BEYROUT TO BAGHDAD.

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 48, 25 August 1923, Page 23

BEYROUT TO BAGHDAD.

; 'A-full, description of the motor pioneering work of Mr. Norman Nairn a New .^ealander, in Syria and across the Syrian vflesert to Baghdad, is. contained in "The jMotor ..' (London),. . ti following the. conquest of the Sahara, says "The Motor," comes news that a quick overland route from the Mediterranean ito Baghdad and India has been found practicable as the result of three •thai trips, and a contract to carry th« Jhails -by: this,l'date has been.granted to Mr. Norman Nairn,-of Beyrouth by the Irak Government. EJor two years Mr. 'Nairn has been carrying the mails daily .between Haifa and Beyrout, a distance of 110 miles, delivering the Egyptian, mail in 19hrs as against three days to four days under the old .conditions.! - 1 -'^e -new, routg to be. opened- will-re-"dude •..the/' time .■•for transit' of letters- "to •Baghdad from London by 13 day3—<>ight as against" 21 previously The service which will be a weekly one, will also bring Port Said within a three-day journey of Baghdad. The Syrian Desert diffei'3 from- the'-usual conception of a desert, inasmuch as it is not a sandy, arid waste, and for nearly ..three-parts of the 425 miles fast progress can. be .maintained. The ; rougher. portions'consist ofshingle and- rock, and it will be seen from the accompanying photos, taken, by Mr. Nairn, that on One of the trips the floods ing of the Euphrates bad so nearly onvelopedi Ramadie as to .give it the'characteristics of an island. No boats being available, it was-necessary to swim the river to secure transport and,.fuel, the cars evenutally being; conveyed across in huge punts. Past Kamadie the going is very mountainous and rough, and it is only on this stretch that travel Had to be cut down to va walking pace. The total journey on the direct route from Beyrout to Baghdad is 60J5 miles, and it is expected that regular crossings of the deseft section will be accomplished in 16 r hours: thus, the cars wili not have to spend-a night' in the wilds. * Trouble, however, is nof anticipated from the Bedouin tribes, for the-various chieftains'will have a certain interest in the success of the 'enterprise.. .-..:,./ .The. carg used,on the three trial'ifips ■were six-cylinder seven-seater 6uicks-;,and no mechanical trouble was experienced, while the average water consumption per car was only three gallons. This is a very big consideration in a venture of

this kind, for there is only one available water supply in the desert—at Rutba Wells. All the cars are to be equipped with special condensers and large capacity radiators, to ensure the minimum wastage of cooling water, and they will also.-, be fitted with refrigerators— to carry-food and iced drinks—punctureproof tires, and hoods lined with asbestos. -

So- muph faith have the organisers in their ability to keep to time, that the „five: years' contract into which they have" entered provides for fines in pro--portion to the number- of hours behind schedule.

Although, there is but little vegetation en route, there are vast herds' of gazelle. and large numbers of bustard, sand grouse, and other game, which can be used to supplement the ordinary food carried.. ,-, - -

In addition to saying much valuable time'in carrying the mails and linking up various places, the enterprise has also a historical and political aspect. It will open,up such places as Damascus, Jerusalem, Baalbek, Palmyra, Babylon, Bagdad, and the Euphrates and Tigris, -while the recent discoveries at Ur of the Chaldees is also expected to give an additional incentive to tourists. From the political point of view, Mr. Nairn says it will lead to a 1 peaceful penetration of the desert tribes, while the water power of the Euphrates and Tigris could be utilised, and/by irrigation the eastern part of the Syrian Desert could be made to grow practically anything.

.-. The average cost per mile for road construction in the United States, according to statistics from the Bureau of Public Roads, since 1916 has been'l6,67s dollars (about £3700), not including the cost of right' of way "or;of bridges. ', ..

'Every owner of' an automobile should apply a wrench on every important nut and bolt on the car at least once a month. Nuts held by cotter pins may be passed by, but! those held by loose washers will need, to be tried with a wrench. A loose part may easily wreck the car and cause loss of life.

The efficiency of universals is very difficult to measure experimentally because the loss of power in-the joint is extremely small. To begin with it is clear that the power lost depends, 'to some extent, on"the angle between,the shafts;-thus, when the shafts are in line no loss.will occur. The following comparative figures ar«* obtained from theoretical considerations combined with the scanty experimental results available. In, each case the figure relates to the percentage of power lost in the joint when the angle between the shafts is 10 degrees. In the simple Hooke joint under these conditions, the loss is about 1 per cent., in the spherical joint this is increased to 3. or 4 per cent., and in the "pot" type an intermediate figure of about 2 par cent., is usually obtained. Accurate figures for fabric joints are not available, but for small angularities there is every reason to suppose that the efficiency will be as high as that obtained in _the Hooke joint. The immunity of the joint from lubrication troubles is a very strong argument in its favour.

