Cycling AND Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2761, 13 February 1907, Page 59

Cycling AND Motor Notes

BY DEMON.

The Dunedin Cycling Club is in communication with Mr D. J. Byrne, of Christchurch, who holds the motor cycle mile record for 'New Zealand, with the object of getting Byrne to make a further attack on the existing time at the club's annual sports at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday, March 9. Mr James Mills has, after all, decided to take his Daimler car back to England, and the machine lea\es shortly for tho land whence it came. Mr Mills, I understand, will try to dispose of his car in England, going in for a £ina,llerpowered vehicle. Messrs Chiaroni and Connor have gone in for 3 h.p. Rover motor cycles, being the last two machines of this description stocked by Mr W. Melville. As the Rover Company have ceased making motor cycles, with the idea of furthering their turn-out of cars, I presume we shall not see any other importations of these popular motors. Mr Melville has not at present made up his mind ac to what type of motor cycle he will import to take the place of the Rover. Mr R. Hay ward drove through to Invereargill on Tuesday in his 10 h.p. Cadillac car. A £15 Wheel Race will figure on the programme of the Dunedin Cycling Club's sports to be held next month. The Dunedin General Motor Company are importing to the order of the Primate, Bishop Nevill, a four-cylinder Humber motor car of latest design. Mr S. R. Stedman, who has shifted from his business premises in Stuart street to the corner of St. Andrew and Cumberland streets, has, I understand, made arraag'ejm^nts whereby a garage and repair shop wjll be erected for him next to the Messrs Hudson's mill in Castle street.

Owing to the Waihemo County Couricil objejotipg to the route, of tfee

Palmerston bicycle road race, to be run on the 15th inst., the promoters of the event have had to alter the course. The distance of the race is nine miles. The Taieri County Council are therefore not now alone in putting a restraining hand on road racing within the confines of the county. There is al=o a probability, I notice, of several Invereargill riders being proceeded against by the police there for indulging in road racing.

A bicycle road race was held on Tuesday evening of last week, under the auspices of the Mataura Athletic Club, over a course of about 20 miles (from Mataura to EdendaJe and back), when there were eight starters out of 11 entries. The handicaps were as follows: — Corrie and Bennet, scratch ; Baldwin and Dixon, lmin; Smith and Walker, 2£min; Lister and Milne, smin. A strong head wind was blowing, making the progress of the competitors clow and exhausting. Dixon burst a tyre lese than a mile from home, and had to withdraw. An unfortirnato accident happened shortly after the hill had been negotiated, Corrie striking a rut and falling heavily, with the result that he broke his arm. Lister and Milne left Edondale three minutes before the others. Lister led practically all the way, leaving Milno two miles from home, and winning handsomely by about 400 yards. Time, 59min 45sec. Bonnet put up fastest time, traversing the distance in 55min 15eeo.

A meeting of the committee appointed by the Waihemo County Council to revise the by-laws in connection with motoring and bicycling' on the county roads was held on Monday, February 4. Members present were of opinion that on dangerous portions of the roads motorists and cyclists should not be allowed to travel at a speed exceeding five miles an hour. The clerk was instructed x) write to each" member of the council requesting information as to the dangerous parts of the roads in the respective ridings. The Chairman said that bicycle racing was being carried on on the county roads, and he mentioned that a road race was advertised to take place on the 15th inst. It was decided to notify the police and the promoters of the race that the council disapproved of road racing, and that those taking part in the race would be held responsible in the event of an accident faking place.

It will be remembered that some time back the Englieh Cyclists' Touring Club, by a small majority, decided to allow motor cyclists to become members of the club. On the petition of the C.T.C. for loave (o altor its memorandum so as to admit motor cvelists coming before Judge Warrjpgton the pr.OpWftl El 9

opposed by « substantial minority of th« C.T.C. Atter hearing the evidence for and against the application the judge ruled that it was impossible to combine the business of catering for and protecting the rights and interests of cyclists with that of catering for and protecting the interests ofi motorists, and dismissed the petition, with costs.

— — As showing the interest taken in| cycle racing in France it may "be mentioned that at a recent meeting in Paris the entries for a children's race under 10 years of age were so numerous that the race had to be run in heats. The final was won by a lad of eight, who traversed! the last 220 yards in 22 4 : ssec.

