ENGLISH INDUSTRY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17144, 28 December 1929, Page 14

ENGLISH INDUSTRY

FEELING OF OPTIMISM DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORT “England’s not dead yet, and it’s no good saying that it is,” said Dr. J. P. Whetter, of Christchurch, who has just, relumed from a trip to England, Wales and 'Scotland. 1 During Dr. Whetter’s stay of eight months, England had the finest summer for 17 years, and had never looked more beautiful. The hospitality shown to all New Zealanders was truly remarkable, he said. Soldiers from the Dominion had created such a good impression during the war that English people were only too anxious to entertain anyone from here. “1 saw very few signs of poverty anywhere, and there s nothing like the amount of squalor in the slums and on the docksides as there was 25 years ago,” said the doctor. The only place where he saw any signs of distress was on the South Wales coalfields, where a melancholy note was struck by the idle steel works, carrying “To Let” notices. Many of the old steel works were closed down, because the large concerns were concentrating their plant to economise production costs. Tn spite of the idlo coal pits and steel works, there was a feeling of optimism in that part of Wales, as there was a prospect of the coal trade once more becoming a big thing. Almost throughout England, the Labor Party was having a sympathetic hearing. Every party was Lending its energies to solving the economic problems. The motor industry was very much alive and countless makes of cars were on the roads, the vast’ iJfhjority of them British. Very few American cars were seen. Proportionately, there were fewer motor cycles in England than in New Zealand, and there was only one town in which the number of bicycles could ho compared will) the number in Christchurch. That was Bedford. MOTOR SERVICES.

I While in England. Dr. Whetter did a great deal of motoring, and declares . that the roads are perfect. “Their third class roads are better than our firsti class,” he said. All the main roads were either concrete or bitumen, and a large number of new arterial roads were being built, especially in the vicinity of London, to take the tremendous volume of motor traffic. A tourist could go all over England by road, the motor transport services forming .a network over practically the whole country, and running very cheaply. Traffic control, with the immense traffic on the roads, was a problem/ said the doctor, but it was very well managed by the system in operation at present. There were practically no speed limits outside the towns, and anyone entering a main road from a side street did so at his own Aisle. In many of the towns there were automatic signals, with differently colored lights, to signal traffic across intersections. In some of the Australian towns these lights had 'been adopted. “The motorists are nearly all very courteous,” said Dr. Whetter. “They make the proper signs, give plenty of warning of their intentions, and altogether show a- great deal of consideration for each other. Still, in spite of this, ; there are 50C0 deaths yearly from motor accidents.” Dr. Whetter found that the big railway companies were turning very seriously toward motor services, incorporating "them into their systems as feeder lines. Motor buses were legion on the roads, but, with the very cheap fares, Dr. Whetter predicts that many owners will find it hard to renew their equipment when the time comes. From Bournemouth to .Southsea, a run which look four bom’s, the doctor travelled on a motor bus for four shillings, and there were only four passengers altogether. Among the new roads, one was being built near Harrow at a, cost of £27,000 a mile. It was built of reinforced concrete as a foundation, with bitumen on top. —Christchurch Times.