CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 3384, 22 January 1919, Page 50

CYCLING & MOTOR NOTES

BY DEMON

learn that out of the world's annual oil production of 20,000 million gallons «f petrol the British Empire supplies only 2£ per cent. The largest producer is* of course, the United States, which supplies 66 per cent.; then comes Russia with 13 per cent., and Mexico with 11. per cent. Now that the English authorities have secured the controlling Interest in the Persian oil fields, there is" every probability of this source of supply being greatly developed, and in time England's petrol requirements may be all drawn from this field.

Both lock nuts and piston rings probably form subjects for more patents connected with • motors than any other single device. Yet it is safe to say that 99 per cent, of piston rings in use are of the ordinary slotted or step cut types, while one rarely comes across any of the patented lock nuts on machinery of any kind.

There is talk of an effort to revive cycle-racing in th" Eastern States again. A suggestion has been • put forward by J. M. Chapman, a well-known American manager, who visited Australia with Iver Law'son (the world's champion many years back), that if sufficient inducement, offers he* will bring out a 1 crack team of riders from the States for a series of big meetings in Australia. The cracks mentioned would comprise the best of the American, Australian, French, and Italian riders who follow the American circuit, including probably that great sprinter, Frank Kramer.. As a sport and recreation cycle-racing has few equals for attracting the public as long as the racing is good and clean, and. fields comprise the world's best. There is no reason why such attractions as the Austral and Sydney Thousand and the many big meetings that drew their. 20,000 and 30,000 crowds should, not again come back. —-E. Odium, a well-known Queensland motor cyclist, put up a very fine performance recently, when he succeeded in crediting himself .and Queensland with the world's motor cycle sidecar record for a flying mile. His time was ■ 54seo, lowering the best previously-registered in Australia by 1 2-ssec The same rider also rode a flying mile In 44 4-ssec, equal to 81 miles per hour—Queensland record. f tank, or even-in the radiator, and no soldering outfit is available, it is possible to effect a very satisfactory temporary repair by running melted resin over the hole to a depth of about a quarter of an inch. This repair may be made somewhat more permanent by placing a niece of leather over the hole before running the resin. . In the column headed, "Questions of Practioal Interest to Drivers," the London journal, Motor Traction, asked i "Do you consider that the differential ,on heavy petrol vehicles should have some form of looking device, and, if so, on vehicles of from what size should such devices be fitted? Also please state, from the driver's point of view, what you consider the requirements of such a differential locking device*" Nearly all correspondents agreed that there are ocoasions when a differential lock is useful on cars of two-ton load capacity, and upwards, more particularly if they are employed in industries involving journeys over soft ground, or in hilly districts where the roads are' greasy, or if they have often to get away from the kerb' on a heavily-cambered road. Such a locking device should be workable .from the footplate. The "only objection to it was that it might add unduly to the unsprung weight. When the differential is locked both wheels revolve at the _ same rate, whether on the curve or straight.

MOTOR-WAGON EFFJCIENCY.

A trial was planned and successfully carried out, which had for its purpose the establishing of figures that would show the business men of America that an efficient, light duty motor waggon, at reasonable speed,' was capable of travelling a greater distance than the 50 to 80 miles a day, believed by many to be the limit of motor waggon performance. A Maxwell waggon, carrying a load of 22001 b, composed of army supplies—some, by the way, from Australia bound for France—crossed the Continent from San Francisco to New York by the memorial highway, a distance of 3423.7 miles, in 17 days 8 hours 20 minutes, or at an average of 197.8 miles per day, and beat by two and a-half days the fast freight train time—a schedule of 20 days. The average running time of 16.54 miles per hour gave a fuel consumption of 11.70 mile 3 per gallon, a.nd 326.54 miles per srallon of lubricating oil. The route crosses 31 mountain chains, and passes through 11 States, and at one point (on the Sierras) reached an altitude of 7300 ft. The trial also reveals the fine condition of that great memorial road—the Lincoln highway.

SN A HANDLEY PACE.

A TRIP OVER LONDON.

THE "BUS" THAT CARRIES TWELVE.

The following description of a trip in one of the famous Handley Page areoplanes is extracted from an article bv Mr H. Campbell Jones, of the Sydney Sun, who visited England with the Imperial press delegation : Prophets declare the Handley Paere bombing machine to be the precursor of the giant passenger machine of the near future. These mammoth ' biplanes are the product of a man who never knew anything about practical aviation before the war, but who has since revolutionised aerial warfare with his aimer-Dreadnought bombers. Handley Page is a young engineer with the keen, eager face of the creative zealot.

