modern motoring

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 134, 8 June 1926, Page 12

modern motoring

LIGHTING-UP TIMES. ■ To-day 5.11 p.m. Wednesday 5.11 p.m. Tlmrsday 5.11 p.m. Friday 5.11 p.m. Saturday 5.11 p.m. Sunday 5.11 p.m. Monday 5.11 p.m. MOTOR TREASURE HUNT AT WELLINGTON: The motor treasure hunt is a form of competition not yet popular in New Zealand, but it has achieved considerable popularity elsewhere, one of the most enthusiastic and successful being a high speed search in which the Prince of .Wales took part in London some' little time ago. The Wellington Automobile Club proposes to plant some appropriate treasure, issue a series of clues and passwords, and to ask fifty of its members to search the prize out. The general plan of the motor treasure hunt is as follows: —Competitors assemble at a prearranged hour and are given the first clue, together with a password. The clue, which may be in the form of a couplet, rhyme or description, plain or otherwise, contains some veiled reference to a place, institution or locality. Those who can read between the lines will have little difficulty—or possibly a lot —in achieving the first rendezvous. Here the password is- given, the second clue and password are given in return, and away on the next step. For a short winter afternoon a run of twenty or thirty miles is planned, with half a dozen clues, the linal rendezvous yielding up its treasure to the first man on the scene with the password, but the trophy is forfeit ii rhe motorist has broken a by-law during the afternoon. The club is staging this .first motor hunt to ascertain how Wellington motorists will enjoy the idea, but at the same time the Karitane Home fund will benefit, for it is proposed that competitors should pay an entry fee of 5/, which will go to that fund.

Xo athletic feats will be required of entrants in the Wellington treasure hunt, but accounts of similar competitions in England and elsewhere are quite exciting, certainly very laughable in themselves. Everything depends upon the cleverness of the clues and the really remarkable readings which some motorists are able to give them. There may be twenty or thirty words in the clue, but only one i 3 worth considering and the problem is: which one? That word may suggest quite a few localities, but only one again will give up the next clue and password, and not by any chance can a searcher happen by accident across the treasure, since-it can be given up only when the final password is spoken. In certain of the English hunts, notably one promoted by the doctors of London, competitors have been moved to, do strange things indeed, .from' waiting in queues to climb ■a certain lamp post from*'which alone

the next clue could be read to going underground with only the haziest idea of why on earth they went there. Looked at from a cold-blooded point of view, the motor, treasure hunt is a thoroughly silly business, and therein lies its whofe success, for the grown-up business man rather likes to get right off his beaten track now and then and do something really silly, providing always that he enjoys it and others enjoy it with him. What about trying, it, A.A.A.? WATCH IT. The ammeter tells whether the engine is stalled or idling calmly when one is driving in fchiek, noisy traffic. Some motors are so- quiet that it is difficult to tell under such conditions whether they are running or dead, and a mistake may be a source of embarrassment when traffic 3tarta again. All this can be avoided by learning to watch the ammeter. The needle will nicker a little so long as. the engine idles. When it stalls the needle will stand quietly in a slightly discharged position. From the oil. pressure gauge the motorist can tell just how cold the motor is and also what condition the Oil is in. Here, however, he may have to take into consideration what he already knows of the weather, his mileage and other conditions.

When the quality of the oil is low— that is when it-is diluted with benzine that., has leaked past the pistons—the pressure gauge will not register as hi"-h as usual. On a hot day of course,"* drop in the. pressure would have to be taken less seriously. Fresh oil in the crank-case will show a higher pressure at all times, but when the car has been standing out in the cold the temperature of the engine is also indicated by the high pressure reading of the gauge. THE MARK OF A GOOD DRIVER. The good motorist is always looking for new method's that he can apply to his own driving. He learns how to drive with safety over strange roads, how best to make both right and left turns in the country, as well as in the city, ho;v to approach the tops of hills, how to negotiate sand and mud. how safely to pass vehicles going in the same direction, and how to meet those approaching him. These are but a few of the things which a driver can do in the common way or the ercpert way. If he does them in the expert way he is an efficient driver. Mot only W he 'getting the most out of his car, but lie is being tire easiest on his.car. "And" at*' the same- time he is drbrine safely ana not endangering his life-and the lives of his passengers as well as the lives of other motorists and' pedestrians. "Spark-well" sums it up in the following declaration:—"As a driver, I will make the road as safe for others as I want other drivers to make it for mc, and for those who belong to me.' .

