THE MOTOR WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18761, 15 January 1923, Page 2

THE MOTOR WORLD.

By Accelerator. [ltems ol news—short descriptions of terns, the state o( thn roads, etc., comment, or inquiries will be welcomed by " Accelerator.”] THE STATE OF ROADS. A local motorist who travelled many miles timing the holidays reports that the road between Milton and More was in a bad condition, and he advises motorists to take the road via Tapanui if the weather is good. The north road is in bad order as far as Palmerston, but beyond that it is in lirst-class order, the fine gravel making a splendid surface. The sign posting on the north road is commended highly, and the Otago Motor Club deserves warm thanks for its achievements in this respect. SOUTH ISLAND MOTOR UNION. At a meeting of the executive of tho South Island Motor Union, held on Thursday evening, it was decided to suggest that tile next quarterly meeting should be hold at Blenheim on March 10. The question of a uniform speed limit for the whole of the dominion was also discussed at the meeting. The chairman (Mr .1. S. Hawkes) stated that in his opinion tho only way to meet the difficulty was lo take the, matter out of the hands of local bodies and put it in the bands of the police. Apropos of this question, he mentioned tho attitude recently taken up by a judge in Detroit, U.S.A., who refused to subject, speed fiends to Any offender, no matter what his position was in life, was, upon being convicted, sent to prison. His attitude raised a storm of protest among many influential motorists. ■Such judges are apparently elected to office from time, to time, instead of being permanently appointed, ns in New Zealand, and the judge was warned that if he persisted in sending offenders to gaol he would not again be elected to office. Ignoring the warnings, he continued to send to prison all and sundry who were proved to have exceeded 29 miles an hour. When tho election look place, tho judge was not only ieelected, but when the result became known was loudly cheered. The position in Detroit to-day was that speeding was a negligible quantity. Mr W. L. Milson suggested that Government regulations should to made to apply to the speed limit on all roads. Mr N. M. Orbell was of the opinion that there should be no speed limits —the test should be that tho. speed should not endanger public safety. The secretary (Mr P. R. Harman) stated that there was no fixed steed limits in Melbourne, Sydney, or New York. The chairman said that one of the greatest obstacles to reform in the speed laws in the dominion was the local bodies, who would not like to lose the license fees. THE SATURATION POINT. There are some who talk of the British market for motor vehicles having reached ■'the saturation point.’’ Very little examination of the subject will show how absurd this is (remarks the Motor). There are fewer than 35,000 private cars in use ,in England, whereas the number in America exceeds 8,000.000, and the population of that country is little more than double that of Great Britain. There are nearly 200,000 private horse-drawn vehicles in use and 378,000 motor cycles ON THE SOLID. A humorous incident, which, in a way, is a telling tribute to the fine springing of modern motor vehicles, ocurred when a parly of race-goers wore returning home from Ellcrslie in a motor truck. The vehicle was packed full of people, but the driver seemed perfectly oblivious lo the fact that one of his tyres had parted company from the rim, and was hanging round tho axle. Upon his attention being called to the matter, he expressed surprise. Apparently neither ho nor any of his passengers hud noted anything out of the ordinary, and the truck had been . making quite good progress, with one wheel 'running on tho metal rim. SPEED RECORDS. With the 2-litre six-cylinder Fiat racing car/ which won both the French and the Italian , Grand Prix . races, Pietro ' Sordino has established a record of 108 4 miles an hour on the new Monza track, near Milan. This record, which is a wonderfully high speed for a cur of such small piston displacement. was established over one lap of what, is known as the track portion of tho Italian speedway, and was officially timed by representatives of the Automobile Club of Italy. It is interesting to nolo that at Indianapolis whore conditions ara approximately the same as at Monza, the highest speed ever attained for one lap is 103 miles an hour by Thomas on a Ballot of 4-litre 900 For the full 10 kilometres of the Monza Speedway, including both track and circuit, Bordino's time was 3min 50sec, compared with his previous record of 4min 4sec, established during the Italian Grand Prix race. Tho speed is equivalent to 97.25 miles an hour. MOTOR PROGRESS. A good general idea of the rapid growth in the use of motor vehicles in Canterbury during the past. 18 years ia, given, by some comparative figures dealing with all classes of traffic on tho Ricearton road during six days in 1904, and figures relating lo the traffic on tho Empire bridge taken towards the end of lash year, and covering a period of seven days. In 1904 the number of motor vehicles counted on lire Ricearton road in tho period mentioned was 98, of horse vehicles 991; total 1089. In 1922, during the period . mentioned. 