MOTORDOM

Southland Times, Issue 20207, 18 June 1927, Page 16 (Supplement)

MOTORDOM

NEW TYPES OF CARS. MEETING DOMINION’S NEEDS. HORSE-POWER AND SPRINGING. MAKES TO SUIT THE ROADS. “Too little attention has been paid to the peculiar needs of the Dominions, and if New Zealand conditions are similar to those of Australian, I am satisfied the British car manufacturer should evolve models which possess features not incorporated in the majority of the popularpriced products now attempting to compete with foreign cars,” said Sir Archibald BoydCarpenter, head of the British motor delegation, in -an interview with a New Zealand Herald representative. Sir Archibald said the British car could not be sweepingly criticised. Some makes had achieved reputations for durability under rigorous conditions, and the delegation had encountered some remarkable conflicts of opinion. He had met a Government official in Victoria responsible for a fleet of 25 British cars operated under the most difficult conditions, and the upkeep costs over five years had revealed such economies that the official favoured British cars for every purpose. On the other hand the delegation had met people who said they would not “touch another British car with a pair of tongs.” Such controversy had not clouded the salient points on which the delegation sought enlightenment, and, if New Zealand used its cars in the same manner as Australia, it could not be denied that most British cars to be used here required more power, better springing and larger bodies. INFLUENCE OF BETTER ROADS. “I also regard a standard track of 4ft Bin as a necessary feature, and driving is simplified if your car wheels fit the ruts cut by those of the car driven before you,” said Sir Archibald. “The delegation is gathering data on smaller details, and the finer points will also be placed before British manufacturers. Few of us are experienced drivers, and it seems that we fancy the car which we can drive all day without fatigue, and with little gear changing. We get it in England from our own factories, but our cars are sprung and powered for our roads. “As roads improve there will naturally be an increasing demand for the British type of car all over the world. America evolved powerful cars when its roads were bad, and although the industry in that country captured the overseas market with this type of vehicle, it is now turning its attention to European designs, and some American manufacturers make rather a point of claiming that their products are ‘European type.’ ” Sir Archibald said British designers had been handicapped by the horse-power tax imposed throughout Great Britain. The aim had been to reduce the rated horsepower as far as practicable, and it was fortunate that British roads allowed considerable liberty in this direction. CHANGES WILL COME SLOWLY. “Taxation on horse-power is inequitable and it has forced manufacturers to either adhere to one model or to produce a powerful supplementary car for export,” said Sir Archibald. “If this tax was replaced by a petrol tax the user of the roads would pay in correct proportion, and the car designer would be freed of a great handicap. “Many manufacturers are competent to build for the colonial market, and the technical advice of the delegation will be acceptable, although New Zealand motorists can rest assured that there will be no revolution in design. The changes will come slowly, and it may take some years for a maker to satisfy the Dominion’s needs. Our industry received a set-back during munition making, and experienced another handicap when faced with the necessity for reorganising. We pay higher freights than the American car, and if some British designer would copy the cheap American fourcylinder car it would enjoy a large demand.” Sir Archibald said he had found that the spare part service was not to the credit of the British car in Australia. He anticipated that several English cars offering in New Zealand were also badly catered for in this respect. Some Australian dealers had effected improvements in spare part stocking, and had eliminated one of the greatest arguments of American competitors. “We want to be friends with the world, but sentiment is with us, and if we can offer the right car cheaply, we have done something for Empire trade,” said Sir Archibald. “I do not like to see so much good British money finding its way into other people’s pockets.” FORD’S MILLIONS. USE OF BY-PRODUCTS. Of late years the commercial value of the by-products of manufacturing processes has been realised by leaders of industry. Last year the by-products business of the Ford Motor Company netted 13,000,000 dollars. Machine shop turnings, sheet scrap and other waste brought in 3,000,000 dollars, while the coal business meant another 4,000,000 dollars to the total. Chemicals made from wood scrap and coke at the Fordson plant also brought in their quota. This year the return from by-products will be even greater, as machinery has been installed to manufacture cement from the furnace slag. CAR OF 1927. NOT LIKELY TO DIFFER MUCH. OPINION OF RACING DRIVER. “I do not think that the car of ten years hence will be so fundamentally different from the 1927 type as the romantic futurists suggest.” This is the answer of B. S. Marshall, the English racing motorist, to a query as to what the motor-car in 1937 will be like. Take the question of speed, he says. The average motorist finds that forty miles an hour is about the limit at which he can drive his car with safety. “My view,” he adds, “is that we may live to see fifty miles an hour a normal speed for motorists, but certainly not more. With increased speeds, however, will come greater improvements in braking—already well foreshadowed—that will enable speedier deceleration, a result that will make it safer to drive at fifty miles an hour than is possible to-day at thirty miles an hour. “And what of the cost? Is the £5O car approaching? With materials and labour at their present cost, the price of a car to-day does not leave much room for reduction. It is safe to say, however, that drastic changes in some form or other are almost due. All signs indicate that the popular car of the future will be childishly simple to operate, and simple to repair. It will not, however, be in the least like the tubular monsters that race on Pending and Florida beaches.”