NOTES AWQ COMMENTS LOCAL amp OENEHAU

PERFBCTING THE MOTOR BUS. There are now a score or more of the most brilliant minds in the automotive wui'ld (says an Australian journal) foeussed on the problem of developing equipment for motor buses, and it seems reasonable to expert that from the mechanical standpoint the future of the motor bus is relatively secure. Since the motor bus has definitely proved its value as a suburban transportation vehicle, it is perhaps safe to say that nothing can happen which will seriouslj* interfere with its adoption and growth. However, without question, the greatest danger confronting the future of the motor bus to-lay will be agitation tor unreasonable and "unintelligent laws taxing it and regulating its operation. Such a course can only hamper and retard, but cannot defeat the real future and purpose of the motor bus. TOO MANY LOCAL BODIES. Commenting editorially upon the criticism of road maintenance methods which was expressed at the recent conference of North and South Island Motor Unions the "Evening Post," Wellington, says: So long as a huge proportion of the country's roads are not of a permanent or even of a semipermanent character, the negiect of maintenance for even a short time is liable to cause great waste, and perhaps to sacrifice much of the first cost of a road. The problem of road maintenance ia wrapped up with a problem of maintaining a standard of road engineers, and both questions are rooted in the efficiency of local government units. Excessive decentralisation ha-s created too many local bodies. As no Government has been courageous enough to consolidate local bodies by legislation, the chief hope seems to lie in a gradual amelioration brought, about persuasively through the ircdiumship of the Highways Board." I (According to the latest figures there appear to be no fewer than 363 local bodies in the Dominion with power to make by-laws, fixing speed limits in thoir territories, and generally regulating motor traffic therein). TRANSPORT EXPERTS CONFER. The papers read before the recent Melbourne Transport Conference disclosed that other countries in their endeavour to pprfpet road transportation have difllfulfips to ovprrome similar to those In Australia and Xβw Zealand. America, for example, has the railway level crossing danger, and a solution has not been found. A good suggestion was contained in one paper read at the conference. It was that the dangers could be lessened if alarms were provided to warn drivers a comparatively long distance before the railway crossing is reached. Mr. Walter B. Schmidt, , in his paper "The Motor Vehicle in the United States," disclosed- the wonderful spirit

of co-operation between American manufacturers, which provides for an interchange of patent licenses without money payments. This "cross-licensing" agreement allows every American motor manufacturer to use the inventions of his competitors without cash consideration. The National Automobile Chamber of Commerce brought this remarkable co-operative scheme into being. They claim that by lowered costs a greater number of people will use motors —and from motor transportation a vast revenue for roads can be obtained. The tax is lower per vehicle than it ie in New Zealand or Australia, yet 1,000.000,000d0l a year is available in ( America for roads, portion of which is obtained from Government grants. The reason Americans earn more, says Mr. Schmidt, is because motor earg save time and enable the 20,000.000 owners to do more useful work. His contention is supported by figures; while coloseal sums have been spent on automobiles, the asset 3of building- associations have trebled in ten years. Life insurance is . two and a-half times as great, and in four years savings deposits have doubled, and the individual bank deposits have! also been doubled. Another paper, illustrated by films, showed that America is faced with a serious problem in preventing loss of life through careless use of the roads. The deaths in one year in the United States totalled 12,000. The efforts to reduce accidents, however, provide a lead for us. and they include education of the children, and a combined campaign by railway authorities, automobile associations and clubs, chambers of commerce, and other organisations, the members of which should realise the economic losses occasioned' by premature deaths through street acidents. The paper referred to offers a valuable suggestion, i.e., that a campaign to teach everyone "how to uee the streets" would reduce accidents. How the New Zealand Government consults the people regarding proposed legislation was told by Mr. J. F. Cousins, secretary of tlie New Zealand Motor I Trade Association. Motor legislation, Mr. 1 Cousins statedl is not passed in New Zealand until the Ministry hag consulted the motoring organisation; that is why friction- is avoided and administrative costs are low. The Customs duty collected on tyres in New Zealand is expended on the roads, and the appalling complications connected with the Customs tax on motor vehicles in Australia are not experienced in New The motor industry, knowing its job, showed the Government jU9t ho\f the collection of Customs duty could be simply and effectively done. The cloegd. doors o£ the legislators and Government departments in Australia could with advantage be opened to trade organisations, so that practical men could assist the Government. The assumption that Government officials know more of an industry [than those engaged in it is wrong.