Motor and Cycle

Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 70

Motor and Cycle

What is said to be an Australian and New Zealand motor speed record was established on Oreti Beach, when C. W. Hamilton (Fairlie) drove a Sunbeam car over a straight mile in 33sec —a speed of 109 miles an hour.

At the Hawcra motor camping ground (states an exchange) there was previously a gas meter wo i feed by a shilling in the slot, but it has now been replaced by one which is worked by a penny. The new arrangement, reported the secretary to the General Committee of the South laranaki Automobile Association, is much more popular than the previous one. A Stratford member: “Nobody liked buying a shilling’s worth of gas.” A Hawera member: “They would all wait till somebody put a shilling in the meter and then they would bring their kettles along to boil.”

“ We had a splendid trip up the cast coast of the South Island and down the west coast, and the worst piece of road that we struck was that between Gore and Dunedin. The roads in the north were very good,” said Mr T. A. C. Pearce to a Mataura Ensign representative the other day. “It is many years since I saw the country looking so well. The northern portion of the South Island is a bit dry, but the farmers should have a good season. The south, however, can easily ho'd its 6 n.’ -

A motor paced match over a distance & 15 miles between the Australian cham--1 n H. Opperman and the ex-amateur impion R. W. Lamb attracted a 20.000 f >wd to the Melbourne Motordrome last | month. The event created considerable interest owing to the fact that it was the first occasion upon which Opperman and Lamb had met in competition. The Dunlop Grand Prix winner proved the better man on the night, winning by about 15yds in the fast time of ISmin lOsec. Lamb, who has not had the experience of pace-trailing that Opperman has, put up a very creditable performance, and gives promise of attaining very high honours in this branch of the sport. In connection with the speed test at Oreti Beach on Monday, Mr Mostvn P. Jones, Christchurch, writes to the Southland Times as follows:—“I read : n an Invercargill newspaper that Mr Hamilton, of Fairlie, in a Sunbeam car, had been credited with do - ng a straight mile on the beach in 33sec, and it was claimed that this time was a New Zealand and Australian record. This is not so, as Mr H Mangham, riding a Harley Davidson motor cycle at New Brighton Bench on April 23, 1927, covered a flying mile in 32 3-sscc, approximately 110 j miles per hour, and this record has been officially recognised by the Pioneer Motor Cycle Club of this city. This time is a New Zealand record, but much faster times have been done on Sellicks Beach, Adelaide, Australia. Ralph Hepburn, also riding a Harley motor cycle, has 113.9 miles per hour to his credit on this beach, done on February 4, 1925, and I believe his time "has since been considerably bettered. I may state in passing that these times have been officially timed by three official watches and have been passed

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officially by the racing authorities in question.’’ TOUR DE FRANCE. The Australasian team of cyclists, Messrs H. Opperman, E. Bainbridge. P. Osborn (Vic.), and H. G. Watson (N.Z.) left Melbourne on March 6 for Europe to take part in the world’s greatest road race, the Tour de France. This event will start from Paris on Sunday, June 17, and finish in the same city on Sunday, July 15. MAKING THE AIR TUBE. Although it does its work humbly and unseen, the motor tyre tube is the important and indispensable ally of the outer cover. It is not decorated with any pattern; it is an inartistic shade of pink; it never gets any praise; it is the first to receive abuse —yet without it the outer cover would be useless. Big tubes, little tubes, thin tubes, fat tubes from the mills are issued in vast quantities to the call of motorists. It is fascinating to watch the evolution of a motor tube. There is no gradualness about it; great lumps of red rubber compound, looking not in the least like a tube, are fed into one end of what appears to be a sausage machine: out of the other end come yards and yards.of motor tubes; — and that is really all there is to it, although the tubes are not ready for the road just yet. As soon as they appear from the “ sausage machine,” each tube is placed on I a mandrel and then vulcanised. When it is taken out of the vulcaniser the ends are joined up by an ingenious automatic joining machine which vulcanises simultaneously both inside and out; the valve hole is punched and solutioned and the tube re-enters the vulcanising chamber for the completion of the ‘"’cure.” as the process is called. After that the valve is fixed in position and the tube is inflated ready to be tested. Girl operators • slip it over the spokes of a large rimless wheel which, first stretching it to correct size, carries it under"water, while the girls watch with eagle eye for any of the tell-tale bubbles that mark imperfect work.

