HIGHWAYS BOARD TOUR

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 88, 8 January 1926, Page 4

HIGHWAYS BOARD TOUR

SOUTH ISLAND VISIT. An extensive tour of the South Island is to be made by the members of the Main Highways Board, accompanied bv Mr. A. Tyndall, engineer to the board. Some' portion of nearly every county in the South Island will be passed over, and meetings have been arranged with the members of all the county councils at various points, inc South Island automobile associations are taking considerable interest in the tour and have various matters to bring before the board. The tour will be valuable, firstly, in enabling the members of the board to see for themselves the condition of a big mileage of the southern roads, and, secondly, in enabling Tffie members of the various county councils in the course of round-the-tablc talk to gain a better idea of what is required of them in, the way ot improved maintenance methods, etc. The itinerary of the tour, together with the mileage of road that will be covered by the board each day, is as wollows: — January 15, Friday: Wellington depart 3 p.m., arrive Blenheim, meeting Marlborough sud A'watere Counties. January’l6, Saturday; Depart Blenheim, arrive Waikari, meet Kaikoura and Waipara Counties, 190 miles., - January 17, Sunday:. Christchurch, via Hanraer, and meet Amuri County at Culverden, 127 miles. January 18, Monday: Christchurch, meet Canterbury local bodies, etc. January 19, Tuesday: Oamaru, and meet Ashburton, Geraldine, McKenzie, Waitaki and Levels Counties, 160 miles. Junuatv 20, Wednesday: Dunedin, see Waihemo at Palmerston, 77 miles. January 21, Thursday; Dunedin. . January 22, Friday: Invercargill, via Manuka Gorge, 158 miles. January 23, Saturday: Invercargill to Clyde, 132 mile*January 24, Sunday; Clyde to .Queenstown and back to Clyde, 110 miles. January 25. Monday; To Timaru, 180 miles. January 26, Tuesday: To Springfield and rail to Otlra, and on to Hokitika, train and 50 miles.

January 27, Wednesday: To Waiho and back -to Hokitika or Grey mouth, 181 miles.

January 28, Thursday: Westport,.see Grey, Inangahua, and Buller, 132 miles. January 29, Friday: Westport to Nelson, 141 miles. Januarw 30, Saturday: To Picton and boat to Wellington, 77 miles and sea trip.

On one of the main roads in the United States a lorry with a 361 b. lifting magnet suspended from the rear is being used for picking up nails, bolts, scrap iron, etc., shed by passing mo-' torists. As much as 6031 b. have been picked up on a seven-mile stretch. It is stated that the number of cars produced in the United States of America for the first seven mouths of the--year amounted to 2,303,319, as against 2,010,459 in the same period of last year—an increase of 10 per cent. One man in every two and one woman in every three are, now declared to be able to-drive a car in America.

