MOTORING NOTES.

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 August 1920, Page 8

MOTORING NOTES.

(By Omotomoto.) •The benzine shortage has now reached a very critical stage and this town is practically without supplies. The news has just reached ma that both the Eig Tree Company and The - Vacuum Oil Company are landing supplies at Wellington on or about ttus 16tli of this month, and' the trouble will then be a thing of the past at least for a month. Some of this benzine has been quoted at a very high figure and I see by the, latest reports to hand that the Government has again stepped in and fixed the selling price. One quotation received by a garage here was at the price of 37/6 per case, f.o.b. Wellington, so that motoring in the future dees not promise to be a pour man's hobby. I was much amused at the suggested by-laws for pedestrians as published in the Star a night or two ago, and would like to give the public the other side of the question. Now for instance, our local County Council have a by-law which requires all motor cars when passing a trap and horse on a cliff road to take the .outside. Of course this appears to be alright' at first glance, but it must nut be overlooked that a car is a very heavy concern as compared to a trap and horse, and often carries more passengers than the trap. I suppose it does net much matter if the edge of the cliff gives way under the heavy load of a car and passengers, so long as the horse and trap are safe. These by-laws are a relic of the olden days, and should be abolished, just as the horse and trap are being abolished from the roads of the future. Peeing that our Council have by-laws of this nature at present in force I offer them the following suggestion : They could get them registered when they collect the tax they have recently placed on cars and busses in the Grey'mouth d'strict. (1) If a motorist should meet a drunken man who persists in walking or trying to walk, in the middle of the road, he should immediately stop his car and invite the said person to have a joy ride to the nearest rub, he should then shout him a long; beer and whilst lie is drinking it, slip quietly away in his car.

(21 If a motorist is travelling over roads where the res'dents use same for a fpwl run he should carry in his pocket a hag of wheat and on coming on a number of fowls he should get out of his car and springle some wheat at the side of the road and then whilst the fowls are busy with the wheat he may drive past cautiously. N.B.— Wheat at the present is very scarce, but may be procured at the chemists at 2/6 per one ounce bottle.

(3) When going into the country where numerous horses are met with, the motorist must carry with him a tarpaulin with a painting on it to represent the surrounding rcenery, and on flighty horse must stop and cover his car with the tarpaulin Tf the horse will not then pass his car he must at once pull his car to pieces and hide it in the grass. (4) Should you run over a stray sheep or pig you must at once conviy it to the owner and pay the price t f same, and at the same time make a present of the animal to the owner. On no account must you expect payment for any damage done to your car. You must perfectly understand that the County Council allow these animals on the roads to keep down the grass which would otherwise overgrow tne roads, and therefore increase the maintenance of same. N.B. —I am not quite sure of this last suggestion" because I believe the Council piojjose to tax motorists who use thesa roads because they wear them out so fast, yet I can hardly understand why they allow the cattle to wander on. the-road-ways to keep the grass down. If the roads get worn out so fast there surely cannot be too much grass left.

Motorists. —Beware of the man who wants a bottle of benzine to clean his clothes. He is probably a motcr-b'ke friend, who has struck upon this idea to get enough benzine for a flutter into the country, and you will not be the only one he has approached with this bottle.

Those persons who think horse shoos are a lucky find should ask a motorist and then form their opinions. The spirit of the aged. Benzine. What we are getting now is not even kerosene. Two or three cars made the trip to Christ church races last week, and encountered heavy going, snow being met with on Porter's Pass. The river-beds were very rough but the rivers fairly low. MOTORISTS WE HAVE MET. THE MAN WHO BELIEVED IM THE MOTTO, "LET WELL ALONE." This maxim, very sound and comforting when properly interpreted, may pice a veritable pitfall 10 ino owner-driver when app.ied to the amount of time and cue lie owes to his car; iindeed, to mix our metaphors somewhat, it may well turn out to be a peg for the lazy man to hang his hat on ; the wolf in sheep's clothing ; or an effective disguise lor the Giant Sloth. We have in mind a certain friend who lias e.er on his lips ''Let well alone." He has frequently been heard to twit brother motorists on their .folly when he has sat by and observed them sweating away on what he has been pjeastd to term futile and unnecessary tinkering. Our friend positively loathes the mere sight of an oilcan ;' tyre pumping is to him a veritable nightmare. His foot brake long ago ceased to function. "What matter? Have I not the side brake acting on both rear wheels?" The tray underneath the engine fell off long ago on the road. "Excellent." quoth he; "it has been rattling long enough ; the engine will be all the cleaner f*r the change, as the dirt will not now accumulate so readily; moreover, any nuts or bolts which may happen to drop can be picked off the ground easily, without losing them in the tray." So the tray remained on the road where it fell; a menace to all and sundry. ■ ' "The best of having a jolly old car" (it was its fifth year) "is that one need not waste any time on the brute. It still goes. I positively refuse to be a slave to my car." We ventured on occasions to point out mildly that the engine, to say tue least, was knocking badly; the spring

shackle bolts were worn to a dangerous degree; the front wheels had long ago abandoned any pretence to running in truth, and each had carved out a pata of its own in life. The rear wheel bearings,' by their deplorable condition, caused' a wobble on the wheels; the cardan shaft was at least half an inch out of line; and the position of the magneto and carburetter could only dimly guessed at, being covered with samples of real estate from ten' counties. Never mind —"Let well alone.." We lost sight of our placid- friend and his car until, one day, when stopping at the local garage for benzole we espied a wreck which had just been towed inside. It was a fearsome spectacle, encrusted with what might well have been the dirt of centuries. On closer inspection, this turned out to be our aforesaid friend's car, mere salvage from the high road, having been abandoned overnight with a broken crankshaft. The day of reckoning had come at last. The' crank-chamber was holed in several places, two connecting rods were twisted", and the cylinder walls badly scored ; in fact, the mechanic hardly knew where to begin on the job. Happening some time afterwards to pass that way, we dropped in to look up our friend and while waiting in his comfortable study, our eye was caught by a document of portentous aspect and considerable bulk. This proved to be the "Estimate for Repairs" to "the jolly old car." "Let well alone" —yes, bj' all means, but first be sure that all is well.