The Automobile World.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17336, 6 December 1919, Page 6 (Supplement)

The Automobile World.

Science and Inventions.

SOFT WATER TOR RADIATOR. Soft water is very much preferable to hard for filling the cooling system. In cases where such an arrangement is possible it is an excellent stunt to place a rain reservoir on the roof of the garage. Rain water is soft and makes an excellent cooling liciuid, but after it is drawn from the kink it should be filtered bsforo being placed in the radiator. TO EMPTY A PETROL TIN. In filling up a tank from th© ordinary four-gallon tins, it ie usual to hold the tin so that the outlet 13 below, i.e., near the funnel. This is a faulty practice, as the air cannot enter the tin steadily, hence the petrol comes out in jerks and splashes about. If the out- , let be kept at the top, the air can get into the tin, and an even flow of petrol results. RUBBER TYRES' HEAVIEST LOAD. What is 6aid to be the heaviest load ever carried on rubber tyres was a 40-ton marine engine cylinder, recently hauled for 23 miles over the streets of Los Angeles to Son Pedro without damage to the streets or to the rubber tyres on which the carrying trailer was mounted. The trailer was specially constructed for the work. The load was 60 heavy that two tyres, each lOin wide and 40in in diameter, were placed side by side on each built-up metal wheel. LONG DISTANCE RECORDS. American motor cyclists regard their endurance runs across the American continent as their classic event. This transcontinental record it at present held by Alan T. Bedell, who in 1917 rode a fourcylinder Henderson the 3296 miles in •even days sixteen hours sixteen minutes, which beat the record set up in 1914 by E. G. Baker by over three days. This year Baker made a plucky attempt to recapture the record, but "failed owing to the mud encountered. This Indian rider, however," has now secured the " Three Flas" record from Canada to Mexico, making the 1,714 miles from Vancouver (Canada) 1 across the U.S.A. to Tia Jnana (Mexico) In 59 hoars 47 minutes. Over the whole distance the speed works out at a fraction under 30 miles per hour. POINTERS FOR WISE DRIVERS. The Halifax Automobile Association recently sent out a bulletin that contains some very good " Safety First" advice under the caption, " Safety First and . Always." It runs as follows:— '" Drive as if every other driver was a i born idiot. > • " Drive as if all children and most pedestrians were bent on suicide beneath your wheels. " Drive as if every hill had a chasm at the l>ottom. " Drive as if every curve was a highwayman, a Bengal tiger sad a stone wall. ! ** Examine your car before yon start, not after you stop—and you won't have ' accidents." ~ * J VULGANISER TROUBLE. i Many motorists have , experienced , trouble with their petrol vuleanisers. The , tube is often burned, especially around , the edges of the device, or the edges of ' the patch are not eecurelv and smoothly . united with the tube. The burning is ; caused by the use of too much feel or . too tight clamping. If the edges of the ( tube are not united as they should be, it is generally » case of too little [ pressure. These difficulties can be over- , come-by placing a piece of an old tube '. under the tube which is being repaired. A piece should be cut slightly larger than the patch and placed directly below it. ' This- will increase th* pressure on the ! patch and relieve the pressure on the ! edges. With a Ettie> practice a patch may be put on so smoothly that it can scarcely be detected from the tube.

