APRES LE SALON.
Page 9
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By "The Inspector."
COMING HOME afresh after ,a few weeks in France, it seemed curious to pick up the London papers and to 'find columns of reports of the evidence that is being given by the contestants for official recognition as the inventor of the Tank. I suppose it really Matters,. but I very much disubt if the pitblio. has miseh patiencewith these sectional contests. 'They are relatively trivial when they are ;Placed in their proper perspeCtive *ith the ten thou-sand-and-one other factors in the history of the past five years. I have already expressed myself in these columns as convinced that the life and soul of Tank inventiveness was Sir William Tritton—a very svorlaiy representative of our own industry., I had the fortune to be associated with him to some degree when his firm had just reached the stage of pushing out the• first few dozens of Tanks to the Front. And whether he -was the first man to thinksthat the only way to get an armoured bar over rough ground was by means of caterpillar tracks, I don't know. I imagine the idea .was a pretty common one before the war—when caterpillars and their cross-country capacity were quite well knOwn.' But I do 'know that. had it not been for Tritton's energy and initiative, the first Tacks would not have been in France for months after their actual appearance.
Overseas Expansion versus Personal Kudos.
So I came back to England full of impressions as to the future of commercial-motoring abroad, to find exceptional attention being paid to this contest for Tank credit.' I had had a glimpse of the mighty commercial 'problems awaiting us overseas, after long talks with men from China and Uruguay, Greece, Spain and the Argentine, Russia, Siam and Germany, and it was a little bit of a shock to find so much attention being paid to so domestic and relatively unimportant a matter as Tank authorship. Perhaps, a little later, it may be of interest if I try to set down a few of the impressions of overseas business possibilities as revealed at the Show in a general way, but, for the moment,' there are a few ether and smaller ideas that have ,stuck in my head, ideas which
may as well bring to the light of day while I remember 'thorn.
Ignorance of British Plans.
Particularly was I astonished to find the number of foreign and Britishvisiters to the Salon alike, who expressed their intention of visiting Olympia next month, with the object of studying our Britis.h commercial vehicles.yery,tlaoroughly. When told that no such . machines were to he includect they were astonished. One man from The Hague, to whom I talked, decieled; there and then, not to collie to London, as he only, wanted to see the industrial models---and lie, had already booked his pasSage arid hotell And so it was -with not a few quite well-known Britishess who were in Faris for •the Salon.; they werc, (-pileof opinion that Olympia would be a mixed show. -Few of them knew the date within a few weeks. Surely there is something a little wrong in the manner and nature of Olympia publicity if all this uncertainty exists, as it undoubtedly does. Particularly does it appear that the Piffilieity .Overseas has been inadequate, in sonic way or other. Have the Exhibition authorities made really 'World-wide efforts to attract visitors from the. four corners of the earth as they have been drawn to the French industry's display?
On Standardized Stands. .
. It is generally the custoin to praise the Salon method of standardized sign and decorative schemes, but I am-inclined to think this is a, conclusion that is arrived at without real consideration. Such a policy of course ensures a generally pleasing result for the Show as a whole, but it is monotonous and a wee bit Citing. There is no individuality in the displays. So far as touring cars ancbbicycics and their chassis are concerned, except in detail, the general contour is much the same nowa.days. As a coup d'ceil, all stands look much alike, and it is, in my opinion, doubtful policy, from the Show point of view, to neglect any method that will whip up the easily-bored interest of the quickly-wearied visitor. Uniformity of slisj5lay tends to emphasize the boredom. Our own method, so far adopted, is on the whole, I contend, much -more attractive, and, judging by the Salon charges, no more expensive. We shall see what Olympia looks like. And I shall be surprised if we do not properly decide to proceed with a scheme that gives each exhibitor the .Chance of outshining his competitors, not=necessarily by lavish expenditure, hut at least by taste, colour scheme, discrimination, and originality. Standardization is the epitaph of originality.
A Commercial Vehicle Show Wanted.
Then, again, I would urge that the associations concerned. get busy with consideration of a proper industrial vehicle show for England. The Paris display was a very poor one, on the whole. More and mere is it evident that Britain, at present, leads the world so far as commercial motors, are concerned, and, if for no other reason, it appears to me to be up to us to tell the world se. The industry should afford it, even if, generally speaking, it is, at the moment, choked with orders. And, as part of it, there should be an officiallYsorganized display of British war-time automobiles. There was one at the Salon. It was but poorly representative and was badly. staged. Here we could do much better, and it would be an immense draw. It would also lalaZe the fact far and wide that the British industrial vehicle played an enormous and preponderant part in achieving victory.
Traffic Congestion and Chaos.
A. wonder how many readers of The Commercial Motor realize the chaotic state of transport in France to-day, or know that fresh railway godds traffic is entirely suspended, from time bO tim6, to enable the _authorities to get some sort. of clearance.. The lines are choked with empty German trucks and unrepaired boos. Goods yards and docks are simply chaos. The effect of 50n heavy lorries working to-Clear Havre docks, for instance, would he remarkable. Cases of ears andwagons, locomotives, valuable machinetools, wood-working machinery, and tRoirsands of agricultural implements have been lying .there for nabriths in the open, cases broken and parts stolen, much of it red rut---'and a very great deal of it is American. American hustle does not seem very evidentto those who walk past lines of Hupntobiles and similar American cars in smashed cases with grass growing round them, American cultivators and all other classes of agricultural tackle, Baldwin locos. and so on. There is an expensive American Universal grinderlying out in the open with half its ease gone and best part of its accessories. I was told, on what appeared to be reliable authority, that at least 50,000 francs worth of such Stuff "disappears " from Havre docks every day. Some hustle! I