A MOTORING CAUSERIE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18577, 8 December 1923, Page 12 (Supplement)

A MOTORING CAUSERIE.

\ t^' V [KY OTB BRITISH CORRESPONDENT.] iX French National Motor Carburant. : , On September 3 there entered into, force - thi> regulation in France which provides thut all importers of motor fuel, in order to obtain an importation license must acquire : from the State distilleries each month a'quantity of methylated alcohol to the minimum extent of 10 percent, of-the volume of petrol cleared through the customs during the previous month. In this manner the State industry secures an undoubted and much-needed tulip. At the some time French money is Kept a home instead of going to buy high-priced foreign exchange-British, American, or " National Carbirfant " . is a serviceable spirit and one is led to the conclusion that the recent French edict ;s a wise piece of legislation from all points of view. So long as alcohol is in open competition with petrol, the risk of cut-throat competition by the producers of the latter is sufficient to prevent it from securing a place in Hie s.,n._ By the French scheme the competitive eeTnenl is removed, and the vendors of pe ttol bo comewilly niily—the vendors ot alcohol. Britain's Overseas Trade. During the first eight months of this ve»i-' the export of British cars, chassis and parts showed a decided ad^ ° n 19C2, though it is not yet up to IU-L Net imports and exports for w, ' e £3.838,530 and . £1.728.185 . rcspectivelv and the same items for this } e.»i ere £4 257.408 and £2,210,689. Any advantage from the increased export income v, natural!v, balanced by the gieate mi ports; though, of course, tins is not to Lv that, the British trade did not, itself, profit by its greater turnover. Manufacturers at Home are bv no means downhearted. Thev realise that they are passing through dangerous shoals, but expect to steer safely to the prosperous promised land beyond. • . . ' . One hopes that the Dominion Premiers, now in conclave, will succced in hammer int; out a reciprocal trading policy for the Empire and one that will _ promote a.i phases of transportation, including the making of vehicles needed to complete the reticulation of the undeveloped lands beyond the seas. The Handy Man. Hiding his. motor-cycle road vice machine, in the course of his duties along one of the side roads, south of London, an A.A. road patrol saw a man furious driving a horse and cart down hill, nearly colliding with a woman and perambulator. The patrol rode after the man and on stopping him discovered he was drunk: but, . while holding the horse s head the, patrol received an unexpected blow in the face, causing him to loose the horse, and the driver: got away. The patrol, however, obtained the assistance of a police officer, and together they traced the man to a farm. j The next scene was staged at the Police 1 Court, where"the offender received"a sent- I ence of on l month's imprisonment and a ; suitable fin© as just penalty for his : drunken and violent behaviour. As for j the patrol, he was the recipient of the cordial thanks of the Bench. j London Ambulances. Allegations of undue delay in the arrival of ambulances at the scene of street accidents appear in the London daily papers ■Kith monotonous regularity. From this, the reader may be excused if he gains the impression that the service is either grossly insufficient or deplorably mismanaged. As a matter of fact, neither of these condemnations i 3 warranted. The London County Council Ambulance Service, reinforced by the police ambulances, constitute a remarkably efficient first-aid service. .They tuarn out and up with the expedition of fire engines. They are comfortable and well-found in every respect. The whole of the trouble is that street accidents are on the increase: This and the-; fact, that an ambulance, when called, is sometimes out attending to a prior call, may result in an unfortunate victim having to wait for attention. It is a problem to see how to overcome the difficulty except by duplicating the ambulances at each station and such a proposal is not likely to find favour with the ratepayer—i.e. with the man in the j street with the very people who complain. Rubber Roads. Though it is highly improbable that rubber can ever be plentiful enough, and therefore cheap enough, to permit of its being a universal substitute for other road-making materials, there are many situations where it could bra used advantageously for paying. It, is worth paying a big price to silence traffic passing hospitals, hotels, churches, etc., and in this direction the application of rubber reading may yet acquire a vogue if certain mechanical difficulties can be overcome. An interesting experiment with rubber is being made in London. For a matter of a chain each side of the cenotaph, rubber- : block paving is being laid. The blocks ; are somewhat larger than the usual wood I blocks, but otherwise the procedure of laying in the same. From a careful study of the effect of the traffic which, for the past few weeks, has been passing over as much of the road, way as has been completed, I notice that the blocks have crept forward, under the influence of the wheels which are always going in one direction, (.hie naturally speculates whether this result is inevitable ; that if, to say, is it an inherent characteristic of rubber-block paving? If so, can it be cured by devising a form of anchor by which to secure each block to the foundation Time» alone will show whether this experiment is successful. Personally, I should think that rubber paving will give the best results where it is laid on narrow roads with traffic alternating in direction.