rd's-eye View By The Hawk
Page 63
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No Profit on Bull-fights
'AGGING cattle at farms is not the duty of drivers of livestock vehicles, although sonic men, anxious to :elerate their departure, have been in the habit of doing so en the load has been awaiting collection. Lfr. F. Nuttall, an area transport officer for the Fatstock irketing Corporation, recently warned hauliers against s practice. Many times the work can be done safely, but !re is no long-term gain for the operator if, after a real a bull-fight has developed, he -discovers his helpfulness Jnauthorized and ranks not as part of the job, but merely a spare-time amusement. Stock should, of course, be ;ged by the farmer ready for the haulier's arrival.
emnant of Romance
S roadt transport has climbed into the near-big-business bracket, so some of the charm of 25 or 30 years ago has en lost. So, in the hard post-war world, it must be wonted a privilege to be acquainted with one who bears romantic-sounding title, " Manager—Country Transport." Mr.A, D. C. Strick, of J. Bibby and Sons, Ltd., who will recalled as a former assistant chief engineer of the Northastern Road Car Co., Ltd., and transport supervisor to the icuum Oil Co., Ltd.,' holds this office. His newest iponsibility involves the local distribution of the Bibby ttle-food products from well over 100 strategic centres.
eady Reference
TOT everybody has the inclination, or the accommodation, ! to have technical journals bound up and preserved. But they are thrown away after one reading, much valuable fiarmation, often required subsequently, goes to waste. A mpromise is to extract the items most likely to be useful future, paste them in a scrap book and index them. I was reminded of the value of this method when il. W. H. Slack, North-Western Gas Board headquarters insport officer, ran to earth some desired information far ore quickly than I could have managed with the aid of my vn volumes. Col. Slack, responsible for a busy 1,000bide transport system, has no call for dust-gathering bookelves so long as the highlights of the technical Press are-so adily at his finger-tips.
egal Gift
"OUR1NG the Home Counties under the guidance of a
• well-known vehicle manufacturer, an African of some iportance displayed great interest in a four-poster bed at formed part of the furnishings of a stately home that as on public 'view. Before he left the country, he was vited to select a parting gift. Could he, he asked, have four-poster bed? Such a bed was duly obtained and forwarded to his .pital. On arrival it proved to occupy a large proportion • the principal room in the grass-walled palace of the ddsky onarch. To meet the situation his throne was strung up the roof. All went well for three days. On the third ght the throne fell and killed the monarch's second wife. The moral of this story is, of course, that however much they are willing to assist the British exporter, people who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones.
Horses were Faster
0LD-FASHIONED people have a nasty habit of eXpecting letters they post one afternoon to be delivered first thing the following morning. At a recent gathering of hauliers hard words were said on the fact that, despite the growth of the motor fleet which carries the mail, the facilities now fall a long way behind those of the horse-drawn era. • When the first postal delivery materializes at 9.30 a.m., or after, there is apt to be some slight annoyance on the part of the early-rising fraternity, particularly if new instructions arise long after the day's Work is on its way. Things are even _worse when the letters that do arrive prove to have originated a couple of days or so earlier. Those who follow Parliamentary discussions will know that at least one M.P. is trying to arrest the deterioration in the postal services. If they do improve, much of the credit must go to Lt.-Col. W. Bromley Davenport.
Modest Harrogate
HARROGATE, where Road Haulage Association members will direct their wheels this autumn, modestlal Claims the title of " Britain's Conference Centre," and produces a rather smart luggage label to prove it. Among advance visitors I have espied in the town is Mr. Frank Milton, R.H.A. Northern Area secretary. I-fe is progressing well with his share of the conference arrangements. A task as yet Uncompleted is said to be the inspection of northern girls' choirs that may rival the Dagenham Girl Pipers.
Not So .Retiring
THERE are two kinds of " retirement." In the case of 1. Mr. L. H. Challis, until recently, certifying officer in the Northern Area, his departure after a ,quarter of a century of work with the Traffic Commissioners and their successors will undoubtedly be to the inverted-commas variety of retirement. After being confined by the boundaries of his official area, he is now travelling farther afield, having set up as a transport consultant. I gather that his expert opinion is being sought on the working of a section of an important nationalized undertaking. Up to the time heijeined the Ministry of Transport in 1930, Mr. Challis, who is a chartered mechanical engineer, was engaged in the motor industry.
Light-fingered
A GOOD deal of ingenuity has at times been devoted to .1-1 the evolution of devices that check unauthorized interference with parcel-van loads, but usually they slow down work. Only in London have I seen guard dogs gnashing their teeth as they sit on the tailboard.
Back in the Middle East, 10 years or so ago, some vehicles for which I was responsible used to make regular journeys along a road Where, at one point, progress was slowed by steep hills and sharp turns. Here the " klifty-wallahs " used to leap up, climb over the tailboard and throw out anything that promised a trading reward. To combat the trouble, men of action with stout staves were sometimes hidden among the loads. They dealt out swift vengeance as soon as fingers came over the edge. Guards from coloured units assigned to this duty are reputed to have disdained the staves and employed machetes.