Cycling and Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2914, 19 January 1910, Page 63

Cycling and Motor Notes

Secretaries of sports bodies putting bicycle events on their sports programmes are requested to forward copy of programme to “ Demon.”

BY DEMON. —■ — Owing- to the gaeat demand for last week’s Witness, containing pictures of the wrecked Waikare and scenes from Dusky Sound, it was found impossible to print off a sufficient, number to supply Southland subscribers in time to catch the south express. The publishers of the Otago Witness, however, were determined to try to keep faith with their subscribers, and hired two motor cars to deliver the papers between Balclutha and Invercargill, A Buick twoseater was first to leave Dunedin at 11 a.m. with, about scwt or 6cwt of Witnesses for Invercargill—rather a. solid load for a small ear. The rough loads soon set the parcels on the swing, and stoppage had to be made at regular intervals to tighten the ropes or pick up parts of the load. A puncture at Otokia. (with tool box. etc., hidden under the load) was the only car stop until within two mikte of Invercargill, _ when the petrol tank had to be replenished (again necessitating the removal and replacing of parcels). Invercargill was reached at 7.15 p.m., or six and a-half hours’ running time —an excellent performance for a small car with such a. weight against a gale. The return journey was made without once changing gear on the hills, which showed that this model is, ex-

cept for starting', a top-gear car. To_ the good Samaritan cyclist who kindly assisted in refilling the petrol tank when the car was near Invercargill Mr Geoff Clark extends his thanks, more especially as when last seen he was disappearing oyer the handle bars of his cycle, which he had steered into a ditch while pointing out the route to the driver. The second car —a. Stuart —stopped at Balclutha owing to a slipping clutch, consequent on the heavy load. The driver and the Witness office employee who travelled in this ear, had a very varied experience—.that is, if all the latter-named gentleman relates be true. The Waipahi-Fukerau section is still far the worst bit of road. Both going and corning Mr Clark met touring cars, and in each instance he was stopped to answer the interrogation as to where was the road, as they (the motorists) had missed it. Their feelings can be better imagined than described when they were informed that they had not lost the “road” —they were still on it. have been signed by J. Arnst and A. Birch 1 for their challenge cycle race —Timaru to Christchurch —for £SO aside, which event will take place on Thursday, 10th prox., They will draw for positions on the morning of the race, and the first will be sent on°his gruelling journey at 7 a.m., with his j opponent to follow half an hour later. No | pacing is to bo allowed either rider, ai- j though no restrictions will be made as _ to ; the number of machines each rider may use on the journey. A car will follow each rider containing supporters of both men, and spare machines, etc. The race should ; prove of considerable interest. Arnst, if, 1 anything, is the favourite. Still, both men | have a large following of supporters, and whoever wins the race it is sure to be an j interesting and exciting one. At the recently-held meeting of the j Canterbury Automobile Association a request was made for the provision of planking on the Kartigi beach, the only difficult piece on the route between Christchurch and Otago., Mr Stark, of the Otago Association, who was present as a visitor at the meeting, suggested that the matter ; was one that came more within the scope : of the Otago and Oamaru Associations. He ( urged , that the Canterbury Association j could do good work by haying the system ! of guide posts extended to indicate the pre- | sence of water-race® across roads. It was stated that some local authorities declined to erect these very valuable aids to motorists, because in the case of accidents caused by horses being frightened by the posts, the local authority would be held responsible. But surely it is not necessary to erect posts of such a character that horses will shy at them? Motoring to tho West Coast and back has plenty of variety about it, and now and then the motorist has some rough experiences. Mr E. E. Stark, of Dunedin, who with a party motored from Christchurch to Hokitika and back, narrates that on the trip over to Hokitika the car got stuck in one of the mountain, streams, and he and his son had about three-quarters of an hour’s work in pelting rain and in thenbare feet before they got the machine out of the stream. The pleasurable experiences outnumbered the disconcerting ones, and Mr Stark si leaks enthusiastically of the tour from a motorist’s point of view The mountain scenery reminded him of the Californian Sierras. Regarding- the state of the old coach road from Springfield to the Cass Mr Stark states that it is in good condition, with the exception of a portion along the river bed after passing Castle Hill. This bad piece of road extends for about quarter of a mile. Another daring aviator, the Spanish amateur, Antonio Fernandez, who figured at the recent gathering at Blackpool, has lost his life. He was flying at the competing grounds near Nice, and when at a great height his machine turned upside down and fell to the ground, crushing him to death. The comments of the American cycle press 011 the “coming of age” (of the pneumatic tyre, and the celebrations in connection therewith in England, when Mr j H. du Cros was specially honoured, are j somewhat scathing. One paper says;—“Mr > du Cros is the man who promoted and | floated the original pneumatic tyre com- 1 pany, which earned for him an immense | fortune, and who, during the life of the ; patent, held the cycle and automobile trades ; with a grip of iron, and forced from them | every dollar he believed they could pay.” j He was “lionised in token of appreoia- j tion of his unique services ... in turning to everyday use and commercial ac- | count the crudities of the pneumatic tyi's.” j The Americans, however, did not forget , Mr J. B. Dunlop, as the following shows: — i “The ungraciousness of the ‘coming of age’ j celebrations rests in the fact, that the in- i venter and patentee of the tyre, Mr J. B. j Dunlop, who is very much alive, has been ! wholly overlooked, or purposely forced into ! the far background. His name has been . discreetly avoided in all the nrrangonp|sgfc leading up to the heaping of glow and , honour on the head of the promoter.” The cyclist has a well-deserved repu- I tation for carelessness regarding the care ' of hi® possession, and Christchurch has for a long time past been developing notoriety as the domain of the cycle-thief. Bicycles, that have been left unattended for a few moments continue to disappear as though

