Provincial Delivery of London Newspapers.
Page 12
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From a• correspondent in the Midlands we have received a photograph of one of the "Daily Chronicle" vans, snapped in Birmingham. Provincial editors, we are told, are rather sore on the subject of motorvans, for the general adoption of power-propelled vehicles has enabled the London newspapers to invade provincial cities with success. Considerable space is nowadays devoted by most of the London journals to local happenings of interest, and they are enabled to do this with the heln of the inotorvan.
A representative can be quickly dispatched to any scene of local or public interest, and a full report sent off to headquarters long before the ordinary reporter gets a look in. As an example of expeditious dispatch the van shown here was "in attendance" at the Coventry City football ground one day recently. Two photographs were taken, and the plates were developed straightway inside the van, and by six o'clock they were on the fast train to London in time to appear in the next morning's issue, a matter of about eight hours before the "daily local" was published. Furthermore, the van returned to the ground (having dispatched the plates), to "wire " off the final news of the match and to watch any later developments. Another example of smart work made possible through the aid of the motors : Each Sunday "Lloyd's News" was brought within reach of the hop-pickers in the Midlands who would otherwise be stranded all day Sunday, seeing that they are often miles from any town. The van started from Birmingham at about 2 a.m.—a powerful headlight situated on the canopy being invaluable for easy night travel. This, unfortunately, had to be removed when Warwickshire was " cleared," on account of the thick foliage, and consequently speed was slackened. The hop fields were reached at about ö a.m., and a large number of papers disposed of, much to the relief of local farmers, for no matter how early the papers got there, the "pickers" were already about " locating " breakfast.
The proprietors of the " Chronicle " pin their faith to one make of van. All the fleet—DJ—are 28 hp. Clements, and they can carry a load of one ton. They are all tired with Peter Union pneumatics. During strikes and labour troubles they run continually 100 miles a day, and breakdowns are indeed rare. The general satisfaction of the owners is evidenced by continued additions to tho fleet.