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SIR MILES THOMAS, D.F.C., TO LECTURE TO I.R.T.E,
rIN Thursday, October 18, at 6 p.m., 4‘..! in the library of the Royal Society of Arts, John Adam Street, Adelphi, London, W.C., Sir Miles Thomas, D.F.C., will give a lecture to members of the Institute of Road Tran§port Engineers. He will deal mainly with the way in which this new Institute can co-operate with commercial-vehicle manufacturers in improving design for home and overseas operation. In a notification sent out by the Institute, the day was, in error, given as Wednesday, Owing to the limited accommodation, admission will be confined to ticket holders.
PAINT MANUFACTURERS FORM A SOCIETY
ANEW body has been formed by producers representing an important section of the paint industry. It has been named the Society of 13ritish Paint Manufacturers, Ltd., Amberley House, Norfolk Street, London, W.C.2,
The principal object is to raise the status of the industry both nationally and internationally and to deal adequately with the many and growing problems facing the industry in its transfer from war to peace and in con
nection with its development. The chairman of the Society is Mr. C. G. Heywood (chairman, Pinchin Johnson and Co., Ltd.).
The Society is being formed into consumer divisions, serving the interests of buyers of its production and with affiliation to the trade •associations representing them. The founder members alone give employment to 8,30 people.
SAFER ROADS EXHIBITION STAGED BY B.R.F.
QN October 3, a " Better and Safer Roads Exhibition " was staged by the British Road Federation at the Museum and Art Gallery, Queen's Road, Bristol. It will close on October 13,
, The Lord Mayor .of Bristol pointed out that the three subjects—town planning, housing, and roads—were closely interdependent and must progress together.
The chairman of the B.R.F., Mr. G. N. Wilson, said that he could think of few cities likely to take -a larger interest in this great issue of roads than Bristol, which has already shown many signs of its civic consciousness in replanning its thoroughfares. Of major importance amongst the B.R.F.'s proposals is the emphasis placed on the need to avoid congestion in cities. This requires a painstaking approach from many angles. Roads must be provided to cope with fast through traffic and parking places to ease the strain on the streets, whilst pedestrians must be aided to move in comfort and safety from one side of the street to the other. Above all, safety measures must be applied to reduce the accident rate. The B.R.F. had for a.'Iong time been fighting the battle for motorways. It
a18 • wants them constructed quickly, and the system must be countrywide; especially does it wish to see London and Bristol linked by a motorway with an extension to South Wales, INSURANCE OF GROUPED VEHICLES
THE arrangements for the insurance of motor goods vehicles made by the M.O.W.T. and the insurers in connection with vehicles used in a group scheme, and for other vehicles on a certificate by an officer of the Ministry, have been extended until December 31,
BIG ORDER FROM SOUTH AFRICA
ORDERS totalling some £2,000,000 have been received by the British motor industry from the South Africa Controller of Motor Vehicles. They cover lorries, single and double-deck buses, trolleybuses and cars. This is a most encouraging addition to our export trade.
VULCAN VEHICLES FOR THE ARGENTINE
ARRANGEMENTS have been made by Vulcan Motors, Ltd., Maidstone, to ship two Vulcan machines to its distributor in the Argentine. It is thought that the Vulcan concern is one of the first commercial-vehicle manufacturers to start shipping its products overseas,
L.A. ADJOURNS VARIATION APPLICATION
THE Northern Licensing Authority, Sir John Maxwell, held a public inquiry last week in connection with.an application by Mr. Siddle C. Cook, 7, Taylor Street, Consett, Co. Durham,
for a variation to substitute a timber pole trailer of an unladen weight of 30 cwt. fo'r a, low-loader of 6 tons unladen weight. Objectors to the application were the L. and N.E.R. Co., Currie and Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne and Northumbrian Transport Services, Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead.
At the opening of the inquiry, Mr. H. L. Walker, Stockton-on-Tees, stated that he represented the applicant, who, Mr. Walker stated, was a member of the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses, Northern Area, of which he, Mr. Walker, was chairman. The Licensing. Authority ruled that he could not hear Mr. Walker in any other capacity than that of a witness.
• After it had been said for the objectors that the granting of tie applicatian would result in excess of facilities, Mr. Cook submitted that, as he had not had 'written notice of the objections, he was not in a position to offer rebutting evidence.
The Licensing Authority then intimated that he was prepared to adjourn the case to give Mr. Cook an opportunity of considering representations and objections which had been made, and the application -was adjourned.
