MOTORING

Evening Star, Issue 16987, 8 March 1919, Page 10

MOTORING

[By CAHBUREXTOn.] Brief accounts of holiday trips, roads, and places of interest are invited for this column. TO CORRESPONDENTS. "S-A.B." —Thanks for letter, which, appenirs below. " J.H." —Your account of trip very welsome. " D.W."—Always glad to receive tips and suggestions fox- readers of these notes. "O.Tv'—-Thanks for particulars of bridge. A TRIP THROUGH THE LAKES DISTRICT. I .am indebted to Mr JV.m<ss Henderson for the fallowing account of a trip which he recently made. Leaving Dimedin, with his family, in the Buick Six at 8.30 a.m. on February 9, they had a good run to Oainara in time far dinner. The roads to Gamaru are described as good, hut rough in places right on to Timaru, where the party stayed overnight. " Next day wo left Timaru at 2.30 p in., and had a beau tiful run over good' level roads to Fairlie, arriving tbore at 4.10 p.m. Petrol 28s «. cass here. Wo loft Fairlie next day (Tutesday) at 930 a.m. The roads were very good lip to Burke's Pass, &nd thence slightly rougher. Nearly all the creeks are bridged, but although they look quite shallow the bottoms are of eoft shifting gravel. ■ "' From Burke's Pass to Dovar'a Pass tiro rosd is nndulatirrg a-nd gravelly in patches, but good on to Lake Pukakl. From the lake to within 12 milts of the Hermitage the road is steep, narrow, with sharp turns and numerous sma.il, soft-bottomed, unbridged creeks. The road for the last 12 miles to the llermitag'e is awful—washouts, ruts, boulders—almost impassable. Petrol is unprocurable here. Wo returned to Pukaki on the following Friday. Here petrol costa _3ss a case. Towards the Lindis the road is- very rough. Tho Lindis River had) to be. fordid three times. Tho river is about 20yds wide and 2ft deep. " Leaving the. Lindis on Saturday, the 15th, wo made for Quoenstown. Hero we found the i-oad good, but very sandy and dusty from Cromwell to Qireenstown. Petrol here cost 30s per ease. Leaving Queens-town on the foilowiiu; Wednesday we found tho road through Kawarau Gorge in good older; in fact, the. roads were good right on to RoxburghNext day we left Roxburgh, called at Ettrick, and on to He-riot. From Rao's Junction to Hcriot the road is rough, with patches of bluo metal. Here we had our hrst and ody puncture. Friday, 21st, we oame back from li'eriot, via Rao's Junction, and then to tho Beaumont. The roads hero were in an average condition. We left tho Beaumont next day- Tho road above Manuka (.Jorge was very rough, and rough from Milton to Dunedin. Tho total mileage for the trip was 700, with one puncture and no mechanical stops.

