THE MOTOR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 26, 31 January 1912, Page 4

THE MOTOR.

— _ — * (By "Autoe.") An interesting account of a motor trip to Rotorua and back had just been given mo by Mr. M. H. Oram, who drove his Ford .car there' and back during the early part of this month. He went, up to Napier via the Manawatu Goige, where a landslip delayed him overnight. The rest of the road to Napier was excellent except for the patch acrosa the Takapa-u plains — some four mile*. The Hawkes Bay roads were in absolutely poifect condition. Tho third day was devoted to tho trip from Napier, which was left about noon. Friends w^re vkited on the way, and Pohui w*is reached at 5 o'clock. Here the meta-llod road end# a,ud the fiteep hills begin. The first, Titio-Kura, \va6 climbed easily, though ropes were taken in case of emergency, ac this and its neighbour hill* aixi .recognised as come of the worst in New Zealand. A deviation is now being made to avoid Titio-Kura and reduce the grade of 1 in 6 very considerably. After Titio-Kura come* the «ight mile long TurangakUmu, which was climbed almost entirely on top gear. Tarawera wa< reached about 8 o'clock. Next day the car was pushed on towards Taupo, up the laet of the ranaca Ohinekuku. Some time was spent by the party at the Runanga Falls. On to Taupo the journey was over pumice roade, which were fortunately in fairly good condition. To Rotorua the distance from Taupo is about 60 miles, but the journey was broken by pleasure digressions on the way. The last fifteen miles into Rotorua were about the worst of the whole trip, the road being simply rough, looee sand. From Rotorua Mr. Oram made several interesting excursions to different places, Hamilton and Te Aroha being the furthest away. He was not impressed with Auckland provincial roads. He made the return journey from Rotorua in three days. On the last day he came through from Napier to Wellington in 10 hours IS minutes. The only trouble he had with the car was with a weak tire and, to a slight extent on one day, with the carburettor. The weather on the whole was good. The total mileage for the whole trip was x4oli and the total amount of petrol consumed 22£ gallons, which works out at 28 mile* to the gallon, which is certainly not bad running. The' milages to Rotorua kept by Mr. Oram should prove valuable to the motor tourist. Thoy are as follow: — Wellington to Johnßonville, 7.5; Tawa Flat, 10.73; Porirua, 13.75; Pawmata, 17.26; Pahautanui 20.5; Horokiwi Valley, 25; Parapataumu, 39.5; Waikanae, 43.1; Otaki, .53; Manakau, 59; Ohau, $2.75 ; ' Levin 65 ; Shannon 77.5 ; Palmerston, 99,5; Ashhurst, 110; Wood- ] ville 119.5; Dannevirke, 136.5; Norse wood, 149.75; Takapau 162; Te Aute, 191 ; Napier 220 ; Eokdale, 232 ; Carmichael's Hill, 239 ; Pohui, 249 ; TilioKura 263 ; Mahak* Bridge, 257.5 ; Turangakumu, 265; Taxawera, 273.5; Ohinekuku, 281; Rangitaiki, 295; Taupo, 219; Huka Fallfi, 322; Wanake, 325; Waiotapu, 354; Botonm. 378.25. The distance from Napier to Tarawer* is 63.6 miles ; from jS T apier tp Taupo, 99 miles f from Taupo to Botorua 69.25 mile*. ' Speaking generally of the trip Mr. Oram says it is one of the most interesting a motorist could take, as it includes every kind pf scenery— river, bush, mountain, valley, plain and the wonderful Thermal Regions. ]Vluch has been made of the badness of the roads, but' Mr. Oram think* they ar« not nearly so "fcad 'as they have been described to bb. The .worst, roads are~near Rotorua, and on the pther sid«, He intends to .produce a booklet shortly giving motor-ists-a-full account of the "trip, with 'all' information about the .road*, stopping* places, and spots of interest all the way up to Auckland. This should recom-. mend itself to the motorist. The internal-combustion or gas turbine has .come at last in something like a practical form. ' "Engineering" k publishes a ' translation of a description of (he machine by the inventor, a German, with drawings of the turbine. It is a thousand horse-power plant, with vertical shaft, driving direct an alternating current dynamo at 3000 revolutions per minute, something like the Curtis turbine in the City JSlecfric Light Station. The design is really amazingly simple. Compressed air and compressed gas are introduced separately into a watercooled combustion chamber underneath the turbine wheel. The mixture is exploded, an oil-operated valve opens and gives accesß "io the exploded gases through suitably-shaped blading to the turbine wheel. This carrieß two sets of blading. There is nothing particularly distinctive about it. Cast iron and steel are used without any protective covering against the heat of the explosion— the real trouble in the gas turbine. Im- ; mediately following on the explosion is a draught of cool air, and then another explosion takes place. It it the principle of the early Persons where the steam was admitted in gusts to the blading' by a valv,e operated by & worm from the main shaft. It ha» been found that the German gas turbine made by Brown and Boveri, of Mannheim, rune more economically on small charges than on full, rich mix- ' tures. The beat has to be kept down under 700deg. Fahrenheit. The exhaust runs into a vacuum chamber, and the waste heat is used to generate steam for tfse in compressing the gas and air used in the explosion, and also for maintaining a vacuum. It has been found possible effectually to govern the turbine, and a wide range of flexibility ha« been /shown. . The plant has been credited with -the fairly high efficiency of 20 per cent., which us better than the boot steam engine. New Zealand inventors have had their turn in the design of special valve gear for petrol engines. I" understand that the Argyll Company, in bringing out its latest combined rotary-reciprocating sloeve valve, bought up the patent of Edward Holland, of Auckland, which exactly embodies the main ides, of tho Argyll device. It comprises a cylinder, a sleeve slidablo and rota,table in the cylinder, a socket upon the lower side of the sleeve, a ball fitting the eocket, a shaft having a crank pin wheroon the ball is shdable and rotaiable, and helical gearing for rotating the shaft. ♦ The New Zealand Motor Cycle Club's annual two-day reliability trials will take place on the let and 2nd March. Ihe conditions generally are tho same as last year, but th© route will possibly be over the Pahiatua track instead of via tho Manawatu (^orge, and the impossible miles between Sondon and Foxton have been cut out by taking a circuitous rout© via Palmerston North and Longburn.