A friend of mine, who buys steel somewhat largely, asks
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me if I know of a special brand called the " Tanta].
lum. I do not, know it but it is more than likely that the makers or agents will see this journal, and, if a line is sent to me, giving the maker's name and address, I will see that it is f orwarded to the proper quarter.
Another golf competition for the Dunlop Trophy has come and gone, and the winner, Mr. F. Parkas, is a local gentleman whose name is not familiar to me. From what I can hear of the difficulties of the Coventry golf course he has acquitted himself exceeding well. Without disparaging his success I was hoping to to see one of the London contingent pull it off. Mr. F. B. Goodchild kindly offered to drive me down from town on his Oryx par but I had to be in another part of the country. Mr. A. E. Newton, of Vacuum Oil fame, pointed out to me recently a niche in his dining room which the cup could satisfactorily fill. Mr. E. J. Mitchell, of Palmer Tires, was after it also and Mr. F. B. Goodwin, who finished second last year, would he safe to make a good fight for its possession. Dunlop is a national concern, and now that Coventry has been the venue for two years i suggest. with all humility, that next year's fixture he near London and the following year near Manchester, otherwise it is almost sure to develop into an almost-local fixture, and will be kept in the hands of those who have oonstant opportunities of becoming well acquainted with the course.
In last. week's notes I asked for some assistance on the elucidation of a problem which was bothering me. I wanted to learn the distance round the earth : not the circumference of the globe as geographists and scientists work it out for us, but the mileage, by land and by sea, as we should have to proceed with a motor vehicle. I wanted the information to file, so that. I could check the statements of claimants for performances over this approximate mileage. Only one communication has reached me, and that is from the gentleman who inspired the original communication. He writes me from Land's End—where he managed to procure a copy of this journal—and his idea of helping in the controversy is to express his scornful surprise that the distance is not carefully tabulated in what passes for my brains ; he goes on with further withering remarks anent the obvious neglectfulness of my upbringing. However true his remarks may be, they do not help me. Weill I shall have to get those statistics stored up in readiness for the next man who comes along. Mr. Charles " Foden " Davies, who is the breezy individual who is the cause of all this, has supplied me with the information contained in the following paragraph, and I am pleased to reproduce such a remarkable proof of the reliability of the Foden wagon :—
Robert Carter, the driver of a Foden wagon owned by the Handforth Bleaching Co., Ltd., of Manchester, states that " he recently drove his wagon into the works for its first overhaul since it was delivered in June, 1905_ During that period, the wagon has run 56,000 miles, and has never been held up or had an involuntary stop." This is an excellent record, and reflects great credit to the driver as well as the makers, taking into account that the mileage is approximately equal to twice round the earth. The only parts which now require attention are those connected with the transmission gearing, which, of course, is very much worn after such a long mileage. The engine parts are in excellent condition, and are practically the same as when new.