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Southland Times, Issue 22293, 7 April 1934, Page 13

There is an outcry by Bristol traders about the attitude of the police towards people who leave their cars outside shops. Customers, it is said, are unfitted to do their shopping because of the dread of being summoned.

A collapsible, lighted street refuge post made of rubber was tested in Leicester recently. A lorry ran over it without damage to vehicle or post. Leicester is becoming alarmed at its bill for damaged iron posts.

The production of a new type of fabric, made of wool and rubber, for use in the upholstery of motor cars, is the aim of experiments which are now being conducted at the Leeds headquarters of the Wool Industries Research Association. The Experiments are being conducted in co-operation with certain firms of motor car manufacturers, and Dr S. G. Barker, the association’s Director of Research, states that an assurance has been given that if the experiments are successful the fabric will be used in 1935 cars.

Road grit and dust have a most destructive effect upon leather, for abrasive particles work their way into crevices of the upholstery, setting up friction which in time disintegrates and ruins the structure of the skin. This friction, more than legitimate wear, is responsible for the shabby-looking leatherwork in cars which are three or four years old. Dust lodges in the squab pleats, in the buttoned or otherwise decorated part of the seat, and in ornamentally-treated door-cover-ings. Cushions should be removed frequently and gently beaten or shaken to remove dust. For the squabs and door-coverings a vacuum cleaner is probably the most effective treatment, especially the household type.

With the delivery of six motor cycles to the Glasgow postal authorities, the scheme for speeding up the delivery of telegrams has been extended to Scotland. During the last few months one company has despatched machines to no fewer than twelve postal areas in England and Wales, including London, Birmingham, Leeds, Swansea and Cardiff, but the latest consignment is the first one to go North of the Tweed. Over 100 machines are already employed. The boys who ride the machines must be fully trained and medically examined: futhermore they must receive their parents’ consent before they can be appointed to the coveted post of “motor cycling messenger.”