MOTORING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 144433, 22 July 1914, Page 7

MOTORING.

SENBR-OF RESPONSIBILITY. Many who road tho accounts ol lho all too I'reqnom- accidents in whir-h automobiles are concerned must bo struck by the thought that .somewhere bad judgment, carelessness, recklessness, or ignorance have, ms a rule,, bad a hand in the affair. After a season or more of motoring without accident, wo are apt to lose sight of its over-present possibility, and to become lax, whereas we ought always to keep in mmd the fact that in a weight of a ton or two, moving at 30, or even 10 miles an hour, wo have in our charge a power which can crush out ono or many Jives in an instant, and that, such may ho the result oi failure to realise our responsibility. As tho iivst step toward safely, the car should he properly equipped. This means non-skid tyros, with chains in addition for very bad weather, an adequate warning device which may be instantly .sounded, and an cifcctivo lighting system. Thobo who once use non-skid treads seldom go back to the smooch tread, and. even in the best ol weather, a .stretch of wot asphalt may make it dangerous lor the user of tho latter tv|.o of tyre. Many night accidents have been due to lack of a proper lighting .system on the car, and no ono should a i tempt to drive at night outside of cities ami towns without good headlights. They should be controlled from the driver 7 * scut, so that they may ho dimmed when parsing other vehicles. , Much may be done by automobile clubs and public authorities in the way of erecting warning signs on bad curves, before steep hills, near school houses, etc. Needless to say, these signs should be placed judiciously, and where really needed, so that motorists will lake trio warning at i U< face value. In some localities, signs arc found in such profusion -that the warnings lose their force.

Bui the actual management of tho car is tho most important factor to bo considered in ail attempts to cut down the number of accidents. Speeding, or anything approaching it in congested places. must stop. Drivers should always hold out a. ham! in warning before taking a ■ orner or stopping. They should never start up from tin kerb without making sure nothing is ,approaching in tho rear. ’They should not attempt to pass 1 rams from which passengers are alighting. Upon approaching blind turns and upon wishing to pass a. vehicle ahead warnings shciihc he given. In short, the driver should lie careful in every sense of the yore!. The man who drives while intoxicated is guilty of a crime in many States, and ho is always dangerous in the extreme. .4 higher sense of responsibility would do more to cheek tliis practice than an occasional conviction. A considerable number of accidents are an inevitable consequence of this highspeed ago and its mechanical devices, hut undoubtedly a very large proportion of our accidents can be stopped by educating the public along the lines of the ‘•.Safety First” idea. In no connection is tliis more desirable than with automobiles and their drivers. INDIANA BOLLS “300”—SUCCESS OF EUROPEAN CARS.

Particulars are to linnc! of the International Indianapolis ■'•TOO” Milo Race, decided in America at the curl of May. Ji provided a magnificent .struggle between 30 of tho finest drivers and fastest cars in the world. Glorious weather favoured tho race, which drew a tremendous gate of 125.000 people, all of whom had to pay high prices to witness tho great struggle for over £IO,OOO worth of prizes. Out of that amount the visiting contingent won over £BOOO. Tho winner was Rene Thomas. Before the event ho said he would average 83 miles per hour for tho “500.” and ho “made good” by averaging close on 82). From the word “go” the pace was terrific. The first of the favouriiics to drop out. was the English' representative J. Chassagno. who. through bursting a cover on one of tho bankings, side-skidded, broke a wheel, and turned bis car over. At 100 miles the little Peugot led in llir lOmin 4fisec, closely followed by Guyot (.Delago), Christaens (ESccisior), Thomas (Uclago). with Oonx. last year’s winner, ninth : and the dual Grand Prix winner, George Boillot (who was favourite for the Indianapolis event). 13th, ho having had considerable tyro trouble. At 200 miles, in 2hr 2omin Usee, Ouray still led from Thomas and AVishart. a crack American driver, with Goux handy, and Boillot improving his position. Thomas won with 6min 19sec to spare, in the record time of 6hr 3min 4usec. Dirray finished second in 6hr 10min 24soc; and Guyot third in 6hr IJinin lace. Only 13 cars survived tho terrific speed test. Grant, an English representative on a Sunbeam, finished seventh, winning £360, The first American-built car to finish was a Stiria, driven by B. Oldfield. Tvros wei e tho determining factor m the race, many of tho contestants lesing anv chance they nad through Onto lost in tyro-changing. Ail told, it is estimated that somo £2BOO worth of tyres wore mined by tho 30 contestants. Of tho three placed men, Guyot had the least trouble in this direction, ho changing only two covers, Thomas and Duray each changing five. Last wear’s winner, J- Gonx,_ changed 11 fvres, and consequently did well to finish close up fourth. The winner only lost four minutes 55 seconds through tyre and fuel replenishments—a record nearly equalled by Ouray’s littlo Peugeot, which, lost five minutes 27 seconds from the same cause. A significant fact as allowing the reliability of the engines of tho leading cars at the finish is that none of tho first seven cars had their bonnets lifted during the race. The American ' cars as a whole made a very poor showing, getting only oiio place out of tho. first seven cars to finish. Mechanical troubles caused most of the American contestants to drop out,' whilst not a single European! contestant was eliminated by mechanical troubles. The first four driwrrs selected castor oil as an engine lubricant, and all used large diameter tyres. The honours of the race were with the littlo Petsfjot, which ran second. The capacity of its four-cylinder engine was 183 cubic Inches (3.7 in ;bore x 6.1.4 in stroke) as ajsainst the winning car’s 380.2 cubic inil'ice (4.1 in boro x 7.08 stroke), giving oif 130 h.p. at 2000 revolutions. The little Pcugot engine gave off 03 h.p. at 2870 revolutions. It is' significant knat all the loading cars at tho finish mere fitted with overhead valves. THINGS TO AVOID.

When a car is stalled in soft ground it is common pcactico to speed np the engine and than suddenly throw in the slow-spe-ed clutich. When garage doors open directly on a public street yon can very easily run down a nasser-by in coming out. A slight petrol leak does no harm on tho road, but in. the garage it may lead to a bad fire. A CAUSE OF TROUBLE,

Carelessness in. replacing tho manifolds of tho Ford car so that the small gasket collars do- mot mako airtight

joints is <\ cause of trouble oiten overlooked. It is well to fasten the*o gaskets in tho holes in the manifold by using 6inalJ pieces oi paper to wedge them in, and then adjusting the manifold to tho holes in the cylinders. Ibis plan obviates dropinng them, or getting them in oul of true. .SPEEDOMETER VARIATION. The permanent accuracy oi a magnetic type speedometer depends upon permanency of magnet if iorcc in the circular magnet, and magnets are very apt to change. Iho ceiitriiugal speedometer may varv with the softening ol the resisting ynnng, A BATTERY JIIXT. A oar was driven into a repair chop recentlv inr an inspection oi fbe battery system! The owner declared the car would not fire on battery .side, but would run well on the magneto. 'Jhe rejiairman started the motor on battery side and failed to get an explosion, but. when lie switched to magneto the motor picked on perfectly. Starting at tho proper place, the source of battery ignition. the reiiairnmn found that the batten- terminals were corroded so badly that little or no current would flow to ;’ie cable. He immediately removed the cable and instead of taking a knife and sera ping the corroded portion from the eosi. be took a niece of ordinary eord and started to run it back ami forth around the threads of the post. He soon had the threads nicely cleaned and nolished. tho terminal made good contact, and the motor started easily on the battery.