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Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21179, 1 June 1934, Page 6

NOTES

The tax on motor-cars brought into Germany by tourists, which was one mark a day, has been removed. Foreign motorists now pay no tax for three months after the first entry of their cars, no matter how many times these r.re taken across the frontier and brought back again. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the announcement of the Government's intentions in the direction of stimulating oil discovery in Great Britain was the suddenness with which the decision was made known, says an English motoring journal. Couple with this the fact that on the same day that Mr Runciman made his statement in the House of Commons, a bill was introduced in the House of Lords and read a first time vesting in the Crown the property in petroleum and natural gas within Great Britain, and there is room for speculation as to what has happened. The quest for oil in England has been in abeyance since 1922 and tha subject has been almost neglected. The latest action on the part of the Government would seem to suggest quite unexpected developments.

The concern x>f IJndergradutite Roadways, <8 Jesus Jane, Cambridge, must be almost unique in its way. This is a road and airrtravel booking agency established by a small group of undergraduates, and it is now busily engaged in entering into contracts for summer tours, as well as in catering for the bulk of the contract-car-riage needs of Cambridge and the surrounding district. The success of this concern, which is entirely engaged in booking parties for travel by road and air, is largely due to enterprise in taking note of every possible opportunity lor the exploitation of roadtransport needs. Moreover, no "notice" of any need for a coach is regarded as being too short. The abolition ol' the horse-power tax in France has resulted in a definite increase of week-end motoring traffic on the road, it is stated. At the same time, an impetus has been given to the second-hand car business. Second-hand cars are not, as in Germany,. excluded from the no-tax scheme; so high-powered cars which were practically unsaleable last year are now being picked up by those who only intend to make occasional use of them, the only taxation being that on petrol. Another interesting result of the new taxation scheme is that it has now become the custom of garages and petrol stations in France to quote the price of petrol on the pump at so much per litre instead of, as before, so much per five-litre unit. The idea seems to be that the increased price of petrol sounds less this way.

A distinct improvement took place last year in the overseas demand for American commercial vehicles, for 43,616 vans, lorries, and chassis, valued at £4,022.560, were exported from the United States of America, as contrasted with 24,960. (£2,342,560) in 1932. The bulk 4 of the vehicles (32,325) were of 20-3Ccwt capacity, 4941 between H ton and 2A tons, 4779 up to 20cwt, 1306 over 2\ tons, and 265 miscellaneous. Aluminium and aluminium components require occasional cleaning in order to maintain their bright appearance. Although most proprietary liquid metal polishes can be used with good results, if the preliminary cleaning and polishing are methodically done, an equally effective and economical polishing material for aluminium is a creamy-like mixture of paraffin and finely powdered whiting. A clean soft rag should be used for rubbing on the mixture and a soft chamois leather for polishing. Unskilled operation of the accelerator may be the cause of many car troubles. Abrupt acceleration, especially from low speeds, must be condemned because of the strains which are inflicted on the engine and transmission, and if it should be necessary to accelerate suddenly to a fast speed it is best to engage an intermediate gear before calling upon the engine for its full power.