3707 motor vehicles and 716 horse’vehicles total 4423, crossed the Empire bridge. CARS IN SOUTH AFRICA. Wimponny Bros, and Reid, Ltd., have received an interesting letter from a traveller, from which I have been permitted lo make the following extract: “I’have been travelling very extensively in South Africa and have been struck by the fact that tho motor oar industry isalmost. exclusively in the hands of the Americans It appears they study the requirements of the country and make cars with a generous ground clearance, and after experiencing the roads out here I can quite understand that a car of this kind is required I have, however, seen but one English car in South Africa, and that was a 20 h.p. Vulcan owned by Mr A. 0. Johnson, of Mossel Bay. He told mo that he purchased this car second-hand two and a-half years ago. As it is to-day running' far smoother than any other car I have used out. here, I consider it is but typical of tho sterling quality the British manufacturer builds into his cars.” “A NOSE FOR SALES.” Practically every live daily has its “star” reporter, who has gained that distinction through keen perception—‘‘a nose for news, ’ as tho city editor would say. The automobile salesman, with competition so keen to-day, must apply to himself in nil earnestness tho qualifications of the reporter. He must have “a nose for sales.” Tho biggest. "scoops” come, not from public speeches or announcements, but from remarks casually passed, which are the reporter’s cues for big stories. When interviewing a prospect, there is oflentimos a word dropped here and there by him which furnishes the key for closing the sale. It may be a remark concerning a fishing party, a golf match, a hull game, or any one of a hundred possible “hobbies.” To grasp a slight reference, casually dropped by a prospect, and to use it as a possible foundation for a sale, is typical of a good salesman. ON DRIVING A TAXI. “ ‘We secs somethink of life sometimes.’ observed tho moon-faced taxi-man philosophically. ‘What you’ve got to remember is that we are the instrormonts of transport for all sorts and conditions of people. Weddin’a are our speciality and crooks in a Tirry don’t always count their change ns they should do. I’ve druv princes and I've druv paupers- but Capting Harry was tile best type of gentlemen. Aristocrat he was from the, erown of his hat to the sole of his boot. ‘Pompkins,’ he says, when ho hails me, ‘this ain’t no ordinary job. Pompkins.’ When his voice came nut of tho fog. I fairly jumped as though my old woman had witched me with a flat iron, and says I. -Right you are. I’m the man for an imorinary job, and in you got and it don’t make no difference whether it’s for Buckingham Palace or for Bermondsey us long ns your money’s all right at tho end. Why, tne other day I was bilked by a cove with long hair wot the hotel porter called "lour Excellency.” Let me meet him again anti if the half of his kingdom is worth four and six it’s mino.’j’ —Max Pemberton in ’“A Woman Who Know.” THE MOST ECONOMICAL SPEED, Tho figures obtained in a scries of tests carried out by tho Light Car and Cyclccar with the object of finding out the read speeds at which a light car used the least fuel to cover a given distance are both instructive and interesting, and demonstrate

that on the particular car used the most economical louring speed was between 25 m.p.h. and 50 m.p.m. At speeds below and in excess of this (lie consumption increased, it being noticeable that almost the same figures were obtainable at 40 m.p.h., 45 m.p.h.. and 15 m.p.h. to 20 m.p.h., whereas one would have imagined that the consumption would have varied directly ns the speed. A solution may be provided by the fad that at certain engine, speeds, corresponding with a 25 m.p.h. to 30 m.p.h. road speed, the turbulence of the gases is used to the best advantage. Otherwise it is difficult, to understand why the consumption should decrease when the throttle is opened up to a certain point. The fact that a saving of close on 6d a gallon can he effected by driving at tho most economical speed is important, and suggests that it would be worth while for any owner who studies economy to discover for himself his car s most economical speed. To do this he only requires a speedometer with trip reading and a measuring glass, which may bo bought for about half a crown from any chemist. Ho should then select a suitable testing ground, preferably level, to enable the runs to bo made on top> gear only, and when once the carburettor and tank are rim dry commence his trials at varying speeds. Obviously, it is not possible to keep the speedometer hand constant on one mark, but if a 5 m.p.h. variation is allowed and each test is made twice some reliable data should be obtained. MODERN MAIN HIGHWAYS. “Your groat road is one of the most heartening things a man can come on. says tho