THE MOTOR

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 77, 1 April 1914, Page 11

THE MOTOR

(By "Autos.") ! The Wellington Motor Cycling Club is to be congratulated on the early start it has made in the direction of improv ing motor'i-oad communication by sign posts at important junctions. There i& to be a semi-official ceremony next Saturday afternoon, when the first direction post will be planted at the junction of the Ngahauranga Gorge-road with the Hutt-road. The post will bear three inns : "To Wellington. To Johnsonville and Palmerston North. To Petone and the Wairarapai" The member for the district, Mr. W. H. D. Bell will be present, and all interested in motoring are invited to attend. Subsequently direction signs will be erected at Johnsonville, Porirua, and the work will be advanced steadily as funds permit. The Makara County Council has heartily promised to co-operate, and the Hutt County Council, in spite of its plea of financial difficulty, will no doubt be able to do its part in the good work!. The Wellington Automobile Association is also at work preparing its campaign for equipping the roads with danger signs wherever necessary. Another useful phase of service to motorists is being undertaken by the Wellington M.C.C. This is the securing of periodical reports on the state of the roads in the various districts within reach of Wellington. Letters have, been Sent out to the various motor cycling clubs and automobile associations, asking them to furnish reports for mutual advantage, and a satisfactory response is anticipated. The hon. secretary of the Southern Hawkes Bay M.C.C. (Mr. W. B. Stope) has written to the hon. secretary of the Wellington M.C.C, giving the following account of the roads in the southern district of Hawkes Bay :—From Woodville to Dannevirke there are about five miles of metal; but you would have room enough at the side for a motor-cycle. The route from Dannevirke to Napier is as follows :—Dannevirke : Matamau (about six miles) to Norsewood (eight miles further). The road to Norsewood is good. From there there are two roads —main road and Kopua. Do not go via Kopua. If not anxious to pass through Takapau or Waipukurau, there is a good road branching off before you reach Takapau. This takes you through Makaretu and Onga Onga, and comes out at Wainawa. If you wish to take the Hatuma, pass through Takapan, and follow the first turning to the right beyond the township; but my advice is to keep to the main road, which goes straight through. From Waipukurau it is almost a straight run into Napier. The roads are in excellent condition. Distances :— Woodville to Dannevirke 18 miles. Dannevirke to Matamau 6£ miles. Matamau to Norsewood 8 miles. Norsewood to Takapau 13 miles. Takapau to Waipukurau 15 miles. Waipukurau to Waipawa 5 miles. Waipawa to Otane 3 miles. Otane to Pukehou 5 miles. Pukehou to Te Aute 4^ miles. Te Aute to Paki Paid lO£ miles. Paid Paki to Hayelock 5 miles. Havelock to Napier 13 miles. Progress is being made towards that desirable end —an Auto Cycle Union for the North Island, first started by the late hon secretary for the Wellington M.C.C. (Mr. C. D. Bridge), who worked very hard to unite the various motor cycling clubs for mutual benefit and advantage. Mr. L. M. Liardet, the present honorary secretary of the club, is carrying on the work and has ciicularised all the clubs and received from all a favourable response. It is probable a week-end conference of delegates will be held at Palmerston North some time next month to discuss ways and means. The good to be gained by united action where common interests are at stake, as in many aspects of motoring, has frequently been urged in this column, and it is even more tme now than it was a year or so ago. The fixed gear motor-cycle contest held by the W.M.C.C. last Saturday, though marred in respect of competition by the drizzly weather, proved very interesting. AJI the six competitors managed the climbs, and only the times of arrival at the secret controls differentiated between them. The route was from Kelburne Park across the viaduct and down Tinakon-road; thence up the Kaiwarra Gorge to Johnsonville and to Porirua, where the first control was placed. The route then went via Pahautanui and Hayward's track to Belmont Station, where there was the' second control. From Belmont the trail led^back to town to Courtenay-place, up Majori-banks-street, Hawker-street, Moellerstreet, Shannon-street, and Palliser-road. At this stage there was a good deal of strenuous work, but all got through without stop. Messrs. ■Watt"and Keene, on Triumphs, were bracketed first, with Mr. ,E. Creed next on a. B.S.A. The Wellington Motor Cycling Club has reduced its subscription for members joining now for the rest of the year to 31st August by half, making it, as covering the next six months, ss. Several alterations in the city's motor by-Jayrs are now in the course of preparation. These, I understand, include the establishment of a minimum fare for taxi-cabs of 2s 5 a raising of the minimum age for motor-driver's license; the closing of several narrow streets, such ac Chews-lane, for motor traffic; making it compulsory for all drivers of vehicles, whether horse-driven or motordriven, to signal the direction they in? tend to take at street crossings, and other changes in respect of registration, electric tail lights, and similar matters. It is understood that the carrying of oil tail lamps will be mad© compulsory. This is. of course, subject to the approval of the City Council. It should bo added also that there is a proposal to fix a time for compulsory lighting of lamps. Half an hour after sunset and before sunrise is suggested. Mr. J. H. Scotland, the aviator, went up to Auckland by the Main Trunk express last night, and will be away some days. On his return it is understood he contemplates a visit to Christchurch, where his best work as an aviator in New Zealand was done. His plans are not at present ready for announcement, but it is quite certain that he is " going on with the game." Of the original machine nothing is left but a few pieces. Souvenir-seekers got away with the bulk of it. The engine is quite intact, and Mr. Scotland hag been approached to sell it or loan it for use on a locally-made monoplane which has already flown fairly well with a low-powered engine. Personally I believe it would have been a §ood sporting action on the part of Mr. cotland to have assisted the amateur constructor in this way, but he himself felt that it might act detrimentally to his interests in the Old Country. He therefore reluctantly had to decline the offers. At the same time it is legrettable that with a complete gap in aviation left by the wreckage of Scotland's plane, the serious damage to Hawker's in Australia, the retirement of J. J. Hammond, and the destruction of the Schaef monoplane by fire, something could not have been done to keep the pot a-boiling with the sole remaining plane.