SECOND-HAND CABS.

TRADE MOVE AT HOME. London, April 28. In the near future the motoring public may look for a surprise in regard to the question of second-hand car sales. Strenuous efforts are now being made to perfect a scheme designed to help seller and buyer alike (says a motoring correspondent). At the present time the disposal of a used car in part exchange for a new one is the bugbear of the motor agent’s trade—and frequently the reverse of beneficial to the buying public. It is an accepted principle in all trading that “you cannot get something for nothing”—or nothing very material, in any case. A private owner selling a car in part exchange for a new one is naturally tempted “to hawk his deal” from one agent to another until he gets what he thinks the highest bid for the old car. But it by no means follows that the highest cash allowance for the old car is necessarily the most economical deal —the new car and the service behind it have to be taken into consideration. And it is agreed on all hands that satisfactory after-sale service is as important to the manufacturer and his agent as it is to the public. The new scheme will make a bona-fide attempt to assign an average used car value for all makes and models of recent years. As it will be based on an average of a large number of individual it should be fair. In this way it is hoped to overcome the troubles of both the trade and the public and ensure a just deal to both sides. The scheme will be launched in the near future. NEW TYPE OF SEDAN. A British body-builder has introduced a new type of sedan in which the rear seat is backed up against the front one, so that it faces towards the rear. It is claimed that the passengers occupying the rear seat escape the distractions and nerve shocks which ordinarily spoil motoring for some people, and that they become entirely unconscious of the risks of the road, and enjoy a peace of mind unknown to them in motoring before. Again, to the nervous it may be some comfort to reflect that in the case of a head-on collision they are not thrown forward through the glass. To give a better view of the fleeting landscape, windows are cut into the curving rear quarter panels of the body. The American railway observation car is said to have been the inspiration for the idea. MORE THAN ONE CAR. NUMEROUS REASONS GIVEN. More than 2,700,000 American families are now possessors of more than one automobile. This fact was discovered recently by the I American Automobile Chamber of Commerce. | This is a tremendous jump over the situation in 1920, when a tabulation of re- [ gistration cards indicated that only twelve families out of every thousand motor-own-ing families possessed more than one automobile, says a pamphlet issued by that body. Ownership of more than two cars is a situation which varies widely in differerit areas. Garage rental is a strong influencing factor. In suburban towns, where the majority of houses are built with two-car garages, as many as 30 to 40 per cent, of the motor-owning famides have personal transportation for each adult. On the average throughout the country, it appears that 18 per cent, of the families which own any cars own more than one, and that 10 per cent, of all the families in the country have more than one car. REASONS WHY. The main value of the survey was to be found in the reasons given by the families showing why personal transportation is on the increase. 1. One for father’s business, one for family. 2. One for rough usage on farm, one for going to town. 3. For school and for family. 4. Old car worth more to user than at re-sale. 5. Good cars at low prices make two available for the former price of one. 6. All adults in family need individual car. ( The present low prices of automobiles have served in two ways to encourage wider ownership. Not only is it easy to buy two new cars, but likewise the low price of a new automobile has reduced the re-sale value of used cars. An automobile which may not have a market value of more than 100 dollars or 200 dollars may nevertheless have a much higher transportation value to the owner who knows the car, its true condition, and is serviceability. FOR WORK AND SCHOOL. Among the typical remarks received were the following:— Two sons want separate cars.