The Melbourne A.N.A. Wheel Race, of one mile, the prize money for which waa £150, was run on Monday. January 28,* in Melbourne, and won by P. B. Quinlan, a member of the N.S.W. League of Wheelmen, from the 70 yards mark, with D. E., Anderson (125 yds) • second and H. d Thomas (scratch) third. Quinlan rode a great race, and won by a wheel.

Steam cars' are actively exploited in! America, and behave well in competitions, notably hill-climbs.

Buyers of second-hand cars are justi as careful in their selection of a motor as those who place their orders for new ones. Wonder is frequently expressed by writer* in the English, and American motor press as to what becomes of all the vehicles that have had but a year's use, and possibly less, and particularly at this stage of the industry, when the depreciation in value cannot be so very great. None of the big dealers in those countries will hesitate to take in trade a car of standard make from \ purchaser of the make they handle. The second-hand buyer is generally the patient one, - and he will wait for the car he wants.

The proposed match between Lawaon and Kramer did not eventuate. Through, eating fresh lobster Lawson became very, ill, it being a severe case" of ptomaine poisoning. He hovered near the point of death for three weeks, and was a mere skeleton of his former self, having lost 351K in weight. Speaking of the propose* match, Lawson aaid : "Kramer need nofc worry over the match, as I will not be able "to look at a bicycle till the spring., I am going to take a long rest. Wm" anxious to again meet Kramer, as I think* I can trim him ; but it's all off now." Ha is, however, well on the way to recovery. The Automobile Club of Australi* ran a two-days' reliability test from Parramatta to Bathurst and 1 back on January 29 and 26. The total distance was 223 miles, and the test was decided in two stages. The first day's run was from Parramatta to Bathurst, and the second day's run from' Bathunsfc to Parramatta. There were 19^ starters, but the result of the ruA w a*^ rather inconclusive — two machines tying with 993 points in Class A, three eachi securing 1000 points in Class B, two getting 999 points in Cless C, and two dead-heatinga in Class D with 1000 points each. There will consequently be a run off. While driving in a 50 horee-power; automobile in the Central Park, at New York, shortly after midnight on Monday,November 19, Tom Cooper, the ex-champkw sprinter of America, met with a fatal accident. He was speeding .mind the Centra* avenue, accompanied by his wife and a' couple of friends, when he suddenly came* across a stationary ear, and, applying th« brakes quickly, his car skidded and charges into an approaching cab, Cooper being^ pitched out on to has head and killed ofl< the spot, whilst hig wife and one of th» passengere died shortly afterwards in the Roosevelt Hospital. In 1899 Cooper was one of the best sprinters in the United! ( States, and' the following season he crosseel over to Paris, where he finished second toHarrie Meyers in the Grand Prix de l'Expoeition, beatLng Jaoquelin. the hero of the* sea«on. On returning to the States he men Major Taylor in a series of matches, atf Madison Square Gardens, but suffered defeat. He subsequently turned motor-racer. A new star in the pace-following world is a Continental rider named Parent, who on Sunday afternoon, December 23, met and defeated two riders with big; reputations, riders who in their day have finished in front of the champions past and! present. , The distance waa 50 kilometrect (31 miles 123 yards), and at the sound of. the pistol le petit Anglais, Tommy Hall, following his usual custom, dashed away with the lead, but before many ( laps hadl been covered the "coming man," as th« French critics describe Parent, who waa well paced by Amerigo, proved that he* was in the pink of condition, he covering the first 10 kilometres in Bmir» 46 l-sseo> . leading Robl by 450 yards and Hall b.y", 300 yards. From here to the end of th«( race the positions were not changed, butt Parent gradually inoreased his lead. Robl missed his huge tandems, and ultimately finished! over a mile behind the winnerv the English representative being a, troodl • second, Parent winning in 44min 49 2-ssec, which time is pretty sliok for 31 miles. * The greatest supply of "spares that forethought, based upon experience, can/ suggest will sometime* not suffice to save a delay, but it goes without saying thatt the driver whose car is well provided iri this respect is far better off in the majority of instances than the motorist who trusts to luck to get to the end of his journey. Above all thing*, a. supply ofi nuts and bolts of the sizes employed on the car shouldi not be overlooked. Despite the most painstaking precaution on the part of the manufacturer to pin end lock every, nut on the vehicle before it leaves the factory, there will be occasions when one or the other is missed, end) few things are so trying as an attempt to 6eoure duplicates of bolts or nuts of special types and' sizes at out-of-the-way places. Even if the motorist carries nothing else, a liberal pro- ' vision of these small essentials will ofton be the means of averting a- deal of annoyance, as well as a waste of time. "Toot! toot! toot!" went the horn of the big motor car as it thumped along the road. But old Farmer Giles, who was very deaf, walked on quietly in # blissfuß ignorance of the engine of destruction that was thundering towards him. A sudden whirr, a bang, and Farmer Giles to grovelling in the dust. "Hurt?" asked the chauffeur, jumping out. 'Ah! thankee, sir " chuckled the old man as he picked himself up, and looked very pleased. "Yotf might come round these 'ere parts again' some time, will 'cc?" "But aren't jot* hurt?" gasped the ohauffeor.. "Not at al)w It's done me a power ©' good.". lt Well;-, I'm West!" Rasped the motorman. "How'» v that?" "Well, mister," replied the old!: farmer, "that Jolt you Rare me .unloosened' a mustard plaster ou my. shoulder that X have been trying to g^fc off for more thaa

