Motordom

Southland Times, Issue 22188, 2 December 1933, Page 13

Motordom

OF GENERAL INTEREST ON THE ROAD AND ON THE WING. THE LATEST HAPPENINGS. Bedfords Again. The September and October issues of the “Bedford Transport Magazine” reached me simultaneously this week. Both tell the lorry owner who is losing money how to balance the budget; both tell the transport authority who is in a happy way how to consolidate his position still further. The coloured covers of these magazines always catch the eye; the material inside is no less arresting. Alluring Cars—Very. The fine pages of the “Illustrated London News” for October 14 are made still more attractive by the chronicling of the great event of the motor car industry—the 27th International Motor Exhibition at Olympia. H. Thornton Rutter reviews the display with a sure pen, and aided by numerous photographs his article is of excellent reference value. I must confess the advertisements in this part of the paper held my attention more than anything else. A smart Daimler surrounded by smart people made me go as vert as the haricots with envy. A New Vauxhall. I strongly advise motorists who have not yet done so to have a ride in the new Vauxhall 14.h.p., Six. The sparkling performance of this car must be experienced to be believed. It is easily capable of speeds of over a mile a minute, and quiet and smooth all the time. Brakes need but slight pressure, the chassis is delightfully sprung, steering is effortless. And then there is Synchro-Mcsh easy change gearbox. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of this newcomer is the generous proportions of the saloon interior. Scat angles, upholstery, arm rests—everything has been tested and developed, until leg room, head room, and natural comfort angles are definitely right. The Vauxhall 14 h.p. Six has a big future in this country. A Family Magazine. “Are Sunday Motorists Sinners?” asks Arthur Nettleton in the September issue of “Popular Motoring.” This is a question every motorist must decide for himself, but speaking broadly, nowadays the sin in Sunday motoring, as both Churches and motorists are more widely realizing lies in abuse, and not in the mere act of Sabbath travelling. Lady Demetriadi, who from her photograph looks young and pretty, makes a plea for the retention of the dialects of the counties. She condemns the efforts of country folk to imitate the English they hear on the wireless. “We ought to be gloriously proud of our dialects as a great heritage,” says the writer. Fair-minded people will agree that the dialects should be treasured as rich legacies of the past; others, and I believe they are in the majority, will declare this is anticommunist propaganda designed to keep enlightenment from the masses in the form of a more cultured way of talking. “The Autocar’s” Maurice Sampson, trips across the channel and journeys for a thousand miles on continental roads in this number. This article is written in his usual effortless care-free style; he makes one desire to visit his pleasant places. This is the final test of good writing. If I come across a better September number I shall count myself a very lucky fellow. The Chrysler-Plymouth. This motor car is designed and built for those who desire a six-cylinder job in the moderate price field with an outstanding performance. And this standard Chrysler-Plymouth Six, which I inspected in the form of the fiveseater saloon the other day certainly cannot fail to impress the most fastidious critic. Features such as a powerful six-cylinder L-head engine, four bearing crankshaft, T-slot alloy pistons, silchrome exhaust valves and “Floating Power” engine mountings command the attention at once. “Floating Power” is certainly fully developed on this automobile. The Plymouth engine is suspended at only two points; it is thus free to.rock and dissipate its own power shocks. Roominess and convenience are features of the interior of this Chrysler-Plymouth. The seats are wide, comfortable and well upholstered, while all the fittings have been designed to harmonize with the general decoration scheme. Under these circumstances there is afforded to the driver and passenger alike restful riding ease. In the final test—road performance—this six more than fulfils its obligations. An engine with an ample reserve, brakes that are safe and sure, exceptional road holding qualities, make it a charming car to drive. Mr Walter P. Chrysler has something really good to offer the public in this model; and the public will respond in the traditional manner. That’s one fact I am sure of in these uncertain times. Earth’s Roadways. Lo, all ways run from morning: The Red Road and the White; And all roads run to sunset, And, after that, the night. They wind about the face of earth, They compass all her streams, The tranquil White, the royal Red, The long Blue Road, for commerce spread, The Brown Road that the pixies tread, And the Grey Road of Dreams. And some are old, so old they heard The clang of Roman swords, When legions marched at dawning light, Through shadowed weald and wooded height, With golden eagles poised for flight, Earth’s conquerors and lords. They know the height of sacrifice, The depth of human pain, The secrets of the world they hold, Before their knowledge, calmy cold, All human mysteries unfold And hidden things grow plain. Love, sorrow, hate, they know them all, And myriad crimes untold; And patiently they bear with each, For earth has nothing new to teach, Nor any wonder past the reach Of wisdom centuries old. And still by countless, careless feet Their silent ways are trod; In that far-off eternity, When all have speech, the bond and free, I sometimes think the Roads will be The Witnesses of God. NELLIE A. EVANS, in The Bulletin.

