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Passing Comments

5th March 1948, Page 22
5th March 1948
Page 22
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Page 22, 5th March 1948 — Passing Comments
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Wasre is Unfamiliar IT is claimed by the Austin

Word at the Austin Motor Co., Ltd., that in its

Works. huge works at Longbridge,

Birmingham, no scrap of scrap is really scrapped. Thus, put into figures, for the past year there were 27,000 tons of scrap and no waste. Steel from the stampings and borings, if made into

a strip 1-in. wide and thick, would more than encircle the world. An even greater length of A-in. wire Could be made from scrap yellow metal, the weight of which each year exceeds that of a modern locomotive. It all goes into the blast furnaces for resmelting. The scrap aluminium and light alloys would be sufficient to build 5$ prefabs., if it were not reclaimed for constructing motor vehicles. Reclaimed oil, if it were fuel, would run a doubledecker bus five times the distance between London and Tokyo. Some 80 tons of waste paper Went for repulping, and many tons of scrap leather find their way into the production of boots and shoes, any unsuitable material being absorbed in the production of artificial fertilizers. Scraps Of head cloth and calico

A20 amount to about 10 tons. Much goes to the glove trade and some into the making of paper, whilst scrap carpet material is used in a variety of trades—for toys, polishing pads, the inner soles of slippers, etc. Smaller pieces suitable for pulling to form felt return to the factory as this material.

TH E new Committee on Road Safety set up recently by the Ministry of Transport as a permanent organization, following the report of the earlier Committee, has a lengthy list of members. It seems, however, that not one is directly concerned with the maintenance of vehicles, yet we would . have thought that this particular activity is one of the most vital in the prevention of aecidents. The Institute of Road Transport Engineers offered its services in this direction, but received merely a letter of thanks from Mr. Callaghan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry, who is presiding over the Committee.

Is the Road Safety Committee Fully Representative? . .

A Well-known R.H.A. WE were interested to learn Member Enters the " that Mr. Eric R. Taylor, Political Arena . . J.P., who was one of the

earliest members of the Road Haulage Association, was for several years chairman of the Metropolitan Area Hauliers' Sectional Board and is now chairman of the Metropolitan Road Haulage Wages Board, has been adopted as the prospective Conservative candidate for the constituency of East Ham South. Mr, Taylor has been a redoubtable opponent of the nationalization of road transport, and it is amusing to note that the present Minister of Transport, Mr. A. Barnes, is the Member for that constituency. Incidentally, Mr. Taylor claims to have been the first London operator licensed under the 1933 Road and Rail Traffic Act. There is no doubt that he will have a tough fight when the battle opens, but he is well known in the area, and under his usual courtesy of manner, hides a determined spirit.

Excellent Records of A N interesting little booklet British Vehicles In r-k comes from Australia. It Australia deals with what owners say

about the first half-million British Bedfords, or at least, some of them. Many thousands of these went to that country, and one of the earliest, a 30-cwt. of 1931 vintage, has the engine number 236. Up to the beginning of the recent war it had run 159,000 miles, and then operated for 3-1years exclusively on producer gas, following which it was sold, and is still averaging 22 m.p.g. One operator with a 1936 W.H.G model claims to have travelled with it over 500,000 miles, carrying up to five tons of coal on each trip. The owner, Mr. A Dennis, of Rix's Creek, says that the engine has been reconditioned only once. With two rebores and a resleeve, a 10-year-old Bedford bus has covered 400,000 miles, often carrying 50 people. It is owned by Balmoral Motors, of Victoria. Many other striking examples of longevity are given


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