THE MOTOR

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 137, 11 June 1915, Page 4

THE MOTOR

NEW ROUTE OUT OF THE CITY A TOUR OF INSPECTION. THE PALLISER BAY COAST. The limited number of routes out of Wellington has long exercised the minds of motorists, and there has been much seeking after practicable lines for the construction of new roads which will combine usefulness with interest. The main impetus in the search arises from the great difficulties of the Rimutaka, which are well known to everyone who has gone by road to the East Coast, The Wellington Automobile Club haa recently taken action jointly with the Wairarapa Association, and arranged for a survey, of which they are sharing the cost, of a route from Fea-therston to Wellington, vtia the "Western Laka route and Orongorongo. Mr. H. F. Toogood, C.1.E., was engaged to make the inspection, and a trip over the proposed route was made about a fortnight ago. The Welling|ton Club was represented by Mr. O. M. -Banks and Mr.. H. J Stott (secretary c/t the club), and the Wairarapa representatives were Messrs. Bendon and Wilson (secretary). Mr. Toogood'fe report ha/i not yet been completed, and in the mea;atime > its tenor cannot be anticipated. If it is favourable to further action, it will be a valuable help in getting the preliminaries for the formation oA the road carried out. The, Wellington members, with Mr. Toogood, left Wellington on Friday, 28th May, and on Saturday found their Wairarafpa colleagues at Fe&therston full of energy, for in spite of the long night, th/»y were afoot at 4.30 a.m., with two cars ready for the run, and a start was made before daybreak. The trip to the coast was made in the cars, and it was 'most enjoyable, for the road skirting Lake Wairarapa a-nd along the low country to the sea wa-s most attractive. The coast -was reached about 8 a.m. Generally, this road was in fair to good order. On reaching the coast, the cars had to be abandoned, and the party set out on. foot with pack horses, to spy out the coast road line to Orongorongo; and it is along thb seashore that the engineering difficulties crop up. The coast is very wild, highlands rising almost from the beach. The proposed roadline therefore runs close to the sea, and in many places shoots of talus or weather-loosen-ed rock come down the steep hillsides in such a way that they must be carried under or over a constructed road to keep it from being blocked by the slides. Wild goats and pigs were "seen in numbers along the hilk and provided a few long-range shots. On Saturday night the party stopped at a, shepherd's hu^, and the pack-horses were sent back. Sunday morning a fresh start was made, carrying the gear that had been the horses' burden. Mr. Eric Riddiford's, at Orongorongo was reached about 2.30 p.m., and the fbie weather which had been enjoyed up till then euddenly gave* place to rain. However, the tramp was over, and the party was brought to Wellington in a car kindly sent out by Mr. Magnus. The road may prove to be impracticable; but if this is bo, the Wellington Club will not give up its efforts, but will lat onco set about investigating another route. MOTOR LAUNDRIES AT THE FRONT. The latest use to which the automobile has been put by the warring armies of Europe is that of -a laundry for the field hospital corpus. The laundry consists of four vehicles, the leading one beinff a very powerful motor truck, on which ig mounted a steam mangle, which id easily removable. The second vehicle in the train contains a complete steam plant with boiler, turbine, drying cabinet, and disinfecting tank. The third truck carries the washing machine itself, centrifugal drying drums," pumps for hot and cold wa.ter, and a condenser for steam when the ordinary water of the neighbourhood is too hard to be used for washing. The fourth truck is loaded with soap, soda, coal, gasoline, aud tools. On the- march all four trucks are coupled together, but for use they are arranged in the shape of a horseshoe. The entire " laundry " can be covered by a large tent. When in use, the train requires the attention of twelve privates and one, non-commissioned officer, Tho motor truck, as soon as the eteam mangle is removed, is used to carry laundry to and from the hospita-l. Linen goods are first thrown into the disinfecting tank and boiled with strong soda and creosote soup. The drying cabinet ie for woollen wear, which is difficult to wring dry in the mangle. The capacity of such v, laundry is about 3000 pounds of assorted dirty linen daily. It has proved a tremendous success at the field hospitals on the German eide, and has greatly reduced the work of the sanitary corps. NOTES. In order to gfct the petrol which has leaked into a damaged carburetter float out of it, it is necessary to apply a mild degree of heat, sufficient to cause the gasoline to vapourise and pass off through the hole -where the leak is and yet not sufficient to cause tho solder to be melted. The float may be held in hot water, in which case the gasoline and vapour will pass through the water in bubbles, which will indicate by their starting point where the leak k. It is necessary to remove the float from, the water immediately after the bubbles cease, in order that no .water may work into it. Radiator leaks are often caused by steam which. _ unable to escape through clogged-up filling cap ? forces its way out through weak places in the radiator. The prevention is to keep the cap vents open. If petrol runs out in a locality where the supply cannot be replenished easily, one can often get home without difficulty by mixing ordinary stove naphtha or even kerosene with the fuel remaining in the tank. Of course,' the carburetter will need adjustment; the mixture wants plenty of air; and the main thing to remember is to keep the engine running constantly and keep it hot, so as to vapourise the mixture readily. Extreme caje should be taken when filling the gasoline tank, and the poorer grade of kerosene or gasoline, if used, should be well strained.