OAMARU ROAD RACE.

The Qaxnaru Road Baoe for prizes presented by Mr R. Murie (supplemented by the North Otago Cycling Club) took place last Thursday afternoon. The weather was fine, but there was a strong north-easterly wind, and the roadg were rather rough in consequence of the prolonged drought. The time put up suffered accordingly, the fastest being that of R. Rodgers, of Timaru, who covered the distance in lhr 15min 35Asec, or 6min slower than the last race, which started and finished at the Monument. To add to the troubles of the cyclists, some evilly-disposed person strewed the road from the' Town Belt to Pukeuri with broken glass. The club learned of it in time, and took steps to considerably abate the nuiss ice, but several punctures nevertheless teak place, D. Wilson, the eventual winner, having to make two changes of machines owing to punctures. With regard to the finish, it may be said that it would be *s well to revert to the Monument for the purpose. Two men, arriving together, pnt forth en effort at the finish, end passed the Post Office with some momentum. The express happened to bo crossing the 6trect at the time, and both men had something to do to pull up in time, one having to jump from bis machine, and the other turning just in time. , MURIE ROAD BAGS. First prize, Maximus ' Phcenix road racer, value £21 ; second, £3 ; , third, £2. D. Wilson (actual riding time, lhr 59min sosec; handicap, 15min) 1 "W. Coie (actual riding time, lhr 55m in 35sec; handicap, 6min) 2 J. W. Waldie (actual riding time, lhr 57min 40sec ; handicap, 7oiin) 3 A. Robinson (handicap lamiii) and R. Rodgers (scr.) were the next to arrive. Fastest Time. — Gold medal and pair Clincher A Won tyres and tubes complete • R. Rodgers (actual ridiDg -time, lhr 51min 35i«cc). 1 W. Wilson and W. Cole were the next fastest riders.

big uproar orer the referee's decision, but eventually the disturbance calmed down In the eightieth hour Fogler fell asleep on his machine, the result being a spill, and 10 rider© falling over him, the Italian, Vanoni, being so badly hurt that he had to retire from the contest.

At the end of the fourth day Macfarland was in a very groggy state : but his partner, Rutt, was still going well. At the one hundred and fourteenth hour 10 teams, including I'ye and Clark, had each covered 1854 miles.

With only seven hours to go, there were only eight teams 1 left, they being represented' by Eutt (Germany), Downey, Root, Downing, and Coffee (America), Clark (Australia), Emile Georget (France), and Mettling (Canada). Wahhour, the American long-distance champion, being unable to regain his lap lost early in the race, withdraw towards the finish. During the last hour the pace livened up, and excitement reigned high. Even in the last mile many changes occurred, the final placings being Root and) Fogler first, with 2292 1-5 miles to their credit. Downing and N. Hopper, the latter of whom won the Sydney Thousand Wheel Race in 1903, second; Rutt and Macfarland, third: ff-hikt Pye and Clark finished sixth. The event resulted in a big financial success. The winneTs — Root and Fogler — axe Americans, and wore successful in this race last year, when their mileage totalled 2260 miles. The record distance covered in connection with this race is 2733 miles, by Millon and Waller some years ago.

