From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Page from 'The Autocar' magazine with articles on oil fraud, road safety, and Glasgow's trams.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 139\2\ scan0060 | |
| Date | 9th March 1934 | |
| March 9th, 1934. The Autocar 381 company. The fraud is simply that lubricant of a well-known type is ordered, and a “local” grade supplied—the constituents of which are entirely unknown to the motorist, although quite probably it serves its purpose. As regards ordinary engine oil, there are certain mechanics who, when the motorist asks for a pint costing a shilling, draw off oil of a cheaper type. It is for each of us to protect ourselves against this behaviour. The bins are clearly marked, and we should assure ourselves that the attendant turns to the right one. Under False Name Far more serious is the offence of those garages who deliberately fill a branded bin with oil of an inferior grade, and thus pass it off under a false name. The oil companies are always trying to trace this crime. It is easy to remember garages where oil of a well-known brand is drawn out of a drum which has an unsealed plug hole at the top through which lubricant of any type might be poured as the drum empties. We do not suggest that of necessity a fraud is taking place; we simply say that the opportunity is all too easy. What steps, in this connection, do the companies take? The oil interests would do well to stress in their literature the importance of assuring that oil of the correct grade is both ordered and acquired. Any convictions that they obtain against offending garages should be extensively advertised amongst the trade that proprietors contemplating similar behaviour may be discouraged. Managers who suspect that certain members of their staff are making a little unauthorised profit for themselves by selling cheap oil and charging for an expensive brand should take strong action. Their business will suffer otherwise. GLASGOW TRAMS Proposed £165,750 Expenditure on Reconditioning Old Cars DESPITE the fact that the moderate members wish to give the question further consideration, the Glasgow Transport Committee proposes to spend no less a sum than £165,750 in the reconditioning of 125 tramcars. The decision was made, of course, subject to the approval of the Corporation, but one must express surprise that such expenditure on an obsolete type of transport should be suggested. Some time ago a number of cars was similarly reconditioned, but much of the advantage has been lost owing to the continuance in operation of machines which have not been so treated. The latest development is designed to rectify this. Congestion and Danger The plain truth of the matter is that any type of tramway system is inevitably a cause of traffic congestion, and of not a little danger to other road users. Authorities in numerous towns are finding it advisable to replace trams by trolley buses. Though these themselves are only a compromise, they are infinitely more serviceable from the point of view of modern traffic conditions than the fixed-rail systems they have superseded. The Glasgow body whose decision we deprecate would be well advised to exercise a little more of the well-known Scots' caution. “Throwing good money after bad” may be rather too strong a way of putting it; nevertheless, £165,750 is a large amount of money to spend on a mode of transport that is likely to be generally discarded in the not-distant future. Safety on the Roads A Series of Short Essays on Road Accident Causes and Possible Remedies No. 5.—PRIDE THERE are two kinds of pride which, while being quite innocuous in themselves, sometimes contribute to the danger of the roads. They are pride of possession and pride in skill. Given two motorists having these forms of pride, the chances are against one of them allowing the other to beat him in accelerating away from a traffic light. These friendly little exhibitions of driving skill are frequently to be seen and the spirit behind them can well be understood, but crossings controlled by automatic lights are not suitable places to display prowess at the wheel, even if both parties strictly observe the golden rule that a motorist must “move only on the green.” There is always a possibility that a pedestrian, who is under no legal obligation to obey the lights, will decide to cross in front of the traffic which has just been released. Or there may be a belated motorist, travelling too fast to stop when the green has changed to amber. The motorist intent upon beating his fellow may not notice these things. Restart warily should be the motto of every driver. Pride of possession, a worthy attribute in itself, sometimes engenders a state of mind less worthy. The owner of a high-powered car may unconsciously resent the thrusting tactics of the driver of a small sports car, and when it appears that the latter is trying to prove he has the faster mount, the big car owner may be tempted to disprove the suggestion by imitating the methods of the other. Such incidents are common on the roads today, and they illustrate that, like every other enthusiast, the sporting motorist in a very large car, who resents what seems to be precociousness, reveals the antithesis of dignity. A 15 | ||