Cycling and Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2882, 16 June 1909, Page 59

Cycling and Motor Notes

Inspector Gillies-, of Christchurch, states that the principal difficulty met with by the police authorities in regard to the regulation of motor traffic is the utter ; absence of speed limit in either the cities or the country districts. ' The point is : dealt with by the Motor Regulation Act' ; of 1907. Its provisions are' of a very , general character. Phey do" not place specific restrictions on motors, ~and they leave a very wid© margin for difference of opinion in regard to their meaning. " Every person," the regulations say, "commits an offence who drives a motor on a public highway recklessly or negligently, or at a spead or in. a manner which ie dangerous to the .public, having Tegard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition, and u&e of the highway, and the amount of the traffic which actually is at the time, or which might reasonably be expected to be, on the highway." A constable m>ay apprehend without warrant the driver of any motor who commits an offence against this section withm tho view of the constable, if the offender refuses to give his name and address on demand, and if the motor does not bear marks of identification. Mr Ritchie, of Timaru, has taken delivery of his 12-h.p. Rover, Mir F. Cooke having a non-stop run through with the car on Monday. The Model 10 Buick, which arrived last week, is undoubtedly a very smairt two-seater car. The engine is 15-h.p., 4-cyUnder, and very silent. The gearing ■is of the planetarj tyjje> thus making it impossible to damage the- gearing in chaing'ing the speeds. Thie <rogine is very flexible, and most sensitive to the slightest movement of the throttle. The Model F Bujck, with the double opposed engine, which hay given such satis-" factory running locally, very little diifferent from the others we have seen. The tyres are of larger diameter, the brake drums extra lamge, while full elliptical springe are fitted in place of the three<fuaxtetr elliptical.

• The world's records .by a one-armed rider' for half and one mile" in Imin 7seo and 2min 16sec respectively were lowered by a Melbourne rider, H. Wood; at Richmond "last month during the progress of a race meeting - held by the White Cyote Club. Paced by a motor cycle, the new figures registered were: 59sec for the half--mile and 2min 6seo for the mile. From France comes a. remarkablef impuncturable tyre, which has a 6olidi rubber tread, lin in , thickness, or depth, and |in in width, and . has a pneumatKj base., the walls of the air-chamber beings enclosed by the rim. - Of necessity it mus« be fairly weighty. ■ A. E. Wills's hour record is to JS recognised after all. It is nearly a year since the little Englishmen rode over 61 miles in 60 minutes jat Munich, Germany., The Union Cyciiete Internationale, at ita last congress, 'refused, on the application! of the German governing body, to reoog--nise the recoud, but'nowj according to th« Sportsman (England),' the German authorK ties have agreed to accept the record. The* trouble was caused by the timekeeper eending in his sheets unsigned. Wills inteikta to make another attempt to crowd 100 kilo-« metres (62 1-3 miles) in the~oO minutes, andl ' Bertin will pace Him. The attempt will bef made' on the Munich traok, Germany. One of the "latest surprises of tho cycle-racing world abroad is the recent de-; cision of Major Taylor," the coloured cham--pion, to race on Sundays. When the{ Major -was riding at his best, he must have< lost thousands of pounds through not riding! on the Sabbath, but at last he has decided! to ride in all the big Continental eventei during the coming season, which are, on course,' fixed on th© Day of Rest. 1 HkJ plans -are already made up, and he" wa^ expected in Paris early in May, having signed to ride a French make of cycle. In( an interview, Taylor said: "Before finally} retiring I should like to win a Paris Grand} Prize, and also another world's champion-i ship, so you can take it from* me that 1} am right out for the business this season;, and as I have been shaping up quietly during the winter, I guess I will soon be< amongst the list of winners." j Lieutenant Graetz, who in the sunw ' mer of 1907 started from Dar-es-Salaam| . (East Africa). in a specially-constructed carl ' with the intention of driving, pushing, oil towing across the more, or lese "Dark{ ■ Continent" as far as German South-west I Africa, has at length reached that colony,- , and thus terminated a series of travelling experiences which, if written up, ehouldl supply material for a remarkably interest-; ing volume. Not the least interested in the, hazardous trip was the Kaiser, who personally inspected the vehicle before it left Germany. ' . At the forthcoming Imperial International Exhibition at Shepherd's Bush, London, will be a display of as many early, types of motor vehicles as can be col-; lectcd, and which at this time should makes an interesting exhibit. ! By the abandonment ol the Grand Prix motor race this year increased in; terest is being centred in the Coupe dea Voiturettes contest, which will be more; international than previously. No fewetf than eight countries will have representa--tive cars. When the radiator has developed a' slight leak, the practice has been with some motorists to add a small quantity or bran to the water,, which in its circulation^ diffuses the meal throughout the system,and ultimately finds and fills up the leak. Flour has been found superior to bran, mi that it will atop up the aperture withoutf affecting the pump, or dossing the passages, as might occur when bran is used.. Two tablespoonsful is the proper quantity l to use, and enough water should be addedf to form a paste, which must be free from* lumps. The" mixture is then ready to be added to the water in the radiator, and ftf will 'gradually find its way into any opening! through which, the water has -been leaking', and effectively seal- them. " , —^According to English files it appears that the "speed carnival" on Florida Beachi was saved" from failure by the cycle events held in conjunction with the motor oon-i tests, and that there was more interest? taken in the cycle events than in the automobile raoea. In a two-mile competition, Fogler. the American crack, won in tho very fa»t time of 3min 45 l-ssec. This

