Cycling and Motor Notes

Otago Witness, 1 June 1910, Page 59

Cycling and Motor Notes

BY DEMON.

At the last meeting of the League of Wheelmen 1t was reported that the Dunlop Company x had offered £25 as a prize for the rider making the fastest time in the Timaru to Christchurch road race, on condition that the rider visited Australia and competed in the Sydney to Goulburn and Warrnambool to Melbourne races. If the rider making the fastest time would not make the trip then the prize was to go to the next fastest man who would. The Dunlop Company also offered a £5 5s gold medal for the rider making fastest time. The Continental Company also, it is said, intends giving a similar amount to last year's gift. The League Council's proposal to make the first prize in the race £IOO had been so severely criticised that :t was decided to split up the mono.v ovci *

greater number of prizes, the first prize to be £4O. f A motorist who appeared at the ! Christchurch Magistrate's Court charged ! with having- offended against the city bylaws by driving past the Bank of New Zealand corner at an excessive speed, questioned the ability of the Christchurch police to control the traffic at that point. He said that he had driven motor cars in " London, Paris, Marseilles, and other cities on the Continent, and he produced a, license from the London County Council, adding that on no previous occasion had he been warned for driving too fast. The Magistrate, Mr T. A. Bailey, said that the conditions in Christchurch could not be compared with those in the London streets, where the traffic was systematically controlled at street intersections by the police stopping the vehicles travelling alonji o::o street in order to allow thoso in the intersecting thoroughfare to pass along. In Christchurch there was a by-law that no vehicle should pass over certain street intersections at more than four miles an hour. The defendant remarked that, in his opinion, the passage between Cathedral square and Hereford street was one of the most dangerous thoroughfares in the world. The demand of racing men for feather-weight machines had the effect of causing manufacturers to gradually reduce the weight, and by the experience of these men they learned by trial and error the direction in which weight could be safely reduced and the direction in which certain parts should be strengthened. The front forks, for example, are now flexible

throughout their entire length, and have either serrated liners at the upper ends of, or else are butted so as to ensure the needful strength here without con-centra-ting the strains at the point where the extra strengthening of the tube ceases. Our lightest bicycle weighs under - 231 b, with mud guards, brakes, etc., and is a marvel of symmetry. Throughout it is flexible vertically, but rigid laterally, so that there is no loss in the drive, and it is able to stand the roughest roads. The same principle applies in the case of the motor car. A symmetrical vehicle of moderate weight will not only stand well, but must prove economical, 'and undoubtedly the racing experience of the leading manufacturers have taught how this symmetry is to be arrived at. From time to time firms make mistakes, and if they do so, and they understand their business, they wil 1 ''-liTht strengthen the part uch has failed, always keeping before them the necessity for avoiding in the alterations any serious concentration of strains elsewhere. Following upon the rubber boom (states an English motoring paper), there seems to be a prospect of an oil boom, but whereas- the basis of the former has been the growing demand for rubber and' the advance in the price of the material, the basis of the oil boom will be the development of new sources of supply. The English journal adds: " The Australian Oil Company (Ltd.) was floated last 'Foek, with a capital of £300,000. to acquire the shale properties at Murrundi and Capertee. mining for shale and coal under about 30 square miles of land. The first-c!a?s shale on these properties yields no less than ITS gallons of crude oil per ton, v--hich is nearly three times the yield of the Scottish shale beds. Sulphate of aonia. is always the chief bv-produet ; 'ie manufacture of shale oil—in fact, it goes a long way towards making the distillation of shale nil

