TWO BELLS One of the Many
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143 Delving into the secrets of chemistry is sub- station operator Mavis Barnett, one of many Lary employes highly skilled in unusual avoca- tions. miL STORY ON PAGE 10 V o1.19 August,1938 No.8 DIVISION SCRIBES PUBLISHED MONTHLY Address all R. C. Ruggles L. Volner FOR THE EMPLOYES communications to C. J. Knittle Fred Mason editorial offices, Charles H. Hardy OF THE 1060 S. Broadway, F. Arleigh Frazier LOS ANGELES RAILWAY D. S. Coburn F. F. Robey Los Angeles, Calif. II. I. Schauber FRANK C. LYDIARD, Editor Phone: PR. 7211 Walter Whiteside Stations 295 and 296 Staff Photographer HOWARD L. JONES Staff Artist GUY GIFFORD VOLUME 19 AUGUST, 1938 NUMBER 8 DOUBLE PUNCHES 941,u,e Delivered by PAUE1,,LER • . Some buses in Bratislava, C:echoslovakia, burn charcoal How London. Travels . instead of gasoline. Fuel is . When the first street cars poured in the rear tank and a were brought to Shanghai the Railroad Boosters Club fire built underneath. The lid is roads were so bad that the cars Takes Trip Over Lines. clamped down, depriving the had to be carried by coolies to fire of draught and preventing their place of destination. The Rebuilding Program complete combustion. Un- Shanghai bus company tried to Completed burned gas, passed through fil- introduce tokens but had to ters to remove charcoal dust, is give up the idea. The nicely Survey Taking Place drawn by supercharger into an engraved tokens rapidly went Club Activities automobre engine and explodes c.Jt of circulation because the li!:e gas vapor. Knocking and Chinese used them as gambling Division Four Credit Union slow pick-up result but operat- chips!—(China Weekly). ing costs are low. The new subway in Moscow Trading Post —(Nat'l Geographic Mag.) rlans to have a special coach . Rai roads in Roumania im- Last Lap for Baseballers I() f'-r children or mothers with rose a fine of approximately By C. J. Knittle children. 20c on anyone caught without a lighted cigar, cigarette, or . Four-in-hand stage coaches Chemistry as a Sideline . 10 pipe in a smoker compartment. wi:1 again travel along the ro- Commendations . 14 —(Seven Seas) mantic roads of Germany, ac- ... Many buses in Scotland em- cording to a decree by the Complete Softball Season . 15 Postmaster General. The 15 ploy bonnie lasses as conductor- By Charles II. Hardy ettes. coaches that will start the ser- vice are closely modeled after Catalina Cavalcade . 15 the originals, but with all mod- ern improvements like electric Division News 16 light, ball-bearings and movable tops. The posHl!ion will sit on Bells and Yells 23 fop and blow melodies on his horn while leisurely traveling Obituary 23 from town to town. Page 2 • TWO BELLS One of the many double deck tramcars operated by London Transport Board. HOW LONDO\ TRAVELS TRANGE as it may seem, the ac- Beginning a New pearance. They had an upper deck ual City of London is only 1.06 with uncomfortable "knife-board" seats and swayed dangerously like a Ssq. miles large. But Greater London, Series Dealing with frigate in a billowy sea. An iron comprising the joint areas of juris- stairway like a ship's ladder led up- diction of the Metropolitan and City Transportation In stairs and any lady who climbed the police forces, includes an area of 693 upper deck simply was no lady. A sq. miles and an estimated popula- European Cities ride in the early gasoline-driven buses tion of 8,475,000 people. (Los An- of the Vanguard Company were any- geles City covers 441.69 sq. miles and HERBERT W. MUELLER By thing but a pleasure. They skidded a population of 1,489,238). Bigger Virgil Coach Division so badly that they sometimes turned still is the London Transport area, which is the territory over which the around completely, or the engine London Transport Board exercises would give a last puff and no amount Electric lines) terminate at such control over all transportation facil- of tinkering and cajoling could in- places as Turnbridge Wells, Baldock ities and which extends over 1,986 duce it to resume its arduous labors. and Aylesbury. Furthermore there sq. miles and an estimated population In 1910 the first standardized 34- are the trains of the Underground of 9,575,000 people, making it the seater bus was introduced to London and the trams, the latter being fast largest interurban transport system in traffic and today the modern 56-pas- replaced by trolley buses. senger Diesel-powered double-deckers the world. Its big red buses criss- are a familiar sight in London and cross London in every direction, London grew slowly—from 1911 take care of 55% of the traffic with from Watford to Bromley Common to 1936 the population of Greater and from St. Albans to Caterham. London increased only by a little trolley buses adding another 6%. Before 1933 a keen competition The green coaches of the system (cor- over 16%. Around 1855 the first responding somewhat to our Pacific horse-drawn buses made their ap- had developed between the different Page 3 AUGUST, 1938 One of London's newest streamlined interurban trains. types of transportation, especially city bus services combined! 