Such a tube is rejected: while the perfect ones are deflated, marked with their size, packed and sent into stores. From there, of course, they, in partnership with their outer covers, go to all parts of the continent.

ASTOUNDING OIL- FIGURES. America is to-day as perturbed on account of the over abundance of crude petroleum as Great Britain is over her overproduction of crude rubber. Great Britain has endeavoured to restrict rubber produe tion by the Stevenson scheme which limits plantation supplies within the Empire, but what v.S.A. is going to do about the tremendous over-supply of crude petroleum is even a more difficult problem. Although U.S.A, has 23.250,000 auto mobiles in use, and on top of their fuel consumption, exports an enormous quantity of benzine, oils, etc., America is accumulating vast quantities of crude oil.. The daily production of crude petroleum in that country now reaches the astounding volume of 2.500,600 barrels; and as the contents of a barrel is 42gal, it means'a daily output of 105,000,0C6gal of oil. After home consumption and export, U.S.A, is left with a daily over supply of 8,400,000 gal of crude oil, and this despite the fact that 300.000 barrels of crude oil is daily “ shut in ” in two fields alone. The result is that America has 600,000,000 barrels of crude oil in costly storage systems, which are totalling up overhead cost to an alarming ex tent. It is computed that £250,000,000 has aireadv been expended in storage systems, and this huge amount is being added to daily. It costs 20 pence a barrel to build steel storage tanks and a further 12js pence a year to look after it. All this vast stock is of course, inactive and unproductive. In the early days of the. automobile, only 4 sgal of petrol was refined from each barrel of petroleum oil; to-day, 14 Sgal of petrol is obtained, and returns the industry 60 per cent., of its revenue. The improvement effected in refinmer, petro* from crude oil alone means a saving to America of about 500,000,000 barrels ,of crude oil annually; in fact, it is the, increased supply of petrol being obtained from the crude oil that has caused the«pver&lTn 1927. some 900,600.000 barrels of crude oil were produced, and as thousands of new wells are being sunk annually in U.S.A., that country is faced with formulating soma scheme whereby . production can be restricted. On a per capita basis, the annual use of petrol in U.S.A., is 93.9ga1, whilst in the rest of the world it only works out at Petrol consumption in U.S.A, plus exports has now reached the almost incrcdime figure of 1,000,000 barrels, or 42,0G0.000gal of petrol a day. The result of the over production is that America is to-day faced with a crisis, brought about by its attendant ing, refining and producing facilities, and the stocks of 34 oil companies show a drop of £200,000,G00 on the New York Stock Exchange. Another trouble incidental to the oil overproduction is the remarkable growth in petrol service stations throughout U.S.A., keen competition between the various com panics having resulted in some 200,000 fuel stations being established. An enormous sum has been sunk in these stations, many of which have a capacity of lOOOgal a day, but seldom sell 200; all of which adds to the overhead and .'cost of fuel, and prevents Americ-in motorists from deriving any benefit in price from the deluge of oil America is faced with.

It is said by those in a position to criticise the American oil industry that there arc too many people in the distribution, just as there are in the production; iu fact, taci.ilies for distribution are far in excess of "requirements. It remains to be seen how America wilt handle this problem. ETHYL MOTOR FUEL. Ethyl, the new and much-discussed motor fuel in England, has now been made available for British motor vehicle owners by the Anglo-American Oil Company. This new fuel is an ethylised brand of petrol The ingredient in this fuel which it is claimed overcomes the propensity of highcompression engines to “ pink ” or “ knock ” is tetraethyl—a colourless compound, made from alcohol and lead, and though twice as heavy as petrol, readily dissolves in the latter in all proportions.

