CYCLING AND MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1916, Page 7

CYCLING AND MOTORING.

NEWS AND NOTES, Mr. Lloyd George, England's Munitions Minister, has set a. good example to motorists who employ a chauffeur. He was aia»Mg the first of English motorists to free his driver for war purposes, replaci»g him with a lady driver. It is reported from Stockholm that owi»g to the great shortage of rubber in Germany, nearly all the taxi-cabs in Berlin are now running on steel tyres. Many of the German motor vehicles now in use at the front are similarly fitted u l>. • • * A simple and inexpensive method of protecting the plated parts oE a, cycle «i motor-cycle—a»d for that matter enamelled parts that have become chipped—is to apply a coating of ordinary coach varinsh. It is a most effective protectioa, and although it may deprive the parts of their pristine brilliancy, there is no bettor way of warding off the effects of the dampness. To ensure quick drying, 15 per cent, of terebine sk«uld be mixed with the varnish, » * » It is reported that all estimates as to motor-car production in the United States during the coming year are threatened with a serious upset by reason of the acute situation that has arisen in respect to the supply of raw materials as a result of the war in Europe. It is consequently felt that many of the big outputs which have been planned will have to be greatly curtailed, because of the impossibility oi obtaining materials. Statistics are not usually very att|H| tive, but those just issued by the aHB rican Government relating to the HR port of motor-vehicles are significanflH the value of Great Britain's coiltroJH the seas. During the eight months ing September, 1915, the United succeeded in exporting to Germany motor-cars, of an average declared of £l4O. During the eight monthsH| the preceding year Germany receiHH from America 1063 cars, being praflß cally the same number as sent to FntflH During the period that Germany iMH coined four American cars, the UnijJHl Kingdom took 19,434, while France fIH ported 4885. It is not known at IK present time how many of the IP-MI cars sent to England were for Army JHj but it is quite safe to estimate th'atHj least half of them were for the forflj while a certain proportion of the remaflH der were certainly imported to replHJ lorries requisitioned for the Army atHJ earlier date. Practically 95 per ceHH of the American cars sent to FraH| were for Army use, for it is only durHß the last few weeks that there has bHJ a civilian demand for lorries, and wHJ the exception of one cheap make fl| American touring car, manufacturßj have not done any business in FraflJ during the war. It is safe to ostimHH that during the first eight months Hj last year, England and France imported from America 15,000 mojBP vehicles for purely military purposes. During the same time Germany was able to get four. It is safe to assume that Germany needed motor vehicles just as much as we did. for although she must be given credit for more careful preparation for the conflict, even the Kaiser's military experts failed to foresee the immense application for petrol to war, or to estimate for a war of such long duration w * » Some day, perhaps, we may learn of the varied class of motor work that the motor-cycle has performed in the present war. At the moment there is a veil of secrecy over the operations, and it is only by out-of-the-way sources that We are able to learn of the many services that the motor-cycle is rendering to our brave troops in the field. In the minds of most people the work of the motor-cyclist is associated with the dashing work of despatch-carrying, but from some accounts that have recently reached us, we learn that there is another field in which the motor-cycles and their riders are proving their worth. We know, of course, that most of the ambulance convoys have attached to them motor-cyclists who act as orderlies and carry o ut duties of a similar nature to that of the despatch riders, but in the every-day work of the Bed Cross the motor-cyclist has hitherto not been able to take part. We are told now that the side-car has been pressed into service by the French, and in one of the districts where our Allies are operating. 8-h.p. side-car combinations are doing yeoman service over very difficult ground. Prior to the introduction of the motor-cycle ambulance it was necpssary to convey the wounded men by mule-cart over, fearfully rough roads, up lulls with gradients varying from 1 in 10 to 1 in 6, to the point where wounded men could be transferred to the mo-tor-car ambulance. As these large ambulance waggons are so easily seen by the observers of the enemy, it was only possible for them to come up in the night time, and consequently poor sufferers often had to wait twelve or fourteen hours before they arrived at the base hospital. By the new method the serious cases are transferred from the firing-line to the base in about three hours. This means that many a life has been saved by the rapid transport afforded bv motor side-car amliulance outfits. If the war continues for any length of time, it is very likely that this service will be extended considerably. * * » ' Perhaps the most discussed matter in English motoring circles at the present time is the effect which the present invasion of American cars will have on the popular British car and its manufacturer when he attempts to re-occupy the markets from which the Government's restrictions and demands have secluded him so long. We have had opinions from experts of all degrees and nationalities, varying as widely as the poles, but it is remarkable (says a wellknown English motorist) that those who have gsne most nearly to the root of the British manufacturer's handicap are the least quoted. It is agreed that by no process of factory amalgamation, short of a wholesale fusion of a number o? our leading conerns. could an output be secured sufficient to justify operations on the American scale, and with any approach to American prices. That, as any person conversant with trade knows, ia an impossible proposition at the moment. Therefore it is to be assumed that British and American prices must remain relatively as they arc. But they do not need to remain so. For this statement one relies upon various discoveries made in munition factories since the introduction of female labor, where men's work had been universal previously, and on, comparisons between English and French production. The Autocar states that machines which in the hands of men could only produce "50 components by running three hours overtime per day, in the hands of women have been turning out 1000 without any overtime. The Aeroplane states that the propeller of an aeroplane wheel, ' which occupies a British, s'o.rkjggn anj;..

thing from forty to forty-five hours to produce, is produced by a French worknun of equal skill in one-fifth or onefourth of that time. Some time since Mr. Lloyd George plainly told munition workers' leaders that their trade union rules and regulations were restricting output, and here we see two highly significant illustrations of the extent of that restriction. If all the world were working under the same conditions we could afford to regard this with equanimity; but it is clear that the British trade unionist will have to alter his ways or our capitalists will take their money to other lands where the workman is more willing to take his proper share in international competition. Xo factory organisation could overcome a handicap such as those instances amount to. American factory output per machine and per unit of capital is ahead of ours by just the difference between the output of the American and British workman per day.