NOTES.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19971, 4 July 1930, Page 6

NOTES.

The Magistrate's Court will have much bnoiaecß to transact on Monday, when approximately 85 cases concerning various alleged by-law breaches by motorMr driven, motor-cyclists, and cyclists are «et down for hearing. , According to the 1930 booklet issued by the National Automobile Chamber ©f Commerce, New York, there wore at December 82et, 1929, 7,800,000 miles of highway in the worid, of which New Zealand possessed 48,146. Sets of motor regulations received recently from certain American cities five a good idea of the problems with which they are confronted. In some •ase* the restrictions imposed regardlag Stopping and parking are altered almost hourly. In various parts the parking periods range from nothing to two boors, and thia state of affairs is ftKtkvr complicated by the fact that the BOSK In streets comparatively close tofather are widely divergent.

The 1930 booklet issued by the NatloB&l Automobile Chamber of Com* «B*sve, New York, states that at Decern»tr 31st, 1920, there were 34,876,837 motor-vehicles in tho world. Of tho World total, 76 per ceat, were in the united States. There were 84.9 persons Mr motor-vehicle in the world. Now SaaJaod possessed 143,841 passenger W, 1838 buses, and 28,733 trucks. total for New Zealand was 178,812, 9*4 the population per motor-vehicle 8.

. A new method of testing motor spirit Mid lubricants has been adopted by thu Shell Company in England which virjMlly tests tho spirit under road-work-bf conditions. Tho method is the only mm of its kind ia existence, the tests Mate carried out on a lorry which Is ipMlally fitted out as a travelling labor, itory. The cabin is fitted with four qiltanoe-readiag thermomoters, speed' 4|Mter, and clock (each with trip fftees), angina, revolution eounter, aneroid barometer (to give height? and barometric pressure), an atmospheric tjtartnometer, an aeeelorometer ana gro4k»t meter (to check performance), and H pointer and dial indicating tho positin of the throttle at any moment. Tfc# petrol tanks are arranged to bold fb**» grades of fuel, and each can be QNI in torn for testing purposes. Each w ISO miles are covered over standardsNa routes, and samples of oil are taken «t.lntervals for laboratory examination. Star these means various grades of motor «us A&d fuels can be tested under «et«al everyday conditions. TIM Australian Federal Prime Mini«tr, Mi Seullin, is • statement in tho minim of Bepresentativtig recently, said flat (he Federal Government would MM. to increase the petrol tax by fit per gallon if the State Governments IVOVa agree to redueo motor-car regisfnilMl by an equivalent sum.

For the convenience of members unacquainted with London and its traffic conditions, the Automobile Association has provided arrangements whereby, for a small charge, they can be met on the outskirts of the Metropolis and piloted or driven to their destinations in London or the suburbs. These pilots do not wear A.A. patrol uniforms; they are men specially chosen for their knowledge of London, and are easily recognised by a yellow armlet worn on the right arm inscribed "A.A. Pilot."

Invercargill has adopted an idea that, while it is not new, is an effective means of giving warning of approaching vo hides at an intersection. It is a large mirror fastened to a pole, and a motorist approaching an intersection from ono angle can see all that is coming. Mirrors at sharp curves in country roads wero tried in England some time ago, but "Punch" predicted, by caricature, that they would lose their usefulness to motorists on account of the large number of young women they would probably attract! 11l tnvorcargill, however, the mirror is high up.

It was stated in the House of Commons that the British General Post Of tico operates 5251 mottir-vehicles, of which 4293 are British; 954 are British with the exception of certain parts rep resenting about 2J per cent, of their value, and four are foreign.

Tho French tax increases on imported motor-oars proposed in the original schedule ranged from 65 to 800 per cent, Revised figures are calculated to provide an average increase of about 45 per cent, in the ad valorem duties now in operation.

The result of the first two months of 1030 tend to confirm the estimate that this year's production of motor vehicles will decline 25 per cent, compared with the record output of 1020.

The development of tho roads in tho Island of Madagascar is resulting in a stoady increase of the number of motor cycles; there are now 1482 machines in use, as contrasted with 1072 a year ago. Acootding to the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce in New York, the revenue from the tax on cars, petrol, and tyres in Sweden is to ba used entirely for schemes connoted with the improvement and maintenance of the roads in that eountry. It is said that a contract involving ten million pounds has been placed iu America by the Soviet Government to build a city to house 35,000 workpeople who will be engaged on building cars in Russia.

Tho German railways have dovised a scheme by which motorists proceeding from Great Britain can ship their cars diroct to North German ports for transit by railway train to Basle, in Switzerland.