NOTES AND NEWS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 28 July 1928, Page 14

NOTES AND NEWS.

The most useful article for makin_, temporal - v repairs on the ear while on the road is iron wire, common baling • w ire. Make a coil around a' broom handle, slip the wire off, and it is in com enicnt shape to carry, in the tool box. Two States in America are denuded of tram wav systems. Wyoming led the way, and it has been iollowed by Nevada. When the trams of the Ileno Traction Company were scrapped recently, Nevada- lost its last tramway system. Motor bases now supply the transportation formerly given by trams. Pedestrians in Mexico City will no longer he privileged to “pedest” haphazard ly across the street, A new ruline- by the traffic director of that city is to < the effect that they must obey traffic signals. Reason for the edict is that Mexico City police reports show that accidents to pedestrians are the result of careless crossing, where traffic is not directly under police control

The average American automobile drivel' uses 4t>J gallons or petrol a year, while liis British neighbour uses but bti, it has been figured out by a study of the petroleum statistics of the two nations. The British consumption of petroi amounted to 877,(J0J,(XX) gallons «,y ’i,o2J,ooL machines used in that 'nation. The greater consumption per car in the united States is explained by the use of high-powered cars. In Great Britain the motor-cars are of small noise-power and ootain a high mileage.

The first car used in Wellington is said to have been an Uldsmobile, which was so.d by the late Mr. William McLean, of that city, who imported three of that make, selling one in 1902 to M. w . H. P. Barber, formerly secretary to the Wellington Opera House Company. “The car was steered by a lever,” said Mr. Barber to a representative of .the “Dominion,” ‘ and had attached to it an ordinary bicycle bell, which I. had to' ring to warn people off the course. The tyres were nardly a.s largo-as those used on motorcycles, to-day, and the wirevvlieels were on the bicycle pattern. The seats were back to back, so that those seated behind saw the track we had come over, and could not see ahead at all without geeting a crieki in the neck. It was well sprung# and used to bump along quite nicely, but so long as you grasped the steering lever you did not bounce too high.”

Bad drivers are always being criticised. So far the had passenger, who is not only a nuisance but also a poten rial source of danger, has escaped comment. There are several types. Some err through sheer ignorance, others owing to nervousness. To my- inind ysays a London writer), the worst offender is the ultra-nervous passenger who insists on dinning advice into the ears of" the man at the wheel often wrong advice, given at the wrong moment? if the driver is at all nervous himself, the running fire of comment by the passenger is only' likely to shake his confidence. All passengers should remember that the driver sees more of the road anti what is happening on it than themselves. If he is experienced his eyes are trained to the task. To inform him, as* some passengers do, that a tramway tar is approaching or that a level-crossing is closed, or that a party of people are about to cross the l-oad, is challenging his intelligence.

A novel signalling device is being tested by the police in Brooklyn, New York. Green and Red electric lights are i plated at all crossings, and the scheme would appear to be to maintain a practically constant rate of traffic flow.