spirited away, while the tale of lamp' J and pumps that have attracted the attention of the sneak-thief is long indeed. Complaints are received almost daily of th< theft of bicycles, but numbers of bicycles appear to be mislaid and forgotten by their owners and relegated to a dusty storehouse at the- Police Station, from which, if unclaimed, they will be brought forth to be sold by auction. One day recently there were about 30 unclaimed bicycles at the Police Station, many of them damaged in various ways. One bore a. tag, stating that it had been taken by mistake and returned the same evening to tha police. There are few such examples ol honesty. Advertisements are frequently seen in, the newspapers to the effect that somebody has found a bicycle, and is willing to re-, turn it on payment of expenses and presumably a small reward. On other occasions the advertiser is more bellicose, and threatens to sell the goods if not claimed within seven days. Such an advertisement appeared not long ago in Christchurch respect of a motor cycle. A reporter was informed by a police officer that all such advertisements were promptly replied to by the visit ot a constable, who took the found property to the police- station. It was pointed out that no person finding a bicycle and advertising it had any claim on the owner even for the cost of the advertisement, otherwise a person might make a practice of stealing cycles and advertising them in the hope of reward and expenses. The finder had no other course than to lodge the property with the police. The police records show that during 1909 upwards of 400 bicycles were reported as “stolen” in Christchurch alone The machines ranged in value from £5 to £25, and taking the average value at £lO, this means that £4OOO worth of bicycles were misappropriated. The proportion of convictions for theft to the number of bicycles reported as stolen has been very small, owing to the fact- that the person who steals a bicycle in Christchurch rarely retains it in his possession for more than, a very brief period, preferring to leave it somewhere in the streets or in a paddock rather than run the risk of a criminal prosecution. Thus it has come about that more than half the stolen bicycles have been returned to the owners, sometimes within a few days of the theft, and sometimes not for some considerable- time. ——ln a fuel consumption test, held at Buffalo (U.S.A.). a car, weighing complete with passengers 29481 b, was driven 46 miles on a gallon of petrol. A good deal of the course must have been down hill. Thirty-one fire departments'in Germany have- between them 71 motor fire engines in active service. From a British firm’s flying machine catalogue one gathers that a Bleriot monoplane with a 25 h.p. Augam motor costs £400; the Farmau biplane, with either a Gnome or a Vivians motor, is £IOOO ; a Voisin biplane complete costs £1050; and an Antoinette monoplane- costs f,roni £IOOO. Flight is guaranteed m all cases. The Farm-an machine will do a xUmile flight before the purchase is complete. With the Bleriot is guaranteed a 10-minute flight. Delivery in all cases is promised in about three months. the Farman machine includes -free instructions and delivery in two months. _ A “ British monoplane ” is also in the list, but particulars are not given. The question of providing Benard motor read trains (which are really an improved form of traction engine, with a truck or trucks attached) in districts without railway communication was submitted to the Victorian Minister of Railways m the Assembly recently by Mr J. M‘Lachlan, of Gipps’and North. In reply, the Minister said the question had not yet been considered by the Government. Two of such motor trains, he understood, had been purchased by tire Queensland Government, and he had caused inquiries to be made in reference to their efficiency. If the replies proved satisfactory he would endeavour to visit Queensland with the object of making a personal inspection of them. The Government, he added, was fully seized: of the desirability of providing; transit facilities in country districts, and had been making inquiries with regard to motor trains. According to a Melbourne paper several of the tyre companies there have decided, owing to the heavy and sustained increase in cost of pure rubber, to materially increase the prices of motor tyres and tubes, varying from U per cent, to- 2d per cent., according to the size of tha tyres. The Continental Rubber Company also announce that the price of all repair work, such as retreading, will he advanced by 15 per cent. The new list was to taka effect as from the Ist inst. The mcreaea has long been inevitable, since the quality of the goods must he maintained where! motoring is concerned. The new Motor Traffic Act recently passed by the New South Wales Legislature which is now operative, fe causing no little worry to automobilists, and those especially who are not conversant with the measure want to know all about its provisions. Speed, brakes, -lights, proficiency of drivel, noise of vehicle, suitability of vehicle, etc., are all to he inquired into, and if anything ie not np to standard it will have to be rectified, oi the result, will bo obvious. It, is stipulated that yearly -fees cl £1 shall be required for registration, purposes, so far as motor cars and similar vehicles are concerned; 2s 6d each year will be the change for motor cycles and tricycles and 5« a year for license of driver. There is also mention about, furious and reckless or negligent handling of the car or cycle, and it is stipulated that, in case of accident. drivers must stop right away. Power to inflict .fines to £2O and to susrend licenses and oven disqualify motorists from getting future licenses is embodied in th« new measure. Signor Forlanini. a Milanese inventor. has constructed a new hydroplane, with which h-° is supposed to have obtained wonderful results. The new craft is fitted with ordinary under-water propellers, and has reached a very high eneed. Tl’ a hull is di-rar-dia-ped. and about 30 ft in length. Trtoead of having steps, -j is usual with hvdroplaneu. the new Forlanini boat, has four projecting arms. Two of those are fixed on e-ther sicto. <\ steel plane is constructed at fh--end of the«e arms, «t> rtof. v-G" the vessel attain* sufficient speed the hull is raised entirely out. o< IK-» water. This irate-rally reduces sk>n friction, as onto the nhin.es and proned-er ren-umi in the water. When on her trials on Le'-e Ma.of.giore «h.a is said to have touched. 39 knots. Ff the- figures are correct the boat is probably the fastest, t.b’mr afio-at. What makes the speed attained still more remarkable is (he low motor power installed, as the boat is

