Cycling AND Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 59

Cycling AND Motor Notes

BY DEMO&. With the coming of spring business in both motors and bicycles is on the improve, and local agents are looking forward to a prosperous season. The rep read hitherto laid to Otago that it is the most backwa/rd of the New Zealand provinces in regard to its use of the motor car fehould be shortly removed, judging bj the reports of prospective sales and those whioh have been clinched. "Demon" hopes the bright prospects for motor an<3 cycle agents for the coming season may be amply fulfilled, 'and that the hum of both motor cars and cycles may be widely heard over our southern highways and byways this year. Mr Harry Whinam. travelling representative for the Continental Rubber Company, paid a visit to Otago ajid Invercargill last week. Mr Whinam left for the north again on Tuesday. Mr C. J. Fox arrives back from the Old Country next month. I understand Mr Fox brings back with him one of the loading Froncli makes of cars — a Renault. Mr H. V. Fulton, secretary jf the Olago Automobile Association, informs me that he has been appi-oaehed thus early by fhe Early Settlers' Association with the suggestion ihat the two bodies should hold another floral fete and motor gymkana on the lines of the carnival held some months back -at Tahuna Park. Mr Fultop will bring the matter before his association, when no doubt an effort will be made to fall in with the wishes of the Early Settlers' Association. Rover 024 continues to throw the miles behind it as steadily as ever. It 6 record of covering 50,000 *niles without a single repair or replacement in gears or drive must take a lot of beating. The gear pinions are as yet showing no signs of wear, and ha\ o had no further attention than regular lubrication. The differential gear of this ear has not been looked at since ie was assembled at the Rover works. Messrs W. E. Saunderson, of Island Cliff, and F. J. Lake, Waikaia, have purcliased F.N. light-weights. — Mr H. LeCr-en, of Morningrton, -4ias purchased from Messrs Cooke, Howlison, and Co. their 9-11 Vauxhall 3-cylinder car. This Vauxhall has done a lot of solid work, and the engine is splendidly designed for accessibility. Mr J. F. M. Fraser has purchased from Messrs Cooke, Howlison, and Co. a 12-14 h.p. Star car, fitted with extra largo tyres, dual ignition, wind shield, and hood. The car is beautifully finished in green. The 7-9 Stuart which went over a 25ft tc 30ft bank ii Melville street stood tlii-<: severe test very well. The spokes of one wheel were smashed to matchwood, but on fitting a temporary wheel to the oar it was started up and driven to the garage, and did its ordinary work the next day. By the Aotea Mr S. R. Stedman landed a latest model 20 h.p. Beeeton Humber to the order of Mr Creagh, of Oamaru. and also a 15 h.p. Coventry Humbei for Mr J. B. Sim, of Crookstb'n. Both

cars are. splendid specimens of the molor carmaker's .craft. Mr Stedma-n also Te* ceived a shipment of Triumph motor" cycles. ■ - -'Mr MacFarlaine, of Culverden, at .the helm of a 12-16 Clement-Talbot, and— Mr Graves, 'of Oamaru, d-riving a 15 h.p. Enfield, were in town laefc week. Mr MacFarlane has returned north, while Mr Graves leaves on the same route this week. = Messrs Wimpenny inform me that the 14- h.p. Vulcan ordered by Mr Graham, of Wendon Valley, is 'on board the Aofcea, and should be in the hands of its owner before the end of the week. The car is coloured red. and is fitted with the latest improvements. " It is interesting to note that while Messrs Aunger and Dutton have taken some seven weeks to traverse the^ route across Australia from Adelaide to Port Darwin* per motor car, Albert M'Don&ld did the same journey on a bicycle in 1898 in a little over 28_ days. — -The" South Australian Government' have purchased a -18-22 motor car to be used for Ministerial purposes. "T 1 — Glorious weather favoured the second 'annual 100 miles Victorian Road) Race,-- held o^or *a triangular course last Saturday week. Tho event, which drew the largo field "of 218 ' starters, closely approached the world's record of 235 starters established in the Dunlop WarrnamboplMelbourne race last year. The course was front Essendon to- -liancefield, .. across to Carl«ruhef .'