Democracy
Page 73
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'THREE officers of 1/353 bus branch of the Transport and I General Workers' Union have been " honoured " for their part in depriving Londoners of their buses for Seven weeks this year. Their fellow members of the Union, I learn, felt that their work "was worthy of signal recognition."
Off the Beam
I WENT to a meeting of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (Automobile Division) to improve my knowledge of "Accessibility in Vehicle Design." What did I hear? Well, there was a discussion on the spot-welding of lawn mowers (an exhibition piece was passed round for inspection) and a heated debate on the design of bearings for vacuum cleaners. It was not an evening for anyone seeking escape from reminders of domestic responsibility—and even less inspiring to anyone wishing to learn about the inaccessibility of components on commercial vehicles.
Raising the Wind
ARS. JEAN HALL, who organizes the Weymouth round of 'VI the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition, is looking for ideas to raise a prize fund for next year's event. She has gathered in £10 from a " coffee morning" (a form of social activity outside my experience) and hopes to raise further funds from a mannequin parade. Whether or not lorry drivers are to be the models, I do not know. For the moment she is sturtiped for further ideas and would welcome suggestions, but I have no doubt that the money. will be found.
This Week's Poser
WHAT is a caryatid—and a headless one at that? The answer is supplied by a Finsbury plumber, whose oil painting of the mysterious thing is one of five which he has hanging in the London Transport Art Exhibition at Charing Cross Underground station. He is 42-year-old Fred Bullough and he has had his paintings accepted at the first attempt.
The exhibition is open until December 13 and is well worth a visit.
Hat Trick
IUIR. MERVYN J. 1VTILES has two hats and although, unlike AWL Janus, he has only one head, he has succeeded in wearing both at once. One hat is labelled "Coventry Public Relations Officer" and the other, " Road Safety Officer," a post which includes the donkey work for the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition. As public relations officer he has issued a splendid street map of Coventry in book form, which lorry
drivers will find most useful and has included a couple of strip cartoons on road safety.
Mr. Ronald A, Fearnley, general manager of the transport department, has collaborated by supplying a map of the city's bus services. Three hats are obviously better than 'one.
Doctor's Orders
I WAS sorry to learn the other day that for the next month I or two B.R.S. will be without the services of that " go-getter," Mr. H. Rossington, London district manager (general haulage). He had to drop out of the haulage battle for a couple of months during the summer, and now the intense pressure of work has caught up with him again.
On doctor's orders he must now take life easily for perhaps three months or more. I am sure his colleagues and competitors alike will wish him a speedy return to good health.
Guinea Question
Ii–NOES a tour attract glamour by being priced in guineas LI instead of honest pounds? It is high time this obsolete and misleading unit of currency was abolished in all walks of life.
The Wary Major
"ONCE .bitten, twice shy" is a proverb which appears to have been taken to heart by Maj. F. W. Firminger, Metropolitan divisional organizer of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. When he was invited to watch British Road Services drivers being presented with safe-driving awards in London, last week, he decided to make his own way to the ceremony.
It was a different story last year, when B.R.S. officials accompanied him. He met them at their South Eastern divisional headquarters and while he was in the building a lift door was slammed in his face. Consequently, he was a poor advertisement for Rospa when he faced the drivers with blood and bruises still evident.
Literally Speaking
A LTHOUGH last week's presentations went off smoothly, it Pl. was rather an unfortunate evening for Mr. W. C. Webster, divisional staff officer. First he told us that the drivers might have had accidents, but they would have been "undetected.' This observation was soon quashed by the divisional manager, Mr. A. J. Wright, who pointed out that even a dented mudguard was taken into account.
Mr. Webster, however,
stuck to his guns. It was "literally impossible," he said, to drive for 20 years without mishap. Did any of the men in front of him, some of them with more than 30 years' apparently clean driving records, feel a twinge of conscience?
Slippery Business
THERE was no more surprised I driver than 25-year-old Derek Laycock, of Sheffield, when he changed gear and the cab of his lorry rose 10 ft. into the air. His 7-ton load of strip steel, treated with oil to protect it from the weather, had slid backwards. It was secured laterally, but not longitudinally. This small oversight cost him £2 and his employers O.
Greasy loads as well as roads can give trouble.