nipped with an engine of only 24 h.p. From time to time we hear of subrtiiutes for petrol that promise well, but finally they drift along and become heard < f no more. The latest new power producer is Rapidin, a German invention. It is stated that 12,50Cgal per ■ day are I cing manufactured, and sold at per gallon. It is .more powerful than petrol, trod 2gal of.Rapidin is equal to 24gal of the former. It can be used with any type of carburetter; the exhaust is odourless, and there are no deposits. In, a liquid t 6 it is claimed to be legs inflammable (than petrol, and_ does not evaporate so ©niokly. Its specific gravity is 750 deg to JMO. not withstanding which it evaporates lurid ignites as freely as petrol. The automobile has dome more to rid the cause of good roads than anything rise since roads were first built. Every owner of a car desires good roads, and motorists have been the most prominent in yetting 1 heart, and in England and America many of the road improvements crave been entirely due to their efforts. .Were it not for the cars many alleged roads would .remain, probably for the next generation, in their wretched condition. The motorists, through the agency of their dubs, continue to stir up the cry for good Toad*, and it is only a question of time •when d-usbless highways, with good surfaces. will l>e th« rute. and not, as now, tHy*. Mception. It will bo of interest to know that a lively discussion on this subject is taking place in Now South Wales. One writer, quoting the experience. of ds.ngli.sh authorities, makes the statement that far and away the greater damage to roads is caused hv steel-studded tires, steel tiros, and horses’ hoofs than by the plain pneumatic, tire of the motor, and fheav?. can hn.rdlv be anv doubt as to the correctness of this assertion. A matter of interest, to Australasian motorists is the “long stroke’’ craze that row appears to have gripped many of the leading automobile manufacturers. A prominent English motorist, writing of the recent Olvmpia motor show, slays that any intelligent motorist visiting the Exhibition must have noticed the extraordinary extent to which motor ha vie adopted a type of engine in which the stroke of the piston greatly exceeds the diameter of the cylinder. There is. of course, a dteal to be said for this longstroke type of engine, provided that_ it is not overdone. Such an engine is indisputably a good hi 11-climber, while of two engines of identical bore, the one with the longer stroke undoubtedly gives greater Tnlalxinrum power. Even when the lengthened stroke is carried to excess the car fitted with such an engine would E tiil out up an improved performance in a hill-climb, own if it would require, an fixpcrionced driver to get the l>est irom it; but the oar itself would certainly

not .be tbo most ideal for ordinary touring purposes, nor would it bo a pleasant machine to drive. . Lengthening the stroke beyond a certain point tends to make a harsh-running engine. One cannot believe that most users of motor oars would desire the little extra power that an inordinately long stroke may give them if smoothness of running is thereby sacrificed, and it appears to be against the interests of the manufacturer to carry the matter to that extent. An idea of the popularity of motor cars on the tourist tracks between Lumsden and Te Anau may be .gathered from the fact that of 24- tourists at the Lake Te Anau Hotel on Thursday night 19 were motorists, three cyclists,*' and the remaining two wore coach passengers. The Hon. T. Mackenzie was one of the motorists, having arrived from Dunedin that day—an impossible journey without the aid of motor cars. BRITISH INTERNATIONAL CUP. The news that the British Motor Boat Club has sent a challenge to the Motor Boat Club of America for the British International Trophy has given much satisfaction in marine motoring circles in England. A year ago the Motor Yacht Club sent a challenge, but subsequently withdrew it. The last race was in 1907, when the challengers—both Motor Yacht Club boats —were the Duke of Westmiirster’s Wo 1 sole v• S kldele y I, and Lord Howard de Walden’s Daimler 11. The Daimler flyer bad an accident to her engines, and did not take part in the actual contest. Wolseley-Siddeley was defeated by Dixie 11, the successor of the vessel which took the cup a.wa.y from Southampton in 1906. LONG-DISTANCE CYCLING. SYDNEY, December 15. Birtles starts in a fortnight to cycle right round Australia, a distance of 12,000 miles.