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Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20037, 19 September 1930, Page 6

NOTES.

Reports made to the Canterbury Automobile Association are to the effect that the road from Waiau township "to Parnassus has been in a very, wet condition during the winter, several cars having been encountered in trouble in crossiug streams. The surface of the load itself, however, is said to . be in good 'order. Mr W. B. Carey is the only nomination for the office, of president of the Canterbury Automobile-Association far. coming year, and Mr J. L. Danks has been similarly nominated for the esidentship. Tenders will close in-about a week's time for the reconstruction of the Main No.th road from the City boundary to ■Nortlicote road, a distance of about 60 chains. The work, which is to be carried out -in concrete, Will make a much neese<} impiovement to this portion of Christchurch. Experts find that, directly or inr directly, a million men are engaged in building roads in U.S.A. • ,

It is reported that a bridge is contemplated over the mouth of the Motonau river, but not before March of next year. At present it is necessary to use care at this spot, as if a car is caught by the tide a long wait is necessary before the stream may be crossed again. The rear book of the Otago Motor Ciub, which has just been issued, is a creditable production, containing a wealth of information to motorists, relating not only to Otago, but also to other parts of the Dominion. One o± the features of the publication is a table of the charges mad<' to transport cars by rail and sea, within the Dominion. The official hotel. lists of both the South Island and North Island Motor Unions are included and there are, in addition, colour route maps of the whole of the South Island Other features of this interesting booklet arc a number of tips for the better running of the car and numerous descriptions of trips in both Islands. The Indian Motorcycle Company of New York has purchased the American rights, license, etc., of the Sunbeam Motor Car Company, Ltd., of Wolverhampton, England, according to a London report. This includes the right to manufacture in the United States the recently designed Sunbeam-Coatalen Diesel engine, it is said. Motorists in America who own ex-pensive-looking ears are warned of a new "racket" in which they are made tho victims. The racketeer drives a dilapidated automobile, manoeuvring it so the driver of the car will crash into the old vehicle. The racketeer then attempts to collect heavy damages on the threat of having the driver of the other car arrested. Some £3,000,000 is to be spent by American motor manufacturers in bringing about the scrapping of old cars. The idea appears to be to eliminate as far as possible the enormous number of obsolete cars with two-wheel brakes, slow acceleration and bad steering which are still on the roads. The scheme has the official recommendation of the National Automobile Chamber ot Commerce. A new typo of petrol engine for commercial use, claimed by its inventor to remain in perfect balance at any speed, has been developed in America. The principlo is the movement in opposite directions of two pistons in the same, cylinder. The gyroscopic action of the pistons and opposite whirling flywheels, with tho angularity of the connecting rods, keeps the engine in balance and eliminate* tho vibration which is ono of the problems of installing commercial engines in farm maehinerv. Friction caused by tho additional piston, the inventor pointed out, is rnoro than made up in the elimination of moving parts necessary in other engines.

Motor vehicle taxes in the United States in 1920 reached nearly £200,000,000. This amount included fees collected on petrol, registration and license, and personal property and municipal taxes. A Frenchman has invented an apparatus, carried in his car, which consists of a microphone and a powerful loudspeaker to amplify his carefully chosen advice to the "jaywalker" or erratic driver in front of him.. An arrangement has been made by the German police authorities, the German Automobile Club, and a leading petrol company whereby particulars of stolen cars will be circulated to the petrol company's filling stations.

For the month ended February, 1930, 1079 cars, valued at £197,343, were imported into England, as compared with 1418 cars, valued at during the corresponding period of 1929. Exports during that month numbered 1663. valued at £300,765, as compared with 1612 cars, valued at £300879, during the similar period of 1929. A motor dealer in New York recently offered a wireless set with every second-hand car he sold. It is estimated that there were 13,022 cars in use in Morocco at the commencement of the present year. Of 4,012,000 new cars sold in America last year, over 2,500,000 were disposed of on the hire-purchase system. The official German export returns show that 83 German motor-cycles were exported to England during last Marco. The Prince of Wales recently received at St. James's Palace * Sir Wiiliam Morris, whose cars were used by the Prince on his Kenya expedition. According to' American statistics, blue is the colour most, often chosen for body colours. Grey is least favoured.