BY DEMON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 75

BY DEMON.

At the Magistrate's Court on Thursday the greater part of the day was occupied in hearing a claim by Cooke, Howlison, and Co., motor importers, against Dr Bertrand E. de Lautour for £74 6s 2d, balance due on a motor car, accessories, and repairs thereto. Mr H. Y. Widdowson, S.M., presided, and plaintiffs were represented by Mr W. Allan and Mr A. S. Adame conducted the defence. A counter claim for £200, alleging that the car had not proved all it was represented to be, was put in for defendant. Messrs E. Howlieon and Fred Cooke and Dr Fulton gave evidence for the plaintiffs, when the hearing of < the case was adjourned tb Thursday of this j week. ' At the City Police Court last Wednesday Arthur Edward Parr, Sir James Mills's chauffeur, was charged with driving a motor car along George street at more that & reasonable epeed. After hearing evidence hie Worship said he was satisfied from the evidence that on the occasion named in the information the car had been driven at an unsafe speed. The public were entitled to be protected from the tendency that there was to drive such vehicles too fast in the public streets, but am the case before him was the first of its kind the highest penalty would noi 'be inflicted. Sue Kauld fee. fined, 20», and. 15» posts*

The National Mortgage and Agency Company, Invercargill, are evidently doing a big business in De Dione, they having sold during the past two months 8 horsepower De Dions to Messrs Brent, Timpany, Russell, Cochrane, Scott, ' Cummings, and Gibson. The company expect to land by the Tongariro, to arrive shortly, the latest 12 h.p. 4-cylinder De Dion, 1908 model. There are now in Southland some 40 De Dions> Mr W. M'Culloch, Stuart etreet, has' an advertisement in this issue airing particulars of fche-various cycles* and motors for which he is the local agent. So successful has been the introduction of motor cars into the postal business of Adelaide that it is intended to introduc* cars for postal work into all the important Australian centres. The advantages to be derived from a two-6peed hub are obvious, when it cornea to pushing up hill against a head wind. I For speed and comfort it is certainly to ba f preferred to the single cog, and is as much j an improvement on the ordinary free-wheel as is the latter on the fixed wheel. The I writer's bicycle is fitted with a two-speed hub, and when the lower gear is put in when Tiding against a stiff wind the work of pedalling is very much lessened. The extra weight of the hub is practically nil. The opinion expressed by experts is that tho recently-formed racine track id the stadium at the Shepherd's Bueh (Lon« ( don) ground will be the fastest in th< world. I - — Thus Chief Justice Madden, of Vie , t-oria. in summincr up in favour of a motor< ist charged with reckless driving: — "A great many people, instigated chiefly bj comio papers, suggested that motor can were dangerous vehicles, and that th< drivers were persons who had no thought for others. As a matter of fact, a motoi • car was one of the easiest of vehicles ttf I manage — far easier than a yeTiicle drawn Iby a horse. It was not likely to causff i trouble at a critical time like a horse, and it could be very quickly stopped. It was, I far more under control than was a hors< travelling at £He same pace — in fact, a carf going at 25 miles an hour is eafer thait a horsed vehicle at 10 miles an hour." The conditions which, lead to impel** feet combustion of the fuel, as laid down b* Mr Dugald Clerk, a well-known EnglieH gas engine expert, are:— Too rich a mix* rare (insufficient oxygen), too weak a mixture (too^ much oxygen), irregular mixture (badly mixed), coM engine and carburetter* late ignition, igniting- the pas in the bod£ of the cylinder instead of in a port. The j last one, in particular, is highly interesting, lea experiments have shown that engines w

