, Mr. Warren is not planning to keep him. He remarked recently that: "He is a business speculation. I first saw him about two years ago in a yard at Brighouse and offered to buy him. The owner did not want to sell then, but he 'got in touch with me recently and I bought him."
The bear likes raw fish, fruit, cereals, vegetables and bread, and is not difficult to please, says Mr. Warren. As he is still growing, however, he is becoming rather. big for a household pet and it would be most satisfactory to sell Bobby to someone who would put him in a zoo..
Marshland Metamorphosis
THE dramatic story of the conversion of a flat stretch of Essex marshland on the North Bank of the Thames into a vast conglomeration of pipes, tanks, tubes, boilers, fractionating columns and other refinery equipment, is unfolded in the Vacuum Oil Company's latest film "The Story of Coryton." A28
The technical ingenuity and intricate planning which an oil refinery represents are shown in an interesting and arresting manner. The constant battle to reclaim the land, involving the use of 40,000 tons of concrete, the struggle against the floods of February, 1952, and many other hazards encountered are all described and illustrated, culminating in the official opening of the completed project in May, 1954, by H.M. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
Essentially non-technical, this 16-‘mm. film in black and white runs for about 30 min. Copies are available from The Film Library, Sound Services, Ltd., 269 Kingston Road, Merton Park, London, S.W.19.
Fortune Favours Bravado
Ak CORRESPONDENT tells us that traffic in a busy " by-road was recently held up and had to make its own "stop-and-go arrangements. The 'reason for the partial blockade was that two young men, engaged in a private building venture, were using half the. width of the highway to mix their concrete, there being no suitable flat surface on their small hill-side site.
When someone asked if they were acting with the blessing of the police, they cheerfully replied: "Dodging 'em." As members of the force are not frequent visitors to that lane, they got away with it.
The New Felix
THE chairman of the Yorkshire Licensing Authority, Major F. S. Eastwood, is well known for his sense of humour. He used this at his own expense in Sheffield last week, when he arrived late for a Traffic Court.
Apologizing to those waiting in the town hall, he said "The train was late, then there was no taxi at the station, so we had to take the advice we have so often given to others—walk."
It's the Little Things . . .
WHEN working on the engine of some vehicles YV the shelf provided by the scuttle is an inviting place on which 'to " park " tools and components. The scuttle is nearly flat, however, and the tools often slide off and leave bad scratches on the bodywork. A simple rack which accommodates the tools and equipment, and protects the scuttle, is therefore used by Birch Bros., Ltd., when they install oil engines in London taxicabs. Care is also taken to avoid damage to the wings, which are protected by quilted plastic covers.
Attention to details of this nature pays dividends. Recently, a local service depot was called to attend to a car engine that was reluctant to start. A mechanic arrived with a sheet of felt which he used to protect the wing while he worked on the erudite.
The car owner, a member of The Commercial Motor staff, was so impressed by this thoughtfulness that the particular service depot now obtains all his business.