BY DEMON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 59

BY DEMON.

Mr Fred Oooke, of Messrs Ccoke, Howlison, ha-j a story of adventure to tell in regard to a recenr. trip he made in his 15 h.p. Stuart to Hakataramea. Mr Cooke happened to be ;n; n North Otago at the time of "the breaking of the drought." and as in the particular locality in which he found himself lOin of rain fell in two days one can perhape imagine what tlu unformed roads found here were like. The Stuart became bogged ' on several occasions, but scrub and tussocks planted under the wheels enabled the car to safely reach its debtinatien. On one part of the journey traversed — round the edge of a etiff cliff — the driver had to descend from his oar on several occasions and .push the falling rocks off the path over the high embankment. The crowning piece of bad luck experienced by Mr Oooke was on this particular erf road, a heavy slip of earth and tSlungle coming down after he had passed and completely blocking the path. The Stuart, as a consequence, had to be left behind at Hakataramea, and the driver himself, so he informs me, had all hi 3 work cut out to negotiate the clip on the return journey, in one part a narrow plank being all that was between him and the deeps below. Mr Cooke goes north on Friday to bring back the Stuart, and on this occasion takes hie tru6ty henchman, Geoff Clark, with him, to lend him moral and material support. Tho New Zealand cycling championships are to be run this year at Kaiapoi, the meeting taking place on Easter Monday, ' April 20. The championships to 'be decided are the Half-mile, One-mile, Threemile, and Five-mile. Besides t>ese races a number of handicap cycle events will be got off, and there are also several novelty cycle events to be decided. Mr Diokison has iuet returned from a fortnight's trio in Canterbury and Christ-

church in his 10-12 Humber car. Mr Dickison reports a most enjoyable trip, and punctures were an unknown quantity — over 800 milee being covered without a single mishap to the tyres. Mr Frank Sheared was at the steering wheel. A pa^ty of St. Clair gentlemen had a good outing in the 16 h.p. Bifick last Sunday. Leaving St. Clair at 6.15 a.m., they got over Look-out Point in time to see the mushroom-gatherers at work in the Burnside fields. From the top of Saddle Hill the Taieri Plain had the appearance of a big lake or a very heavy flood. Thd tops of the trees andi houses were visible, but a. heavy mist was lying close to the ground. A good run brought* the party to Baiclutha at 8;50, and Puerua (13 miles farther on) at 9.15. ■Here the party were the guests of Mr and Mrs Paterson, which means that they had a real good. time. : In the morning a short spin was taken t«i Romahapa, and in the afternoon Mr Paterson drove the party to a pretty fall in the Puerua Creek. The return journey was started at 4.30, and a email party gathered to watch the ascent of the Kakapuaka' hill. The grade of 1 in 5, with five up, ' was easily aßcended, and " 'Ome, sweet 'ome" (St. Clair) was reached at 7.30, Look-out Point being taken on the top gear with five up. During the trip a set of side-curtains was lost. Messrs Cooke, Howlison, and Co. would be glad of any information which will lead to their recovery. Messrs James and Proctor, or th« Dunlop Tyre Company, came through from Christchurch on Monday in their 10-12 Stuart, and went back on Tuesday mornI — -Henry Farman, who, as I recorded ' a couple of weeks back, has just won the I £2000 prize for flying a kilometre in an heavier-than-air aeroplane, gained nia laurels as a motor-racing driver, and also proved successful in a number of important bicycle races. Farman retired from motor racing in 1906, after one of the most marvellous escapes from death on record, lit was in the French eliminating trials for the Gordon-Bennett Race, and having shed a tyre the car swerved and went intc a ravine, but fortunately cast Farman into thp branches of a tree. It was said ac tho time that no trace of the car could be" found 1 , and it is related of Farman that he did not even trouble to look over the precipice to see what had become of the machine. An interesting and instructive experiment was recently conducted by the Continental Tyre -Company (Melbourne) in testing the air-pressure io, the tyres of all cars that happened to be or call at the office, with th«