NATIONALIZATION WOULD MEAN "MAJOR UPHEAVAL"
QTRONG resistance to nationalization5,--7 of transport is urged by the Coun
cil of Leeds Chamber of Commerce, in reply to an inquiry from the Association of British Chambers of Commerce as. to its views on post-war organization of transport.
After stressing that high efficiency in transport is an essential to the success
of industry and commerce, the reply suggests that the private enterprise basis of transport should not 1,e abandoned unless the advocates of nationalization are able to prove, beyond any question of doubt and on other than doctrinal grounds, that transfer to public ownership would increase that efficiency. A warning is sounded that, in present-day circumstances, when the industrial position requires to be sustained and helped towards its maximum state of efficiency, the major upheaval involved in nationalization could prove disastrous.
Approval of the terms of the reply was moved by Mr, Harry Clark, chairman of the Chamber's Road Transport Section and secretary of • the R.H.A. West Riding Area, at a meeting of the Council last week. One point which he made was that financial failure had followed nationalization abroad.
SANCTIONING CERTAIN EXPRESS SERVICES THE P.V.O.A. made representations to the M.O.W.T. on September 10 concerning the possibility of the resumption of express coach services. The Ministry has now announced that the position of labour and vehicles does not make a general restoration of such services practicable at present, but the Minister understands that some operators have sufficient resources to resume certain of the services and claim that unless they can do so at the end of the summer season they will have to dismiss crews and keep vehicles idle.
It is desired that war-time restrictions on passenger road services shoutd be relaxed or removed as soon as possible, provided this can be done without detriment to existing essential services. The Minister has, therefore, given the R.T.C.s discretion to allow operators to resume such services, provided the applicants can satisfy the Commissioners: (a) That they have the necessary vehicles and labour to maintain the proposed services efficiently without detriment to any stage-carriage services or other essential facilities; (b) that the services will not involve any demand on the Ministry of . Labour for additional staff or undue strain on existing operating staff.
In the Minister's view, it is still necessary that local services used by workers and shoppers should have first consideration. Therefore, as regards eirpress services, he considers that priority should be given to crosscountry routes on which other facilities, including rail, are lacking for thethrough journey or for intermediate points, but long-distance services running parallel to the main through railways should not, for the present, be resumed. FREE LECTURES ON DESIGN
ASERIES of free lectures dealing with design in the home, industry aud commerce, with particular reference to new materials, has been arranged primarily for the benefit of the younger people, such as students and junior. draughtsmen, by the London Region of the Design and Industries Association, the president of which is Lord Sempill. The lectures will be given monthly in the hall of the London School of Hygiene, Gower Street, London, W.C.1, the first being on October 10, at 7 p.m. The speakers then will be Dr. J. E. Sisson, B.Sc., of
the Plastics Division of the and Mr. P. Bradshaw, B.Com.
TRAFFIC ADMINISTRATORS' • A.G.M.
THE annual general meeting of the Institute of Traffic Administration will be held on Monday, October 15, at 7.30 p.m., at the Royal IIotel, Leicester.
VULCAN DISTRIBUTOR APPOINTMENT
WE are advised by Vulcan Motors. Ltd., Maidstone, that it has recently appointed the Wrexham Motor and Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd., of Wrexham, as Vulcan distributor for North Wales and South West Cheshire.
PUBLICATION OF OVERSEAS TRADE STATISTICS
PuBLICATION of the detailed monthly trade accounts will be resumed in a normal form by the Board of Trade; the 'first issue will appear in January next. They will give particulars of principal imports, exports and re-exports, also a considerable -amount of information on trade with individual countries
ARMAMENT PRODUCTION BY THE FORD CONCERN
WHILE introducing to the Press the two Ford cars which are now on the market, the Anglia " 8 h.p. and
Prefect " 10 h.p. saloons, Mr. Anthony Hall, sales manager of the Ford Motor Co., Ltd., referred to its amazing war production.
The number of vehicles built during the war period numbered 332,509, V8 engines reached 26,200, imported vehicles to the number of 25,918 were assembled, and the b.h.p. of Merlin aero-engines was 36,741,000. The value of vehicle spare parts totalled 239,642,370, and of aero-engine spares 24,892,000. Repair work on Service vehicles accounted for 21,316,280. The fine foundry produced material to the value of 2.4,434,440. The total war production represented a value of close on 2180,000,000.
The company also assisted greatly in the food production of this country by building 120,000 agricultural tractors. Not content with all this, it provided technical training facilities for tens of thousands of members of the Armed Forces.
In pre-war days, the company was the largest exporting concern in Britain, and is already fully engaged in building up production for overseas, about 50 per cent, of the total output being reserved for export.