OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.
Page 27
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The Editor invites ccnyespond,ence on all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. Letters should be on. one side of the paper only and typewritten by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibility for views expressed is accepted.
Better Wayside Accommodation.
The editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2263] Sir,—I was more than glad at last to see the thoughts of employers and drivers alike upon the vexed question of better wayside accommodation for drivers and their mates put into words and brought out into the daylight. Without question, the defect is one which is not going to be rectified by any development of the present method. There are not the garage facilities on the road for lorries or vans with valuable loads or loads that are subject to pilfering, and, without these facilities, how are a driver and his mate to deal with their second problem (but one of more immediate concern to themselves)— that of finding sleeping accommodation?
It seems to me that the Commercial Motor Users Association must proceed to appoint a committee that will go into this matter and then ensure that action is taken. On each main road, halfway between two important centres—such, for example, as between London and Manchester—there will in the future be a bungalow with sleeping cubicles, a messroom and an interior courtyard where vehicles can be garaged, and this will only be available to drivers of commercial motor vehicles and their mates. But the demand is here already, so why not push on with the idea ?—
Yours faithfully, LONG-DISTANCE DRIVER. Congleton.
4' Home-made" Acetylene Apparatus.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2264] Sir,—With reference to the article which appears on page 535 of your issue of June 10th, under the heading 'Odd Tools from Scrap," dealing with an acetylene generator made by your correspondent "F.W.H.," to which the attention of this Association has been called, I am instructed by the committee to make the following observations :—Whilst it is no policy of the British Acetylene and Welding Association to discourage competent experimenters in the manufacture of acetylene apparatus, it is felt to be the Association's duty to point out that quite a number of serious accidents have in the past been caused by the use of " home-made " acetylene apparatus. Such accidents have the effect of retarding the progress.of the industry as a whole, by creating the impression that acetylene is dangerous, whereas the reverse is the case, provided suitably designed and well-constructed apparatus is employed.
You will be doing a considerable service to the home experimenter as well as to the industry if you will allow us to point out the need for authoritative guidance in -all such experimental work. Such guidance may be obtained by consulting " The British Acetylene and Welding Handbook" (Raggett and Co., 30, Red Lion Square. 7s. 6d. net,), wherein are regulations regarding all matters connected with acetylene, including manufacturers, drawn up by this Association and approved by the Home Office. All acetylene generating plant of bad design and imperfect construction not only gives poor results but is likely to be a source of congiderable danger.
The apparatus described in your journal appears to be of this class, as it is operated on the " dipping " principle—a principle which has been condemned times out of number by all the scientists who have made a study of acetylene and its generation. When generators constructed on this principle are in use, the charge of carbide is likely to,. become unduly heated. In certain circumstances, the rise in tem
perature is sufficiently high to cause ignition of die gas in the presence of air. As it is necessary to dismantle the carbide holder of this machine in order to insert a fresh charge of carbide, with consequent admission of air, it is obvious that in ordinary use the conditions may be favourable to unexpected ignition of the gas.—Yours faithful13, THE BRITISH ACETYLENE AND WELDING ASSOCIATION. W. G. HOLLINWORTH, Secretary. London, S.W. 1.
Did Hero Anticipate the Internal-combustion Turbine ?
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2265] Sir,—I was greatly interested in the Sellman internal-combustion turbine described in your issue for July 1st. Mr. Sellman must have designed his turbine from sketches left by the late Professor Hero (of Alexandria). Hero had an internal-combustion motor in hand at the time of his death, and the sketches of it were recently discovered in the ruins of an oyster bar in Herculaneum. They are now preserved in the Naples Museum. It appears that Hero was in the habit of visiting the gay little city of Herculaneum every summer, whilst Mrs. Hero and the
children went to Luxor for the Nile bathing. On his last visit he was overtaken by the eruption, which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum together. It may be remembered that Herols first engine—a steam one—relied upon tangential reaction foi its movement. In the Sellman turbine this idea islimproved upon and brought up to date.—Yours faithfully, A MECHANICALLY MENDED ARCHMOLOGIST.
[We cannot agree with this, as we were under the impression that Hero had left Pompeii with the rest of the "idle rich," and therefore missed the eruption.—En. C.111-.1