THE MOTOR

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 146, 17 December 1913, Page 4

THE MOTOR

REGISTRATION ANOMALIES. (By, "Autos.") If one has any doubts as to the absurdity of the present system of motor registration in'thte country, one has only to look at a list prepared by Mr. Drake, the city motor inspector, setting out the different registering authorities and the abbreviations and numbers used to signify the locality and number of the car registered. To show the possibility of confusion, it is' necessary only to remark that no fewer than eleven authorities use the letter VV 01 some combination of it as their locality mark. SeveraJ use the letter W alone. It is easy to understand how mistakes can be made by observers at police-traps between Wellington cars and cars driven in and out by visitors. Another favourite letter is H, to which eight authorities lay claim. Furthermore, there is no means of following up a car when it changes hands. A car registered in Wellington may be sold to an owner in Hawkes Bay and still carry its letter and number with it. In the Old Country any transfer must be notified to the registering authority under pains and penalties. There are a hundred and one details in which the system conld be improved, but it is for Parliament to undertake legislation -with that object, not for local authorities to multiply by-laws ad infinitum. A Parliamentary Committee might be worse employed than in thoroughly investigating the whole position of motors in New Zealand with the view of legislation tp meet the requirements 'of a locomotion advancing immensely every year. BLENHEIM TO NELSON. Mr. Frank F. Foord, who has recently returned from a motor-cycling trip from Picton, via Blenheim and Havelock, to Nelson, sends a word of warning to brother^motorists against tackling this route in the present wretched ' state of the roads. -The whole season has been very wet on the other side of, the Strait, and new metal, spread regardless over long stretches of the, Blenheim-Nelson road, makes progress difficult and trying in the extreme. Between Picton and Blenheim, excepting about half a mile of metal on this side of the railway line at Spring Creek, things were not so bad. From Blenheim to Havelock the- heavy timber traffic has cut the roads into a ma-ss of pot holes and deep ruts, and even the most expert riders have a hard rob to keep their machines upright. Mr. Ifoord advises' intending motorists to take the road from Spring Creek* up between the Opawa and Wairau Rivers, joining the main road again at the new bridge over the Wairau. This route is, perhaps, five or ten minutes longer, but it certainly cuts out the longhand rocky bottom of the Opawa river bed, and saves tires and also the possibility of a good wetting in the river. From Havelock to the Rai Saddle the road continues tp, be very soft, and about two miles beyond Havelock there are about three" or four chains of clay formation to be negotiated, on account of a deviation at present being made in the road. This ' section ' is particularly bad, , but when it, is finished it will bo a boon ■to the motorist, as it cuts" off at» least two bad turns and bridges one of the small creeks which are at present one of the greatest drawbacks to tho use of this road. Between the Rai Saddle and the foot of. the "Wangamoa the roa"d is being metalled for some considerable distance, and not in the way ordinary metalling is done. The road is covered from onw extreme edge to the other with fully Yiine or ten inches of broken metal dug out of the'/Mll as the road goes along. " I am not' exaggerating," says Mr. Foord, " when I say that some of these lumps of sharp-edged stone ore fully' five by' six inches in dimensions, and on more than one, occasion the engine clearance provod too small, and I had literally to lift the motor over it." . The metal is not blinded, nor is there any track along the" side. -The idea, apparently, is that everybody must do his share ' of necessary road-rolling without exemption. " Surely it is obvious," comments the writer, "that these obsolete methods were discarded. County coiincils ough^ to be made to consider the motorist a little than they have

done, in the past. If rolling cannot be managed, they should at least have the metal blinded. ... I do not advise anybody without a variable gear to take this trip on, if the weather is at all inclined to bo wet." From nearly the top on tHe other side of the Wangamoa to Nelson the road w&s excellent, and some compensation for what had been undergone in the earlier part of the journey. THE LAST WORD. Mr. L. Dillon-Kelly, secretary of the Wellington Automobile Club, writes in reply to Mr. C. D. Bridge's letter in last week's column : — "Mr. Bridge's letter refers, I presume, to my letters appearing in The Post on the 26th of November and 3rii of December respectively. Subsequent to my letter of the 26th November Mr. Bridge called on me and pointed out that he interpreted the phrase 'Sabbath Calm' appearing in my letter to mean a tranquil Sunday. lat once assured Mr. Bridge that I, had no intention of suggesting that the W.M.C.C. held competitions on Sunday and that the words used were merely a figure of speech. Mr. Bridge does not seem prepared tb accept my explanation and seems to be quite enraged that he should be accused of going a-hill-climbing on Sunday. lam glad to see that Mr. Bridge writes as Mr. Bridge and not as an officer of the W.M.C.C, and I take this opportunity of informing him^that I have the friendliest feelings for the W.MX.C. and regret very much that it should have been necessary, owing to the comparison made" between the committees of the W.M.C.C. and the W.A.C. in your issue of the 19th, of November, to introduce their name into the discussion. I feel quite certain that they will accept my explanation. There are two further points in Mr.' Bridge's lettei, however, which I am unable to pass over without comment. Firstly, Mr. Bridge says that my assertion that by-laws have been framed against the W.M.C.C. is ridiculous and challenges me to prove it. If Mr. Bridge had been conversant with the by-laws he might nob have been so hasty with his challenge. If he will read section 2, sub-section l a" of the Hutt County Motor By-Law, 1913, he will receive his reply to his challenge. Secondly, Mi. Bridge, not content with issuing challenges deliberately states that according to me the police traps in the Lower Hutt were instituted for the undoing of the Motor Cycling Club. I said nothing of the kind, and with a copy of my letter here before me I can find no reference to the police traps in the Lower Hutt. I shall nob presume to take up more of your space in informing Mr. .bridge of the history of _ the erection of the Abbott's Creek bridge, which, according to 'Autos,' has long ago been recorded in youi columns." [No useful purpose can be' served by prolonging the controversy any further. —"Autos."] ROUND THE WORLD ON KEROSENE. Edward P. Kohl, a young graduate of the University of Wisconsin, is now on his way on a 40,000 mile tour around tho world in a kerosene-driven automobile. Basing his calculation on experience encountered as far as New York, Kohl expects to make a saving of fully 2000 dollars by using kerosene as fuel during the trip. Apart from the saving he will be able to drive ' the car into countries where it is impossible to obtain tho petrol. The machine carries a big tank on the running board, in which kerosene is stored. Besides this the car is fitted with the regulation petrol tank. Tho carburettor used by ICohl that makes kerosene possible a3[ fuel has already been subjected to severe transcontinental tests through which it haß come triumphant. Petrol is used to start the car and warm up the engine. This requires about five minutes, after "which the kerosene can be used for the rest of the running time. During Kohl's transcontinental test from Indianapolis to San Francisco only six gallons of petrol wore used, and this included its use during times when it was impossible to obtain kerosene. Owing to the nature of kerosene there is a sufficient oil left over over after vaporisation to make lubrication oil for tho ' cylinders unnecessary, and a run of 700 miles on a gallon of lubricating oil was actually accomplished. In the transcontinental test the car covered 4015 miles on a consumption of 250 gallons of kerosene, or an average

of sixteen miles per gallon, as against eleven miles made by a competing car with a gallon of petrol. The extra, tank carried on Kolil'b machine has a capacity of sixty gallons, and he estimates that he will be able to cover 1000 miles without replenishing his fuel supply. He is making the trip to complete his education, and will pay all of his expenses by means of writing articles and taking photographs.