_.„_'. T>acfc -" t- " Essendon via Woodend. and Keilor.- Tho result was onr . easy win by about 6min for P. Jenkins (36min), who rode a cycle fitted with 6i' cranks and' 84in gear. His that was good! — shr 28min 40&sc. W. T. Jones (33min)" , finished second in shr 26min, with J. HV : M'Craoken (S2min> third, in shr 26mi_ 30sec. J. MTDonalchOmin), of Hutherglen. established fastest time, covering the. 100" miles in shr 12min' 31eec. The first, second, third, and fastest time-winners all" rode Dunlop tyres. About £200 was given in prizes. A protest has been lodged against the winner for alleged pacing at Keilor- ' The League of Victorian "Wheelmen is investigating the matter. The liand's End to John o' Groats record was again attempted by H. Green, the holder of it previous to G. Olley's recenti successful attack on it. Green, however,, was forced to give up after riding about one-third the distance, owing to a heavy head wind. Major Taylor seems to <>3 regaining. his old form, ac in. the first w_«ek of June, he defeated Van den Born twice a+, Brussels, while in Paris, a few days later, he sained a victory over Rutt,,Ellegaard. and Schilling, in the race for the Visitors' Prize. For the first five months of the year| the motor imports of France were of a value; of £142,400, as against £131.640 in the corresponding period last year. 'Th-s figured relating to the exports were even worse for the motor manufacturers in the Republic., these beine £2,147.640 for the first fire .months of 1908. and £2,665,000 for the same period., last ..year. What are known as "siaht-seeing I'cars are in common use in several cities mi Europe, and are largely patronised by tourists and other visitors. Several of these, vehicles will accommodate as many as UJ passengers. A number of leading Australians have formed a syndicate to place motor taxi-cabs, which'' are now largely in use in London t in Australia.' A start will be made in Melbourne. ' The necessary capital has been sub* scribed for the purpose of Renault cabs.: A coumany will be ftooted in Australia tp run the new concern. >• • ' Apropos *the activity of motorpho-* bists. whose ranke happily are gradually diminishing:, an incident reported in al neighbouring State shows how the alleged) evils of motor traffic arc sometimes ■exaggerated (says an Adelaide writer). It appears -that the police we're informed' by al person holding a prominent public positionin Viftnria that his daughter had been injured by a motor-car. Upon investigation the police were unable to substantiate the report, but discovered that a dog had been 1 run over by a motor-car, and Jhat when! the younc: lady in question went to assist f he unfortunate animal it bit her. - And! \v>t t.hh was described as an injury byi motor-car ! The axecssive .peed at which' j motor-cars are freau-ently driven hasf j been a source- of grave complaint? throughout the United Kingdom for some time past. Recently numerous accidents have occurred in various parts of England, and it is pointed out. that the police have great difficulty in exercising effective control OTOr the drivers of motors. The oufe -come of an agitation to put down the reck* loss driving is the formation of a league for _ the purpose of cheeking it, to be called the ' Anti-Motorist League. j The number of accidents, caused in! . London by motor omnibuses"^ is a matter of : some " concern. Mr Gladstone - recently stated, in reply to a question in the House? of Commons, that the number of accidents in the metropolitan police district caused by motor 'buses, was 334 in April and 438 itt May. Five persons were fatally injured by, such accidents in April and 12 in May. The fisriM'es for June were -not yet available.Suoh accidents had been most., frequent in ! Oxford street, whore 67 occurred, in Barking: road with 30. and in the King's road l^ Chelsea, with 33 during the time mentioned. The police did their very best 1 unr'er the existing low to put a stop to dangerous driving, but he was consideringi whether it woiild not be possible, and