The proprietors.state that the new fuel is the result of scientific and chemical re search and tests, carried out over a period of some 15 years. To many the name "Ethyl ” may have little or no significance, or at the most signifies a property which eliminates engine knock or “ pinking ” ex perienced when running on ordinary fuel spirits, particularly when starting with a heavy load and with the ignition too far advanced. Whilst the ability to eliminate knocking is undoubtedly possessed by this new fuel, and constitutes its chief claim, the composition of ethyl petrol is designed and claimed to afford other advantages. By virtue of its ability to eliminate knocking it will be easily realised that certain additional dependent advantages are gained. In the first place, it renders the formation of earbon innocuous, so that it is unnecessary to have the cylinders decarbonised—a cause of expense. In addition, as. ethyl fluid neutralises the heating qualities of carbon, the increased compression due to the presence of the latter is conducive to higher volumetric efficiency. Thus it is claimed that more power is produced, particularly on hills, so that gear changing is reduced with resultant fuel economy. It is stated also that by the use of the new fuel an engine will accelerate more quickly-. It is also claimed that ethyl fluid requires no special carburettor setting, no special mixture or heating devices, nor, it is stated, does it affect rubber, paint, and cellulose finish any more than ordinary petrol. Whatever merits a new motor fuel may be said'to possess, motorists as a whole are not easilv inclined to test it. Yet its recent introduction into Great Britain by one of the leading motor spirit importing companies should be . sufficient guarantee of its suitability as a motor fuel for general use. A motor fuel less prone to “ pinking.” than ere some brands at present in use, if satisfactory in all other respects,, is desirable. If out of the travail which appears to have resulted from on attempt in this direction fuels which will more efficiently meet the

present and future needs of motoring are evolved, so much the better for motorists. RUINOUS SPEEDS. According to Professor A. M. Low, the well-known English automotive engineering authority, only about 2 per cent, of touring cars upon the road could stand “all out ” 10 laps of Brooklands track without permanent damage. It is a well known fact that to the Brooklands habitue that the “ all out ” test of any ear upon the track is one of the most severe ordeals imaginable. More than one sporting car enthusiast has seen the vanishing of his hopes, based upon a successful bench test of three or four hours, when confronted by three laps of Brooklands at maximum speed. It is at first sight difficult to realise why an engine should operate without trouble for two hours at its maximum power on the bench and prove totally incapable of more 'than 100 miles on the track. In all probability the reason is to be found in the additional load put upon every part of the car by vibration. The life of a new racing car is certainly short and sweet. The engine is prepared with the greatest care, strains are calculated most accurately, and at its final test upon the bench and on the track, it is watched by experts at every point. So soon as the throttle is kept wide open for 20 or 30 miles it is more than likely that some unexpected weakness will come to light. It may be the engine itself, gear-box, or even springs or axles. Innumerable examples could be given of cars prepared by some of the greatest factories in the world which have performed in a totally different manner on the day of the race from the showing at their preliminary test. It is practically impossible to foretell which particular part of a car will be loaded to excess unless the entire vehicle is subjected to exactly the same degree of general vibration which it is likely to receive in the race. For this reason the importance of flexibility in operation is beginning to receive attention, cylinders become smaller and smaller, and designers are giving their entire attention to the eight or even 12cylinder car for engine capacities which at one time would have called for two or four cylinders at most. A touring car upon Brooklands track will seldom travel for more than 3 or 4 laps if the throttle is kept wide open, but momentary “ ease-ups ” may save the situation, and many cars giving exemplary service in the hands of owner-drivers owe their longevity to the fact that the roads seldom permit of more 'than two miles being covered on end at maximum speed. It is commonly said that a car will be less damaged if driven by’ the accelerator pedal than on the hand throttle. The reason is quite evident;