Manchester Guardian. “Whether it lie tho ‘board and amplo road whoso dust is gold’ that Milton imagined, or ‘the opc-u road, mellow wiiul t-ruit soothes the darkening* shires, and laughter, and inn fires’ that Rupert Brooxo rhymed, the road has always been a primo concern of poets, of conquerors, of captains of industry, and of common men to whom its signposts mean adventure into strange parts. fair Henry Maybury, the Director-General of Roads under tho Ministry of Transport, showed in his speech at the Town-Planning Conference in Manchester that less than two hundred years ago, there was no road at all to Liverpool for a vehicle, and that 10 days was the normal but desperate duration of a Man-chestor-to-London journey. “Most of our historic road-making has been done from military necessity. The revolution caused in tho last 25 years by tho advent of the petrol-driven vehicle demands as logical and imaginative a new treatment of roads us oven tho Romans brought to bear on them. The old reads went as straight as they could from town to town. It was an immense*military gain and a lasting civil advantage when they achieved even this. But now, as fair Henry Maybury points out, it should bo their business lo approach towns and then avoid them. It is no longer necessary to capture Warrington on the way lo Liverpool, or to subdue Chester in getting to Wales. The ghosts of history still load our main roads, most inconveniently for those who use them, through tho narrow High Streets of towns that would be glad to be quit of them. Sooner or later we shall have to mako our roads real arteries of a body that is no longer divided.” MOTOR CYCLE NOTES. Steve Whitehead, riding a stock 2? h.p. Douglas won tho lightweight championship of New Zealand at tho Opotiki motorcycle race meeting held on Boxing Day. Why is it that some motor cyclists persist in riding their machines at an angle approaching 45deg to tho side car? Quito apart from tho discomfort and slovenly appearance such a practice creates, the wear on all three tyres is seriously increased. “Cannonball” Baker's trans-continental record, established on an ‘‘Ace” a few weeks ago, has been lowered by Wells Bennett on a Henderson. Bennett rode from -.os Angeles to Now York in 6 days 15 hours 13 minutes, clipping 7 hours off Baker’s time. When a tyre has been gashed so badly that patching is impossible, tie tho tube tightly With string at the ends of the gash so that it will hold air. Pack in space occupied by the_ gash with grass, rags, eleven soft -cJirfc; insert the tube, and drive slowly This repair will hold for surprising distances. “Are you sure you have shown us all the principal parts of this motor cycle?” asked the fair partner of a prospective purchasing syndicate. “Yes, madam, all the main ones” answered the salesman. “Well, Ihen, where is the depreciation? A friend told us that was one of the greatest things lo watch in these machines,” was the next poser. On October 27 Mr H. Ie Yack, riding a Zenith motor cycle with a J.A.P. engine, broke 'the flying five miles motor cycle record in Class E. that is to say, solo machines up to 1000 c.c., achieving a. speed of 100.29 miles per hour. This is the first occasion on which any machine, British or foreign, has succeeded in lapping Brooklands at a speed exceeding 100 miles per hour, and it. is therefore of particular interest to note that the machine in questioni was fitted with a standard type side valve J.A.P. engine. SPARKS. An obvious German walked into a London dealer’s showroom a few weeks ago and asked the price of a certain threewheeler. ‘ On being iold ho made a brief calculation, and said. “Dree million marks —loo dear, too dear!” In the latest list of American motor cars tabulated with their selling points, it is noted with interest that- 27 niakes have now standardised pressure chassis lubricating systems. None of us will bo sorry to see llio last of screw-down grease caps. A motorist in Evanston, U.S.A., arrested for speeding on a busy thorough faro, entered the defence that his car could not sn-ied and that he was only doing 15 m.p.h. Whereupon the justice of the pence promptly fined him for obstructing the traffic. An American lady who bad been reading about the discovery of America remarked to a lady friend; “Fancy these Spanish Hidalgos going over 2000 mfles on t. galloon!” “My dear.” said tho other, “you cannot roly -on the consumption, claims about these foreign cars !”—The Motor. According to a well-known Auckland motorist, there were probably more breakdowns and accidents to cars during tho recent holidays than is usually the ease. Ho says he saw- more “lame ducks” going homo in tow than he ever recalls seeing before, and these accidents all occurred within three mites of the city. A village in Michigan was recently moved by motor truck. A specially constructed frailer look houses weighing from 15 to 55 tons a distance of 11 miles. Tho trip was made in four hours, this time including stops to wait for traffic to pass before entering upon a stretch of narrow road. r lho complete trailer weighed five tons.