DIET EXCLUDING HUB. One of the latest British patents, says the Motor Cycle is a new hub, which embodies a double safeguard against the entry of grit and water into its ball bearings An annular grease chamber is provided between the inner cups and the washers outside them ; these washers rotate with the hub shelL Outside these grease chambers are secondary grease spaces, close by rnturaed washers secured to the inner (or non-rotating) races. When all the grease chambers are full it is impossible for foreign matter to . enter. Should., the pease in the outer chambers be exhausted, centrifugal action will fling grit or water outwards, whilst the washers which close the ball chambers will stop the dirt from creeping inwards. This construction undoubtedly provides a good seal. ' " 6 A 2JCWT. BUNABOUT. \ Ready for the road a recent British designed light four-wheeler weighs but 2icwt, and measures eight feet six inches by four feet six inches overall. It is Jnt ?'ot ed ? marke t the complete vehicle at £93. In this machine, the usual frame is dispensed with, the body being built strong enough to support the weight of the propelling machinery. The body allows ample leg room and has a side door, 1-he tanks are arranged in front of the dashboard. The mechanical elements nave been reduced to a minimum, and consist (a) of an engine, which is a 4 Lp-einglo-cyhnder, and (b) of a countershaft driven by chain from the engine and fitted with » simple form of gear, which gives a high gear drive on one wheel and a low £ Cr OD & other The final drive is by belt. The vehicle is described as a passenger body -with just enough mechanical clement to "propel it, instead of a more or less elaborate piece of mechanism fitted with accommodation for its passengers ' COMJLEEOIAL VEHICLES. Some sixty manufacturers of commercial motor vehicles were represented at the recent Now York Shov: by one hundred and forty-four individual models. The cars ranged from thre<»-quart«rs of a ton up to seven-ton machines. There was ;.Uo one fifteen-ton giant. The first lesson learnt from wr„ conditions was the advisability of standardisation, and the trucks generally show a tendencv toward greater strength and rigidity. 'There is a No a tendencv to make a larger engine I lie fnur-eylinder engine is the predominant type. The drive, however, "is far It'f.m standardised Lew than 9 per cent <■' the new models have the side chain 'i ve. 1 he worm drive appears to be < ■ f.'vmmte ~n tr.„ ks of or,.half to five «' '>'• , I ho i. sir wheel-drive trucks are ','""''''' «-, '. v '' ■' 'de appeal, because ! V. !"" " '"■■■'•' 'hey rendered in the -M.-m. '.' ''<'. l-.ur. ,„;,,! campaign. When 1 ' ' "','"• ! ~ :i '•"•' wine] the rudest r '.''","■ ■'.'• '""'" l-wibli. to a heavy l'," '''• , "'•', '•'• '•" "'"-el still leads", ' , ! --i ;•'"' metal wheels are more ,"'"'•', "•","' ''" l '"-. «bile the new !," v '"'■" •'"'" ', ■-" gaming ground. For 1 '■,'"", ' jrt lh " ...l-d rubber tm is ' '" "'' ' '" ~; ' \'"' trucks, but pneumatic ■■'■*■••■•• n,.,] nn triiuiv of the small-sized ..','.;,' ■„ ", '■ i 'V-*Me. .-.No, that d.j v T v ',' ? lw T n v, ' n to the I r |,' ' i' M'.rly . . ! make* show an en- ! 7™ . ,! ' "''■,!,;,, pn'ne „f them quite ftte;..r M .-V'- ,! ' u • Hrctri. V r T ';-''i«;-t. commercial !&;: w ? ■■•■.'■'■»;•" ;-.m,„erri a , there „ r ,.' ■, i , >" '"" '""' upwards. | cars oonir • ;.'l "'i''" : '" r " f 'l' 1" ' 1* delivery ' chassis ,',' '' ' '"'"'* "'' l'''.--*encer ; rMMiiw , r ,' , J |,|H ' ,, V , Ul "' "t«ndard! [2 ow "er to convert ;:-'- -vbieb en.Kle <" » motor truck of Vp /'""" '■"•"' ' • *- l Al ''" "ifm ... * ' '* '1 *lil ir : ; i^oi n th e n^-thwL;''wal^e I