A Manchester motor-cyclist has been fined under an act of 1844 for repairing his machine in a side-road.

News and Notes.

SPLENDID ISTANBUL THROUGH NINE COUNTRIES. AN INTERESTING JOURNEY. BY MARGARET BRADLEY. There may be airways and railways and steamers, but only a car will take you bag and baggage from the very heart of London to that core of oriental splendour, Istanbul, whilst you sit in the same seat. I nearly said magic rug and recalled the famous bewitched travel, for there is modem magic in that long highway which runs through nine different countries, demands that you should speak, or—what is more important—make yourself understood in nine consecutive languages, and pass airily through eight frontier stations. But in exchange for this is adventure, interest, pleasure and excitement that only motoring will give. Over the Ferry. We left the dainty English countryside sleeping in a summer haze. Early morning and the Townsend ferry saw us at Calais, and from there we literally sped like an arrow along the straight highway to Ostend and from thence to Brussels, for A.A. help had made things easy through Customs and frontier. The A.I.T. officials in Brussels received us cordially and were all too modest about their excellent contribution to the “great highway.” Then came quaint and grey old Belgian towns where new red roofs stood out like scars amongst older stones and told their tale of bygone woes. Louvain and Liege, where it was worth while spending the night if only to be awakened to next morning by the most exquisite chimes one could drcam and find true. Aix-le-Chapelle, Cologne, Coblentz, Frankfort. The winding highway follows the fast-flowing Rhine, and led us to old-world Wurzburg, agog with Hitler’s flags and violently khaki uniforms, but there also was food and rest for tired motorists. On to Regensburg and Vienna over the best of modern highways and yet through the quaintest country imaginable. What more could a motorist desire? we thought, but still more was in store for us! From Austria to Hungary. From Vienna an unfriendly patch of bad road led to the Hungarian Customs and again an excellent highway to that gay town of fairy lights, music and friendliness—Budapest! It would take a book to describe the resources of Budapest. There we bathed in the blue mosaic swimming pool, surrounded with flowers, where the water sprang from a natural radio-active source and where even the sunshine sparkled more brightly on everything. There we danced and listened to the “Tziganes” violins till we thought wc should never be able to leave. But the “Main Highway” beckoned still. On through corn-covered land, past thatch-roofed villages, unchanged for centuries, past fantastically costumed natives and antique covered wagons drawn by water buffaloes we sped. We realized that we were drawing close to the Orient when an unreliable looking ferry coughed and spluttered in its supreme efforts to pull us over the moonlit river into Belgrade. Here we were obliged to resort to signs and mimicry in order to ask for food and beds. But everywhere, whether we were understood or not, friendly smiles, interest and helpfulness made even difficult moments pleasant. For there were difficult moments ahead —where is adventure and fun without this seasoning? So there came some nicely intermittent stretches of dusty road which to be mild we shall term bumpy. Then there was rain—sheets, showers, buckets of rain such as never happened, somehow, in civilisation. Then more dust. 'Then the wild and forbidden Dragoman Pass, where we crawled along rut to rut, a soldier's cscourt clinging desperately on to each running-board. On, still on, to Plovdiv, picking our way through fields sometimes, until across one field a telegraph pole barred our way. Into Turkey. Here were the Bulgarian Customs, over the pole—or rather under—and the next field was Turkey. Adrianople at last—the real Orient we were waiting for. Domes and minarets gilded by the setting sun. An early morning rise the next day was meant to lead us to our goal in time for lunch. But alas! we had not calculated that rain would transform Turkish roads so rapidly into a sea of mud. So we crawled and ditched and unditched and bogged the whole day through and arrived long after dark, wheels chained and roped, covered with mud, tired and hungry but triumphant—for here was Istanbul at last. To the South and East. So there lay the first part of the great international highway which will extend itself some day to Cape Town, south, and eastwards to India. The number of English cars encountered on our way spoke plainly of British enterprise and love of travel, and we have brought back with us from this wonderful experience the assurance that the interest all the different countries are bringing into this scheme for enlarging our motoring sphere is a great one and very much alive. Some day the English tourist will find signs and direction posts which will be easy to read, and, let us hope, some helpful A.A. scouts all along the way. Civilization travels fast—and so shall we. The world is indeed a great place when you’re a motorist!