aretrilt that only five out of 100 cars had their tyres fully inflated. Nearly 60 per bent, of the .tyree were under-inflated by EOlb to 301b to the square inch. The above, it may be mentioned, referred to various makes of tyres. It should be one of the chief duties of the chauffeur to see that the tyres have a degree of hardneee sufficient, for the load to be borne. — — At the Cyclists' (Amateur) Union meeting, held in Sydney last month, some very fast times were registered by G. J. ■Doherty, a motor cyclist, hi* machine being; driven by a 6 h.p. Buchet engine. From a flying start, the mile was covered in lmin B 4-sseo, three miles in 3min 31 l-sseo, and five m^les in smm 35 2-sseo — a ehade over lmin 7eec per mile. These times are records in New South Wales, whilst that for five miles establishes new figures for Auetr&laaia. The previous best was smin 52 4-seee, by H. Dearde, of Adelaide, who also" tied with C. Baulderatone in the mile Australasian record in lmin sseo. An analysis of Dohertj's times chow» that his last two miles occupied 2min 4 l-ssee, which is much under record. It represents a speed- of 58 miles an hour. — — The entriea to date for this year's Grand Prix motor race are three Germaine, to be driven by Degrais, ' Rooh•Braalt fib, and Perpere; three Benz, with the old Darracq drivers, Hemery and Hansriot, together with Erie, as steersmen-, and three Fiate, to be taken in hand by the usual trio, Naszaro, Lanoia, and Wagner. The English, team will probably consist of three Weigele, three Austins, two Ariels, and three Napiers. « As an economissr of time, th« automobile ,haa proved its great value frequently,' and one of the most recent converte to its use ie the Biehop of London. After an extended trial he has decided henceforward to rely upon the motor only for his visiting, as he has been able to c*rrjr out many more engagements than were formerly poefiiWe. The type of car used by His lordship is a double landaulefcte, convertible to either a completely open or closed carriage. When closed, a« in night driving-, the interior of the car-— a 14-20 h.p. Renault — is electrically illuminated. * Some motorists cling tenaciously to the belief that ih« motor engine rune better by night than by day, and, no doubt, they have very reasonable ground for so IjyltfTipg V°W *O,d again this conviction £* fudeiy shattered^ when they have, by 'A« an ilhutrattpn. U^eaperieiwe dT a oorrespio&det)t v Helpful In foiving ih» %&ftipn («ay» a writer in tibf Australasian). H« had <joca*fcm fc> run out to c certain iflaoe one afternoon, fttta feared there anil! after nightfall, On the war homo the fengln^ eeen&d < cV run better than uittal. *nd the 6ar to glida swiftly ofor the roadway, mtKt to Wb eaiitfooMoft, but <% consulting hb watoh on arrtral at homf it was found that he had taUa nearly lOmin longer to do the pteofce mstanpe thai was Covered in the afternoon, <*% ixh now convinced," he writes, ''ttiat imagination p\sfn & very important part

