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That was the year...
Page 13
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CM was launched in 1905; for our centenary year we're bringing you stories from years gone by. This week we're back in 1934 and 1984.
1934
Alcatraz became a federal prison;bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and shot dead and Donald Duck made his debut in a Silly Symphonies animated short. Italy won the football world cup on home ground.
No amateurs please
CM warned the numerous would-be entrants to the haulage industry that being simply an enthusiast would lead to disappointment: "The majority appears to know little regarding the difficulties with which they will have to contend, some, indeed, not realising that there is any such thing as a licensing system for goods vehicles..."
Don't forget to write!
Blatantly asking for letters to be sent to your publication is a desperate ploy, but perhaps thoughts were directed elsewhere in l 934.0r was there another reason?
Commercial Motor thought: -The average operator or driver of a commercial vehicle is somewhat reluctant to put his thoughts and opinions into writing, due, possibly to an innate conservatism....every letter sent to us receives the closest consideration."
Water into wine...
CM reported that Frenchman M. Albert Saheurs had developed an idea of "transmuting salt water to motor spirit, an apparatus of apparent simplicity which incorporates nothing secret beyond his catalytic agent". A "reputable authority" even told the publication he had successfully used some of the fuel drawn from the apparatus in his own car.
1984
The biggest exam shake-up ever in British education for over -10s was announced, with 0-levels and CSEs replaced with GCSEs Virgin Atlantic began its inaugural flight;36 of Britain and Ireland's top pop musicians gathered to record Do They Know It Christmas? to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Pitting wits
T&G union drivers were asked to show solidarity and give their full support to the National Union of Mineworkers strike against pit closures. However,a pit strike in South Wales had managed to dull the "potential effects of a one-day strike" to try to press operators to meet a £96 basic wage rate being sought by the T& CT.
You're doing... what now?
The RHA wrote to Chancellor Nigel Lawson asking whether he'd made a mistake in his Budget over the new rates of vehicle excise duty. The trade association believed the government's consultation document on VED pointed to a cut in the rate for heavy vehicles. Instead the reverse took place.
Just not fair
Dais managing director Phil Ives continued his complaint against the BBC for an alleged "anti-lorry programme" that was broadcast the previous month. Brass Tacks had made no reference to Dal', but the MD replied this allowed the manufacturer to be "objective in its view of the programme". As it was, as a lorry operator, Dal believed "it had been smeared by the programme's allegations".