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AFTER reading the altogether-admirable leading
article in your issue of January 14, I hope you will allow me to withdraw any implied criticism of the attitude of "The Commercial Motor" towards nationalization, which might have appeared in my previous letter. The later article referred to is indeed very far from defeatism.
Sometimes we have had the feeling that we were fighting a lonely battle in this matter, and such warm support from your journal is most encouraging and valuable.
Mr. J. S. Wills has asked me to say that these sentiments are shared by himself and his fellow directors.
PETER YORKE
(For The 13ritish.Electric Traction Co., Ltd') London, W.C.2.
A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE WITH AN EARLY FORD ILE glancing through some copies of The Commercial Motor," I saw an article, published in August, under the heading "Did You Drive a Model T Ford?" This brought back to ray mind many amusing incidents and experiences.
Being a woman, I thought perhaps others might care to read about them, although I can hardly believe that anyone to-day could accept some of these recollections without thinking a proportion of them to be imagination.
In 1920 my father decided to visit various market towns with loads of fish, and to do this he sold his horses and bought, first, an Oldsmobile and a Ford lorry, followed in 1921 by a Ford light van. He informed me that I must learn to drive this, although I had been trained as a shorthand typist.
My first drive without art instructor was to Shepton Mallet from Bristol. Here I had to negotiate the narrow High Street, miss droves of cattle, and turn into the market square, where overhanging tarpaulins were draped on the different stalls. The stallholders kept at a respectful distance, but gave me a cheer.
I drove continuously for four years with little trouble, although my father could not resist overloading the small vehicle, and whilst I weighed only 7 stone, he was 14. Once, when driving down a bad hill, a back wheel came off, and when we pulled up my father was'weighing me down and a workman was buried beneath an avalanche of mackerel.
I would not like, to comment on how many times the axle broke, whilst many parts were held together with hairpins. The cover for the coil never properly fitted, and at the end, of a -wet day I used to take off the coils to dry them out in front of the fir& • A plug on the transmission Was one of the most vital parts. It required little more than a hair across this to stop the engine, but I found a method of switching over the starting key, ,which permitted the engine to run long enough to reach some convenient place where the plug could be cleaned.
.In snow: and oTh icy .roads, I have had to tear up old coats and sacks and tie them:around the tyres. When Ihear now how people grumble, I feel a little proud to 'think. that I was able to make a job of con
ditions . — . ,as they were then, with no windscreen wiper—a substitute being a raw potato smeared over the glass; difficult starting on cold mornings, involving jacking up the rear wheels, and poor lights—when there were any. With all these trials and others, I noticed that many business people bought further Fords, perhaps because of the excellent distribution of spare parts, so that the van was never off the road for long.
I might add that my wage was 5s. per week plus my
keep. (MRS.) R. E. M. SMITH. Bridgwater.
FOOD TRANSPORT IN A HOT CLIMATE A S readers of your journal, we Would ask your assist
ance in a problem that is causing us some anxiety.
We recently secured a contract here for the transport of perishable foodstuffs, such as fish and meat, froni the port of Beira, in Portuguese East Africa, to Salisbury, a distance of about 500 miles. The difficulty is that temperatures of 100 degrees F. are frequent.
Obviously, some form of insulated van will be necessary, and as this represents a new form of transport to us, we would appreciate some guidance as to the construction of the body, its ventilation, how weight can be saved, the materials to employ, cavity walls, lagging, etc., for a container with a capacity of 800 cubic ft. The vehicle is a Commer petrol engined 5-6-tonner with platform dimensions of 14 ft. by 7 ft.
J. ELLis, .
Managing Director.
(For Autos (Transport), Ltd.) Salisbury, S. Rhodesia.
[An insulated van for the transport of perishable foodstuff S over long distances should have a hardwood framework with inside and outside panels of wood or metal, preferably of aluminium, so that there is about a 2-in. cavity between the inner and outer panels. This cavity must be filled with an insulating material such as Onazote. This is a lightweight expanded-ebonite material supplied by Expanded Rubber Co., Ltd., 675, Mitcham Road, Croydon, Surrey, England. Apart from double-panelled sides, ends and doors, the roof And floor should be double, with insulating material between. A sheet-metal floor is advocated, and any trap-doors which are removable should be screwed down when not in use. Doors should be fitted with rubber sealing. In view of the length of the journeys it would be desirable to install a small refrigerating plant, but the difficulty would be to arrange servicing facilities. We have placed your problem before J. and E. Hall, Ltd., Dartford, Kent, England, which is a manufacturer of refrigerating machinery, and this concern suggests that the journeys should be worked in stages, with insulated vans which deliver to depots, where refrigerating plant can be installed and serviced by a resident engineer. It also advises that you contact the company's agents, Messrs. Reunert and Lenz, P.O. Box 92, Johannesburg, particularly in view of the fact that one of their directors, Mr. R. P. Willcox, is very familiar with the subject and has considerable experience of experiments which wcre carried out in South Africa in this class of transport. We are assured that Mr. Wilcox will be pleased to give you the benefit of his experience. In America some use is made of what may be termed " cold accumulators." These are refrigerated at depots and when installed in bodies extract heat for many hours. Mr. Willcox will, no doubt, have knowledge of this meth4.—Eo.1