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"---and the Puick." Long-winded Co-ops. R,mless Wheels. By 'The Extractor."
Lamps Alight.
Light up your lamps at. : —4.29 on Thursday, 4.28 on Friday, 4.27 on Saturday, 4.26 on Monday., 4.25 on Tuesday, 4.24 on Wednesday. The above times are for London. In Edinburgh light up 20 mins.: later, Newcastle 19 mins. later, Liverpool 34 mins. later, Birmingham 33 mins. later, Bristol 40 mins. later. For Dublin the lighting-up time reckoned in the local meantime for the district is 22 mins. later than London time.
Beefless.
Tommy Atkins' high spirits and love. of fun account for much. He cheerfully faces hardships, and gets a laugh in whenever he can. I caught sight of a Peerlees truck the other day, full of grown-up lads in khaki, all hugely delighted with the amusement they were causing by a slight alteration of the letter P iii the name on the back and front of their wagon.
When the Co-op. Turns Up En Bloc.
The talk turned on to the difficulties which occasionally befall the salesman of commercial motors. There was a unanimity of opinion that the most difficult case was when a committee of a co-operative society turned up to buy their first lorry. Saturday afternoon is their favourite time, and they are the oddest conglomeration. There are invariably one or more staunch teetotallers, some of the others are quite different, there is generally a, Socialist and ofttimes a local preacher or two. They like to visit the local co-operative society and exchange opinions, then they have a trial run and their tea, and whether they finally decide in favour or not, there is interminable emeunt of talk, and the salesman spends the reMainder of the week-end recuperating.
Where There's a Wheel There's a Way.
An exciting war incident is revealed in the letter below, received from a correspondent. The experience speaks well for steel wheels.
" There are other motorists besides the men in the, Mechanical Transport-and the drivers of Staff officers and bearers of despatches who have their exciting moments on the field of war. G. H. Hardwick, of Liverpool, an ambulance driver for the Red Cross Society, has recently returned from Belgium, where he had several remarkable experiences, but none Co striking as that which occurred to him one night late in July, when he was at MOM with the MN Field Ambulance, employed in fetching wounded men from the trenches to the dreSsing station—work which can only be done at night. "on the night in question—which was the first en which the Germans employed liquid fire—Hardwick, driving a Darracq, had Made two journeys:and went back to the trenches for the third time about 2.30 a.m. He had waited for 20 minutes While the men were being collected, when the Germans sent up a signal to attack, and with the bullets and shells coming. over, Hardwick had to stop there for 35 minutes during that attack. Then the enemy started sending liquid fire over and Hardwick was told to get away. He had stopped half-way down the field In take up two stretcher bearers, and was restarting when a small high-explosive shell burst close to his ambulance and a portion et the shell struck the v, heel, broke the rim, and blew the tire off. He dared not stay there to change his wheel, as the enemy were commencing to sweep the district between' the trenches, and the nearest, place for practical. safety Was Ypres, a distance of 21 miles. After he had started away he felt the wheel drop on to the flat at each revolution just like a railway carriage does with a flat tire, and each time it came round this became more triondunced. After a while the sound of the wheel changed entirely and he couldfeel the vibra
tion of every spoke in turn as it touched the ground, and he realized that the rim had coma away, but he ran safely into Ypres, and delivered his charge in this fashion. He expresses the firm opinion that had the wheel been any other than a Sankey he would never have got away. As it was, he managed to reach the dressing station in safety.
"The wheel which was damaged was a rear one, and although he drove the greater part of the distance on the short spokes, the brake drums did not. foul except when a lump in the road was encountered, The axle was not damaged, though severe strain had been put upon the bearings, but with the exception of the brake toggles being bent little real damage was done. At the end of the journey the wheel was taken down by a mechanic and changed. A photo. of the wheel was taken. The wheel was then cut up by the officers for souvenirs."
.011a Podrida.
After representing Halley Industrial Motors for a, spell of eight years in Lancashire and district, Mr.. T. Butterworth has transferred his allegiance to the House of Clayton. Henceforward he will devote his undoubted energies to the sale of the Karrier Come
mercial vehicles in the same territory.
Enterprising people can get on practically anywhere; Knape and Sons of Burnley are -old-established coachbuilders, who have, most naturally, turned to pleasure motors, then with further prescience to the commercial vehicle. No Matter if Burnley is on the fringe of Lancashire, Knape's are pushing, practical people and are making strides. Their record output of come. mercial motors up to now for a single week is 20.
It is with the keenest regret I hear of the death of Mr. Joseph Stafford, late Secretary of the M.T.A., and formerly of the Agents Section -of the S.M.M.T. He was a man of consuming energy and force, his enthusiasm was unbounded, and he was withal a lovable personality, original too in thought and manner' gifted with great humour and resource, ho convinced his bearers by his sheer earnestness. Stafford was a born Labour leader, and had he lived he wouldsooner or later have been in Parliament. No wonder then he was -a great success in his post, and his untimely demise will be sorely felt inthe motor trade. When it was seen, ashort while ago, that his health was completely failing, he was -suceeeded,_ at the Motor Trade Association, by Mr. Edgar. de Normanville, who was Assistant Editor of our sister paper "The Motor."
A "Want Card" Tale.
The strenuous nature of the varied duties imposed upon the 0.0. Fund staff in connection with its greatly-increased organization is by no means infrequently relieved by humorous communications from cheery members of the Corps for which they are all working. One such instance has recently been related to me, and it will serve to illustrate this point.. It should be borne ii mind that the "Went Card," which has been issued in tens of thousands, is a highly successful attempt to instruct Tommy phonetically how to make himself understood in F'rench. Below is an extract from a letter from a member of one of the A.S.C. depot units :— " While I think of it, there is something uncanny about that Want Card published by ME COMMERCIAL MOTOTZ. We tried it on a Frenchman once, and after about 21) minutes gymnastics he asked in pure English what on earth we were talking about and what it was we wanted. He said he thought we were Seryians." ; • The comments of the author, our Assistant Editor, the are-suppressed. We are rundesirous to distuebEntente Cordiale.