Protest Processions Range from Glasgow to Plymouth
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1311 ROCESSIONS of haulage I vehicles in protest against the revocation of original permits and to arouse interest in the 'fransport (Amendment) Bill are now being organized by the Road Haulage Association all over the country. In many of them, the famous white elephant, symbol of nationalized transport, will be carried.
The first parade to be held in Scotland will take place in Glasgow on February 10, to be followed by one in Edinburgh on February 17.
In the West Midlands, the home of the white elephant, processions will be staged in Stourbridge on February 8, Dudley (for the second time) on February 10 and Wolverhampton on February 17.
Demonstrations are scheduled to be held also in Leamington and London, but the dates are so far unknown. Efforts are being made to arrange a parade in Southampton on February 17.
Two White Elephants Last Saturday, processions were staged in Plymouth and Coventry, in both of which models of a white elephant figured.
The Plymouth demonstration. organized by the Devon and Cornwall Area of the R.H.A.. represented operators from every part of the area. Driven by employees who had volunteered their services, the vehicles came from places as far as Penzance in the extreme west of Cornwall, Barnstaple in North Devon and Seaton in East Devon. The big contingent from Cornwall made an impressive show when it crossed the River Tamar by the Torpoint Ferry.
Between 150 and 200 vehicles, of a wide variety of types. assembled in Embankment Road, Plymouth, which runs parallel with the estuary of the Plym. The convoy was parked nose to.tail and stretched for about a mile. Shortly after 2 p.m. the assembly moved off, headed by a loud-speaker van which explained to the public the reason for the demonstration. Behind it was a vehicle carrying a white elephant. All the vehicles were liberally plastered with posters.
. Through Plymouth's Centre .
After parading through the principal streets of Plymouth and Devonport, the procession dispersed in the neighbourhood of the Plymouth Argyle Football Club's ground at Horne Park.
Mr. W. E. Foster, area secretary of the R.H.A., said that he was well pleased with the event. The Coventry, Atherstone, Rugby and Stratford Warwick Leamington sub-areas of the R.H.A. were represented in the Coventry procession, which consisted of 130 vehicles. The number would have been greater, but some vehicles from Atherstone had been called to an emergency job at the open-cast coal mines. Four loudspeaker vans were used to publicize the injustices of the 25-mile 14114.
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A representative of The Commercial Motor" spoke to many of the drivers who took part in the procession. They all declared their determination never to become employees of the Road Haulage Executive. A driver who had worked for nearly three years for the RUE., complained that there were too many people at the top who did not know their jobs.
He said that although the drivers were blamed for inefficiency, money was wasted on unnecessary things, and the men could not earn a fair wage. He added that where three people had done the office work under private enterprise, 20 were employed by the R.H.E., in addition to four calculating machines costing £1.000 each.
Another driver said that it was essential to have respect for one's employer, but it was impossible to respect the R.H.E., because it did not know how to run a business.
COMMER PATENTS NOVEL OIL ENGINE
AN engine comprised of three parallel and horizontally disposed cylinders, each carrying a pair of pistons, forms the subject of Patent No. 648,117, taken out by Commer Cars. Ltd., Luton.
The pistons are connected to the crankshaft, which lies beneath the cylinders, by a rocker arm and a pair of connecting rods, one connecting rod being secured to a piston and the other to the crankshaft. The crankshaft is mounted at right angles to the cylinders and below them.
Working on the compression-ignition principle, the combustion chamber is formed between the piston crowns of pairs of opposed pistons. The unit is designed to carry the accessories on the top of the cylinder block, where they are most accessible. It is intended that such a unit should be mounted beneath the driver's seat.
Other designs covered by the patent include an opposed-cylinder unit, and one with cylinders set in V formation.