a- profitable business. The development of oil fields at Homo and in the colonies will do much to keep u. check upon the price of foreign mineral oils." ■ The use of needlessly strong- alkali soap in cleaning cars, neglect to wash off the soap, and failure to dry the varnished surface perfectly are probably responsible for more damage to paint than all other causes combined. As a matter of fact, neither soap nor water should ever bo used on a car above the under sides of the mudguards, except in. cases whei-e the mud is caked on the body in large quantities. the many modes of progression, the supremacy of the automobile is demonstrated. The list is a.s follows:—Motor car, 131.75 miles; electric locomotive, 126.55 miles; steam locomotive, 120 miles; motor cycle, 84.5 miles; bicycle. 63 miles; aeroplane, 49.99 miles; motor boat, 37-93 miles; racehorse, 37.6 miles; pacing horse, 32.43 miles ; steamship. 30.53 miles; trotter, 30.37 miiles; skater, 27.19 miles; foot runner, 14.20 miles ; racing skiff (eights), 12.77 miles; walker, 9.11 miles; swimmer, 2.65 miles. The above figures represent the speed attained 'in miles per hour. Carrier pigeons have reached a speed of 35.6 miles per hour. Claiming £4OOO damages, not because of injuries received from a motor car. hut because she says she was injured in dodging a motor car, Mrs Lida F. Gaston has "filed suit" against Hart D. Newman, a wealthy owner of New Orleans. Mrs Caston says that she was crossing St. Charles street at Boydras street, when Mr Newman's car approached. No warning was sounded, she says, and "to save her life, and_ in the apprehension of bodily injury which would have occurred to her," she jumped, and in so doing fell and injured herself. ——A writer in an English paper says : " To have large enough tyres on his car means more to the motorist than he may at first realise. Motor car manufacturers fortunately are coming to appreciate the true merit of large tyres more than ever before, as will be seen by the increases that many •• have made over last vear s equrnment on cars that are being exhibited at the shows. A tyre of large diameter rides over road' obstructions with less jar and less interruption to the momentum of the car, hence is more comfortable to the occupant. More important still is the fact that_ the larger _ tyre presents a greater portion of its circumference to the road, thus dividiing the shock over a greater surface area and conserving the strength of the tyre. Again, the larger the tyre the greater the air cushion back of the blowAn adequate-sized tyre always will stand several times as rmich hard usage as a smaller one on the same car." . Some motor enthusiasts are ant at times to indulge in extravagant talk about the alWed uselessnees and gradual extinction of the horse and the 'wonderful future of the automobile (says an exchange). While one cannot deny the efficiencv of mechanically-propelled vehicles, and while motor traction will no doubt become general in time, there is no necessity to decry the horse. Surely no motor vehicle wi.l ever be able to negotiate the rousrh hilly tracks which are safely and expeditiously traversed by horsemen all over the country. Some people with whom the precious dollar counts little even prefer horses to motors, because of their love for animals. They like to feel the tugging of the reins by a soirited buggy pair. Then, again, there is the national snort of horseracing, and kindred pastimes, suoh as hunting and polo, which are not likely to allowi the horse to pass out. —— As one instance of the cosmopolitan character of motoring, the report of the American Consul at Johannesburg is extremely interesting, and as the remarks therein apply just as much to the conditions prevailing within New Zealand, so far as clearance is concerned, I reproduce the following extract from the report: "The types most probably in demand in the market are those hanging from £250 to £SOO delivered, the average price of those for which there is the greatest sale being about £3OO, while their power ranges from 16 to 20 to 28 h.p., and their seating capacity from three to five persons. There is also p'enty of scope for cars of the runabout class. As the climate is for the most part very dry, wood, if used in any part of the vehicle, must be well seasoned; indeed, there has been considerable difficulty with wooden wheels because this was overlooked. Aluminium is advisable for bodies where possible. Bad roads are the rule outside the cities and towns, and as a great many simall streams are encountered, a hife-i clearance is recommended. Many of the cars sent out to South Africa have a clearance of only 6in to Sin, which is not sufficient when crossing streams abounding in small stones, or for roads in which the wheels of waggons or other vehicles have made deep ruts. It is also advisable, says the official referred to, that strong springs should be fitted; in fact, cars intended for South Africa should have at least one leaf more than is ordinarily used in France. This would be a distinct point in favour of a car, as in. most cases the owner makes this addition after purchase." MOTOR BOOM IN AMERICA. According to both American and English automobile p?tpers, the United States, as a country, is "motor mad." British manufacturers who have visited the States all agree that the business in America at the present time is not only astonishing, but almost beyond belief. Some of the papers in the New World set down the production of cars this year as 250,000, but the Automobile Association, which is composed of 72 _of the leading American concerns, has capacity only for 100.000 cars this year, while outside this body the number of vehicles nroduced' will not exceed' 50,000. Allowing, then, for 150,000 cars in 1911, it means 3000 per week, or 500 per day! Yet, up to the present the outputs of all the mills are absorbed with no Sipparent effort by the local market. American cities j equal in population to English cities that can ordinarily absorb 20 to 30 cars contain buyers for 500 privately-owned vehicles, a, large proportion of these being highpowered and expensive. New manufactories, with a capacity of _ 5000 or more cars per annum, are springing up, while the older concerns are making additions to their already extensive works. It has been stated that firms have turned out as many as 275 finished cars per day! To quote from one visitor:—"lt is admitted on every iiand that the country is motor mad. and that cars are being purchased in quantities by people who can neither afford to buy nor maintain them. . . So great is the rush that loading makers have muc'.i of "the iTatericl :"cr 1311 interest taken in |-..he A, r..-;■ r <■■ .. - "'i-::■■•.'■■ r>v

Great Britain is. first, because of the phenomenal output and consumption; and, second, because it is feared that when the boom bursts there will be a large surplus of cars in the States, and Great Britain, being- the only freetrade country, will be invaded by the American makers and their products. Were the output of even one of the bigAmerican makers diverted to England at. greatly-reduced prices, it would undoubtedly demoralise the market for medium-priced cars. Indeed, it is asserted that the Fordi Company - alone will probably turn out; mors cars this year than all the motor mills in England combined. A panic ini the United States could easily reduce the sale of cars by more than 100,000 during* the season, and in that case the States could easily spare enough cars to supply the English market four times over. Should a panic come now it would find the American maker with not only his undelivered 1910 ears on hand, hut also nig 1911 materials either contracted for oi actually delivered to him. CANTERBURY AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION. CHRISTCHURCH, May 29. The Canterbury Automobile Association's speed contests on Saturday last resulted: Class A, under. 12 horse-power: R. O. Dixon's Sizaire-Naudin 1. Class B, 12-20 horse-power: C. P. Lock's Alldays 1. Class C. 20 horsepower and over: Adams (Ltd.) Talbot L In the petrol consumption tests the results were: Class "A: R. O. Dixon's Sizaire-Naudin 1. Class B: Bunco and Oo.'s Argyle 1. Class C: W. B. Scott and Co.'s Vauxhall 1. The last-mentioned firm won the Dunlop Rubber Company's prize for the highes.s aggregate marks.