the engine is responsive to the movement of the driver’s foot and is constantly being momentarily throttled down. On the road the accelerator pedal is always moving, and it is this fluctuation which saves the ordinary touring engine from the continuous strain of driving with the throttle full open. The information gathered from these tests at Brooklands is of great value to the motor industry, and ultimately the motor owner reaps the benefit in the car he buys. DETACHABLE TREADS. Has it ever occurred to the average motorist that when he eventually discards his old tyres for a now set there is very considerable waste in material involved in the process? This has occurred, however, to a boy of 16 years of age. Master Fred Rapson. who is the son of Mr F.- Lionel Rapson, the wellknown British motorist. Two forms have been fully covered, bypatents throughout the world, one being what may be termed a two-piece tyre and the other one a three-piece tyre. The chief ideas underlying the invention are to provide a substantial, unburstable cover, comprising a detachable tread and a bead portion or portions, these being joined so as to permit of a hinging action, thus making the casing capable of giving several times the life of an ordinary casing, Again, a method of attachment is so designed that on any individual portion failing or wearing out, it can be renewed without interfering with the other portions that are in perfectly good condition. For example, when the tread has arrived at the state when it is no longer a good non-skid, instead of h ving to discard the whole of the casing, as is normally the case, it is only necessary to renew the tread portion. This alone, of course, would cut down considerably the cost of renewal. MAMMOTH POWER 'AR. Some secrecy has been observed concerning the mechanical details of the huge car in which Captain Malcolm Campbell has just established a world’s record of 206.9 m.p.h. on Daytona Beach, Florida, but the main features are now generally known. The engine is a Napier aeroplane type similar to the Lion model used in the flying boat which won the Schneider Cup at 2814 m.p.h. The normal Napier Lion has an output of 565 h.p. at 2585 revolutions. The one used in the recordbreaking car delivers nearly 900 h.p. through a reduction gear. The 12 cylinders are disposed in blocks of four. The bore is sJin and the stroke sJin, The capacity is 22,299 c.c. The Sunbeam Matabele engines fitted to Segrave's machine, which attained 203 m.p.h. at Daytona last, year, had a capacity of 22,444 c.c., aiid the output was 500 h.p.

at 2000 revolutions. The Napier-Camp-bell engine is thus smaller than the Sunbeam engine, but its output is 80 per cent greater. This must be obtained by higher speeds, but the Air Ministry have not yet released information on this point. The Napier-Campbell gearbox is as large as a modern touring ear engine.- It operates on the epicyclic principle and provides three speeds. The tyres are specially built well-base rim tyres, the rear wheel set being 35in by sJin. Elaborate tests with various body types were made by aviation experts who were concerned with reducing wind resistance. In theory the car should require only 700 h.p. to propel it at 230 in.pJi. Apparently Campbell had some power in hand when he attained 206.9 m.p.h., as he declared bis intention of making an attempt to improve on this achievement. Campbell’s car has a wheelbase of 12ft lin, or 4in more than Segrave’s twoengined monster. Campbell has been associated with the construction of several large cars. His 12-cylinder 350 h.p. Sunbeam held the mile record of 150.8 m.p.h. in 1925. Later he used a Napier Lion engined car. in which he established a record of 174.2 m.p.h. The rating of this power plant was 450 h.p. at 2000 revolutions. The famous Florida Beach is 23 miles long, almost straight, absolutely level, and' at certain periods of the year is as hard as concrete. A nine-mile stretch of the beach is set apart for record attempts, and not a person is allowed on the beach except timing officials on the contest board of the American Automobile Association. A most elaborate electrical timing apparatus is used. At low tide the beach is about 500 ft wide. The wind resistance whilst Campbell was travelling at 214 m.p.h. was over 10201 b pressure against the car. Campbell by his great achievement has now won the £lOOO trophy given by Sir Charles Wakefield, and will also receive an income of £lOOO until the end of the year 1930 unless his record is beaten in the meantime. Segrave’s Sunbeam is attracting considerable attention at the All-British Exhibition now being held in Melbourne. DISFIGURING SIGNS. Speaking as the guest at luncheon on the last day of the World Motor Congress at Olympia, the Right Hon. Wilfred Ashley, MJ?., Minister of Trans-

port, made some pointed remarks concerning ugly advertisements which disfigure the countryside (states the Motor). " The proper place for advertisements,” he said, “ was in the columns of the newspapers. Whether ox - not that view will be endorsed, it will not be denied that the propei- place for glaring and manycoloured advertisements is certainly not where they mar and blast the scenery.” As the Minister of Transport rightly said people want to see this . beautiful old England and not advertisements. Disfigurement of the countryside has been so generally condemned by the press and in official quarters that no mere claim that it is commercially necessary can justify it. The public, although largely inarticulate, revolt at it, and the effect c» advertising that offends the public sense of fitness must be negative.

