Motor and Cycle

Otago Witness, Issue 3864, 3 April 1928, Page 70

Motor and Cycle

<By

DEMON.

John Frederick Vicks, a young man from Wairarapa, who was found drunk _ta a motor car in Ridgway street, Wanganui, on Thursday, was fined £2O by Mr J. S. Barton, S.M., and declared unfit to hold a driver's license for 12 months. Riders are well catered for at the meeting at Waikouaiti on Easter Monday. The cycle races are as follow:—One Mile. Two Mile and Three Mile Handicaps. The track at Waikouaiti is in fair condition, and it is expected that a large number of Runedin cyclists will compete at the meeting. The Dunedin Amateur Cycling Club intends to hold its first road race from Mosgiel on April 14. The course will be practically the same as that over which the Pacific Club staged a road race last • year. Some of the riders have already begun training on ' the road, and some good performances should be put up. Supporters of cycling have generously presented prizes for this race. The first grize, a cup, to be won outright, has been given by Mr V. Nelson, and the second prize a gold medal by Mr Borley. A silver medal from Mr F. A. Nelson is to he the third prize, and to the rider who obtains the fastest time the club will present a set of tyres.

*■ i cannot convict for an error of judgment,” said Mr IC. C. Cutten, S.M.. in the Auckland Police Court last week, in dismissing a charge of negligent driving against a motorist. The Magistrate said a pedestrian had been injured, and the case was of a quasi-criminal nature. In such circumstances it was necessarv to prove some definite act of negligence. This «ad not been done, and there was no proof of excessive speed. Under the new motor regulations it is provided that tramcars are to be exempt from giving way to traffic coining in from the right. Mr A. E. Ansell, president of the Otago Motor Club, considers that this is an anomaly and that it would be in the interests of everybody if the particular traffic regulation were made to apply to all vehicles. As a result of an interview, Mr Ansell has had with the town clerk (Mr Lewin), instructions have now been issued by the City Council that tramcars shall also ob-e’-vo tr’'P'i'-from-the-right rule.

“ No leniency wuaiexer should be shown to any person convicted of intoxication while driving a motor car.” This is the opinion of the Auckland Automobile Association, as expressed by the secretary (Mr G. W. Hutchison) at a meeting of motorists on Wednesday evening, and it was applauded by the hundreds of motorists present. Mr Hutchison said that there were far too many accidents, and 23 persons were killed in Auckland last year. In his opinion, 75 per cent, of all motor accidents were due to one of three main causes —excessive speed, cutting of corners, and neglect to give signals. A brilliant performance was achieved by Vic. Barclay (Vic.) on Saturday, March 10, in lowering three motor cycle records between Melbourne and Sydney in classes under 300 c.c., 350 c.c., and 500 c.c. Riding a standard side-valve 2.77 h.p. Triumph, shod with Dunlop tyres and fully' equipped, he left Melbourne at 3.30 a.m., and arrived in Sydney at 8.1 p.m. covering the 565 miles in 16hr 31min, thereby beating the previous record, held by Alex. Finlay (January 18) by Ihr 17min. The roads were in a heavy condition. The best 350 c.c. time stood at 18hr 2min, and the best 500 c.c. time was 23hr 49min. The motor cycle record (for all-power machines) from Melbourne to Sydney of 14hr 43min still stands to the credit* of T. Benstead, established in March, 1923. A centralised service organisation for motorists throughout the North Island has been suggested by the Wanganui Automobile Association. A comprehensive scheme has been drawn up to pool the resources of the motorists’ associations throughout the island, and establish road patrols operating from two centres. A southern centre operating from Palmerston North, and a northern centre operating from Hamilton were suggested. Uniform signposting and road information were also provided for. The scheme came under consideration at the monthly meeting of the Auckland Automobile Association and was discussed by members of the council. The opinion was expressed, however, that such a scheme as this would be superfluous since the association has appointed its own patrols, and organised its own road information. Disagreement with a propostion that a motorist may .pass a dog at any pace he chooses and that the dog must look after itself as best it can, was voiced by Mr T. E. Maunsell, S.M., in the Te Awamutu Magistrate’s Court, when awarding £5 as damages to an owner whose dog had been run over by a motor car and killed. “ In my opinion,” said Mr Maunsell, “ when any animal is on the road, a motorist who is travelling at a rapid speed should, when approaching tho animal, reduce his speed considerably, as an animal is quite likely to move on to the course which the motorist is taking. To hold otherwise would expose all animals to needless peril.” He then quoted an authority to the effect that a motorist “ must honestly exercise his judgment in the circumstances, mindful of the fact that another person's property is in peril.” Not only is it illegal, under the new Regulations, for-motorists to open the exhausts on their machines, but as a matter