when judging of the running of an engine at night. — — The sum of £200 has been offered by a big French tyre firm for special prizes in connection with the great French road race, the Tour de France, on condition that the prizes can only be won by ridere using detachable tyres. The sum mentioned is offered as an inducement to get the road craoks to discard light single-tube tyres and adopt in their plaoe the detachable tyre, the only suitable tyro of tyre for long distance load work. The promotora of the biggest road event in the world, the Dunlop Road Race from Warrnambool to Melbourne, long ago prohibited the use of single tube tyres with satisfactory result*, for a far bigger percentage of competitors finished the course, and there is not nearly the same amount of tyre troubles as when single-tube tyres were permitted. Barring single tubes by the Dunlop people, a practice now followed in most of the big Australian road races, had another farreaching effect, for it placed the unknown country rider on an equal footing with "trade favourites " who oould command special light racing machines. A striking proof of the utility of the motor oar for commercial purposes, I and especially few newspaper distribution, is given in a recent issue of the Daily Telegraph (England). The proprietors of that journal have for some five years been running a motor oar daily, starting about 2.30 a.m. with supplies of their paper, which by these means has been placed on the breakfast tables of readers in more than a hundred towns end villages in Norfolk. At the start there were a few troubles, due partly to inexperience, but these were soon overcome. From January 3 to November 30 of last year the car had travelled more than 25,000 miles. •' — — Speaking of the Melbourne-Sydney record drive by Messrs Kellow and James, "who ir«versecl tke ctlstajxco in 25Kz- 4-Gmin, an experienced Sydney motorist says: — "It was quite the beet thing done in this part of the world on motors, and it will be a long time before it is eclipsed, unless somebody rigs up a car that will travel at 40 ; miles an hour over these rough roads, and j carry a bed, 6O that the reserve driver can obtain a proper rest. The drive was a much greater performance for the men than the car. When you understand that this furious run was made through daylight and dark, over 600 miles of what, I am sure, ie the worst track in the world with any Pretension to be called a main road linking: two capital*, without a single stop for engine or tyre troubles, and that nothing Urfter than a Small .pocket spanner was u*ed throughout the trip, you get a glimmering ox an idea of the wonderful perfection to which <Jare &nd tyres hay« boon brought. , , , The *oad 11 not golAg to leave, and anyone aissatleflea with ifyft KeHow and Jamejt record m at liberty t6 try to better {L Th?r« are no fVMr driver* on this Side of thf hne than" Kullow. and with his I will, t?r|t, and absolute ipdinerenc| to i danger ihis daring Australian would do something sensational against the great drivers, of the old wet Id. and make Aus-

tralia rattle like a dog's chain." Kellow is an Austral Cycle Race winner. ROUND-THE-WORLD MOTOR CAR RACE. Mr Henry Sturmey, the well-known English authority on motoring, says that the projected round ihe world motor race is a sheer impossibility. Mr Sturmoy has been pretty close to the Arctic circle, and has spent some days amidst the polar ice-pack, and declares that the idea of taking a motor oar upon it, even for 100 yds, is the very last thing that would enter his head, and motorists can take it that t"his part of the journey, whatever may be the case with the rest of it, is impossible. Other interesting points which Mr Sturn.ey raises are these : To cross the Behring Straits on the ice the Straits must be frozen. Salt water does not freeze until the temperature i 6 somewhere about lOdeg below aero, and for the vast mass of water in constant motion 'which fills the Straits to be frozen in auoh solid masses as to give continuous passage to motor cars the temperature must be considerably below this. In an Arctic winter it is frequently 40deg, 60deg, and even 80deg below zero, and it ie only under such conditions that the Straits become iceblocked. And then what is going to happen to the radiators o r the oars, for there are many water-cooled cars entered? Antifreezing mixtures, of course, can be, and are, made for motor cars, but it is calculated that none is known that would withstand the temperatures which will be met. If air-cooled oars only were used it is unlikely that they would be more successful, as, says Mr Sburmey, long before such temperatures as have been mentioned were reached the petrol would be frozen in a solid mass. And in conclusion he states that the whole venture appears to be a. foolhardy, wild-cat scheme, which cannot be taken seriously, as the task set the participants is ona whioh is physically impossible of accomplishment. THE MOTOR VEHICLE OF COMMERCE. It has been said that the railroad put a stop to stage-coaoh inhumanities, and that the cable aud electric streets' cars checked the inhumanities of city traffic; and now the automobile has caused a revolution in pleasure-travelling, and is aleo effecting a' revolution in despatch business — in fact, a humanitarian revolution. In England and America the farmer is asking himself why he should keep two or three teams, and slowly drag his produce *« market, when one motor waggon will do the work more cheaply and more quickly, effecting great saving in time that can be put to profitable use The farmers' automobile — the light but strong vehicle especially adapted to rural use — must be a waggon first and always, if it ia to meet with complete approbation in the country districts. This much has been definitely proved. The special .delivery motor waggon for city and suburban use, for mail carriage and similar purposes, is another type of commercial motor, and one between the farm waggon and the automobile of pleasure. The vaat possibilities of the motor car of commerce are just beginning to be understood, and it has been found to be as adaptable to the requirements of sparsely-settled districts as to the exigencies of the traffic of the busy city.