Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 59

Cycling and Motor Notes

) wxing Chrietmaa week proml&e to be a big I success, a l&r?e number qf care of all eiz«s I 9f hors«-pow«r having entered for tne cog- ] U#fc Jb§ hrgest car gfitercd fcr. the .COjii-

petition is Mrs Arini Donnelly's 60 h.p. I six-cylinder Napier. Several of 'the competing cars made a trial run over the route ! at the end of last week, returning norfh" to Christchurch on Monday.' The cycling race to have been run off at the Caledonian Ground last Wednesday i night was postponed to this evening (Wednesday) on account of the wet weathor. Messrs H. H. Dutton and H. M. Aunger, who are at present making an attempt to traverse Australia from Adelaideto Port Darwin, were at latest advices stuck up, after traversing some hundreds of miles, and waiting for a train to take them to their next petrol supply station, a* the result of a peculiar accident. Owing to the intense heat— llo in the shade— the spare tin* of petrol burst, and there waa not a sufficiency of spirit to take the car over the 167 miles to tho next replenishing station. As will be seen from our advertising columns, the cole agency for Otago for the well-known Massey-Harris bicycle has been secured by Mr Fred. Kennard, of 133 George street. The Massey-Harris is known here as a thoroughly up-to-date machine, and the new 1908 model is an especially ! fine piece of> workmanship. Intending purchasers are invited to call at Mb Kennard's and inspect the latest model MaeseyHarris. Dr B. de Lautour fully recognises' tEe usefulness of the motor car as an aid in getting through his professional duties, and has placed an order for another car — a 10-12 Humber, with detachable tonneau. | The doctor takes delivery of his new! n.achine almost immediately. ——Mr Oreaghes 10-12 Humber, whfctf arrived last week in Dunedin from - Eng< ' land, was driven through to her owner at ■ Oamaru on arrival, and made c non-stop run on her initial trial m New Zealand. ■ I hear that Mr Cfeaghe la already mak- i ing inquiries as to & larger-powered car.' This is always the waf»- till *>»ie where Bear . i the limit in power "is reached. f •——In a road raoe run afc Broken Hill i at the end of last month, all the com* i petltofa except two were disqualified for ] having taken the wrong course". The two < who traversed the correct route Were placed i first find second. > m t —— The winijjngs of Jhe principal riders i at Salt Lake. City last ieisfta *£ie±— & . i