81,765 streets of London require a contin- between trams and buses. To meet employes are needed to keep the uous turning and banking. Smoking the lower tram fares the buses would company going. is permitted on the upper deck (par- hang out a low fare sign on stretches Exasperating to London visitors tially enclosed on some coaches, com- where bus and tram lines ran paral- was the haphazard way in which pletely enclosed on others) and vis- lel, only to take it down again as buses stopped. In the absence of itors prefer it because it affords an soon as they had the road to them- regular bus stops one could never excellent view of the busy city life. selves. Such harmful competition be sure where to get on. Frantic After being seated the conductor ap- and the realization that London waving with an umbrella usually pears to collect fares. These are transport facilities had to be coordi- brought one of these vehicles to a based upon the distance travelled, nated led to the London Passenger dead stop, whether it was in the mid- the lowest being one penny (2 cents). Pooling scheme. This is embodied in dle 'of the block or in the center of After knowing the passenger's desti- the London Passenger Transport Act busy Picadilly Circus, which, inci- nation the conductor tears off a ticket of 1933 which brought 92 separate dentally is NOT a circus. Recently the size of our hatchecks on which transportation companies under one the Board has begun to place perm- as many as 65 route points are print- hat. The main part of the scheme anent stop signs on the street. They ed. He punches a hole at the point is that each transport unit, after de- are of two types: "Bus Stop" on a to where the journey is paid and puts ducting Operating Allowances and white ground where buses stop wheth- the money in his large leather pouch. Additional Allowances, puts its re- er hailed or not, and "Bus Stop— There are no transfers. Every once ceipt in a common pool where it is Request" on red ground where buses in a while a "jumper" (supervisor) divided on a pre-determined basis. stop only when signalled. gets on and checks the tickets, thus Here are a few figures which show Bus follows bus in endless proces- preventing over-riding. This fare sys- the enormity of the enterprise: The sion, especially on such busy thor- tem causes many Londoners to ride Board owns 3,154 subway cars, 6,454 oughfares as Oxford Street, Regent even short distances, as is shown by buses and coaches, 2,060 trolleys, Street or Grosvenor Place. Large the fact that the average fare is 2 and 720 trolley buses. The Board's numbers in front indicate the route pennies. vehicles rolled up a total of 544,- while large indicator signs give the Drivers sit in a glass cage in 630,549 passenger service miles in main points along the route. Passen- worldly aloofness and their only con- 1937. 239 bus and 33 coach routes gers clambering aboard are warned tact with the world is the muted con- transported an average of five mil- by the conductor to "Owld tie!" ductor's bell. Conductors 'are known lion passengers daily and in 1934 which has to be interpreted as "Hold for their politeness and helpfulness the London bus system carried more tight!" It is best to heed this warn- but their accent is the despair of passengers than all United States ing because the old and winding many a visitor. They have their own Page 4 • TWO BELLS way of pronouncing names and little 24 hours. Various devices have been Londoners thought such tactics de- can be done about it. A dignified tried to keep the dispatchers informed cidedly not cricket and, feeling the old gentleman who was pained by about the headways of the different popular ill will, the bus men aban- the constant chant of "Benk" and lines. One of the latest is an ar- doned their strike after a month with- "Obun", gave the conductor a shil- rangement in which an electric cable out having gained their objective. ling and asked him to pronounce it overhangs the street at a certain point Trolley buses have met with in- correctly "Bank" and "Holburn".