if so, whether it might not be desirable, tp redurr> th-f speed limit of motor omnibuses fo 10 milAs an hour as a condition of their license. — (Hear, hear,) Tf did not take the Napier long ib re-establish itself after its defeat in the Napier-Fiat match, for it -is pahlerl that a+ the August mpeting on the "Rrooklands racing track (Ene.) tho 90 h.n. Napier carried off thp honour by winning the bigi event by 65 yard'; from a 75 h P Mercedes, carving out tho 30 Tnil"s nt the tremendous rate of 1014 milpe p«r hour. For sustained «pao° hi" performance H easily 6' record for l.h^ distance. The 90 h.p. Napier would probably bf> driven by F. Newton, jind would no donl-t lv the same v>mbinaHon as wa<; rorenflv pitted Against Ntizzaro'rf • Fiat in tbp We £500 ntfl+ch. ''eoi-led a few wpek^ Kack on ti o Br^oklands racing track, w'ipn Newton r»n"i-etl, after gaining over" 200 vavds in the first two Japs, through «' sei^/cd bearing. The cfp.cl T+alian driver, in ihe «"nd<»av«nr to reduce Newton's lead, drove his third lap (2 mik's 134-7 yards) at the a'?lounclin'sr "pee<l of 12] 6 miles per r-onr. Newton* fn«te«t <s>T»ed before herptirwl wa= 111^ mileT'p^r 1--our. Oontinuing on. Nazzaro covered the full doux** v

'{27£ miles) at the rate of 94i miles per Sujut, 'but this performance- Newton has now absolutely put in the shade. The fastest authentic mile yet recorded is 2&i l-feee (127.6 males per hour)- by F. Marribfct, on a Stanley steam oar, established n\ 4 " straijjht-way run on the hard sand atr Florida Beach (U.S.A.) in 1906. The fastest petrol car run is Demegeot's (Dariracq) two miles in 58 4-sseo (122.4 miles [ per hour), also put np on Florida Beach, but for merit neither of these speed" bursts equals the Napier's geat run. To cover 30. miles at 101£ miles an hour means travelling each mile, in 35 2.ssec or the full distance hx about lTmin 40sec, a remarkable feat of sustained driving- that would probably include- many miles at a speed that -would approach very close to Nazzaro's wonderful record. The p^rforrnajioe of tbe M&rtjedes, probably driven by De Resta, in finishing so close up to Newton, was also a. particularly fine one. LONG MOTOR JOURNEY. PORT DARWIN, August 22. Dutton, Aunger, and Allchurch have arrived here , from Adelaide in a motor oar. Both the men and their machine are in excellent condition after their long and 1 liazaxdous journey across Australia. The trip was accomplished -with one set *f Ityres. Messrs Dutton and Aunger left Adelaide *.fc noon on November 25 last year with the pbjeot of going to Port Darwin by motor for. Dmfcton.'fe 20-24 h.p. Talbot was fitted Up thoroughly, and he carried good supplies, necessary stores,, and petrol. For tlifl- letter, tanks with a capacity of 82 gallons were installed. The cao- was fitted yri&i Mienelra non-skidding tyres, and suppHes of petrol were cent ahead. By the fnuldle of December they had reached Alice Springs. During part of the journey % team of donkeys hauled the car over the Sandhills. On December 27. they were at

Tennanfs Creek, but as there had been heavy rains ahead they found that they could get no farther, sothej left their car, returned by packhorses to Oodnadatta, and thence to Adelaide. Repeating their attempt this year to cross the Australian continent, they fitted up another Clement-Talbot car, and drove through to Tennant's Creek, where the car left on their previous attempt was found in. good order, the blacks, however, having stolen most of the tools. Dutton then took the wheel of one car and Aunger drove the other, and, as the cable now states, they have won through on their adventurous drive. A telegram was received from Messrs Dutton and Aunger on Monday, August 10, giving details of some exciting experiences in their journey towards Port Darwin. The message was to the effect that after crossing rough^ country and ant hills, Sturfs Plain was reached on Friday, 7th inst. The grass wa» thick and high, md there were ruts about 2ft deep. The ground was much cracked, and was severe< on the springs and wheels. Afterwards 14 miles of thick forest was penetrated, the leading cat making its way through small trees and bushes, which