rider, indeed, won, most of the oycle races, accounting for the quarter-mile in 30 1-bsec, Bie half-mile in 4-7 l-ssec, and the mile in Xmin 31 l-sseo. .In ;a flying mile, behind motor pace, he was only aide to register imln 13 4-ssec. The methods of training and dieting have, we know, changed greatly from what ■Was once considered to be essential to obtain condition. In this connection Walter Rutt, the German crack, holds that even, sow abstemiousness is often carried to euoh

an extent as to become a positive di; advantage to- the racer. Rutt himself eat and drinks whatever he fancies, when one he has got into form. Only in the initial stag« of the annual . training period, .does h "mortify the flesh." "The body," "lie eay> "gets tired of the daily . sameness." Ust ally he drinks wine and water, though n wine immediately before a race; after th contest he makes a point of indulging in irlaes or two of Munich beer to maintai; his normal racing weight.

President Taf.fc has discarded the . carriage and pair as used by Mr Roosevelt I and adopted the motor car for his personal use. The secret service men, -who were wont to follow Mr Roosevelt on ordinary j bicycles, have been compelled to find a swifter method of keeping pace with the Presidential car, and the result is that a number of them aTe now equipped witsh motor cycles. Tihe car prefererd by President Taft is a White steamer. Slir J. H. A. Maodonald (Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland and President of the ; Scottish Automobile Cluib) has expressed ' the view (says an English exchange) that in the facilities afforded by the possession of larger numbers of motor vehicles and , good roads we possess a means of land defence concentration which, would enable us on the shortest notice to place a large force at any point on our coasts and to move it freely as required by tactical exigencies. He pleads -that the present interest engendered by the recent mobilisation at Hastings should be followed up by a compleite and energetic scheme of organisation, and remarks that centralisation in Whitehall would .be a fata.] mistake. Sir John Maodonald's ' letter states that Ihe Scottish Automobile Olub have been for • same time considering the matter as affecting Scotland, and they have a somewhat complete scheme nearly ready for issue. ■ The scheme of the Scottish Automobile Club is not on© for members of the club only, but for "Vll owners of suitable cars in' Scotland.' They are dividing the country into districts of manageable 6izes, with judiciously-selected local centres in each attended to by superintendents who are in touch with the motorists of their district. The idea is not to make any demonstration^ but to establish ' a workable sdheme under ' which, in' the even* of invasion or national danger, the motor cars of thecoxmibry would be able to be called into service immediately and effectively.