The French are making great headway in the use of alcohol :■ as: a- fuel for internal combustion engines. There is. in existence an active entente between the vineyards, the. cider. manufacturers, the sugar-beet' growers, arid others with the object of developing alcohol as a national fuel. France is particularly badly off in the matter of liquid fuel, she' has practically no oilfields of her own, and is almost entirely dependent on foreign supplies at foreign prices. In order to. remedy this unhappy state of affairs,-a Bill was passed in the French Parliament "some time ago providing that 10 per cent, of commercial alcohol, which is a Government monopoly, must be mixed with every gallon of motor.spirit used for'traction. As a result' of. the patriotic enthusiasm of the consumers this percentage is now very largely exceeded.. ...There is no doubt that alco-■hol-'ig a perfectly satis'facfory" fuel for motor-cars, and the peculiar conditions of French agriculture enable them to produce it in very considerable quantities as a: by-product. In Australia practically nothing seems to be done towards fostering'the use of alcohol for automobile use, despite the fact that large quantities of by-products from which alcohol can'be produced are annually wasted in the Commonwealth. „. ' '• •

■ People unfamiliar with 'the' various principles of mechanics involved -in motor-car engines might be astonished to learn how many" forces are set up,by the simple up and down movement of the piston within the cylinder, the reaction of these forces—one against the other—being the cause of the phenomenon usually described as "knocking." Many devices,-such as splitting) the piston skirts, incorporating various other methods of securing, a close working fit between the-piston and the cylinder, apart from the action of thp piston rings, have been introduced into the design of en.gmes.; but a French engineer has " recently: invented quite a novel piston, for which he claims immunity from knocking, slapping, detonation, pinking, or whatever term is recognised as describing piston noises. The idea consists of utilising the' explosion pressure for maintaining a close working fit against that , side of the cylinder, which resists the lateral "thrust, imposed by the .angularity of the connecting rod. This is effected by providing a passage from the'dome of the piston to the side of the skirt the -lower opening being situate midway between the upper and lower rings. As the .•explosion occurs, the gasses expand into this^passage, and the pressure thiiß exerted.presses the:piston,against the cylinder wall, which, according to the inventor is a safeguard against "knocking. ' The location of the pasisan-e in reference to the. normal lateral thrust on the piston should end towards reducing the liability of the cylinder bore wearing oval thus: promoting durability of the working parts, as well as silence in running.

Mr. L. Coatalen, ■ the well-known En<rJieli designer of the - "Sunbeam" cars.' which carried off this year's prettier road event in Europe, the French Grand Prix, has made a wonderful advance in obtaining increased engino -revolutions and horse power from the automobile engine. His two litre "Sunbeam" engine—nominally about 14 horse power—actually develops 108 horee-power on the brake. This remarkable power from such a small engine is obtained through the high speed revolutions o£ this particular power unit; which 'actually touches 6000 revs a minute. Twelve months back the highest power obtainable from this capacity engine was 8i) b.li.p,, co that in a short space'of time a gain has been made'of an extra 20 b.hup. Years, ago discussion was rife as to the respective v merits of slow heavy versus light high speed-en-gines, but gradually the latter has gained sway and is now adopted by the world's leading automobile designers.

The air-'codle'd engine is becoming more popular as a means of' motor-car propul' sion. In America. thY example of the Fraaklin, which has stuck with astonishing succesß to" air-colled-methods for

many years, is being followed by other makers, and the special air-cooled engine has found an adherent, among others, in the B.S.A. firm in England. The Daimler Company, makers of the new B.S.A. 10 h.p. (air-cooled engine) vehicle, has recently received an R.A.C. certificate as the result of a very strenuous test. The car, as shown in the official _ certificate, was a standard machine in every respect, chosen from a stock of 25 completed cars awaiting delivery when the R.A.C. official visited the Daimler Company's running sheds to make his selection. . The object of the trial was to demonstrate fuel and oil consumption 3202 miles per gallon. These liability over a distance of 6000 miles, and subsequently to test' its maximum speed on Brooklands without any alterations or adjustments being made to any part of the machine. The distance covered was 5025.2 miles,/at a set average (running time only) of 19.6 miles per hour. At the'end of the road trial, and over the 5^ miles on Brooklands track, a speed of a fraction under 45 miles an hour was attained. The petrol consumption was 37.15 miles per gallon, and oil consumption 3202 miles per gallon. These are regarded as excellent figures for a continuous performance to the like of which no other air:cooled engine has ever been-subjected. The tires were officially reported as being in sound condition at the end of the trial without any repairs having been necessary. There were no mechanical troubles. Two similar machines in the Scottish Six Days' Trials went through without trouble, and each won the premier award, namely, a silver cup, for not losing a singla mark under any heading.