—Birmingham, Alabama. One for professional use and one for wife. —Talladega, Alabama. Three cars used in practice of medicine by two medical doctors.—Montgomery, Alabama. Three are used to and from work, and one on school route. —Brazil, Maryland. A light car for trips where number of passengers is limited, a heavier car for long trips and more passengers.—Cory, Indiana. Family car, and roadster for carrying mail.—Bowling Green, Ind. One for dad, one for mother, and one for kids.—Abilene, Kansas. Sedan for family use, roadster for business and to presevre sedan.—Herrington, Kansas. I need a car all the time—when one needs repairs I use the other.—Cheyenne, Wyoming. Reside in country—go to and from town without inconvenience to self or others because of lack of transportation.—Chico, Calif. Ford for rough weather and bad roads, larger car for long trips and fair weather. —Lakeville, Connecticut. One for farmer on estate, one for chaffeur, one for wife, one for husband, and one for father.— New Haven, Connecticut. Daughter registered nurse needs her sedan for out-of-town calls; I need mine in nursery business. —Torrington, Connecticut. Closed car for general utility; touring car for touring and camping.—Middle Haddam, Connecticut. Two cars driven by my family are easier to support than one car requiring a chauffeur.—Baltimore, Maryland. GOOD FOR BUSINESS. The fact that there is a tendency toward owning more than one car in a family is not only interesting as giving the picture of the desire of every individual to have his own means of motor transportation, but it also forecasts a healthy outlook for business in

GOOD MANNERS. COURTESY ON THE ROAD. The best advice that can be given to novice and old hand alike is that he should make a point of behaving to others as he would have them behave to him. Put yourself in the other fellow’s place, and imagine your feeling of annoyance at certain actions in which you yourself may from time to time indulge. Remember, for example, that if you are driving up a hill, you strongly object to being forced to slow and change to a lower gear because somebody descending the hill insists upon oscupying half—and often more than half —the road. Think how you resent another driver bursting out from a blind side turning and necessitating your rapid and forcible application of the brakes. Again, what do you think of the other driver who pulls up his car on or close to a dangerous blind corner? Remember, too, when you hear the horn of a car about to overtake you invariably to signal the driver forward by a wave of the right arm. Failure to give this “pass” signal is very dangerous, for without it the man behind cannot be sure that you are aware of his presence and that you will not, jugt as he draws level suddenly pull across his bows to avoid perhaps a pothole or a large stone. AMERICA HAS A MOTOR FOR EVERY FAMILY. More than 22,000,000 motor-vehicles were registered in the United States in 1920. This was an increase of 10.3 per cent, above 1925. Receipts from license fees amounted to £57,656,470. The official estimate of the population of the United States in July, 1926, was 117,128,000, so that there is now one motorcar for every five persons in the country—nearly one for each family. Only one person in forty-eight owns a motor-car in Great Britain. Figures for other countries are:— New Zealand 1 to 12 Canada 1 to 12 Australia 1 to 19 France 1 to 51 Germany 1 to 247 Italy 1 to 367 A NOVEL CONVERSION. Something new in British motor car construction is the dual purpose 11 h.p. Clyno saloon, that can be converted in less than five minutes into a convenient, and business-like commercial travellers car. This is done by substituting shelves, of a load capacity of 3cwt, in place of the usual rear-seat squabs. For private service at the week-end these shelves are