which the gas is ignited in a recess, such as a valve box, are more flexible, as a pocket of rich mixture is retained to the last, and if fired sufficiently early produces I practically complete combustion in the weaker mixture in the cylinder. " - — Foreign tyres are, naturally, more popular in the countries of their origin than British makes; but in neutral zones ! £he question is more open. From the ' Amsterdam Exhibition comes the information that Dunlops are in the ascendant. In England last year's record of Dunlops being more numerous than all other makes (British or foreign) combined ia being repeated, both the JJublin and the Edinburgh ahows revealing Dunlops first. One of the humorists . among our party (saye a Home writer), during The recent frost, told m« that the best way of preventing the water in the tank of an acetylene lamp from freezing was to put tome whisky into it. I a wallowed the bait, fend, strange to say, as I thought would be the case, it proved effeotive. During a ride home of a dosen miles or so the whisky prevented the water from freezing, and I ! am sure it did not interfere with the light, whioh was as brilliant as has ever been the case since that lamp has been in use. Thus what was meant for a hoax proved a godsend. Oil lamps also give trouble in frosty weather if some paraffin, is not put into the oil tank. The steel bottles of compressed air ways a. Melbourne writer) have proved a boon to motorists for inflating their tyrea, but there are some drivers who do not care to handle them because of the- possibility of their bursting-, either through being dropped, or from a shook in some way. To settle the matter, two of the "shells" were nlkd with air at\a pressure of 22001b 1 to th© square inch, and were dropped from a height of 50ft on to a steel plate, whioh they struck at a speed equalling 4U miles an hour. The first bounced jjrlolentry, but did not burst, and immersion Sn water revealed a small leak where it struck. The second struck the .plate sidei.'ways, damaging the connecting tube, and ,was empty within a. quarter of an hour after. •From these tests it would seem that there is no danger of their exploding even from oaneless handling. It is announced that Major Taylor has signed a contract to ride at Boston, on an indoor track, in a match either with Iver Lawaon or F. Kramer. The race will probably take place before Taylor goes to Europe. There are 30 different patterns of variable gears marketed in England, with a promise of half a dozen more when the leaeon opens. Several of the early patterns have dropped out of the running. Early this year there was some difference as to the status of an amateur rider between the English and French governing bodies, when the latter organisation threatened to prohibit French amateurs from competing in the Olympic games. An understanding has now been arrived at. — Over 18.000 motor cars have been registered by the London County Council Up to the end of last year, which number dfeeß not include motor cycles, the figures relating to these machines being 8000. An indication of the progress of mtomobilism is that the Prussian Minister of Education has included a sum equivalent to £1800 for the establishment of a State jurtomobile testing laboratory in connection with Teohnische Hockschule, in Berlin. On hw return to Europe, after his rictory in the New York 6ix days' race, Walter Rutt further distinguished himself by winning a 50 kiloms tandem-paced contest from three other competitors at the VelodJrom d'Hiver, Paris. The race reloived itself into a tussle between one Seigneur, who is also a specialist in pace following, and at the bell the men were level; hut Rdtt won by 20yds in the final ikaeh. He came in for a fine reception. It It stated that the way the spectators watched the pace throughout and urged on the respective tandem teams afforded proof that human pacing is as attractive as tver to the spectators. The annual 25 miles road championlhip of the Victorian Motor Oyele Grub ittraoted 32 competitors, who used machines ranging from 2 h.p. to 5 h.p. The result

