STARTING A CAR.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19889, 28 March 1930, Page 8

STARTING A CAR.

DOCTOR'S INGENUITY. Rather an interesting story of an ingenious method adopted by a doctor in Northern Nigeria—many miles from any where—to get his car started when ho found his battery completely exhausted was recently related on his return to London. One day he was called from his hospital centre at Gardika, Africa, to attend a patient at a mission station hundreds of miles away on the French Cameroons frontier. Just before he arrived at his destination he found there was a broad river over which he could not take his car. As time was precious ho left the car on one bank and crossed by boat to the other side to see his patient He was detained there two days, and when he got back to the car—which was equipped with battery ignition only—he found that mischievous and inquisitive black men and boys had exhausted the batteryby playing with the horn and lights. He tried pushing the car so as to get a spark or two, but. it was of no avail. Finally he got the local missionary's bicycle, took the tyre off the back wheel, cut a strip of goat skin for a belt and soaked it in water so as to straighten it. Then he rigged the cycle upside down on some boxes, put the belt round the back rim and the pulley of the dynamo on j the car and vigorously turned the pedals. _ in a minute or two he got the precious spark, but so as not to run any more risks he turned the pedals For about an hour and well recharged the bat- i tery. I