MOTORING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 14 January 1928, Page 12

MOTORING

At Home aunct Albrostsl

By “ MAGNETO.”

PETROL TAX.

ALLOCATION OF REVENUE.

EXTENSION OF HIGHWAYS

SYSTEM

The following circular has been sent to District. High.wa.ys Councils by the chairman of the Mffin Highways Board (Mr F W. Furkert), in connection with the allocation of the revenue from the petrol tax: — ■ “ A number of local authorities appear to have gained the impression that because- of tne introduction of tne petrol tax the Main Highways Board is in a position to grant increases m matay cases towards the cost >ot containing the -present highway system or approximately 0000 miles. ( Such, however. is not the -case. “For general information, the allocation of the revenue derived from the petrol tax will be approximately on litres as follows: Eight per cent, ot the total tax will be paid direct from the Consolidated Fund to the cities and larger boroughs on a population basis. The Main Highways Board has no control over sums to be disturbed tinder this heading. “The balance of I>2 per cent, is to be paid to the Main Highways Revenue Account, and will be distributed approximately in manner as follows: Twenty-four per cent, on a suggested total of 3000 -miles of additional mam high wavs. The amount available _ under this heading will in all probability be sufficient only to pay a subsidy on the cost of maintenance of such additional main highways. As has been m., dieated in the circular concerning the declaration of this additional mileage, the rate of subsidy which will be available can only be determined when the main highways are decided on and when the- income derivable from the petrol tax is definitely known. “Twelve anti a half per cent tor sinkintf fund, find interest to pay oil loans raised under the Main Highways Act in about fifteen years. This is seltexplanatory. “Four per cent, to the small boioughs. The proposal is that the continuations of main highways through boroughs with a population of under 6000 inhabitants will be declared to be main highways, and will receive the ful benefits of the Main Highways Act. This is estimated to cost £28,000 an nually, which equals 4 per cent, ot estimated total funds. . , . , “Twentv-five per cent: on main hign ways adjacent to the larger centres ox population. With . the amount allocated under this heading it is the intention that heavy traffic roads m counties near the larger centres or population shall be surface treated, and, where circumstances justify it, the Main High ways Board will in all probability "rant a preferential subsidy up to, pcihaps. in special cases £3 for £1 towards the cost of such better class pave . '...x mr.

“The above percentages are at the discretion ,of. the Main Highways Board, and it is more than likely that circumstances ■ will require certain vanntion in them from time to time, particularly ilg the amount of petrol tax received does not come up to-the board s estimates.’ ’

PETROL IMPORTS.

BEATING THE TAX.

• A record ill petrol imports was established in November, when 7,7.N',54<) gallons of motor spirit -and 53,000 gallons of benzine, benzoline anrl gasoline were landed in the Dominion. This is more than double the quantity of motor spirit imported in November 1020. It is perhaps a coincidence that this large supply arrived in time to beat the P e " rol-tax which has been imposed on all shipments which were not on the water by November S. Most of the petrol imported during November was natma'llv well on the high seas before the end of October, and the balance cleared the ports of shipment before the- expire of the last day of grace on November 8. It is a fortunate thing for the motorist that the bulk companies had such a large reserve when the tax became operative. Had stocks been low the petrol tax might halve been addon to the retail price in time to catch the holiday petrol imported into the Dominion during the 11 months, .Tnn-uary-November. H>27: — ■Benzine 9^’og Gasoline rSo’n-i Benzoline Motor Spirit 4_,L.4,71 7 Total 43/142,070

COMPULSORY INSURANCE

A NEW YORK AG ITATION FOR. IT

Compulsory insurance for motorists through a mutual company is advocated by the United Auto League or New York State, under whose auspices a Bill was recently before the State Legislature, but was not caiiied. A new Bill is to be intiodueed this year. "There were 1)48 persons killed b> motor vehicles in New Yorl<_ State in the firat nine months of lbL. ’ states Mr Straus, who introduced tne Bill. •‘The records show that three out of every four injured persons never receive am redress whatever. Liability insurance, so costly to the motoristls, is of practically no value to the victim of an accident. Loess than ni> per corn, of the money collected by . Intimity insurance companies in premiums goes U> compensate the victims of accidents. “There should be a system ol compulsory compensation insurance in a mutual company composed of all ol the motor vehicle owners of the State, and operated bv them under State auspices. Persons- injured in mot or vehicle accidents should he paid out of tins fund on a. fixed basis ol schedules a cording to the injuries sustained. Ibe basis of payment and the general plan of operation would ho similar to tlm in the Workmen’s Compensation nw, “ft is estimated there are> avitoijiohiles in New York State. payment of 10 dollars (£-) J one would result in a fund of 2&000, COO dollars (£4,400,000) available ioi the • compensation of the victims a •motor vehicle accidents —a .fund wholly adequate for that purpose and yet J -•> collection would impose but a slight burden on the motoring public.

