NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20820, 12 March 1931, Page 16

NOTES.

Chinese import duties on motor-cars have been increased to 30 per cent. „

Seaview Road, between Hutt and Petone, is to be laid down in concrete 18ft. wide. The concreto works out at lis per square yard.

The Dannevirke County Council has made suggestions that some bad bends in the Matamau-Makotuku Road should be attended to under the No. 5 unemployment schenio.

The Wanganui Automobile Association has been advised by the Public Works Department that metal pits are being opened along the Wangaebu Valley Road and efforts to push ahead with the metalling of the remainder of the route are being speeded up.

A movement is on foot in Stratford to have the work of tunnelling the Mold saddle on the "Ohura Road at the entrance to the Tangarakau Gorge carried out under the unemployment reliof scheme. If the work is dono it will greatly imErove tho main Stratford-Taumarunui ighway.

Tho River Road, which passes through Parakino and Ateno to Pipiriki from Wanganui, is being gradually put into shape. About eight miles of tho road has been newly metalled. At the present timo tho River Road is open to Raupirau, just beyond Koroniti, 32 miles from Wanganui.

The key to the situation of the motor industry in Germany is given by the fact that 30,000 fewor cars were sold in 1930 than in 1929. In Berlin alone 3476 cars were withdrawn from the roads by their owners during November. _ The number of motor vehicles actually , in use in the German capital is 104,920, of which 49,982 are private cars.

Gentle Annie Hill, known of old as a dangerous stretch on the Parapara, will •very soon no longer hold any terrors for the motorist. Many corners have been cut back and miles of metal laid. There is only one area that is unmetalled and that has a surface of sand that does not become slippery in bad weather. Many men are still working on the road.

An unusual outbreak of fire is reported from England, by an owner of a sunshine saloon. The rays of the sun reflected by the driving mirror fixed on top of the windscreen had centred themselves on t : he upholstery and stuffing of the driver's seat/ and burnt a neat circular hole some lOin. in diameter. The mirror was a flat ono, oblong, and inclined downwards. ,

Motor-car construction in Russia is being greatly developed, A plant with a yearly output of 140,000 cars is now under construction at Nizhny-Novgorod, the Amo plant at Moscow, which is to turn out 50,000 automobiles a year, has been reconditioned, and the Yaroslavl plant, with a yearly capacity of 10,000 cars, is being reconstructed. _ There are now 54,000 passenger vehicles in the country.

The road between Napier and Takapnu, which was so much damaged by the earthquake as to make travelling over it H hazardous experience, is now rapidly being made safe. Repairs to tho \Vaipukurau traffic bridge have now been completed and in viejv of the severity, of the 'quake and the enormous amount of traffic following, the bridge is reported to have stood the heavy test remarkably well.

The straightening, widening and general improvement of the main porth (west coast) highway out of Wellington—particularly that section that winds round tho Pahatanui arm of Porirua Harbourhas been proceeding steadily for some years. The latest improvement—between Porirua and Paremata —became available to traffic at the end of last week. This is a new straight formation which cuts out a further series of sharp " arms" which the original road faithfully followed.

SEEING IN THE SUMP. Cars which are not fitted with that adjunct for determining the level of oil in the sump—the dip-rod—sometimes suffer from insufficient lubrication without any wilful neglect on the part of the owner. It so happens that "he thought there was .enough in, but really there was no means of telling accurately." That deceptive little overflow gauge which, on being opened, lets fall a drop of oil or so, when there is actually Only a fraction in the sump, inspires the driver to carry on in a fit of over-confidencc. Sooner or later Nemesis will come along in the shape of burnt-out bearings—and there is another large item to add to tho list of upkeep expenses.

It is well worth while for those who are in the habit of driving with a couple of pints iu the sump, and a corresponding number of shillings in the pocket, to keep an 'eagle eye on the pressure gauge—that is, not to neglect the steering too much. Immediate indication is given on a corner when the quantity has become rather low, because the centrifugal force will be sufficient to pile all the oil away from the pump either to the right or to the left, according to which side the pump is situated. This lateral pressure causes the oil gauge to drop down to zero at once, until the curve 1 is rounded, and the oil covers the inlet once more. Such a warning should be sufficient to make the next service station encountered a point for replenishing the supply, and it is useful always to remember this means of seeing inside the sump.