Mr A. J. Scarcebrook (3J h.p. Peugeot) .. 1 ' HrW. J. Dwyer (5 h.p. Peugeot) a Mr J. M. M'Kenzie (3| h.p. Peugeot) .. T r 3 Mr W. Cuddon (2J h.p. P«ug«ot) 4 Later news by the mail discloses the fact that an error was made in the five miles motor eyole attempt by J. Doherty, at the amateur pieeting in Sydney. The time sub- ( tmitted in this column was smin 36 ' 2-seeo, but this was with one lap short, hence the record is still held by H. Deards, J of Adelaide, in smin 52 2-ssec. I — — Some months . ago, it may be remembered, Lieut. Paul Grttetz, a German officer, commenced a motor drive across South Africa, -the route being, roughly, from Dares-Salaam, German West Africa, to Swakopound, German East Africa. Not very long after his start he had serious trouble with his engine, the cylinders having cracked, then he was compelled to send back for replacements, which cost him a deal of time. News has been received to the effect that he has reached Bismarck- ! burg, at the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, and that he is making very slow | ' progress may be gauged from the fact that| the distance to the spot named is only 1100 miles from hie starting point. According to the motor papers, it is held that probab-Iy more accidents have re- | suited through faulty steering gear than from any other one defect in the mechanism of a motor car. The average chauffeur lubricates his engine, adjusts the wheels amd brakes', and even polishes the brasses, but the steering-gears over and over again are overlooked, which have led to more or less serious accidents. Any part of the mechanism that does not require constant attention is nearly always neglected, and therefore it falls to the makers that the steering fear should be made as simple and reliable and strong I—not1 — not to say massive-^as- possible, and 00 allow for the proclivities oil the man in charge. MELBOURNE SIX HOURS' RACE. In this contest, run on March 4, two riders rode as a team, only one, however, appearing- on the track at a time. The race resulted as follows: — P. Hehir and S. E. Gordon, 1; A. J. Davies and P. Quinlan, 2; G. Horder and T. Gaacoyne, 3; F. MacFarland and A. J. Clark, 4; F. Millard and W. Tolley, 5; G. Cuniolo and F. Murphy, 6." Pye and Nesbitt, Burton, and Lealow, and Plunket and Finlay also [ finished. Distance oovered, 136 A miles. Gascoyne fell and fractured' a collarbone at about 7.20 p.m., when Horder, his partner, took up the running to the finish — 9 p.m. Contrary to expectation, MacFarland relieved his team-mate, Clark, for the last quarter hour, it being considered that the latter would have been the best man for the finishing sprint. Although unexpected, Hehir's win was very popular, and he was carried shoulder high round the track by his friends. Horder was similarly honoured, in recognition of a sterling ride and under a disadvantage compared with the other contestants, for when Gascoyne, his partner, fell and fraotured his collarbone, Horder had to take up ihe> runing to the finish — some 35 miles. This is the second time that Gascoyne has broken a collarbone this season, the first occasion being at the Austral meeting, when he slipped and fell on the grass track. After the racing a subscription was started for the benefit of Gaeooyne, when a tidy sunn was promised, with the probability of its being augmented later. A CYCLING RECORD. MELBOURNE, March 16. Pearson, a cyclist, rode from Sydney Post Office to here (604 miles) in 57 hours 32 minutes, which is a record. Peareon has been hankering to lower the existing record for a long time, and it will now be seen that his perseverance has been rewarded. The previous Sydney to Mcl- , bourne record stood at 90hr, by J. Ashdown, April, 1802. AN AMERICAN SPEED VESSEL. Mr Lewis Nixon, one of America's prominent shipbuilders, claims to have comi plated a vessel capable of doiug over 60 l^knoU aa houar.

■ Mr Nixon, when interviewed about his wonderful craft, said : "I have been working for several years on a light torpedo, not over 2001b in weight, and capable of carrying 401b of explosive. Having brought her beyond the experimental stage, I was struck with the results obtained by a Mr Cooper Hewitt with a hydroplane vessel. ! I immediately went into tne question of accommodating a hydroplane and a light tor- | pedo. I decided to build a vessel of the I former class, and now I have it. She will 1 do over 60 knot 3 easily, and all the Governments in the world will want to have similar vessels for destructive purposes and for extraordinarily rapid communication in times of naval warfare." Mr Nixon, who was trained at Greenwich, is the designer of the battleship Oregon, and he has also built Russia's new petrol-driven flotilla. AERONAUTICS. Recently Mr A. V. Roe, one of Britain's ! most successful aeronauts, made several trials with his aeroplane on the Brooklande 1 motor track. The machine, which was I pitted! with a 6 h.p. Jap motor, was unable to rise as it ran along the track at 20 miles an hour. On being towed, however (with Mr Roe on board), by a motor ear, it was found to fly at 30 miles an hour. The aeroplane has a perfect balance. It does not rise like a kite, but horizontally, all four wheels leaving the ground together. It is expected that the machine will fly with ease as soon as it is fitted, with a more powerful motor. Mr Henry Farman, the Anglo-Frenchman who succeeded in flying in his aeroplane one kilometre in a circular course, was recently interviewed in London. He said that his desire was not so much to win the money as to demonstrate the practicability of the "heavier than air" machine. "It is impossible," he said, "for me to undertake to fly in any aeroplane at any given hour on any day. So much depends on the conditions of the moment. It took three months of frequent experiment in Paris before I was able to demonstrate to the committee that I was able to follow the prescribed course, although I had previously accomplished the journey when none of the gentlemen who under the agreement were to witness the attempt were present. "Regarding the future, in two, or at the most three, years it will be possible to travel from one definite point to another from 20 to 50 miles distant. That will be even against the wind. What we are doing now is the most difficult part, for near the ground there are stranae air-currents and fluctuations in the wind which you do not find higher vp."