easily and quickly removed the rear-seat squab being replaced, whereupon the owner finds himself possessed of a neat saloon bearing no traces of its week-day purpose. SPRING FOR CHOKER VALVE A spring attached to the choker valve at the carburettor is the remedy for forgetting to push in the choker after the engine has started. Only when cranking the engine by hand is it necessary to have the choke remain out of its own accord, and then it would be a simple matter to remove the spring temporarily. Most of the new engines require but a few seconds of choking. MILEAGE OF TYRES. INFLATION PRESSURES. Motorists have often been told during the past few years how very important it is to keep tyres inflated to the recommended pressures if the best mileage it to be obtained from them, but it is only comparatively recently that motor owners —as distinct from designers and other folk conversant with the more intricate aspects of motoring—have begun to take an interest in inflation pressures on account of the direct bearing which they have upon the behaviour of a car. It is well known, of course, that the factors which limit the seped of a car are wind resistance, friction and the natural tendency of any body to remain stationary unless acted upon by some outside force or by gravity, as, for example, when a hill is being descended. On a level road, with the following wind of 10 m.p.h. and mechanism which was so perfect that theie was no mechanical friction whatever, a car, once started at a speed of 10 m.p.h. would continue indefinitely with the gear in neutral—provided that there was no such things as tractive resistance. This resistance to movement is caused by the force of gravity, and the little humps and hollows in the road surface. It can be multiplied considerably by drag set up by under-in-flated tyres. The practical importance of this drag can be determined by first inflating the tyres until they are board hard and seeing how far the car will coast down a given hill in neutral, then driving it to the top and repeating the experiment with the tyres soft, when it will be found that the car will not run nearly so far. This means that under-inflation spells higher petrol bills. There are, of course, other and more obscure reasons why unduly soft tyres have a detrimental effect upon performance. In the case of big tyres, say at the rear, if one is soft and the other hard, the effective diameter of one wheel is less than the other, which causes the differential to be constantly at work, whereas normally on a straight road it is idle. Different wheel diametres also naturally effect braking, although road surface is the same. The point is that with a small wheel the leverage is less and the tendency for it to lock is therefore greater. Unequal inflation of two tyres on the same axle also has the effect—although opinion is not unanimous on this point—of causing the axle to tend to oscillate about its centre point, causing poor tyre adhesion and rapid wear, apart from the discomfort which is created. In the case of front wheels with one tyre softer than the other this tendency to oscillation may—and often does —contribute towards wheel wobble, “patter” and shimmy.” These complaints have been aggravated of recent years by front axles having become so much heavier on account of the adoption of front-wheel brakes, and in the case of some large cars they have assumed quite serious proportions. Light cars have been less troubled, but, even so, many owner-drivers have found that they have been able materially to improve the “feel” of the steering by paying careful heed to equalising inflation pressures. There are cognoscenti in the motoring world who could point to many other directions in which material advantages can be gained by making sure that the tyre pressures of a car are equalised at regular intervals, but their theories are not easily explained in a short article, and enough has been said already to make it clear that five minutes each week spent with a pump and a gauge are likely to be amply rewarded.