ENGLISH MOTOR DOINGS FOR 1906

Before we enter upon the subject of motors and motoring in 1907, it may prove of interest to reflect on the doings of promincnf motorists in the season just come to an end. Despite the fact that tbr« suppression of the Gordon Bennoit race placed the motor world in the position which it is apparently correct to SIX DAYS' RACF ' described as "Hamlet without the Prince of lluSl G^rdts \t/ VoT a The M cve^ '"* f «~«»« there has bee,? . plentiful which was decided on a highly-banked V 1 ™ 1 /' J* 1 " 10 " c * cv , el £ S > f uch " 4l } c wooden indoor track, attracted 16 teams p n , d ". Efld to J ° h ? °, Gro ?' 6 »" to - c y c! * of two riders each, neither of whom mu,t h l ml ' J 'f ve Be [ ved to kce P the ">^ ement be on the track more than 12 hours, out abcno tho mediocre. of every 24. At the end of 18 hours all To treat first with the racing side. sine<> the teams, with the exception of "Walthour racing was the means by which motoring and Bedell, were level, with the seonnt? sprang so quickly into prominence, it must. board showing 382 miles. The special prize bo confessed that the Grand Pnx and for the leader at the end of the first 24 similar event* have not provided tho same hours was won by the Italian crack, Ta- pvcitement as in the days of the Gordon noni, with a score of M9j miles, equal to Bonnet race. The truly international clean *verage speed of 20 miles an hour. ment was lackintr, and one was conficious At the end of the fortieth hour the teams that the uppermost feature was a trade irere .Still bunched. Shortly afterwards t.he demonstration. France has played the Australian pair, £ye «nd Clark, instilled game for all it is worth— not always too gome excitement into the race by jumping correctly, according to Bnmh sportsmen's the field and stealing three-quarters of a ideas— and it i« doubtful whether lap start. For 15 minutes a terrific pace facing with, pureiy speed monsters will was set, the whole field riding their hardest live beyond another year. Italy, a counto prevent the Australian combination* gain- try, which has every reason to continue ing a lap. By the aid o! a grand sprint racing on the present lines, has declared m on the part of "W. Rutfe the breakaway favour of speed contests with cars of ,pair werTeventually caught. No sooner moderate horse-power. Italy a popularity had things settled down again than Wai- -has proved a thorn m the side of France s ♦hour, Stol (Holland), and Pye again made prestige for the last two year 3 . The rcpu- » bil? daeh for a lap, and Bad almost sue- tatkm of Italy as a motor-car producing ceeded in gaining it, when a rider came country was_ made solely by the splendid a oropper, the whole field nearly coming fe"Js made in races of the txordon Bennett down o\er him. The referee refused to king, and there is no question that if Fiate, allow the lap pained, under one of the race ftalas, and other famous machines from conditions, which declares that riders who that country be constructed for epeed alone 4aU do not lose anj mileage. There was a, •in 1907, they will give France and the res£