Leakage frequently takes place from the gland on the water pump, which is supposed to prevent water from emerging where the shaft enters the pump casing. As a rule, it is sufficient to screw the gland up half a turn or so, but in course of time the packing becomes so worn that this simple procedure no longer suffices. Consequently, if there is any doubt as to the condition of the packing, owners would be well advised to remove the gland take out the tattered remains of the old packing and replace it with new material, which can be obtained quite cheaply. Do not subsequently screw down the gland too tightly or it will bind on the shaft and prevent this part from rotating freely. By far the most common cause of high fuel consumption is defective ignition due to dirty plugs. A complete cylinder full of gas is wasted every time a misfire occurs, and even an intermittent miss means a loss of 10 per cent, to 15 per cent, since the full benefit of the power stroke is not gained. Most plug trouble occurs through the continued use of plugs, which though apparently in good condition, have been kept in service too long. It is often impossible to detect an intermittent miss, and the only way to eliminate it is to change plugs after every 10,000 miles.

PEDESTRIAN PROBLEMS THE “RIGHTS” OF FOOT PASSENGERS. AN ENGLISHMAN’S OPINION. The trouble that has caused the ped-estrian-motorist fight is that pedestrians have come to regard themselves as the public, whereas in reality they are but one section of it, says the Rev. Herbert Dunnico, M.P., Deputy Assistant Speaker to the House of Commons, in an English monthly. It is doubtful even whether pedestrians are in the majority, if it is realized that at least seven people out of ten use private cars, motor-coaches, bicycles, or horse traps as transport at one time or another. How many persons in London, Andover, Barrow-in-Furness, or York, are genuine pedestrians in the rightful sense of the word? When claiming the “rights” of foot passengers they are apt to forget that these are just as limited as those of horse, cyclist and motor traffic. Because they were the original road users when nothing faster than a one-horse waggon was known, they cannot retard the clock of progress and retain that priority in the face of completely changed conditions. Such a thing is both ridiculous and impossible. Dangers exist for all users of the highway in this speed-ridden age, and those dangers are increased in direct ratio to the foolishness or wisdom of each wayfarer. Obscuring the Point at Issue. Often we read of attacks on motorists by presumably responsible people, such as coroners. It was only recently that one coroner broadcasted his personal prejudice in a bitter attack which served only to obscure the real points at issue. He was reported as saying that “Motor-coach drivers are splen-did-owners of super-power saloon cars are roadhogs—women motorists are disgraceful—and I have finished with motor-cyclists!” He entirely forgot that there are just as many maniacs on two legs as there are on two or four wheels. Nor is this a biased view, for although personally I have travelled upwards of 50,000 miles in cars of various descriptions, I have never actually driven one. The spectator sees most of the game, and in common with scores of others I have seen instances of disgraceful driving by car owners that merit disqualification not for one year, but for ten! On the other hand, I have witnessed many accidents involving two and sometimes three cars caused solely by the criminal neglect of pedestrians. One such case occurred in which three men were badly injured, two cars were smashed, and a horse had to be shot. The scene was a cross-roads on the outskirts of London, and the cause of the accident was a woman who, with an armful of parcels, trotted straight across a busy road with her head down. She deserved death; but escaped only through the wild skids of the motorists in question. Then she calmly disappeared and the accident was put down as being the result of “dangerous” driving! Jay-walkers to Blame. It is amazing that the toll of casualties in our big industrial towns is not infinitely higher than at present, for the number of “jay-walkers” in our streets is extraordinary, and is enough to turn grey the hair of a driver of anything faster than a horse dray. From a careful personal observation I would put .he proportion of real “roadhog” car drivers at not more than 5 per cent. On the other hand, the number of careless and unsafe walkers is certainly not less than 15 to 20 in each hundred. “Crawling” and holding the crown of the road should be penalized on our busy city and arterial roads with nearly as much severity as dangerous driving itself, for it is a direct incentive to the taking of undue risks by the drivers of faster vehicles. I would wager that the amount of cutting-in and passing on the wrong side by cyclists and motors now so prevalent would fall to a minimum were the offenders liable at any moment to be “trapped” by motor-cycle patrols. There could be no question of evasion of responsibility, for witnesses would be available on the spot. Solving the Problem.