MOTOR NEWS EROM GREAT BRITAIN. (By “R.A.C.”) INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS. Messrs Arrol-Johnston, Ltd., the makers of the well-known Arrol-Johnston and Galloway cars, have purchased the business of the Aster Engineering Company, including their “sleeve valve” manufacturing rights. The Arrol-Johnston and Galloway models will continue as before, but, in addition a six-cylinder sleeve-valve model will be introduced, having a 24-70 h.p. engine. Furthermore the electrical and marine work hitherto conducted by the Aster Company will be continued in special shops. It is confidently anticipated that the troubles of the Wolseley concern have been terminated by its purchase by Mr W. R. Morris. The Wolseley business was practically put up for auction, and several big interests were disposed to bid for it. For a time it was in doubt whether future control would not be vested in the hands of an American syndicate, and it is a matter for congratulation that the firm remains, in all senses of the word, British. The recent failure of the Wolseley Co. was due entirely to matters connected with finances and management, and had no connection with the firm’s products. In fact, the outstanding merit of the Wolseley Light Six, introduced at the last Olympia Show was universally recogised. In 1919 the Siddeley-Deasy Cq. was amalgamated with the motor department of Armstrong-Whitworth. A company was formed, known as the Armstrong-Whitworth Development Co. and this owned the undertaking known as Armstrong-Siddeley Motors, Ltd., builders of cars and also of aero engines. It also owned the ArmstrongWhitworth Aircraft business, manufacturing aeroplanes. The name of the holding company has now been changed to the Arm-strong-Siddeley Development Co. The programme will, of course, remain unchanged the undertaking having since 1919 produced more six cylinder cars than any other European manufacturer. TRIALS AND RACES. The greatest recent event in the way of speed performance, is of course, the record establish6d by Major Segrave with his 1,000 h.p. Sunbeam racing car, with which he, for the first time, exceeded a speed of 200 miles per hour, on one run actually reaching 207 miles per hour. A performance of this kind reflects credit, not only on the makers of the car, but on those responsible for every detail and accessory. A more normal type of Sunbeam car, namely a 3 litre super-sports model, recently finished first in the speed trials in Switzerland and made a new Swiss record of 129.3 miles an hour. For the 24 hour Endurance Grand Prix 1927, three privately owned 3 litre Bentley cars have been entered. These are practically identical with the Bentley which attempted the 24-hour record in France last year but, owing to an appalling thunderstorm, had to give up after 174 hours, during which an average of over 101 miles an hour had been maintained.

The annual hill climb organised by the Monaco Automobile Club was this year won foiL the third time in succession by a six cylinder A.C. in the 2 litre class. The winner was Mrs Victor Bruce, who put up the fastest time, following upon her 70 hour drive from John o’ Groats to Monte Carlo. British Motor Cycles and engines continue to sweep the board in races and trials all over the world. In the Colmore Cup Trial, B.S.A. riders secured three special awards, 5 gold medals and 7 silver medals. In the Victory Cup trial the prize for the best solo performance also went to a B.S.A. rider. As the Motor Cycle states, very many of the trials now held in Great Britain are calculated primarily to prove the capabilities of motor cycles under what are called colonial conditions; that is to say, for cross country work and over un-made roads and steep hills. One of the stiffest of all is the Southern Scott Trial. In this event five Triumphs were entered, and all completed the course, one rider winning the Northern Cup. The annual award of the Motor Cycle Union for the most meritorious observed performance of the season has recently been gained by Messrs Norton Motors; the certified trial consisting of fifteen hundred miles running, including a hundred continuous ascents and descents of a famous test hill in the Welsh mountains. The award reflects credit, not only on the makers of the machine, but also to a very appreciable extent upon Messrs Hans Renold, who supplied the chains responsible for the transmission of power throughout this very gruelling test. In the matter of high speeds, a very sensational performance was recently put up at Brooklands by Mr Herbert Le Vack on his 496 c.c. New Hudson, who won a race over a distance of about 9 miles at an average speed of nearly 85 m.p.h., and actually completed one lap at an average of over 100 m.p.h. The Motor Cycle draws one’s attention to the fact that, in this trial, a large number of foreign machines equipped with British engines competed and put up admirable performances. For example, machines with Villiers engines won five premier awards. Four of these were little engines of 172 c.c. fitted to, machines which all secured gold medals and cups. The fifth was a 350 c.c. engine on a machine with sidecar which won a gold medal, a challenge cup and the French Touring Club shield. As regards long distance pioneering journeys, two B.S.A. riders are in process of making a journey round the world. The Motor Cycle states that two other couples on other makes are also attempting a similar performance, but over somewhat different routes. The owner of a Triumph motor cycle and side-car recently journeyed, with his wife, from Bulawayo to the Cape, a distance of over two thousand miles. Fourteen days were occupied in travelling, the average petrol consumption was nearly sixty miles to the gallon, and the only trouble to the motor cycle was a single puncture.