It is anticipated that the- American output of motor cars will be. back to normal about June of this year, whilst the majority, of ina.n-ufacturers hold the opinion thiit prices a<ro likely to stay up, owing to ina-eased cost of and production. The storage of petrol aboard aeroplanes required for long-distance flying is going to present a problem on high-powered machines. The "Liberty" standardised engine consumes 36 gallons of petrol an hour with open throttle, and 30 gallons an hour for average travelling. The oil consumption ds about one and a-h.alf gallons per hour. It therefore means that any aircraft meant to travel a, number of hours without alighting must carry quite a load of petrol. It i.i not the weight, it is the bulk, that is going to trouble de'-ignerd of the commercial long-distance aircraft. The tangent spoking of cycle and motor cycle wheels has for so long been regarded as the standard and most etiicient method that any new departure in the methods of arranging ,tho spokes of such wheels cannot fail to be of general interest. While from a mechanical point of view the tangent method of spoking may be regarded as nearly perfection as possible, it is well known that from a practical point of viewit has certain drawbacks—in particular, the crossing of the spokes necessarily forms a comparatively close mesh in the vicinity of tho hub, which not only collects and retains mud and dust, but also for the same reason renders the hub dillicult of access for cleaning and lubrication purposes. A now system of spoking has now- been patented by W. A. Starley, of Birmingham, England, which is claimed to eliminate many of tho defects of the tangent Booked important fcaturo being that the fracture of a spoke does not affect the other spokes to tho same extent as the tangent spokes now universally used. Again, the Starley spokes are shorter, and do not cross each other. The present-day tangent-spoked wheel has earned great popularity throughout the work', and it will take a greatly superior arti'.,e before manufacturers and the public will discard it for a new style of spoking. "W.D." writes as follows:—"Tho enclosed little tip might prove handy to your readers. I have had two motor cycles, and in both of them it was a perfect nuisance to screw in the pump to blow up the back tyre. The. spokes and the Celt wheel were always in the road. If you get a couple of valve stems and join them with a piece of f.mall brass bent tube, so that the second valve stem sticks out at rightangles, it. is quite easy to screw in the pump. It is only a small thing, but saves time when one is in a hurry. The bend I must not bo too sharp, or tho cap will not ! go over it. Any cycle- dealer could make ■ the device for Is or Is 6d." My corroI spondent also encloses neat sketches of the I valve stems joined up and bent as rej quired ; but I regret that I am unable I to reproduce them here. However, I think the particulars are sufficiently clear for any man of mechanical bent to follow. Certain it is. that screwing on the pump connection on the rear wheel of a motor i cycle is often difficult, especially when [ one requires to do so in the rain, or when : cold, and the suggestion is worth adoptI An emergency trick for oiling springs j is to go over them with kerosene, wiping off duat as you do so, and guiding the kerosene down the sides so it will iimjn 1 between the leaves. Wipe off the surplus kerosene and pour the oil over them tho ; same way. Tt is led into them by the I kerosene- and oils tho leaves very effectively. Rock the ear or bence the running board and tho springs vi!! be well oiled. The best way to Ovl tho spring, however, is to remove it and take it apart, scraping all tho rust off and covering hoth sides with graphite, grease or oil. This is troublesome ; but it is the best method. I am indebted to a. fellow-club member for the following further particulars of ths repairs to tlie West Tniei'i bridge. I understand that more than one motorist, ignoring the " closed " notices, rushed over the bridge while it was under repair, at great risk to themselves, their cars, and the workmen. This is all the more to be regretted, since the Taiori folk went to no little trouble to keep the road open to traffic while it was undergoing repair. Xoto on West TaierT bridge : The whole of the upper deck plank* have been removed, and on tho ramped approa'h the battens have, been radii:-od so fh:it the whel-s of ears can now track on tho running- planks. Tho hridze Iris now a go<>-' dia.troua.l deck, which c.i.r-ownor3 will highly appreciate. Tho whole stricture " has been renrvired, mul a'' vrhicle driver? will appreciate the fresh whitr; paint when crossing after dark Ored.it is due to the Ta-icri engineer CSV B. B. Conston) and his staff that ail the above work was carried on without ir.ron venience to (the travelling put lie. am 1 , though " Clrksrd for Bepa.ii-" notices were eroded at bo;h ends of the bridge iv> on was ki'pt wa'ting m.ii.y minutes b. fore get ting across Members of tho Otaco Motor Club are reminded of the monthly meeting to be held next Tuesday. Many motorists who do not attend these moot in \s w<;;:<!d (id them very profitable, some of the diseur-sio-is here well worth listening to. During tho past year or two the club have decided to eroct danger signs at certain' spots \mi so far some of them have not been erected., notably on the top of the Kilmojr, for south-bound, traffic, on Saddle Hill, and on the District roadi above Look--

out Point. Attention to these And the j election of a Roads Committee- might be ; seen to. And why not a petrol consumption teat some Saturday this month? The J younger membea-s aa-e keen on compeii- j tions. ...