THE WAR AUTOMOBILE

Otago Witness, Issue 2707, 31 January 1906, Page 59

THE WAR AUTOMOBILE

It has remained for the Germans to bring automobile construction to bear on warfare, and one of the mest recent dovelopineuts along these lines has resulted in an armoured automobile fitted with a fire gun attachment. The machine i^> from the works of the Daimler Company As yet it is an experiment, but recent testa show that it, ought in a short time to realise t)ie dieams of military experte, uho have bo<>n for years looking forward to a safe and rapid conveyance for heavi&r arms. Light piessed steel is used as a covering for the motor hood, *nd the same material is utilised to shield the gears and the driver's seat. The conning tower is also covered in the taire way. The steel is scar-.ely half <m inch thick, and tho «hole conveyance weighs little more than some^ of tho heavier typea of touring car*. The top of the to(\er through which the gun is pointed can be rotated so that the fir© can be directed to any quarter. The gun by its machinery can be projected or withdrawn from the opening as the gunner deenes. The driving power is to four wheels, making it possible to chm.^ sleep grades. A6O per cent, grade can' be moun:ed, it is olaimed, as easily as tho " ordinary touring car climbs a slight liil . Without the four-wheeled drive this woulfjl be altogether impossible.- In tests reoenb'rj made the machine made an average epee - i

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of 25 mi'^s an hour on country roads, and made detours into broken fields and roads with marvellous ea=e. Tile test as to the ability to manoeuvre on broken ground was watched w ith especial interest by members of the military, to whom the question of handling guns on heavy ground i° of great importance. The motors ar* foiu -cylinder, 40 h.p. Merc?des type, and are nore solidly built than the average touring car motors. During tho test not a break or strain or heated bearing was t-vident The que<tioa of the armour plate lias cau&ed considerable discussion among experr*. The plate used in the construction of the armoured automobile is of sufficient thickness to shield (he gunner and the diiver and the motors from light ordnance, such as that used by tne n achine and by cavalry and infantry. Readier plate cannot be used, since it would make the machine too hea\y and unwieldy. It has been the? desire of 'l.c makers to have a machine light enough to tra\el rapidly and cross light bridges, and at the same timr be armcired and emotive as carriers of despatches and messengers. The «ame firm is said to be working on a light armoured hospital waggon, which will be able to carry aid to the wounded in tW thick of battle. SIX-DAY BICYCLE RACE. A New York cablegram dated December 9 is as follows: — Eddie Root and Joseph Fogler. the New York team, won the six-day bicycle race in Madison Square Garden, after covering 2260 miles and six laps, the finish shortly after 10 o'clock to-night being witnessed by a crowd of 25,000 people. John and Andrus Bell, the Long Island team, were awarded second place; Mac Lean and Mora n. of Boston, were third; Vanderstuyft and Steel fourth, Hopper and Hollister fifth. Downing and Bowler sixth, Logan and Downey seventh, and Galvin and M'Donald eighth. There were seven capital prizes, ranging from £300 to the winners down to £40 for the seventh team. Special prizes distributed among the riders brought the aggregate of prizes considerably above £1000. A crack of the l^eferee's pistol at 10 o'clock announced the close of the race. At that time Root and Fogler and Bedell brothers were tied for first place. Mac Lean and Moran and Vanderstuyft and Steel were tied for third place, and Hopper and Hollister were tied with Downing and Bowler for fifth place. It had been arranged in advance that in case of a tie in the score in miles and laps, the decision would be given after an extra mile heat between representatives of the tied teams. Eddie Root and John Bedell were chosen to fight out for first honours. The riders were sent away within a few minutes after the other teams had left the track. Root easily led his mal throughout the distance, and finally won by four lengths. The Bedells were the favourites for the race until yesterday morning, when they lost to Root and Fogler the lead of one lap they bad maintained for 36 hours previously. Root won the six-day bicycle race last year, when his riding partner was Oliver Dorlon, of Sheepsheacj Bay. The record for a sixday contest is 2733 miles and four laps. The riders in this year's race therefore fell 'about 473 miles behind it. Moran. of the Bo«ton team, and Steel, of the Belgium-Holland team, rode for the third honours, Moran winning in the final sprint by one length. Downing and Hollister, of the teams tiod in fifth place, furnished an exciting close to tho contest. They rode slowly about the bowl-like track until near the finish, when both started to sprint. At the height of the rise Downing's wheel slipped from beneath him. and he had a bad fall. This enabled Hollister to win easily. Downey, of Boston, who hitherto has been an amateur, was awarded a special prize of £70 for his clever riding, having led in most of the sprints and having been in front during- the greatest number of laps. The major prizes were as follows : — First £300, second £200. third £140, fourth £100, fifth £60, sixth £50, seventh £40. The average daily attendance during the race was 18,000. and it is said the management has cleared something like £12,000. Sixteen teams started in the race. Some of tho riders dropped out in pairs, and some singly, the latter as a rule forming new partnerships and continuing in the gund. It was announced that only one rider lost weight during the race. Several maintained the weight afc which they entered, while the majority gained from 21b to 51b, Root, the winner, making the maximum gam. ■" Plugger" Bill Martin won the first of those races in 1891, when every man had to ri<lo on his own. but in 1898 legislation was introduced prohibition cycle riders from engasfing in atir contest which necessitated their being in the saddle for more than 12 hours out of the 24, and tins resulted in an evasion of the law by transforming the contest into a team race, two riders partnering each other. Charley Miller and Frank Waller won the first race under the new conditions in 1899, the pair between them co\crinsr 2733 miles — a record which still stands. Elkes-MacFarland, Wal-thour-M'Eachern, Leander-Krebs, WakhourMunroe. and Root-Dorlon have been the successful teams since 1899. The duration of the 1905 contort was. a« usual. 142 hour«, from Sunday midnight to 10 p.m. the following Saturday, and as tho finish usually resolves itself into a sprint match between over half a dozen riders, a sprinter and itayer now generally combine.

HHF.UMO STAXDS THE TEST OF TIME

The test of time is the infallible test. If a remedy has real merit it will stand this seaj clung trial Bheumo stands the test tiiumphant 1 }. Ever since it was fiist introduced some three years ago its Bales iava steadily liifroased each month, and now it is found at every rhemi=t? andi stoic, from the Xor'h Cipc to the Bluff There i= but one reason for Rheuuio's c ucce's- It is an absolutely rehal/e cure for lheumatism, gout, and kin-il-etl diseases. Thousands hare Wen cuied by it. th°y have rpcommendecll it to their friends wi'h equal.lv satisfactory results. If you suffer from rheumatism, give Rheurno a fair trial, arc! it wi'l cure you. Sold by all chemists and store- at 2= 6d a»<3 is &A.

T!n :<• i- ur.nii-takable evidence (says the Sciontific American) that 2500 years ago certain Ilehifu enpin^ers /in the time of Kmcr Hezeliiah) executed exactly the same kind of work which was carried out in the •Simplon tunnel, rhough perhaps oe & shghily smaller =ca!c.