Some of these last named tests are really of durability rather than of speed, and it is on the strength of durability and economy that the products of the British Motor Industry appeal most strongly and most widely. Many British models are capable, without the aid of exceptional circumstances of a life mileage of as much as two hundred thousand miles, coupled wtih low repair expenses throughout the life of the vehicle. The question of economy is not determined by first cost. For example, some people are in the habit of paying about £2OO for a car and replacing it every two years, scrapping the old one. The total expenditure in that case is £l,OOO in ten years whereas the buyer of such a model as the British “Star” car, to mention one wellknown car famous for its durability, would have paid out about £4OO in the first instance for one car which would have lasted the whole period, and, in the meanwhile would have the additional pleasure of handling a first-class article. I have selected this particular make for mention because I have just seen a very amusing testimonial from a place in Australia called Woy-Woy. It refers to a car about 25 years old, which the owner says is still “a monument to the unapproachable skill and honesty of material used by the British engineers.” Among other enthusiastic colloquialisms this particular “Star” user writes as follows: ‘I use her for hauling' wood, stone, coke and any old thing that requires transporting from one place to another on my baronial estate. Andy Kerr, the Coogee Bunyip, will put up the ‘dough’ on my say

One enthusiastic owner of a 14-20 h.p. Wolseley purchased in 1909 has kept exact records of each year’s work. He can still touch 44 m.p.h., and cover nearly 35 miles to the gallon under favourable conditions. During last year his mileage was about seven thousand miles and the total cost per mile, including tyres, repairs, taxes and everything else was 2.8 pence. Among commercial vehicles the team of Leylands which recently won the Commercial Motor Users Association’s challenge cup have covered respectively 247, 214 and 220 thousand milaa,

A Somerset cider distiller tells me that his 2| ton Guy has now exceeded the two hundred thousand mile mark and appears to be equal to several further years of excellent service. The petrol consumption is about 11 miles to the gallon and the quantity of oil used is negligible. At times British manufacturers receive complaints which have a humorous aspect, and are in a sense complimentary, since they indicate what some people expect as a matter of course from a British vehicle. For example, the owner of a Jewett wrote recently to the manufacturers asking them for an allowance on an outer cover of a tyre which had failed after covering a mileage of only thirty-five thousand miles! Even this is surpassed by another gentleman who has indicated what he expects of the products of the Rover Co. by writing to say that he won a Rover bicycle in a raffle in 1903; now one of the pedals has broken and what is the firm going to do about it? He was evidently expecting a much longer life trouble free. The firm has met him with the generous suggestion that they are prepared to refund the cost of his raffle ticket. A ROMANCE OR BUSINESS. To-day ninety-five per cent, of the world’s consumption of rubber comes from the Middle East, from Sumatra, Java, Malaya, mdia and Cochin China. This has not always been the case. The story of the transfer of this vast industry from South America half-way round the world, is one of the most interesting romances of business, says a writer in Goodyear News. Rubber comes from a milky substance called latex, that flows from the bark of rubber (hevea) trees, which grow in what is called the rubber belt, extending about ten degrees north and south of the equator. Trees are tapped by cutting a small strip from the bark, and the latex which flows out is collected in buckets. It is coagulated (something like the curd separates from the whey as milk turns sour), and this curdlike substance is lifted off, run through rollers, and comes out in sheets of pure rubber. It is then dried and is ready for shipment. The natives of South America and of Africa, who were first to gather rubber for the market, poured this liquid over a stick turned slowly over a fire, gradually forming a ball of rubber, in which shape the primitive product originally came to market. Outside the Congo, South America was the great rubber producing of the world until about 20 years ago. At that time 90 per cent, of the world’s rubber came from Brazil. Within five years the rubber producing industry was moved almost bodily to the Far East, and to-day, and for a number of years, the East has furnished the great bulk of the world’s needs in rubber, the balance being wild rubber, mostly from Brazil and Africa. The explanation is that a far-sighted Englishman, Sir Henry Wichham, had shipped