SIR JAMES ALLEN

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17433, 19 April 1922, Page 9

SIR JAMES ALLEN

VISIT TO NOTTINGHAM. LUNCHEON TO SIR JOHN SALMOND.

ÜbOM OttH OWN COMtESFONDENT.) LONDON, March 9. Public luncheons and dinners arc ao& to become a greater physical strain on High Commissioners in London than any of their other multifarious duties.' Sir James Alien, however, never shirks this form of public lifo when the importance of the occasion demands his acceptance of an invitation, and where* evor he goes and wherever he speaks he is received with genuine enthusiasm and does much to uphold tho prestige of tho country he represents. . It was his turn to giro a private lun- | cheon party this week in honour of Sir Jonn iswimondj at tne Briton Empire Club. Thero were no speeches, but tho chief guest had good reason to be well pleased with his entertainment and ikia host with the success of his luncheon. If a man is to be judged by the coni pauy ho keeps Sir James Allen seems to nave done well for himself, for his guests were an "all-star cast" from tho intellectual stago of London. Beside Sir John Salmond thero was Sir Cecil Hurst, Legal Adviser to the Foreign Office; Sir George Parkin, organising , representative of the Rhodes Scho. rs.a t > '■ Thrust, and author of "Imperial Federation," "Bound the Empire," "The Great Dominion,' 1 "Life and Letters of Edward Taring," and other works; Sir W. Meyer, High Commissioner for India, who has a brilliant record with the Indian Civil Service; Hr Lionel Curtis, Fellow of New College, Oxford, and originator of "The Round Table"; Sir Maurice Hankey, Secretary to the Cabinet; Major-General Sir Fabian Ware, head of the v» ar Graves* commission, previously Director of Education for tho Transvaal and Orange River Colony, and at one time editor of the "Morning Post,' and a wellknown writer on educational subjects; Sir Charles Lucas, previously head of the Dominions} Department in the Colonial Office, and one of the greatest authorities and writers on Imperial subjects; Lieut.-Col. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., recently Tinder-Secretary of State for the Colonics, now Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty; Admiral W. Henderson, who had a wood deal to do with the inauguration of the Australian Naval Scheme; and the Hon. E. F. L. Wood, M.P., Under- , Secretary for the Colonies. j

TJp-to-Date Railway Construction. Messrs Cammell, Laird and Co., tlie great steel firm, got into low waier at the end of the war period. Several prominent business men were offered the direction of tho company, but saw no allurement in the offer. Mr W. L. Hichens, who had had a distingushed career in South Africa, then took the position of chairman of the company, got rid of tho existing staff and began a reorganisation on up-to-date lines. A Nottingham factory erected for tho manufacture of munitions during tho war was purchased by the company, and tho new chairman, -who had never had an engineering training, gathered machinery, brains, and information from tho most progressive parts of the world. Some time ago the company undertook to supply the New Zealand Government with i'.300 railway trucks. Machinery M-as specially installed U> carry out tho work, rivals said tho company would drop half a. millior, pounds "on the contract, but they hoc only delivered the goods up to eontract time, but they made a. very :<itisfaelory prc.fit. Last week tho company entertained a number of Dominion and Colonial representatives. Sir Jamo-s Alien was one of the pnncinaj guests, and he speaks enthusiastically of what he saw, as demonstrating what can bo accomplished by the application of brains and up-to-dato methods. The entire property has an area of 415 acres, which will allow for extension of tho present buildings, when the necessity arises. Ample provision has been made for the transport of material inside the works by overhead electric cranes, by electric trolleys, which travel from section to section across a concrete floor, and by the rail tracks which, traverse tho north, tho centra,

and tlio south of iho works, 'flic visitors were shown tho working of tlw tools employed in connexion with tho Now Zealand contract. The design and specifications of this order were such as to admit of the > introductio 1 of certain novo! and distinctive devices in the course of manufacture. These led to considerable developments iu the practice of multiple iniud)ing, by which an exceptional degree of accuracy was obtained, the fairness of the holes on assemb.y greatly facilitating the work of erection. A demonstration of some of these devices was carried out for the benefit of the visitors. la the coach erection section work was seen proceeding on. tlio erection of coaches for an Indian railway. ■ Tliet* design has been carefully prepared with a new to simplifying erection abroad, and allowing tike use of certain special jigs and methods of manufacture by which a higTi degree of accuracy and finish can be obtained. A luncheon followed, at tho conclusion of which Sir H. Walker (general manager of the London and Southwestern Railway Co.) expressed th? thanks of the visitors to Mr Hiobens. as representing MessrsCammcU, Laird, for the hospitality extended to tnem. Supporting this, Sir James Allen referred to tho tour of the works, and the evidence they had seen of the energy and resource of the company. If tlio Djniinions were to re-establish trade with the Motherland, he said, it could ouly bo done by mutual co-operation He' asked the chairman to convoy his thanks and the thanks of the New Zealand Government to the heads of the departments for the efficiency they had put into their work which had enabled tho contract for the Dominion to be so successfully fulfilled. A Epecial train with all luxuries and refreshment conveyed the visitors from London to Nottingham and back.