Unprovoked Aggression
Page 59
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
UP to last week, attacks by the British Transport Commission C-licence holders had been purely yerbal. They have now become physical violence. Four delegates to last week's quarterly meeting of the national council of the Traders' Road Transport Association at Scarborough were showered with glass when the door of tlieir railway compartment was sucked open by another train travelling at high speed south of Doncaster.
Mr. R. D, B. Rowbotham, vice-chairman of the London and Home Counties Division, had a particularly narrow escape. With him were Mr. R. V. Pohlman and Mr. E. S. Kirkland, chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the Herts Area, and Mr. R. E. G. Brown, secretary of the London and Home Counties Division, who shared the railways' offering.
Closed (Beer) Shop
THE revolution in Iraq last week overshadowed an event scarcely less tragic. Suppliers of beer in London were threatened for 24 hours by a strike of drivers employed at the •Stepney breweries of Mann Crossman and Paulin. The men stopped work because the brewers hired transport to deal with peak traffic and thus reduced the opportunities of earning overtime. The choice lay between a closed shop and a closed pub.
From Banwaketse
BATHOEN II, Paramount Chief of the Banwaketse. Bechuanaland, was a colourful visitor to Albion Motors, Ltd., during his tour of Britain under the auspices of the British Council. He was particularly anxious to inspect the works because he owns a couple of Albions, One is a Victor bus and the other is, appropriately, a Chieftain lorry. They operate over 40miles of rough road between Kanye and the trunk railway linking Mateking and Southern Rhodesia.
One of Chief Bathoen's greatest pleasures during the visit was a two-mile ride to the service department at Yoker in a splendid Albion 24 h.p. touring car built in 1908. It made his day.
Youth at the Helm
PROBABLY the youngest driver who will be competing in the final of the Lorry Driver of the Year competition at Baginton aerodrome, near Coventry, on September 21, will be 20-year-old Martyn Draper, who won Class D in a Dodge platform lorry at the Southend eliminating round. He is the brother of Mr. David Draper, of Messrs, Draper's Transport, Grays, local sub-area chairman of the Road Haulage Association, who gained further satisfaction at this event in that Martyn and his fellow drivers, B. Quick and W. Addison, carried off the team prize and six other awards.
Support from Above
AGRATIFYING aspect of the competition is the personal interest that transport managers and other company executives are taking in the performances by their drivers. The number, of managers present at the Slough round, for instance, was notable. This interest is greatly to be encouraged and I hope there will be a first-class turn-out of top brass at i3aginton. But if some of the eliminating rounds continue to take nine hours to complete, I advise cheer-leaders to equip themselves with shooting sticks or camp chairs.
Incidentally, I hear that the organizers of the Slough contest are likely for the first time to send a representative to Coventry for meetings of the national committee.
The Answer
HAVE been playfully, accused of kite-flying when I said on July 4 that 8-ft.-wide semi-trailers were essential for transporters of large cars and that some operators would be in difficulty. when, next year, it becomes illegal to use such vehicles under trade plates. My baiter asked doubtfully what British car needed an 8-ft.-wide transporter.
I have it on the authority of Carrimore Six Wheelers, Ltd., who know as much as anyone in this country about car transporters, that 5 ft. 9* in. is the greatest width of car that can be hauled on a semi-trailer 7 ft. 6 in. wide. Larger cars up to 6. ft. 11 in. wide, such as the big Humbers and Jaguars, need an 8-ft. transporter.
Anybody's Guess
WHEN asked about the economies which London TransIN port were making, Mr. Harold Watkinson, Minister of Transport, gave the perfect Parliamentary answer. " I do not think they will impair the services," he said, " but they will no doubt materially reduce them."
According to "The Concise Oxford Dictionary," " impair " and " reduce " both mean " weaken." You pay your money and you take your ch'oice.
Dream Prize
HOW many boys have dreamt of possessing a 2.4-litreiaguar'? The dream has come true for 18-year-old Bryan M. Duffy, of Woking, who has won such a car, presented by Sir William Lyons, in a competition 'run by the Motor and Cycle Trades Benevolent Fund. The second prize of a Morris 1000 'car wdrit to Dr. A. D. Hoffman, of Devizes.
Both cars' have the appropriate registration letters of BEN. The Competition has raised some €13,300 towards Ben's nursing home and general endowment fund.
Museum Piece
A NEW addition to the museum of the Vintage Passenger PA Vehicle Society is to be a 1938 six-wheeled 64-seat bus, which Leicester Transport Committee agreed last week to sell to the Society at a reasonable 'price. The vehicle, came out of service only two months ago. •