some rubber tree seeds out of Brazil in the year of 1876, set them out in Kew Gardens, London, and shipped the young shoots to Ceylon. To-day the British control about 58 per cent, of the world’s acreage of plantation rubber, the Dutch about 15 per cent., the rest being divided between native, French, Japanese and American owners. Two American rubber companies own plantations, Goodyear and one other. There are 4,300,000 acres set out in rubber in the Middle East, representing a total investment of £170,000,000. “EDUCATING” PEDESTRIANS TOO MUCH LATITUDE. In all principal cities in this country the traffic is strictly controlled by police officers. At most busy crossings and road junctions one or more men in blue regulate the coming and going of the streams of vehicles, and woe betide the motorist who does not obey to the very letter the signals of the policeman on point duty. For some reason pedestrians are excused from the duty of complying with traffic regulations. Every day, at our big crossings, we see the flood of traffic that is released when the policeman drops his hand obstructed and impeded by pedestrians, who, instead of crossing when the ro&d was clear, risk life and limb in desperate dashes to the opposite footpath. Drivers of lorries, motor ’buses, cars and even the humble cyclist have all to wait until the cross-stream of vehicles has ceased to flow before they can pass on their way. Why, therefore, cannot those on foot also wait a moment or two and cross safely before a held-up stream of traffic? Considerable delays are occasioned every day by pedestrians stepping out in front of cars which, in order to relieve congestion, the police are waving on with definite and commanding gestures. If only those on foot would glance at the policemen on point duty they would see at once whether or not it was safe to cross the road. Instead of that they hesitate, tripping back and forth with expressions of anxiety, uncertain whether or not to pass in front of a stationary car. Yet would they but turn their eyes to the right or the left they would see the massive form of Robert with arm extended forbidding all movment of the vehicles. Consequently, the pedestrians flutter to and fro when it would have been safe for them to have crossed the road, only to make a frantic rush for a street refuge just as the released stream of traffic accelerates. Vehicle drivers are all trying to obey the policemen’s instructions to proceed, yet they cannot do so because of those who with malevolent glances, walk slowly past a few inches in front of their bonnets. What is wanted is for it to be made quite clear that pedestrians must obey the signals of police officers on point duty. In Paris and other European cities certain thoroughfares may only be crossed by pedestrians when the traffic is held up by a police officer. In this way the risk of accidents is diminished and traffic is able to proceed more swiftly in safety, and there is a consequent diminution of congestion. It is really time that the pedestrian was educated as to his or her responsibilities. Those on foot are allowed the most latitude. AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY. FINEST BUSINESS ROMANCE. The automotive industry is the world’s finest business romance. There is nothing comparable to it. Not only has it created an industry of world-wide proportions, providing employment for countless hordes of people, but has rejuvenated many industries that were at a standstill or moving ahead with a laboured inertia. No other industry has had so short a period of adolescence. And the amazing thing is that although it has penetrated the four corners of the globe it has only “warmed up” for the brilliant industrial marathon ahead. In the business world the automobile has practically revolutionised methods of merchandising. Its flexibility enables the salesman to cover a larger territory and work it more intensively; he spins over the roads, making more calls in a day than he could formerly in a week. One man to-day does the work that formerly required three or four, does it faster and better. This is only one of a thousand ways in which the automobile is transforming business by building a finer efficiency. Its challenge to-day to the business man is “use me or shut up shop.” Its place in the agricultural industry has become tremendously important in the life of the country. The motor truck is being used more and more to transport farm products to market, and at such time as will enable the farmer to command top prices. The automobile provides him with the means of quick communication with the city, and his family have all the advantages and recreations of the city with the added joys of an uncrowded environment.

While it is impossible to catalogue the new forces that are impinging on the old established business order, it is safe to say that none is so comprehensive as the automobile.

