THE UBIQUITOUS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 80, 1 October 1938, Page 28

THE ÜBIQUITOUS

POSERS FOR PATROLS

POST-BAG OF THE A.A.

"Can you trace my wife, who is motoring in the Lake District, and break it to her that our house has been burnt down?" A road patrol faced with this request might not unreasonably think that there are times

when motorists can be a nuisance. So, also, might think one of his colleagues, who was stopped by a man who had just left home on the start of a motor tour and asked to go to the motorist's home to ascertain whether his wife's suspicion that she had left the gas-stove alight was wellfounded, says the London "Times."

A somewhat "tall order" to the Automobile Association" was the request for a list of the laundries in France and Germany, with their charges. This was equalled by the demand of the person who wanted the history and addresses of all the haunted houses in England, with itineraries by road to each. From a member in Germany came the inquiry:—"ls it safe to motor in England unarmed?" Someone in Ceylon wanted an antirheumatism ring, and someone else in Central Africa a dart board, so that he could "teach the local residents the good old English game of darts."

What of the serious request:—"Are passports necessary for a visit to Scotland?" or the equally grave question from an American motorist:—"ls it possible to buy petrol in Scotland?"

Another dip into the correspondence bag produced the following:—"What is the strength of the current of the Rhine at Godesberg?" "Is Rugby played at Heidelberg?" "Should I wear a sun helmet in the Canary Islands?" "What is the Republic of Andorra noted for?" "bMy dog has biscuits; are these obtainable in France?" "Can you tell us the name of the-place in Sussex where the famous pork sausages are made?" "What is the name of the best lady's hairdresser in Liverpool?" "What is the best route from Finchley to Dent, Yorkshire, in the event of war being declared?"

One enterprising promoter of a youths' boxing club asked for a copy of the A.A. road safety poster bearing the words "Give more—take less," to display in the gymnasium. A (presumably) disillusioned wife wrote: — "Can you assist in tracing my husband, , a chauffeur, living somewhere In London?"

The association says that it is able to answer 98 per cent, of the posers put to it. It is not stated whether this question is among the remaining 2 per cent..

Lorry-drivers in England cannot be so bad as they are sometimes painted. At a recent function Lord Nuffield paid a high tribute to the road manners of the -drivers of commercial vehicles. "They are," he said, "the real gentlemen of the road, and they ought to &SB9 fe§ fullest credit for It,"

with a single tyre but mounted as two pair which run on different tracks, located at the front. The power is transmitted through two double-tyred wheels at the rear.

Two Rolls-Royce "R" racing engines of the kind first developed for Britain's Schneider Trophy seaplanes in 1929 are installed side by side amidships. Each engine has its own clutch which makes connection with a drive to a chain of gears mounted across the frame and taking engine power to the gear-box. The aggregate cylindrical capacity of the two units is 73 litres.

The maximum output of the "R" engine as mounted in the VickersSupermarine S6B Schneider seaplane was 2350 h.p., though for successful attack on the speed record, which it raised to 407.5 m.p.h., the engine was "boosted"- with the help of special fuel to 2600 h.p. The basis of these racing engines was the Rolls-Royce Buzzard 820/930 h.p. engine which powered Service flying-boats of former days. Without change of cylindrical dimensions the power output was advanced in the racing version to a maximum of 1900 h.p. for the 1929 Schnejder contest, and by 1931 to 2350 h.p. At this stage the engine weighed only 7-10ths of a pound for every unit of horsepower developed, an engineering feat which is still unsurpassed.

Progress in land speeds has marched with advance in streamlining and the development of more efficient engines. In 1924 the record stood at 129.73 m.p.h. The late H. O. D. Segrave was first to pass 200 m.p.h., raising the record to 203.79 m.ph. in 1927. Sir Malcolm Campbell passed 300 m.p.h. in September, 1935, and Captain Eyston took over the sceptre last yea*, John Cobb, although holding the record but momentarily, has the satisfaction of being the first nfan to exceed 350 m.p.h. on land.