LEAVES FROM THE INSPECTOR'S NOTEBOOK.
Page 11
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Care of Tyres. Central Super-power Stations. Types of Tippers.
SOME OF THE more important tyre makers—one or two of them at any rate—a few years ago, if I remember rightly, devoted a goodly proportion of their publicity efforts to the explanation of methods that could and should be 'adopted by owners of commercial motors to assist in securing long life from their solid tyres. Propaganda of that sort ought to be repeated (in varying manner perhaps) at tolerably frequent intervals. We get all sorts of hints and tips as to how to run,eur vehicles -" not forgetting the lord," as friend Brooking might be tetnpted to say after his occasional dose of pert nentand pointed paragraphs on Ford' technics in The .. Commercial Motor.
Quite a considerable portion of the expenditure of an average owner on maintenance arises from wear and tear of tyres. Nothing on a chassis wears and tears so much as the tyres, however good they may be. They are put there to wear and tear and so save corresponding depreciation on other parts of the chassis. When manufacturers sold their solid tyres on 10,000mile guarantees, the user had little incentive to worry or care about his tyres while they were in . service. He was not very much concerned with getting more than his guaranteed mile-age, as a matter of fact. Anything that came that way was just so much bunce. But now, he buys Most of his tyres outright, and has to make the best of them, surely it would be wise to teach him a little more frequently how he may do this. How often do those of us who have been "operating engineers" recall having seen any regular inspection of tyres taking place l The removal of half imbedded flints and nails, to say nothing of the temporary stopping of weak 'places, and examination to ascertain if the driver is purposely choosing sharp tramlines as his natural track—none of these little points as a rule are attended to. Tyres are, iis a matter of fact, very seldom looked at, whereas they should be. Dunlops' excellent publicity frequently strives to this end, but, considering the magnitude of tyre interests and turnovers, I think a little more propaganda, on the care of tyres would be good for everybody. Nothing about a-chassis wears more, yet nothing is less looked after. Could we not have, as a series in this journal, " One Hundred Points on the Solid Tyre and How to Extract Them'?" I would write,Them, if some of the tyre people would give me the points!
The Danger of the Central Super-power Stations.
I may be excused, I know, if I remindmy readers that, on several occasions, I have written as forcibly as I know how of the faulty arguments upon which the proposals to establish huge new electric superpower stations are based. Perhaps the sptinsors of the scheme—and, of course, those who are interested in the obtaining of gigantic contracts'from the nation for generating plant on the new scale are not unconcerned—these and other sponsors have erred not somuch, perhaps, by misstatements as by omission to include essential facts. I have always put in the forefront tile extreme danger of such policy to the community from the point of view of vulnerability in these days of Communistio industrial activity. As days go by, it is becomingincreasingly evident that the nation must protect itself from the possibility of some paralyzing and destructive strike on the,part of dissatisfied sectional labour. Why the powers that be do not appreciate the extreme danger of putting all their eggs in one basket, while there are plenty of people about with hammers looking for that same basket, is beyond my comprehension. Quite another risk of identical style was that of aircraft attack. We simply, in this country, cannot afford to expose our national industrial vitality in such a reckless way, nor shall we be justified in 'doing so until we havt advanced much further along the road. of communal civilization.
There are other no less potent arguments that must be brought against the Government's Electricity Supply Bill that is now .before the House of Commons.at the instance of Sir Eric Geddes. And amongst these is the powerful criticism advanced by no less an authority than Lord Moulton as to the financial inadvisability of the whole thing. Not only can the nation not afford to embark on multi-million speculative schemes of this kind, burdened as we already are by unavoidable debt, but intrinsically Lord Moulton rightly claims that the super-power station is the wrong means to employ by which to convert coal into more convenient energy capacity. He points out-that a very large proportion of the country's consumption of coal is required purely for heat required ideally, and that the use of electric heaters is indefensible economically. To quote but a few of his convincing figures:. "Out of every. MO heat units in the 'coal used at gasworks in the United Kingdorie -the'`consumer receives 45 per cent, in the forniof inflainnable gas. Out of' every 100 heat units in' coal Used aecentral electricity generating stations'the eonsuiner -receives 7.6 per cent ..., Under the hest, future ',condition, the proportionsattainable might approximate 75 per cent for gas Meth:oils-and-17A for Super-PoWerstation electricity generation. '. So that, apart from the Undesirability of these collosal schemes; Weal-the point of view of industrial unrest on the whole, a poor way of getting the best out of coal for much of the class of employment contemplated: I
Tippers and Unloaders.
Several visitors at the Roads and Transport Show inquiried if there was to be seen an example of that ingenious unloading device known as the Wilkins' Gear. In such a wilderness of tipping gears it seemed a pity that so radical an alteration in method was not there for demonstration—always providing it was not there, for I did not see it. In any ease, after examination of the many interesting examples of tip wagons to be seen at the recent Show, one could not help being impressed with the possibility of something less cumbersome than the upheaval'of the entire body-if not exactly on the lines of the moving lathe-formed shutter used by Lieutenant Wilkins, at least by some other development on comparable lines. There were very special difficulties and conditions on active service, for which the Wilkins device was produced. It would be a -pity if this line of design were not pressed further, and if we remained content with hand-operated, gear-driven or hydraulic body disphecers. the many ingenious examples of which hold the field'for unloading purposes at present. Remember the tip wagon is only useful for unloading. The Wilkins gear, like the Craymer, could be used for loading, too, in certain conditions.