LIFE OF TYRES. IMPORTANT FACTORS. CONDITIONS OF USE. One of the most illuminating methods of studying- automobile progress is provided by an examination of the varying complaints which follow changes in design. The modern motor-car, although differing only in detail construction from those manufactured twenty years ago, provides both driver and passenger with an entirely different type of general service. The ever-increasing demand for improvements in comfort and speed has made the modern car efficient, but it is efficient in a totally different manner to the most reliable cars of 1914. Probably the most misunderstood, and at the same time one of the most important links in the chain of reliability, is the pneumatic tyre. Very few motorists have the slightest conception of the conditions under which a tyre operates and the circumstances most liable to prodiXe wear. Tyre manufacture has reached a stage of extraordinary perfection. The chemical and physical investigation of the properties of rubber, together with an unending series of experiments, has improved tyres out of all recognition. It is a fact, however, that motorists will be heard to remark that “the modern tyre does not always equal in mileage the older type,” particularly referring to those which are within the high-pressure classification. Now the old-fashioned car, which was incapable of rapid acceleration or deceleration, subjected the tyre to a far nearer approach to pure rolling than can ever apply to the modern vehicle, which usually weighs under 30cwt, has powers of violent acceleration and can maintain an average of 30 m.p.h. over good or bad roads with an engine of 1500 c.c. It has recently been established that, under rolling contact alone, tyres are free from practically all signs of abrasion and wear; they will last up to 100,000 miles and show but little effect through flexion, even when artificial road inequalities are included in the test. It is the conditions efi use that affect the life of a tyre, and of these many conditions a certain number are definitely within control of the driver. When a car is used all the year round the tyres are subjected to strains of varying nature, but few drivers trouble to consider that trye stresses to-day are quite different from those encountered by tyres of three, or even two, years ago. Quite apart from any increased vibration resulting from the general adoption of high speed engines, road speeds have enormously increased, and it is well known that this is a prime cause of tyre wear.

For racing purposes special tyres are constructed, not because there is any variation in the quality of the materials used, but for the excellent reason that an ordinary tyre could not withstand the centrifugal force imposed by very high speeds. The heavy tread fitted to standard covers, built to last for long distances and to supply plenty of rubber which can be gradually worn down without danger, would fly off during the first few miles if fitted to a car travelling at 130 m.p.h. With an increase of touring speeds it cannot be said that springing has improved proportionately. A bouncing contact between road and tyre gives every opportunity for tyre wear, allows slip to take place and tears particles from the rubber surface as the car progresses. The modern motorist expects far more than mere reliability from his tyres. He demands a vastly increased degree of comfort, which has naturally led to the redesigning of tyres to suit various makes of cars and different conditions of loading or spring action. Until quite recently motor manufacturers regarded the tyre as an after thought; it would have appeared extraordinary to them if they had been requested to vary any part of the design or wheel loading to suit the tyres alone. Yet this is a perfectly logical attitude. The lowpressure tyre is certainly more sensitive to alterations to “toe-in,” speed, violent braking and springing. Not one motorist in ten will trouble to realise that a small alteration in pressure has little effect upon a high-pressure type, but may cause a lowpressure tyre, with its increased area of contact, to work under totally different conditions to those for which it was designed. If motor users required tyres for speed alone or for comfort alone, each of these conditions would be easy to satisfy. The modern car must be both comfortable and speedy at the same time. The touring conditions of to-day are strenuous and the damage which mechanical or driving faults can cause is cumulative. A wheel which is liable to wobble does not necessarily render a car unsafe, but it implies that a straight track is never maintained at speeds far below those liable to produce any danger or peculiarity of actual steering. A tyre with a |in error in the amount of “toe in” provided is pushed sixteen miles sideways for every 1000 miles of its normal forward travel. These two examples alone will serve to illustrate the possibilities of wear when the sensitivity of the low-pres-sure tyre to inflation is borne in mind. Chassis or driving conditions such as those illustrated cannot possibly be counteracted by tyre design; they are solely dependent upon the common sense, or otherwise, of the user and the car manufacturer alike.