MODERN MOTORING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 134, 8 June 1926, Page 13

MODERN MOTORING.

WORLD'S TOTAL OF MOTOR ' VEHICLES.

On January Ist, 1926, there were in nitration throughout the world 20,799,----131 passenger cars, 181,573 motor buses, ■ .'.,4-34.939 trucks and 1.519,765 motor cyoles. The total of these four classes of aphides was 25.973.925. The increase for the year ovpr the total reported on January 1, 1025. was 3.273.554, a gain of 1 * |-i(T rent. Of this total increase, the T nited States was responsible for 67 per ront. Trucks increased 2f> per cent, motor cycles show an increase of over 22 per 'ent. and by far the greatest numerical increase is represented in the 2.166,J r: l added pas-sentrer car?, which is about 12 prr cent of the total. Assuming the i lowest retail prices of £200 for cars, : £4<in for trucks or buses, and £60 for motor cycles, it appear? that the world paid at least £76n.nn0.D00 for new motor v-hides for the year 1925. GIVING A LIFT. Xn one who drives anywhere these day? fails to find himself besought, either by word or signal, for rides. The average motorist is not a selfish person ?>ays an American paper). He would hr glad to carry a carload of people when he goes anywhere; but the average motorist prefers to pick out the load. He feels no particular obligation to pick up any stranger along the road. And there is rather good reason for not picking up a miscellaneous car,go. There have also been cases in which strangers have been picked up and later injured in some accident, and have then turned about and sued their good Samaritan. There is some element of danger in carrying strangers. It is likely to divert the attention of the driver from the task in hand, and with the great amount of traffic on the roads, this may result disastrously.

It would not be so bad if the person picked up did not always seem to think he must carry on an animated conversation with the driver, who would prefer to be subjected to silence. NOTES BY THE WAY. 1895: "Lco'k. a motor car!" 1D25: "Look, a horse!" 1955: "Look a pedestrian!" . If the majority really ruled, the locomotive would -ye to stop at the crossings for Fords. Caesar crossed-th" Rubicon; Washington crossed the Delaware; a pedestrian crossed a busy street. Every age has its heroes. For the manufacture of upholstery materials employed in their cars, the Ford Company are building a factory, estimated to cost about £600,000. in Michigan. The Christchurch Motor Club has obtained the use of the Brooklands Motor Works- Garage, Cashel Street, afi a free garage for members. Membership cards must b€ shown or usual fee will be charged.

The Italian Tourist Trophy races held recently at Rome, where a Sunbeam won the senior race, left much for granted in the making of the course. Corners were not sandbagged, and sharp turns were not signalled. British riders found a marked contrast to the splendid organisation of the Isle of Man T.T., and no doubt*.-..many of., the accidents which occured. were due to this lack of attention, in ..

" "If r -when "refining 'band brakes (says 'the "Motor") the friction fabric is fitted in ■ sections with a gap of Jin or so between each, the life of the fabric will be prolonged because road grit and so forth will be pushed into the gaps when the brakes are applied instead of being ground into the fabric. Water also flows into the gaps and so falle clear of the rdrums, thus ensuring a better gripping power to the brakes.

- A motor cycUst, doing about 40, lost control owing to the machine jumping in a pothole. After doing a "jazz" for about 20 yards, the bike turned right round back to front and threw him. He fell on thp greensward only a few yards from the bike, was uninjured, straightened the lamp on the bracket, and in a couple -~i linutes was on the way again. They talk about the .luck of a Chinaman. He was one.

The disfiguring of the countryside by the Railway Department's advertising .hoardings continues to be a matter of throughout the Dominion. The Southland Automobile Association is protesting against certain Railway Department advertising bill-boarde in its district as being actually dangerous to traffic by obscuring the view of level crossings. It is strange that the Government in New Zealand should be taking ■ the lead in bill-hoarding, whereas most other Governments are busy suppreesing ■rft.

With the coolness of daring so often ■ displayed by immature drivers of the fair • W sex, the eweet young thing of seventeen 'fdas'hed into the traffic from a side » street right into the path of an oncom- - ing omnibus, and then stopped the engine 'of her light car. The driver of the omnibus succeeded in pulling up without even scratching a wing, although there was not much to spare. Then, leaning over to Miss Seventeen, he remarked in a sad, confidential voice: "Say, Mifisie, one morning your room will be full of flowers, and you won't be able to see a single one."

About 75 per cent of the new dwellings erected in the city have motor garages > attached to them, according to a city officer. In some case 3 the owners are not in possession of cars, and they modestly specify the garages as sheds. But from the positions of which the£ are placed and from their design there is no concealing the fact that, the main purpose of these littie structures is that of garages A house without a garage is now not as good a selling proposition as one possessing this very necessary convenience. In addition to the garages that are being -erected with the new houses there are numbers erected every month for older dwellings.

Some observant men in Dunedin are not at all easy as to tie outlook in regard to petrol. The position as defined by one who knows what he is talking about is thus stated to a representative of the Dunedin "Evening S*-"": -"Oil tanks aro being constructed .at Lyttelton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Bluff, and m places in the North Island. The oil for them will come in bulk by large tank steamers that will tranship for coasta distribution. means that we shall have fewer visits from the liners that carry general cargo, for they load oil in case, and as the oil will come in hulk the princip- line in their carrying will be done away with. It follows that the revenue of the harboui hoards will suffer because the big liners will pay fewer visits, andthe coasters are on a yearly rate. And anyone can foresee that when" the two big companies have pushed the smaller -.omp-nies right out, the price of petrol will be what they like to make it Already the price of petrol has advanced-hyV - cafie *