L. Kramer, £300; Victorian champion A« J. Clarke, £200; Ivor Lawaon, £165. An* other Australian rider in Pye won £60. Kramer, Clarke, Lawson, Pye, and MacFarland received good appearance fees ia addition to their winnings. One oJL,the quaintest of novelties to attract a crowd to a cycle meeting wa* adopted by the Melbourne Bicycle Club for its Austral meeting. It consisted oS the flight of 5000 pigeons from the Melbourne Cricket Ground. "» Work in connection with the sauoer track in Melbourne is being rapidly pushed on with. Qf the 6000 odd seats around the track, a thousand are to be well upholstered! , and reserved, and a box plan arranged for i m the city. If the Victorian workmen are as energetic as tuose in the States, Manager, j MacFarland expects to run his first night meeting early next month. The probability , is, however, that the track will not be finished until about the third week in January. An American cycling paper states: — "From Melbourne comes the report that owinfe to the prohibitive duty on complete bicycles, fixed fay the new tariff, the Canada! Cycle and Motor Co., of Toronto, is preparing to establish a factory in Australia. The Canadian company has long maintained! branch depots there." The reeouroeful man who can supply* a device for attaching the inflator to thf valve without the flexible connection will confer a boon on cyclists. There is ucuallr^ or, at least, frequently, a great leu of aift at the unions, due to its being too •harplyf bent by an awkward style of pumpinra Several devices eliminating the rubber con 4 neotion have been marketed and triad, bw none are perfect; yet the production of «ucb a device should not be- beyond th* cap&f bilitias of inventive minds. \ In a hill-crimbing- contest in Frano©,where all the representative Continent*^ car* meet periodically, the British makec* this year entered cars, and were pitted, against the beet in the world. The fracW is known as the Gaillon Hill, and ia fairta steep. The contest was won outright- b» a British car— a 90 h.p. Dunlop-tyredß Napier, which whisked up the hjll (pvejj a distance of one kilometre') in 36 3-wee! equalling a speed of 84- miles an hour. Noa only was a new record established, but na other car came within 13 miles an houi of the Napier's speed. — — In conversation recently with * Vie* 1 torian who had then just returned from tf trip to the Old Country, he confirmed the report in the cyoling papers that the whe*l is again most popular in the kingdom (|&ya a writer in the Australasian). Of the «port 4 ing side — racing — he saw nothing, bus oft touring he says its popularity was inoifi marked. Of course, the number* that v* the wheel for convenience — for bu«io«M an< general utility— are really enormous j i man with a bicycle attracts no more oom* menfc anywhere -than does the man with an umbrella. These statements are full) borne out by tho annual reports of th< various manufacturers. The old firm o Humber and Co. shows a profit of £154,000, [ and the business in both cycles and motpflj | is increasing 6o rapidly that the capita! i has had to be augmented by £100,000, oi a total of £600.000. The Premier Co.'i profit was £34.000, and that of the Row Co. £30,000, while many other firms ihon substantial increases this year over tn« profits obtained in the previous term, fQM<i most among which is tho Triumnh Co.; where upwards of £17,000 is available fo« distribution. • A great factor in the effectiveness oh a motor engine is the thoroughness 6t th« lubricating system, and no trouble should be counted too much to see if it is working properly. - The factory test with th 3 mechanical, lubricator may have been satitM factory, but the apparatus supplied wittl the car may never have been tested more? than very cursorily. There is nothing xnoW convincing than disconnecting the oil-pipe* from their discharge points, and observing if the lubricant is feeding properly when the engine i» running. » — — At the Austral Wheel Race meeting^ which commenced on Saturday, Decambii 7. A. J. Clarke, MacFarland. and E. A. Pye figured on the scratch mark in the bio race, conceding starts ranging up to 350jdi in the two miles. ' Amateur rlcfere in France are allowed to receive tyres and machines from the trade, and their railway fares and expenses; training and otherwise, from the sanfc source; in fact, the difference between tn< two classes of riders seem« absolutely nia existent, with the exception that thi amateur is supposed to take his prizes in kind. It really means that anyone can, if he is thought good enough for advertising purposes, race and live entirely at the «x r pense of other*. This is all very well at long am the French amateurs stay at horn* but is it fair that when they visit England our men should be allowed to race againat them? (cays a Home paper). We pridj ourselves on the strictness of our amateifli definition, and yet we are affiliated to at body which sets every one oi our rule* oji? the subject at definace. — *— A new enterprise is announced mi ' the form of motor-cat auctions at the*' famous Brooklands track. Where intending purchasers may not merely enjoy the si^Tit of care being run Up ana down after tka style of horse* being trotted to show their iction, but may actually t*ke trial trin« |t full speed around the ooursd during the morning hours just prior to the sale*

;r— Paris iia« its lady cab-drivers, and . now it v tnggested a new profession is j 6pen to the woman breadwinner, and that j «ra long profession*! chaffeuee may become d tamiliar figure in the* West Ehd.of LLo r 80'n. Cycle rld«rs would do well to exafipine their tyres frequently and plug ipvery surfAoe cut with some good tyreiptoppjng; they may thus save considerable - trouble. — «^Some of the English trade journals . gra talking about a standard £4 bicycle for £

next season. Does this include an insurance against accidents policy? pertinently asks a writer in an English paper. — — It is a significant fact showing the estimation in which the forthcoming motor ; car exhibition at Olympia is held by the ' Continental manufacturers that the Itala oar. on which Prince Borghese won the Pekjn-Pads race; the Spyker oar, driven by Mr Gtodard: and one of the De DionBoulton ears, aU of which successfully completed this unparalleled journey, will be |

shown on the stands of their British representatives. '< ' ! j j i ' ' ' I j j