“HU YOU THERE.”

CROSSING THE ROAD,

A PEDDSTRiAN’S STORY

The following amusing article headed •■Urossmg tne Road’' appeared m tne i.ondou - Daily chronicle" or Novembei 18. 'Jlio writer was Mr. Marcel Gotlirev a well-known traveller line mac grouse at our ti&nic a tion.s, bill.'on my return from America, the ,iiml ot -‘perfection,” where everythin 111 ' is tetter controlled and bettei organised than elsewlieie, 1 heaved a sign ox relief at the sight of a whites lee veil, calm and collected ‘Ho bey. .L felt that 1 was once more in the land or the free, and that, although i might be killed, my life was entirely m\ own arrair. in London 1 could cross the street when and where 1 chose, and not inn e to searcii like a distracted rabbit tor an authorised ciossmg. American cities price themselves on their trarric control, and L have hu. reason to remember my hrst experience to try and cross Market Street, Prisco’s tetrand. . 1 had an appointment at noon, ana, finding my sell on the wrong side or this particular thoroughfare, i Fas about to step oh the kerb—quite a natural procedure —when a passing citizen, to my surprise and indignation, thrust me forcibly back and told me in that characteristically soft and musical voice, that if I wished to cross without fear of arrest i had better walk three blocks down town. i gave up counting the blocks, but I eventually came upon a crowd, a series of coloured lights, an electnc bell that made me jump, and a number of studded vines tatooed upon the

roadway. Alter several minutes’ intense concentration —I am not a railway official —1 gave,it up. . At that moment everything happened at once. 'the bell rang, the light showed white, the trailic stopped, and .1 marched boldly forward. 1 haci reached barely hallway across the road when hell broke loose behind me. Whistles blew, men shouted, and pandemonium reigned supreme. I remained unperturbed, and continued my way with dignity befitting an Fnglishman. . , The noise became so' deafening that I feared a revolution or some customary lioid up. Suddenlv I began to realise what was being" shouted. From this med.ey of noise one coherent sentence emerged

“Hi! You there! Come back!” I had an uncomfortable feeling that this shouting was being directed at me. 1 turned, and to my amazement found myself confronted by a perspiring and furious policeman. “Say, you boob,” h© spluttered, as he marshalled me back from where 1. had come, “are you deaf-' Can’t you read them signs? Don’t you savvy that red means traffic goes to the leit and you don’t; green to the right, and you do. White’s to get ready, and you don’t move until you hear the bell go, and then von mustn’t move until the red light flashes. Got. that?” My mind had ceased to function. J was longing for the Strand and P.C. 49. " . „ .

‘‘Now. then, continued the infuriated ‘officer,’ “can you tell me why— ’’ “Excuse me,” 1 interrupted, with all the dignity that 1 could command, •Mint do you mind telling me why you called me back when 1 was safely across the streetP” His replv was inaudible, for at that moment the light flashed red; the clock- struck twelve, and I jumped into a passing taxi.

INDUCTION LEAKS.

CAUSE ERRATIC RUNNING

HEAT AND WASTE.

A,ir leaks in the induction system make tor erratic running, and much loss of power, and the symptoms, are often wrongly attributed to carburetter inis-adj ustinent. Generally, sir leaks are accompanied by a hissing noise, vyhioh may be detected if the ear is put near the induction joints. When leaks occur, the joints of the induction manifold 1 should be re-made with well varnished washers, using gold size. The thinner the washer the better the joint." But the faces must be quite fiat and not have been distorted by trying to open the joint with a cold chisel or a screwdriver or other pointed or chisel-shaped tool. Blow-outs in the induction manifold will necessitate new copper and asbestos washers in the cases where there are four circular ports or a fiat asbestos and copper washer, manufactured to shape and supplied by the car-makers, in' cases where the ports are of ree tangular shape and one washer is combined for all four (or three) outlet ports.

When making a joint between the carburetter outlet flange and the iiange on the uptake pipe (in the <jase qi vertical carburettors) or the face of the engine block in the case of horizontal carburetters, the joint is best made with a simple soft copper washer, as it is advisable to allow the heat How from the pipe or the cylinders to pass to the ca rb il re t tci oul let. Copper washers are best when thev are .soft, so that they can bed down in close, contact with Lie flange** to exclude the possibility of air inflow, which would upset- the mixiurc. If the. washers arc hard they can be softened by heating to a red heat by laving 'lliemi on the. top oi a, flat piece of" red-hot iron and them suddenly quenching in cold water after they have themselves reached the red-hot state.