of fact they should not be in a position to open them, as it is also illegal even to have a cut-out on either car or motor cycle. The nerve-racking explosions, however, still continue in Dunedin and the suburbs, from motor cycles especially. They easily drown the imprecations hurled at the heads of . the offenders by pedestrians and others who are unfortunate enough to be in tho vicinity when the exhausts are opened. In Victoria especially, these nuisances receive a very short shrift, and the prosecutions by the police receive the whole-hearted support of the public. A few weeks ago a motor cyclist who rode past a church while tho Sunday service was being held was considered to have allowed his machine to liecome so noisy as to disturb tho worshippers. An unsympathetic bench fined the culprit £5Some suggestions for a more uniform system of issuing motor drivers’ licenses were placed before the Petone Borough Council at its last meeting in a letter from the Minister of Public Works (Mr K. S. Williams). Ho wrote that the number of inefficient motorists and the resultant danger to the public could only be reduced if the local bodies co-operated in making thorough tests before issuing licenses to intending drivers. Instances had been known when a person had failed in a test by one local authority and had obtained a license in another district without undergoing a test. Although it was recognised that absolute uniformity was impossible, it was thought that if no fresh • licenses were given without a test, no applications considered unless the applicant's car was garaged within the inspector’s district, and no licenses granted unless the applicant showed himself conversant with the motor vehicle regulations, a great improvement would bo made. ALL AFRICA HIGHWAY. A remarkable pioneering prelude to the project of a speed dash from London to Capetown has just begun in South Africa, where an expedition has set out to survey the possibilities of building a highway from Capetown through the heart of Central Africa to Cairo, in Egypt. The expedition, which is the result of a plan by Sir Abe Bailey, consists of Mr G. S. Bouwer, the South African racing motorist, with whom are a kinematograph photographer and a motoring journalist. They are travelling in a saloon car equipped with Dunlop tyres, and its windows are screened by a special insect-proof gauze. Gun racks are fitted inside the car, and the party’s baggage is carried on the roof. They will collect all available information and data concerning the weak links in the route, the best way round swamps, and over rivers, and the easiest paths through jungles and over mountains. When they arrive at Cairo they* are to go on through Europe to London; and then, with the object of demonstrating how a highway through Africa is feasible and practicable, the" expedition will leave London on a record speed dash to Capetown, by the route which they are now surveying, in an attempt to cover the distance in six weeks. TYPES OF WHEELS. At the Automobile Show recently held in New York (U.S.A.) 48 per cent, of the cars had wood wheels, 42 per cent, wire wheels, and 10 per cent, disc; 86 per cent, of the cars were closed, and 14 per cent, open; 58 per cent, had internal brakes all round, 25 per cent, external brakes ail round, and the balance some sort of internal-external combination.

GETTING THE NEW PLATES. Several motorists when .applying for the new number plates have been mystified at the charge of £2 9s 2d in all. This is arrived at as follows:—Annual license for one year, £2. This pays from March 31 last year to March 31 this year. But the authorities are altering the date for the end of the financial year, and the next charge will be £2 from May 31, 1929, to May 31, 1930. This year, however, it is necessary to pay for the two months, April and May, 1929, and this charge is 6s 8d (that is, a proportionate amount at the rate of £2 a year). The number plates are charged at 2s Gd a pair. The motorist pays therefore:— Annual license to March 31, 1929 .. . . . . . . . £2 0 0 Annual license for April anil May, 1929 ■ 0 6 8 Number plates 0 2 6 £2 9 2 A similar position arises over the driver’s license. The annual charge is ss, but this year the amount is 6s, in order to pay for April and May, 1929. When worked out the proportionate charge will be seen to be 5s lOd, but the Government is compelling the council to charge the additional 2d. All motor vehicles used on the streets after March 31 must bear the new number plates. FRANCIS BIRTLES. Mr Francis Birtles, who is motoring from London to Australia in a Dunlopshod Bean car, was last heard of at Calcutta, which place he left on January 16. It is feared that he nwy have met with difficulties, and many tt his friends are becoming anxious; but those who know Birtles and his past adventures have evfry confidence in his ability to over-

r-ome almost any obstacle imaginable, and believe that he will turn up in due course. ORIGIN OF MOTOR In connection with the popularity of the sedan and the widely accepted usage of that word for a luxuriously equipped motor car, it is interesting to note that, despite much study, the origin of the word is not definitely known. Dr Johnson first said that the word “ sedan ” came from the Latin “ cedes,” a “ seat,” though in a later edition he explained that the ■word was used because the chair was first made at Sedan. Dictionaries have copied this derivation to the present day. It was probably in 1634 that the use of the sedan became conlmon in London. In that year Sir Sanders Duncombe was granted a 14years' monopoly for covered chairs called sedans. Peter Mundy, the traveller, speaks in 1637 of “cidans att London.” The compound “sedan-chair” is not recorded until 1750. It will be remembered that when Mr Pickwick, arrested for contemplating a duel, refused to walk through the streets of Ipswich in custody, it was recollected that there stood in the inn yard an old sedan-chair, which, having been originally built for a gouty gentleman with. funded property, would hold Mr Pickwick and. Mr Tubman. Perhaps the last sedan-chair to see active service in England was one kept at Bury St. Edmunds, which was used, in the last decade of the nineteenth century to convey young ladies to dances on wet nights. “ Brougham ” comes to us from a carriage first owned by Lord Brougham, a British lawyer, writer, and statesman, and parking lights find their .counterpart in the side lights carried on Lord Brougham’s carriage.