LEVEL CROSSINGS ABROAD Experiments are being conducted by the Italian State railways with various devices for indicating unguarded levelcrossings by night. One of the most successful methods takes the form of phosphorescent signals, which are visible at a distance of a hundred yards. In Switzerland the Automobile Club and the Touring Club are experimenting with devices formed of ruby lenses arranged in various shapes, and reflecting the light from the lamps of approaching cars. Simultaneously, the Swiss Federal railways have just issued a report, from which it appears that there are 4316 level-crossings in Switzerland, of which 1118 are guarded. arc controlled from a distance, and L. 69 arc entirely unprotected! In three years there have been 224 accidents to ' motor-cars at Swiss level-crossings.* As the railways are owned by the State, the cost of replacing crossings by , bridges, or of placing custodians at unguarded places, falls on the taxpayer as in New Zealand. JOTTINGS The first pile of the bridge across the Mokau River on the West Coast route to Auckland was driven on December 30. This bridge when completed will replace the present ferry across the river. Motor-camping is reported to hat e been in great favour in the Rotorua and Taupo districts during the holidays, and the shores of Lake Taupo have been dotted with tents to an unprecedented extent. It is stated that last week more than a hundred motor-cars from the North Island were unloaded at Picton for South Island tours. An interesting proposal by the Lands Department to“ establish a campingground for motorists on a beautiful strip of Crown land between Goose Bay and Oaro, on the Blenheim-Christchurch road, was mentioned at a meeting of the Marlborough Automobile Association (states the “Marlborough . Impress”). The locality is described as a beautiful one, and was near enough, to half-way between Blenheim and Christchurch. Motor-car registrations du™ l !? l ’' c past ten months of 19'2! totalled 12 2bb. and imports 1*2.258. The “Radiator says that so far as they go, the figures quoted mav be considered very satisfactory, and so far as stocks of new motor vehicles arc concerned there is nothing particular to worry over. Ibe fly in the ointment is that unknown factor, the number of used cars taken in part payment for new cars, and held in stock by traders. Manv motor importing houses are •now refusing to take over used ears ill part pavment for new, as the maiket is glutted with second-hand vehicles. Isn’t it about time that Hutt County did' something in the way of repairing or .replacing the Silvcrstrcam bridge on the main road? Writing of the number of motor-ear thefts in Auckland last year, the "Herald” savs about 100 were reported limition locks were very easily circumvented by the thieves and joyriders. Youths who have been arrested for unlawfully converting ears have been found in possession of lengths of wire which serve to make the connection broken by the swfleh-key. Hie gear-tex lock is a proposition winch baffles even a motor mechanic, ana there is no record of a car with a locked gear-lever being removed m Auckland. Unfortunately, not one driver in ten bothers to remove the key from the gear-lock when parking the car. The timc-pavmcnt system of motorcar purchase in the United States has latelv been extensively remodelled on account of the losses on defaults and repossessions amounting to about IU i>er cent, of the transactions handled. The outcome has been the organisation of the National Association of binance Companies, which has passed resolutions that the minimum deposit for motor-cats should not be less than 3') per cent, of the time selling price, and the maximum maturity not more than 10 months. In the ease of second-hand cars the limits have been set at 40 per cent, and 12 months. I hree hundred bankers in 23 States have approved these resolutions.. During one week in August a British Ministry of Transport census shows that 20,347 cars, 10,283 commercial vehicles, and 8012 motor-cycles passed over Maidstone bridge on the London-Dover road. By way of comparison it is interesting to recall similar figures for 1913. In that year a one week’s census showed that the figures were 3352 cars, 612 lorries, and 1052 motor-cycles. Although the transcontinental trip bv motor-car lias often been made successfully in the United States, such a journev" has never yet been made across’Canada. An attempt, however, was recently made to create this record, the motorist having set out from Halifax, N.S., With Vancouver, B.C. as his objective. As roads arc non-existent in several sectors, the Canadian Pacific Railway 'granted permission for the vehicle’ to run over its lines, when flanged wheels will be used instead ot the normal type. The situation in the German automobile industry is regarded at presen as extraordinarily bad. It is still possible to sell motor-cars- against bills of exchange; traders, however, cannot engage in this business, since they arc unable to get their bills discounted. According to returns issued by the British Ministry of 'Transport, the tola number of motor-vehicles licensed between December 1, 1924, and Auglfi’l 31, 1925, was 1,523,201, as comparer with 1,312,357 during the correspond ing period twelve months before. Im number of cars taxed on horse-poWCi Ic .. pri-ate vehicles, lias incrcasei from -173,528 to 579,901, .while the tota revenue from motor-vehicle license; stands at £15,482,071, against £13,892, ' 879. Interesting developments may be ex ' nected in the near future in the matte' of anti-dazzle bulbs which were cnterei for trial under the Royal Autoinobili 1 conditions last March (states tm "Autocar”!. The bulbs are the ordin arv gas-tilled electric headlight type but the upper half (when in positioi in a lamp) of each is covered by vellow-coloured pig i incut. The result of the R.A.C. tria mav be said to have been quite satis factory, and tests of the, bulbs bav< (or some time been carried out witl success on Aldershot buses. The men of this method of cutting down glan lies in its simplicity and the fact tha 1 it can be procured at a few pence ove; the normal price, but, of course, with out test we cannot say if an adcquati i driving light is provided.