and his gift to the great cause has been the finest bombing machine in existence. It is fully 100 ft from tip to tip of its immense wings. It has two enormous propellers, or, rather, tractors. The great '"bus" weighs close upon three and a-half tons, and is capable of carrying three tons of bombs, which, properly dropped, would knock the stuffing out of Berlin. The oversea journalists were taken up in buses nine at a time. One sat in the observer's forward cabin, an eagle's, eerie which juts out into space, two wore pressed into the pilot's box, which is crammed with mechanical apparatus, and five others found standing room in* a kind of well in the back, or fuselage, behind the wings. When experienced airmen travel in a bus —they come daily from. France —12 are carried without trouble. The mammoth bus ran far up the field to the gentle rise before it reluctantly left the earth with the two propellers roaring with Bull of Bashan din. The first sensation is the soft swaying of a good sailing, ship in a stiff breeze, with the sails straining at the cleats and the stays whistling. For the bus breasting a half gale at 80 miles per hour makes you think that you have entered the cave of all the winds. Talking is out of the question-. You can only converse by signs, and you must keep your-face fair into the wind, otherwise the wind-pressure will force one of your nostrils in and cut down your breathing space by half. If you ever saw the Christmas pantomime of "Sinbad the Sailor" you commence to appreciate the feelings of the hero when he clung to the claw of a rock. Down below the landscape rushes behind, but the machine itself appears > stationary. One of the illusions of the air is that you are doing 90 miles or 130 miles an hour and yet are not moving. Stealing out bevond the pilot is e. Lewis machine-gun, which can pour out 600 bullets a minute. On a stage behind the well is a pivoted gun, which can sweep the whole horizon. Genius has discovered a method of syn-

chronisation which enables the Lewis gun to spit lead through the two propeller blades, though they are revolving at a speed which makes them a blur to the eye. ; It is the pilot's job to work the machine 'and to fight, the Lewis gun poking straight , ahead. i It is--, the observer's duty to chart the I course by land maps and star's and to fight the rear gun, which can be aimed in any direction. I The great bus nosed its way to 2000 ft, ! and droned violently across London and its '"■■ environs, without anyone recognising • landi marks until they were pointed out by the i pilot. People in the street were insignificant dots, houses no larger than the toys I of childhood, trees became tiny shrubs, cattle I and horses smaller than those in the nur- ! sery Noah's Ark. Trains and' railway trucks ! dwindled absurdly. A .long goods tram appeared to be about' an inch wide and 20in lonsr. ■ 88 Try to drop a marble from the top of a two-story house on a pebble which you can just see and you have some slight conception of the superb markmanship demanded of an aerial bomber. The wonder is that he ever hits anything. It must of necessity take tons upon tons of explosives to reach any chosen target. The bus is a cabhorse compared to the swallow-like scout or chaster, but 80 miles per hour is still some speed, and when the pilot next me obviously had difficulty in keeping the' monster straight, and wo fell sharplv as if to joust at a terrace of houses, the pace suggested a fragmentary end. However, the man prevailed, and: with a series of soft bumps we descended upon our field. . "I was afraid I had lost control," the pilot said comfortingly as hoi screwed out of his seat and made a bee-line for. a drink. »,».., Buses have bad habits, especially if they hit a pocket of air. The smaller, swifter machines bridge the void.with their momen-

turn. The slower Goliath may drop like a gull when it spots food on the surface of the sea.

OTAGO MOTOR CLUB. The monthly meeting of the Otago Motor Club was held on the 14th, Mr A. E. Ansell presiding. The Waikouaiti County Council wrote that a sum of £SOO had been placed on the ' Government Estimates for expenditure on the Main North road from Evansdale to Palmerston, and it was considered that £IOOO would put the road in good repair. The Merton Riding, which extended from Evansdale to Waikouaiti bridge, was not in a financial position to bear its share of the expenditure, bo the council would take it as a favour if the club would grant £IOO towards the work, and enable the council to expend the full amount of the vote. Mr M. Stevenson moved—" That the request from Waikouaiti for assistance be declined, and that no further grants for repairs to roads be given to any local authority till such local authority has satisfied the olub that it is prepared to see. that the money spent on metal for such " repairs is properly put down and the road maintained." He said the reason for the motion was that some local authorities had wasted the club's grants in the past. The Waikouaiti. Council had shown that it had not tried to keep the Main road from Evansdale to Palmerston in repair. No attempt had been made to fill any of the holes in the road from a large heap of metal on the top of the hill. He made this suggestion: that if the County Council was prepared to allow the olub to use the heap of metal on Mount Oargill, the club employ two carts and three men to patch the road from the boundary of the city to the water trough. That would not exceed an expenditure of £35 ; In connection with the road from Waipahi to Pukerau, the club had made agrant some time ago, and it had evidence that after metalling the road was not looked after properly. It was moved as an amendment—" That the club invite a deputation from the County Council to meet members of the club to discuss the condition of the Main North road." The amendment was lost, and the motion carried. Mr Stevenson then moved that the Waikouaiti County Council be written to offering to spread the metal at Mount Oargill at a cost of £3s.—Lost. The Railwa,y Department wrote, as to the approach to the level crossing at Middlemarch, that no reasonable improvement could be made. With ordinary care there should be no risk at this crossing, as the view of trains approaching from Clyde was good, and trains from Middlemarch ran ovor the crossing at a slow speed.—Received. It was mentioned that the Maoris at Puketeraki had offered to entertain the wounded soldiers who were patients in the Hospital and the Convalescent Home at Puketeraki on Saturday next, and a request had been made to supply six or seven cars to carry the men to Puketeraki.—lt was agreed to provide the cars. The Chairman introduced the question of holding motor cycle races at Warrington Beach on Fobruai'y 8. The following programme was agreed to:—Two-mile Scratoh Race for 3.50 machines (four entries or no race], Two-mile Handioap (open) for 5.60 machines: Four-mile Handicap (unlimited), Six-mile Sideoar Unlimited Handicap, Twosoilo Scratch Raoe for two-stroke cycles, and ft Twenty-mile Unlimited Handicap for

challenge cup. It was .decided that the returned soldiers be invited to attend the races.