“ Laudaulet ” is from “ landau,” a carriage qith double top, which could either be removed or folded back, and was so named after the German town in which it was first made. When one steps into his modern luxurious phaeton he little realises that the name “ Phaeton ” comes from the Son of Helios (the sun), driver of the chariot of the sun, who proved himself the first reckless driver, for, unable to control his horses, Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and hurled him headlong into the river. The snappy term “roadster,” with its rakish lines, the essence of everything modern and youthful, was first applied to a carriage for light, speedy driving. To-day, with millions of bodies produced every year by means of standardisation and economical mass production methods, it is easy to see that the body industry has contributed in no small degree to the greatly reduced prices of the modern automobile. HYDE PARK CORNER. London’s busiest traffic centre, according to the latest edition of London Statistics, published by the L.C.C., is Hyde Park Corner. brom 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. on a sunny summer’s day- when the police took records, buses and cars swirled past the point faster than one per second. The total number of vehicles passing in the 12 hours was 64,268. Of these 55,441 were omnibuses and motor cars; the rest were horse-drawn carts, motor-cycles, bicycles, and an assortment of 298 barrows. Other highly-concentrated traffic points in their order of importance were found to be;

Vehicles in 12 hours, Trafalgar Square (gyratorytraffic) 56,851 Marble Arch . . 47.586 Piccadilly Circus 44,091 Blackfriars Bridge (north approach and embankment' l 37,393 The Bank ' 36,293 London’s bridges were found to have an unexpected order of use: Vehicles. Westminster 25,954 London 20,886 Vauxhall 20,111 Blackfriars 19,952 Putney 16,125 Tower . , . . . . . . 14.065 Waterloo . . -t;" .. 13,211 Hammersmith . . . . 11,275 Chelsea 10,503 Southwark 8,875 A curious fact about practically every bridge was that the busiest hour proved that between five and six in the evening. In the city of London there is one constable to each acre and every 12 of the population! The “population” of the city, however, is merely its small night community. DRIVING BACKWARDS. Most drivers are aware of the danger of trying to drive a car quickly in reverse gear, owing to the difficulty in steering the desired course. They attribute this, as a rule, either to inexperience or to the apparently greater effect which movement of the steering wheel has when the car is driven backwards. The latter idea is a fallacy, since when the steering is fully locked over the car may be driven either forward or backwards, and will obviously travel on an arc of the same circle in both cases.

The real danger of driving 'backwards lies in the tendency of the steering to fly over on to full lock on one side or the other unless a tight hold is kept on the wheel. This tendency is caused by the inclination given to the pivot pins on which the stub-axles turn. If lines are drawn through the centre of these pins and produced they would touch the ground an inch pr more in front of the point of contact of the front wheels with the ground. Hence, when the car is driven forward the front wheels tend to keep straight, because they are. in effect, being trailed behind the pivot pins, and have what is known as a~“ castor action.” When reversing, however, the opposite effect is experienced. The wheels are being pushed in front of the pivot pins, and directly anything causes them to deviate the smallest amount from the straight path they tend to swing over to the full extent of one lock or the other. This has been the cause of many serious accidents in the past, for if a car is reversed Quickly either on the level or downhill, the force tending to turn the front wheels becomes large, and may momentarily take the control of the steering out of the driver’s hands. A golden rule.is, therefore, “ Never drive a car at all quickly in reverse gear, especially on the camber of the road or downhill, and in every ease keep a tight grip of the steering wheel when driving backwards.” When manceuvring a car it is, of course, possible to take full advantage of the ease with which the steering can be swung over on reverse. Thus, in turning round in the road, always swing the front wheels over from one lock to the other when driving backwards, both at the beginning

and end of the car’s travel. In this way both greater speed and ease of manceuvring will be attained than if the lock is changed when the car is moving forward. Another important point when reversing a car on the road which has a pronounced slope or steep drop or falling embankment on one side of it is, “always to reverse the ear away from the. embankment, or up the slope, as the case may be.” Drivers only too frequently make the mistake of trying to turn the ear with the back towards the edge of the drop, and a dip of the foot on the clutch dr brake pedal in such circumstances might possibly result in a bad accident. CYCLING. THE TOUR DE FRANCE. PARIS, March 27. It is announced that, the Australian cyclists will certainly be supplied with licenses by the Union Cyclista- International, and. that they will not be prevented from competing in the Tour de France.