IRON-DEPOSITING BACTERIA. > Pasteur long ago showed us the deadly 1 power of bacteria in disease and their . efficiency in promoting fermentation, but i their influence* on the fertility of soils and , their work in expediting rock decay, are ) still subjects of scientific study. Bacteria i evidently not only aid in the decomposi- ► tion of rocks and in the formation of beds of chalk and limestone, as has recently been demonstrated, but are active agents in the deposition of some beds of iron ore. Engineers have learned that iron-deposit-ing bacteria may be troublesome pests through their ability to clog the pipes of city water-supply systems with hard, thick crusts and slimy, rusty masses composed of millions of individual bacteria. ENEMIES OF MOSQUITOES. Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of the United States Bureau of Entomology, writing on his favourite theme, the mosquito, in a recent bulletin, reviews the subject of the natural enemies of this insect. Among fish, he mentions first the common goldfish and silverfish, which destroys mosquito larva? and should be pat in artificial ponds. Top-minnows are great feeders on mosquito larva, and certain species introduced from Texas and Hawaii have proved their value. Many predatory aquatic insects feed on mosquito larvae. Certain birds prey upon the adults, and bate also eat ; them. Many plants are popularly believed to keep away mosquitoes, among them being _ several species of eucalyptus, the castor-oil plant, the china-berry tree, etc Scientific observations have not confirmed the popular idea on this suljject. DIVING ARMOUR. The old diving equipment is for the most part useless in view of the great depths at which many shipwrecks lie. .* * 300 ft, for instance, it has been found divers can do little more than walk about for a few minutes. Why is it not possible to construct a suit of steel—sometning so strong that it will of itself resist the pressure of water at even 600 ft ? Inventors have contrived new 6uits—diving armour —that are amazingly ingenious. And yet ship salvors and men who work at the bottom of the sea wfll for one reason or another have none of them. The diver cannot directly use his hands when he is incased in. his suit of armour. Indeed, it would be squeezed into a shapeless mass if he could protrude it at a depth of several hundred feet. Hence, ingenious artificial hands have been invented which are worked from the inside of the suit. Sometimes these artificial hands are mere claws, sometimes higMy ingenious and complicated mechanisms. Perhaps some form of diving armour will be invented to meet the salvage engineer's requirements. Certainly the rewards to be earned are rich and the field for inventors is open. HOW NATURE MADE ASBESTOS. At the present time the province of Quebec is the world's chief source of asbestos, the production in other countries being comparatively smalL Russia is the chief producer outside Canada, the asbestos being mined in the Ural district. The Canadian deposits of asbestos, consisting of a hydrated silicate of magnesia, are of the variety known as cbxysotfle, and it occurs only in a serpentine rock to which it is essentially similar in chemical composition. Serpentine in itself is very similar to peridote, a rock in which it is usually found, differing only in being hydrated. In the cooling of the peridote from the igneous state it is surmised that cracks were formed and the hydrating action being carried on by heated water changed the rock into serpentine and at the same time widened the fissures. The water carried some of the serpentine into solution and on crystallising out, the dissolved mineral formed threadlike crystals usually building up from opposite walls and meeting or forcing past each other at «ie centre. WEATHEB, AND SOLAR RADIATION. For the past 14 years the Smithsonian Astrophysics! Observatory has been measuring the «c4ar radiation and calculating its variations. Daring the earlier years of the investigations conducted at Mount Wilson, CaL, it appeared that the values found varied from day to day and from year to year. The results secured by comparing data secured from observations made simultaneously in California and Algeria support each other, and indicate that the variations are due to cause outside the earth's atmosphere. Further observations mutually eupport each other as to the variability of the sun. One scientist was so strongly convinced of the dependence of the weather on solar radiation that at his suggestion the Argentine Government is obtaining daily telegraphic reports on the solar radiation at Calama, Chill, upon which are based temperature forecasts for Argentina, and the Brazilian Government has adopted the same system During 1918 the solar radiation was" above its normal an average value of 95 calories per square centimeter per minute were measured at Mount Wilson and Calama, whereas the mean value for manv years is 1.93 calories.

AIESHIP MOORINGS. Dealing with the practicability of mooring large airships to tall masts, the Scientific American states that a 500 ft mooring mastwould take care of a 2000 ft ship, and a WXHt mast, though it would be heavier m construction, would be less in height than many of the masts which carry radio antennae. Nor would the pull on the mast even in a gale of wind, be comparable to the pull of an ocean liner on her anchorage The careful streamlining of an airship reduces head-on resistance to a to 2000 ft, would call for no great massing of material in the mooring tower The towers of the proposed North River bridge will be over 600 ft high, and the wind stresses on them and on the 5000 ft of cables f and trasses which they support would far surpass those thrown upon its mooring tower by a 2000 ft airship. The danger of combined wind and temperature effects bringing the tail of a moored vessel mto contact with the ground will be taken £ »J^f-y,automatic appliances, designed to act quickly upon both the gas and the deadweight ballast. These controls S when ( r tf' that lerticalI ertical when the ship is anchored, will be prac tically eliminated. P dC 0 THE COMING " COAL." A new fuel was invented during the war and is finding great favour with scientists It consist* of a "colloidal" fuel, composed of powdered waste coal and oil. with a substance called fisatera, which prevent* •he coal powder settling. It is. of™ thel 1 ' lir' •V" a 8 deve! to combat the l-boat in two Ways; first to provide a smokeleas fuel, and, next, to make it easible for the Allies to eet alo" with naTien ?"?"»■ »2fthT of Patient investigation wer 0 necessary to find a. way to keep the powdered coal n suspension in the oil. I„ 6 hort th" problem was to overcome gravitatio-A rf „d to make the heavier particles of carbon float | but not ™« to the surface of the .quid. '1 he investor finally accomopl shed he seemingly impossible bv discovering and periling us " fixateur." He frankly acknowledges that h e doe, not know ex actlv what takes place, but this material onK2olb to a ton of colloidal fuel, suffice o keep the pulverised coal in suspension for months running. A number ,f new fuels have thus been realised, each with varying Hrcenta K efi of oil and solid carbon All the fuel pastes are mobile to sustained and easily-applied pressure, and may be pumped, fed. and atomised i , the combust.on chamber. These semi-fluid cmpos.tes will constitute 'the most compac and safest fuel for d.-mest,,- and indwtrjal u«e and thev will largely elim na e the smoke and ash nuisance of StoWv 18 Sad , t<J be chea P« r than an; other known fuel. '