On the country roads I would urge the necessity of making at least one four-foot path, while pedestrians in using the road itself should be required to walk on the right, and thus face oncoming traffic. There are many parts of Great Britain where it is a positive danger to walk along a country road at night, and this risk is greatly accentuated when driving rain obscures the vision of motorists. “Jaywalking” must be made quite as grave an offence as “driving to the common danger,” while cyclists who ride three or four abreast must pay for their selfishness and careless attitude towards other users of the King’s highways. The problem now facing the public is not insuperable, for all right-minded pedestrians, motorists, and other wayfarers will welcome legislation which will not favour one section of the community to the detriment of any other. The annual increase of traffic on our modem roads is enormous, and in the next decade will become even greater. Let us tackle the busines with clear vision, unblinded by sectional prejudices which can only obscure the issue and be the cause of much needless illfeeling. STREET LIGHTING REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENTS. NEARLY ACCIDENT PROOF. This year’s Public Lighting Engineers’ Conference recently held at Margate, England, was of particular interest in that several revolutionary inventions were demonstrated to delegates attending from all parts of Britain. These new street lighting inventions are remarkable for the fact that it is now possible to provide 2| times as much light as formerly, using the same amount of current, while new methods of light distribution and projection make the illumination so flexible that it can be applied to all types of thoroughfares, according to their peculiar local requirement. Main arterial thoroughfares, for example, can be equipped with units that will throw 6000 candle power forward in the direction in which traffic is proceeding, with perhaps 3000 candle power in the direction of on-coming traffic. The chief effect of this is that there shall be an abundance of light without

glare or dazzle to impede the movement of fast moving traffic. With such a method of lighting it is within the bounds of possibility—and perfectly practicable—to dispense with the use of driving lights on motor cars, the glare and dazzle of which often render night driving a veritable nightmare to users of the road.

A system of main thoroughfare lighting was demonstrated at Margate by the General Electric Co., England, in collaboration with the local authorities, in which glare, dazzle, shadow, black patches, distortion, and other bugbears that are so prone to cause traffic accidents are entirely abolished. High powered lighting units were mounted on existing tramway standards 20 ft. above the roadway. The lamps, known by the name of Osira, differ from ordinary electric lamps in that they have no filaments, being merely a glass cylinder filled with a special form of gas which, when subjected to an electrical current, becomes a luminous cord of light some six inches long. Far reaching improvements in the lighting of public thoroughfares may be expected in England this coming winter, for with the speeding .up of motor traffic it is imperative that roadways should not lack so essential an element of safety as this method of lighting provides. The new lighting is as nearly accident proof as human ingenuity can make it, while it has the additional merit of being an entirely British product.

When steel is exposed to the action of sea water and the weather it is said to corrode at the rate of an inch in eighty-two years. An inch of iron in the same conditions corrodes in 190 years. When exposed to fresh water and the weather the periods are . 170 years for steel and 630 years for iron.

An Otago motorist who made a trip through the West Coast, journeyed for 1556 miles. He noted 1014 signs, exclusive of bridges culverts and water courses, and encountered 709 cross roads and 68 railway crossings.

Very heavy sand can generally be negotiated by partial deflation of the tyres. For an ordinary light car 121 b pressure for the front wheels and 161 b for the back are sufficient. The car should be started gently, and given every assistance to get going by easing the sand from round the wheels if they have sunk into it, and small bushes or grass laid in the tracks will help; otherwise the strain on the tyre may rip the valve out. The tyres should be reinflated as soon as the hard road is reached again.

An English driver was recently puzzled to understand why pedestrians and passing motorists stared curiously at him. The reason was obvious when he stepped out of his car. On the running board was a pile of groceries which he had put there and forgotten after a shopping ex-

pedition! Another driver was many miles from home when he was unable to find his knife, though he thoroughly searched his car. A 750rnile trip followed, and as he got. out there was the knife on the runningboard.

At an inquest at Southampton, on a motorist who was killed when his car collided with a train at a level-crossing, the jury decided that death was. due to the train being negligently driven.

Stiffness in the steering may be due to lack of lubrication, or the steering gear may be too closely adjusted. Liberal lubrication of steering knuckles, king pins, etc, will often cure the trouble, but adjustment of the steering gear may be necessary.

The latest figures for car registrations in the Dominion for August last place a well-known British make at the head of the list. This car—namely, the Austin—secured 24 per cent, of the total sales during the period in question, beating all foreign competitors as well as being more than twice as. popular as the next most numerous British car. The complete Austin film, “Wheels Onward,” which is now being enthusiastically received all over the country, is serving to enlighten the public as to the wonderful methods now employed in producing British cars, as well as the benefits provided by the modern motor vehicle as compared with travel lone hundred years ago.