MOTOR COLUMN.

Grey River Argus, 15 December 1928, Page 2 (Supplement)

MOTOR COLUMN.

He Kn?v« He was an up-to-i lie-minui. motorist, but had Jo t his way. Suddenly his (\yes brighti nrd as hr shouted to his wife: “I tiiinli we’re getting near a town. We’re hitting more people.” Building on “Stilts.” An engineer ha ; said that in course of time the whole of Hu* - “ground floor’ ’area of London must be devoted to traffic. Buildings would be “on stilts.” and under the buildings and between' the stilts th<Te would be an unrestricted flow of traffic. Red Reflectors and ther Uses. “After dark the cars art lighted; what are the red reflectors any use for?” said Ur Pitt at the Stratford County. Council meeting. It seemed to be loading people with unnecessary regulation -'. One councillor suggested that they might be useful it the tail light went out. It was agreed thatthe reflectors were necessary on push : bicycles but not on motor-cars, and it

was decided to confer with the South Taranaki Automobile Association on the matter. Beating the Record. Opperman won the Boldon cycle racing trophy at Paris, covering 590 J miles of track in twenty-four hours eight miles more than the record race. Vogue of British Can Out of 4320 cars counted in the various parks on the opening day at Ascot, 30G0 wore British. 692 American. 326 Italian, 210 French, and 32 German. The Evolution of rhe Bicycle. An interesting article on the history of /the bicycle is published in the “Empire Review.” in which it is stated that the earliest definite mention of any such machine in England occurs in the “Universal Magazine” of 1761. in which a Mr Ovenden is described a=s having invented a machine to travel without horses. The passenger, sitting in front steered whilst from behind. In the year 1873 the. first bicycle with “.suspension” or “spider” wheels was produced, fitted with solid or cushion rubber tyres. Thi; machine had wheels of unequal size, and was quickly followed by the machine known as the “ordinary” or high bicycle, afterwards to be followed by the “safely” bicycle. A’arious efforts were made to make the bicycle

safer. The “Kangaroo,” the “Extraordinary,” the “Facile.” and others achieved a certain popularity, and. in 1878, Air 11. J. Lawson patented a “safety” bicycle which was really the forerunner of the bicycle of to-day. It was, however, never put on the market in practical form, and it was not till 1885. when Air J. K. Starley produced a similar machine, that the new vogue really began. The “safety” type had a struggle for existence. At first it was barred from cycle races, owing to the supposed danger to other riders, but gradually it ousted the “ordinary” and by about 1891 had come into general use. Development of Motor Transport.

The motor vehicle is barely thirty years old and yet the world has moved with startling rapidity in the matter of motor traction, as the following figures show: The United States has 1 motor vehicle to every 5 persons; Canada and New Zealand 1 to every 10; Australia 1 to every 14; England 1 to e ver y 37; France 1 to every 40; Germany 1 to every 148; and Italy 1 to every 254. In the Unted States it is impossible to believe that the development of motor transport can go much further, says the “Illustrated London News.” Already the census of manufacturers indicates that the car indue- 1

try stands first, with an annual output; valued at £6/4.000,000. as compared, I say with oil and steel of £580,000,

000 each. During the past five years, fhc number of cars in the States has i icreased from ten to twenty millions, and lorries from millions to 2J millions. So much for the vehicle; but what of the road? What will transport be like ten or twenty years’ hi nee? Roadways will be widened, awkward corners at crossroads. the •• widen hill, the sharp curve will be abolished and other improvements of the>p kinds which are the characteristic features of the motorway, will have to be, made to accommodate the increasing road traffic within the next decade. lai King and Congestion. A controversy is occupying public attention in Marton, at present followforce (he decision of the police to enforce rigorously a by-law preventing parkng cars in the main streets of the town for more than 30 minutes. The acti m of the police is contrary to the wishes of the Borough Council, and

it is contended by the council that to allow this parking causes no inconvenience; rather that it tends to popularise the town as a shopping centre for visiting motorsts. No undue congestion occurs, and no accidents have taken place. The police in the Magi trate’s Court however, prosecuted a defendant for leaving his car standing in the main street for over 30 minutes. The borough solicitor appeared and maintained that the by-law was being enforced against the council’s wishes, but Mr R. M. Watson. S.M.. held that the council’s wishes held no 1 weight so long as the by-law had not been invoked, and he entered a conviction. It is stated that the council is indignant and has taken steps to have the by-law set aside, but the police consider that they will have all the power they require under the motor regulations. PETROL IN BULK FOR PACIFIC ISLES. Following on the expanding demand' for petroleum products in Fiji. Samoa and New Caledonia Islands, the Shell organisation are establishing a chain of bulk petrol depots at Suva. Levuka. Lautoka. Apia and Noumea. The facilities at these places will incdude kerbside pumps of British manu-

facture, ami with the improved methbp as efficiently served as in New Zealand ami Australia. Mr Arthur Millington, who was for many years engaged in the distributon of petroleum products, machinery and steel in New Zealand and Australia has been appointed to act as the Shell Company’s special representative in the Islands. He was at one time asociated with the New Zealand Government Tourist and Commerce Department, and in the latter connection acted on occasions as New Zealand Government Agent in Sydney and Mel bourne. LIGHT CAR RECORD. The Melbourne-Perth and AdelaidePerl h light car records have been brok-. t?n by a Baby Austin driven by Messrs Eeardon and Sinclair, states a cable m esage received by the Shell Company of New Zealand. The 2355 miles between Melbourne and the Western Capital were covered in 150 hours 39 min'utes while the time taken between Adelaide and Perth was 108 hours 9 minutes for T 750 miles.