lof the world something further to think about. — Road Racing. — It has, however, been officially stated that the Automobile Club of Italy will not be -^ represented in the Grand Priw and that the race for the Flono Cup will be run under regulations similar to those for the German Empoi*oi's Cup. The object of that event is the same as our own Tourist Trophy, and the Automobile Club of Great Biitain and Ireland deserves credit for ha\ing been first in the field with a race destined to eiohc the ideal tcur.ng car. Belgium is of Ihe same opinion in holding the Coupe do Liedekerke, and it looks as though other countries will follow suit. In the light of this evidence it is fitting to describe the Tourist Trophy content as the chief road race of th<» present year. It was won by the Hon. C. S. Rolls on a 20 h.p. Rolls-Royce car at a speed of nearly 40 miles an hour, despite the severe condition that only one gallon of petrol was allowed to every 25 miles of the course. The roads were windy and narrow, and tho viciory was due to superb judgment in actual driving and in making the very best uso of the limited quantity of fuel. The Coupe de Liedekerke, to which reference has been made, was won on a 24-28 h.p. Metallurgique, a remarkably fast car, which unfortunately had to be disqualified from taking part in the Tourist Trophy race. Turning to purely speed races, the chin! event was the Vand^erbilt Cup contest, run in. Long Island, New York, on October 6. A hard-fought race between Lancia, on a Fiat, and Wagner, on a Darraca. ended in favour of the latter, Duray, who had on August 13 won the Circuit dcs Ardennes, being third on aDe Dietrich. The winner's average speed was 61 miles an hour. The event was not well organised, and several accidents occurred. In fact the race was stopped after the first five men had finished, as the swarming on to the course of the spectators made it well-nigh impossible to continue. The Ardennes race, as just mentioned, fell to Duray, -who after a rather up-and-down racing career thus gained his first big victory p,t an average specd 1 of 66 miles an hour. The Grand Prix, run on the Sarthe Circuit on June 26 and 27, went to Sisz on a Renault in 12 hr 14min 7sec for 769 miles, an average of 63 miles an hou>\ — Motor-ear Sprints. — There were several Tace meetings at home and abroad. The year opened l auspiciously with the Florida Beach events, in which several new records were made. The flying kilometre time was again subjected to a, beating, Marriott, on a Stanley steamer, attaining the remarkable speed of 121£ miles an hour by covering the distance in 18 2-ssec. He ako covered the flying mile in 28 l-ssec, equal to about 127 miles an hour. Marriott later in the year competed at the Skegness races, but he then had only a small machine, and did nothing remarkable. The fastest flying kilometre for a petrol car is 19sec, a. speed of 117 i miles an hour, which was accomplished by Mr A. Lee Guinness on the 200 h.p. eightoylinder Darracq which he acquired from Hemery, the famous French chauffeur. Apart from being a record for petrol propulsion, it is also a record for any type* of car in Europe. With such a speedy mount, it is not surprising that Mr Guinness captured the British record for the flying kilometre, his time being 2l€oc. The performance was accomplished at the Blackpool Motor Race 3, in which Mr Guinness also secured the world's standing kilomeire record of 32 2-ssec, and Mr Huntley Walker, on a 80 h.p. Darracq, made a new world's standing mile for light racing cais, covering the i distance in 54- 3-ssec. i To revert to the Florida racps- Demogeot there covered two miles in 58 4-ssec, Lancia, dirt five miles in 2min 54 3-siee, 10 miles in 6min 19 3-ssec, and 15 miles in lOmin. Marriott, however, lowered the fi\e-mil? record in his steamer to 2min 47sec. At the same meeting, Clifford Earp, on a. 90 h.p. six-cylinder Napier, won the 100-mile championship in lhr 15min 40 2-ssec. a world's record, and a performance which was greatly enhanced by the fact that he drove more than half the distance with a tyre off. A\hich made the steering extremely difficult and the running of the car a good deal harder. —Reliability Trials.— The most important tests of reliability have been the Herkomer Trophy Tour, the Scottish Reliability Trials, and the Land's End to John o' Groats Autocycle Trial. The firet-mentoned 1 caused much dissatisfaction owing to the system on which "the marks were allotted, and also because of the difficult question of observation. The Scottish Trials were voted a great success, and have now, in fact, quite taken the place of the annual reliability trials which used to (be promoted by the Automobile Club. The end-to-end trial promoted by tho Autocyile Club proved conclusively that the motor-cycle has reached a high grade of j reliability, and that amateurs a& well as | trade rulers are capable of taking their mounts through an arduous tost and emerge with fl\ing colours. Some interesting tiials wove also held in Ireland, and interesting e\ente have al«o been carried through in tho form of the quarterly trials of the Auiocvclo Club. On tho track, C. R. (Jollier made a flying mile record of 58soc, a now two-mile record of 2min 5 4 s£ee. and fresh figures of 3inin t^oc for three miles. On September 13 H. Martin brat the motor-cycle record for 2CO mi!f», his time being shr 4min 12 l-s<=ec— London Sportsman