Evening star., 1921-10-23
SAVED BRITAIN
FROM RAIL STRIKE PERLS
BY CHARLES CLIFTON,

BY CHARLES CLIFTON.
President Of National Automobile Chamber Of
Commerce.
Will America fall down where Brit
ain succeeded?
VIII the American public be over
whelmed by rail strike. when their
English cousins met the situation
with an automobile equipment but
as large as that of the
United States?
! think not.
The experience Of Great Britain in
the railroad strike of October, 1919,
sheds an encouraging light on the
pending American crisis. We have
100000 passenger cars and 100000
trucks. England had but 5000 mo-
goods and persons with sufficient
facility to meet the more urgent
needs.
2SO.O0O Volunteer Drivers.
One Of the first acts of the road
transport board was to call for vol
unteer drivers, issuing the appeal
through the press. Within few
hours a quarter Of a million persons
had offered their services.
The country was divided into twelve
transport areas. Of which London
in charge of local commissioner.
The public parks in London were con-
verted into motor transport depots.
The main road running around HYDE
Park. for instance, was divided into
sections. each one of which was allO-
Gated to the conveys responsible for
the work usually done by one par
ticular railway. Inside the park was
the major repair shop. the minor re-
pair shop and the reserve vehicles
waiting to be drawn upon. AS each
vehicle came in from its run 1t re-
ported promptly to the minor shop
and after being tested was turned
over to the reserve pool.
Milk Supply Kept Moving.
All over England and Scotland first
attention was given to the mills sup
ply. The quantity Of milk going to
Liverpool on September 80 by motor
truck was reported to be greater thnn
the amount ever brought in any one
day by the railroad. Fifteen thousand
cans of milk were handled at Hyde
Park depot in one day. Motor trans
port brought 5000 gallons Of milk
daily into Plymouth.
Supplies were furnished regularly
to the food markets of the large
cities. Within a few days of the be-
ginning of the strike over 1000 mo.
torists had placed their cars at the
disposal Of the automobile associa-
ton for use in connection with the
work OF the food min! !stry. In one
day 10000 crates Of tomatoes were
distributed to the markets of London.
Tons Of fish were shipped from llv-
mouth to London and other cities by
motor trucks.
Mail Kept Moving.
Mails were kept moving by motor
car and motor truck throughout
Great Britain. Owners Of private
cars were given postal licenses to
assist the postal service with the
Several paragraphs from CONNER
cial Motor CLondon) give an indica-
tion of the good humor with which
| the British public was viewing the
strike. "One hears:
That the road round Hyde Park
| was known as the Milky way.
THAT our food was going into
transports while the strike was on.
That Natural selection in wheel
traffic would aim at the survival of
the f1eetest.
That one Of the milk lorries
(trucks from Hyde Park) was labeled
'Pussyfoot's Food for Babes-No
Treating
was arriving in a fresher state dur
ing the railroad strike than 1t had
been before"
Commodities other than food. more
over. were able to secure delivery:
Motion pictures were distributed
| uninterruptedly in Scotland. London
papers were delivered to the patrons
| in automobiles.
Passenger Trahle Cared For.
Motor cars, motor buses, trucks
converted to buses. motor cycles and
bicycles. prevented a serious tte-up
of passenger traffic. One hundred
trucks were put into passenger serv-
ice between Bath and London. Long
distance service was instituted be-
tween the southwestern counties and
per cent in the number of motor We
hicles going into London was indi-
Gated by a census on one of the
main roads taken by Motor Traction
Hondon). This increase in the num-
ber of vehicles Is only a partial in
dex of the actual gain in transporta-
ton, because in normal times a mo-
tor vehicle is not loaded to capacity.
The motor vehicles entering and
erage load of 81 passengers, al
though the average normal capacity
would be slightly over S, with still
greater overload possibilities.
All reports indicate that there was
a tremendous amount Of overload
ing Of British vehicles during the
strike. so that the actual passenger
traffic by this means was probably
many times normal The vehicular
census is given as follows:
Edgware Road Hourly Census.