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Passing Comments
Page 52
Page 53
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From a Mayoral Parlour
no ECENTLY the Mayor of Eastbourne, Ald. S. M. " Caffyn, who is well known in the motor industry, -claimed that his borough was the first municipality to operate motorbuses. This was in 1903 and the
inhabitants were very proud of that fact. The services had been started with four vehicles, of which three were normally in operation while the fourth was held in reserve. He did not believe that a reserve of 25 per cent, was needed in these later days but he sometimes wondered whether it had been sufficient in the early years Eastbourne has a little grievance against private enterprise in transport. In 1925, 100,000 acres of the land around the town, particularly in the vicinity of Beachy Head, were purchased, but although this area is all within the borough the corporation buses are not permitted to carry people up there, as the Southdown Company got in first.
At Eastbourne rising costs forced the cutting down of the frequencies of some services during the winter and the fuel tax added its large quota to these costs, and just as the closing down of many of the cinemas and theatres had led the Chancellor of the Exchequer to cut the Entertainment Tax, so, Md. Caffyn believes, the cutting down of the transport services to the public ought to lead to a reduction in the fuel tax.
Other operators, not only in the municipal sphere, will undoubtedly strongly endorse his view. The punitive nature of this impost on commercial road transport is a direct addition to the cost of living. hitting both fares and the carriage of goods. and its Rig
removal, or at least a large reduction, should receive the immediate attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It should not have to await possible inclusion in the next Budget.
Tickets of Leave
A RE ticket machines all they are sometimes made
out to be? Probably the answer is that this depends upon the type selected, with the qualification. that, as with other mechanical equipment, attention to them is essential at intervals dependent upon their skilful handling and the number of tickets with which they deal.
The Setright machines employed by Southdown are inspected and, if necessary, adjusted after issuing 100,000 tickets, which means a usage of from 7-12 months according to the services on which they are employed. Of course, conductors being human, there are cases of earlier failure where there has been meddling with their mechanism, such as the insertion of pieces of paper to avoid some figures being printed!
In .several cases in London, however, members of the staff of this journal have recently seen exasperated conductors tinkering with such equipment because it has ceased to function. A few days ago, one was heard to remark "Why can't they keep these machines in order?'
According to -various reports the main trouble appears to be jamming caused by small pieces of the paper on which the printing is done: Some conductors on the Brighton and Hove buses seem to have the same trouble, but their machines can be opened.
Spending £65m. to Effect
WORK on the modernization and expansion
scheme of the Ford Motor Company is proceeding apace and the new parts depot at Aveley, to which reference was made recently, whilst being in itself a great development, is only the first completed major unit in this £65m. plan. Other, and even greater, projects are rapidly, coming to fruition.
There is a foundry building covering about 260,000 sq. ft. in which will be produced special castings, such as those for cylinder blocks and heads, and for large tractors. Other castings will continue to be made at the present foundry but under better working conditions. In line with these, is an extension of coke and gas facilities, including two gasometers, each with a capacity of 5m. cu. ft.
At Basildon, the growing town and industrial centre in Essex, there will be a new Ford manufacturing plant, covering 10 acres of a 17-acre site costing some £2m., which is almost completed. When in full production, it is expected to have a daily output of 70 tons of machined parts and 2,400 radiators.
An even bigger undertaking is the new press shop which is being combined with an extension to the existing press shop of Briggs Motor Bodies Ltd.
Over £8m. is also being spent on an assembly building, the activities of which will include painting and trimming. These activities do not complete the list, but are indicative of the rapid and remarkable progress being made.
Reflections From Shell and B.P.
TO mark the 25th anniversary of the formation of Shell-Mex and B.F. as the British marketing and distribution company for the Shell and British Petroleum groups, the company have published for their staff an interesting booklet entitled: "The First 25 Years."
Consisting of 74 pages aild With a foreword by Mr. C. M. Vignoles, 0.B.E., the managing director, this well-illustrated production presents the work. of many craftsmen and artists, some named but many anonymous. It recalls the famous topical advertisements which helped to make " Shell " and " B.P." almost household words, and provides an excellent permanent record of the company's activities.