Blow-outs in the exhaust piping should he i.minediutely attended to, especially in- the ease of closed cars, or danger from partial .suffocation may tU They are easily detected by the extra" sharp exhaust noises, almost like crackling explosions. In this case the exhaust pipe •should be taken down and new copper and asbestos washers fitted and the holts in the flanges well tightener, up again with lock nuts. Spring washers are not much use under the nuts of exhaust flanges. The heat soon robs thorn of their spring and the jo nt becomes loose.

BETTER BALANCE.

SMOOTHER POWER OUTPUT,

THE. SIX-CYLINDER SCORES

Several readers have recently asked why there is the current “all-out change to six-cylinder engines instead of four (says a .London motoring writer). What are the advantages gained, and are they really worth while from the standpoint of the motorist in the street? Most, motorists can answer the queiy for me—in so many words, they wilt say: “Oh! The six-cylinder gives better balance and a more even torque. An excellent answer, so far as the words go, but few of those who gave it can go very much further in detail explanation. I will try to do so. i will tackle the simpler point first—a more even torque. Cor the wort “torque,” and, speaking loosely, read “degree of smoothness in the outputof power.* * , . If we have a isinglc cylinder working on the four-cycle principle-suction, compression, firing and exhaust we have one power stroke in the two crankshaft revolutions necessary to obtain the cycle sequence, tench an engine is obviously “lumpy” m ns powei output. . „ It is equally obvious that the moie cylinders we have, the shorter will be the period lapsing between the power strokes, and therefor© the more even the power output—or torque, as we call AVhen we now come to consider the question of better balance, we encounter a peculiarly interesting para dox On a four-cylinder engine the speed of a piston travelling upwards is not the same as its speed downwards. , .... Of course the actual time taken for a piston to go from the top to tho bottom of its stroke is the same as it is for it to go f rom the bottom to the top. Rut the “rate of travelis dilhTnttlo thought will show that the rate of travel has an effect on balance. If for example, you could drop two ioz weights from a height of six inches on to the opposite pans of a pair or scales, and could drop them m absolute synchronisation, the balance would remain balanced. Rut if von timed them to drop exactly ' together, but one from twelve inHies. the former would weigh down the balance. As it would be travelling faster it would possess a greater mo mention value. So it is with the piston and connecting rods of a four-cylinder engine. As there is a slight discrepancy in the speed of the pistons moving upwards and those going downwards, there is a slight loss of balance, which tends to make the chassis dither up and down. , . ~i But with a six-cylinder engine- with cranks at 120 degrees instead of at ISO degrees, the rate of travel is equal and the balance perfect.

PEDESTRIAN CONTROL.

ADOPTED JN LOS ANGELES

Lo,s Angelos now has pedestrian centre. and. according to the eeeretnr\ of the traffic department of the South •California Automobile Club, it is a <r rent success. Pedestrians in that city a ,re obliged to observe the traffic signals iust as motorists do. The procedure in general is that when a person steps off the curb when the signal is against him. the police officer o-ves .several sharp blasts of his whistle and beckons the absent-minded individual back to tine curb. When this person turns and goes back to tin .sidewalk ho is facing a large gadlerv ol •unused people, and he shamefacedly t-ake« Ids'place with the waiting group. Of course, some persons." are headstrong an.ri refuse to he deterred by the officer’* whistled warning. In such cases the officer simply escorts them back to the side of the street from whence they started. Arrests are not made exeunt when persons become abusive and refuse to obey orders. It has been -oirnd in both' of these situations that the ridicule of their fellow-citizens is far more effective than any other muons which might he -adopted. The pedestrian in Los. Angeles needs to look -out mere than in most cities. “In Los Angeles County alone, one roads, “there are 045,549 automobiles, or one to every two and a. fraction persons, which, of course, means that the largest majority of our people eitlpi own or mide in automobiles, with the resiv'-t that there lie now a population which is ‘motor-minded.' Possibly ulus is another reason why the regulation ql the pedestrian travel has been .so eminently ißucceissful in the city of Los Ano-eles, and it is not particularly d'tticult to -sell to a motorist the wua that pedestrian regulations is a necessary adjunct to the expeditious and sate movement of traffic. It is a fact that the regulation of the pedestrians, has -x----rvoditcTl vehicular movement m the con-<-usted a reas, and the vehiicnl-ar capacity of intersections has been •materially m'•l'ensed .since pedestrian movement has iicun synchronised with vehr.ou'.ar movem Fortv ' p.edcstrian crossing tunnels havu recently been built under the streets in Los Angeles, at -a cost, ol £7O 009 and. besides protecting .pedestrians. these have greatly expedited the flow of vehicular traffic. Altogether i.vVc are in the citv 371 mechanical traffic signals, of which 81 are m the -entral or down-town district, all o. the«e signals giving alternate ffu n,u j t rv>” cOnnle. which must be observed ),,• everybody, whether on foot or in a vehicle.