fell like hay before a scythe. It became necessary to rope the bod-? of the old car to the frame. The day's run was 42 miles. On Saturday they ran through thick timber to Daly Waters. The natives had Bet fire to the forest, and the country was in flames for miles. The long grass caused the fire to spread rapidly, and the only chance of the motorists was to make a dash through three miles of burning country with the flames leaping feet high on both sides of the cax. The last, 10 miles into Daly Waters constituted the fastest run of the whole trip. Messrs Dutton and Aunger arrived at 5 o'clock after an exciting run. They were almost choked with smoke, and the car was covered with burnt 1 leaves. GRAND PRIX RACES. The accounts of the Grand Prix of France and the Grand Prix foi Voiturettes are i contained in recent EnKlioh files to hand. i

In the Yoiturette Race six laps (47£ miles each) of the circuit were covered, totalling 286 1-5 miles. Guyot's Delage, theoretically 1 of 18.31 h.p., and Naudin's Sizaire-Naudin, 18.77 h.p., had a great duel. The Delarge led the first lap (56min 58sec), the Sizaire (59min 4-sec) being second, and another Sizaire (59min 30sec) third. Naudin kd in the second and third laps, but then Guyot got in front again, and eventually won in shr 45min 30 4-ssec, averaging 49.8 m.p.h. Naudin'^ Sizaire .was second, time shr 52min 6 3-ssec. average 48.9 m.p.h. ; while two Liion-Peugeots, drivers respectively by Goux and Boillot, were ihird and fourth. In the big- event 49 cars started, D. Resta's Austin leading off. Lautenschlager's Mercedes, the winner, started No. 35, Ihr 34m in after the leader. The distance was 478 miles (10 laps). At the end of the first lap Salzer's Mercedes led in 36min 31sec, Ba.blot's Brasier <36min 40sec) being second and Thery's Brasier third. Sisz (Renault) the first winner of the racs, ran fourth, Wagner'? Fiat and Bare's Fiat being the next in order. The next lap saw Nazza.ro, last year's winner, leading in 3hr 15min 55sec, Lautenschlager (Ihr 16min 55sec) second and Thery still third. Wagner had crept up to fourth, while two De Dietrichs, piloted by | Duray and Minora, had made their appearance among the leaders. The third lap saw Wagner (Ihr 56min 25sec) leading Hemerv'a Benz (Ihr 58min 23eee), Lautenschlaprer being third, Nazzaro fourth, Hanriot'* Benz fifth, and Therv sixth. The fourth lap Hemery led Lautenschlager in 2hr-30min 58seo by 2min 2Psec, while Thery, Hautvasfc (Bayou), Cissac (Panhard), and Bablot (Brasier) were next in order. Lautenschlager led at the fifth lap, followed by Hemery and Hanriot, both in Benz cars, and they finished in this order. Lautenschlatger's time was 6hr 55min 43 4-sseo, his average speed being 68.9 m.p.h.. Hemery covering the course in 7.4-.24, average 67.4 m.p.h., and Hanriot in 7.5.13, his average equalling Hemery's. I In the ninth lap, when running fifth. Cissac and hie mechanician, Slchaube, met with a. bad smash, and were both mortally iniured. Two of the Austin (England) representatives, Moore Brabazon and Resta, finished i i seventeenth and eighteenth respectively, I I their speed average being over 54 miles per i hour. The winning Mercedes had a 155 mil- ; i limetre bore and 175 millimetres stroke, dei veloping about 125 h.p. i Hemery met with a severe accident before 1 halfway through the race, and it is really | remarkable how he managed to complete the iourney. In the fourth lap a atone cast up by a wheel struck his goggles, smashing the glass, a fragment of which injured his eye, and he lost the sight of it, temporarily it is to be hoped, but he continued to drive at a speed of 69 miles an hour. The mishap seemed to tell on him in the last couple of circuits, as Lautensohlager drew away and. established a good lead. Another feature of the race was the comparative failure ot the detachable rims, or, at least, some of them, and more than one competitor had to withdraw from this cause. The type- or types of rims are not, stated, but it is possible that their failure may have been due to faulty fitting in the heat and hurry of the contest, as there were ma.iy tyie changes effected during the currency of the