SYDNEY’S GRIM RECORD. - (From Our- Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, February 23. lhe people of Sydney knew that street accidents within the metropolitan area were, frequent enough, but until the records tor last year were published it is safe to say that they did not realise the awful toll of human life. The figures show that for the 12 months there were 13,064 accidents reported to the police and 206 persons were killed and 5644 injured. Remarkably enough most of the accidents occurred to people between the ages of 14 years and 60 years; ages that should bespeak discretion and caution. • The following table shows the causes of these accidents, and their toll: —

In addition to these accidents, 1643 motor accidents which occurred outside the metropolitan area resulted in the death of 112 persons and injury to 1117. others.

UNJUSTIFIABLE PROSECUTIONS. GISBORNE, March 6. Addressing the Grand Jury at the opening of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Ostler commented upon the manner in which motorists were sometimes brought before the court on charges of manslaughter, when little or no evidence of negligence was presented. He pointed out tnai motorists had the right to use the roads, and the mere fact that a fatality occurred did not itself justify prosecution on a criminal charge. There seemed to be an inclination on the' part of the police to prosecute in all such cases, he said, and magistrates refused to take the responsibility of throwing the cases out. This was where a Grand Jury was useful, and no man should be forced to stand trial unless a prima facie case was made out against him. Referring specifically to the manslaughter charges before the court, his Honor expressed the opinion that there was no evidence that the fatalities were other than pure accidents or that there had been any negligence on the part of the motorists. The Grand Jury returned “ no bill ” in both charges. DRIVER DRUNK AT THE WHEEL. AUCKLAND, March 7. Denying his guilt in the I?olice Court on charges of having converted a motor ca- to his cwn use on Tuesday night, and to being found in a state of intoxication while in charge of a car early this morning, Frank Andrew Morgan, aged 23, a labourer, refused to give evidence or io make a statement to the police. The testimony was that while Constable Doel and two Customs officers were returni_g to the city from special duty about half an hour after midnight their attention was attracted to a car by the erratic course it was pursuing. The car stopped in Queen’s avenue, Mount Eden, and a policeman accosted the accused, who was apparently drunk at the wheel. Another man who was with Morgan ran away and vanished in the night. Qn the floor of the car was a beer bottle, and Morgan threw a whisky bottle away when the policeman was looking for the other man. After Morgan wasarrested it was learned that the ear was a stolen one, belonging to G. Wallace and Co., Anzac avenue. It had been removed from outside a picture theatre between 8 and 10 o clo- ’• .

The Magistrate (Mr W. R. M’Kean) t< accused; Do you wish to say anything? Morgan: No. I am not guilty. That is all. On the major charge the accused was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, and on the other charge he was fined £lO. in default one month’s imprisonment. NOISY MOTOR CYCLES. GISBORNE, March 5. At tbo Police Court to-day the magistrate, Mr E. C. Levvey, issued a serious warning to motor cyclists who ride without mufflers. A youth who was before the court was fined £2, but Mr Levvey commented that he would not issue any more warnings. Where it had been shown that a rider created a noise deliberately or showed gross carelessness he would inflict the maximum fine of £2O without hesitation.

Vehicles. Killed. Injured Tram ... 17 339 Motor bus 8 197 Motor van,, lorry, etc. 36 675 Taxi cab 7 232 Motor car 75 2509 Motor cycle 31 830 Bicycle 7 247 Horse drawn 5 154 Horses ... ... 1 27 Improper riding upon or getting on or off vehicles while in motion 19 434