MOTORING

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144667, 29 April 1915, Page 5

MOTORING

(By "Daimler.") STATK OF THB BOA OS. Reports as lo the slate of Iho roads were recently received by the Wellington Automobile Chib from several other associations. In Hawke's Hay. according to Mr. lielley, sooretary of the, local association. the main roads are generally good. The centre road train Norsewood lo Kopna is .-.titled to hr now the host to take in preference to the road trom Alakotuku to Takapan. Taranaki conditions were thus summarised by Mn (0 0- Grover. late secretary to the Taranaki Association; Ha’weni to New Plymouth, road in good order. New Plymouth to Kltbam via the const, road fair to good except between Opunake and ilahotu. where the surface is rather rough and pot-holey. New Plymouth to Truth road very good as far as Waitara; from Waitara to Trcnui road good to very good, beyond I'riiti towards Mokail and Awakino. road moderate and impassable in wet weather. .Motorists should drive slowly in New Plymouth borough, as the roads are in a had stale pending the tramway construction work, and in some places there are holes big enough to break the springs of a car at 20 m.p.h. The roads from Hlenhcim to Christchurch and Ibenheim to Nelson are slated hy the secretary of the Marlborough Association to be in line trim at present, barring a patch of gravel here and there. In (lie Wellington district there is a good deal of new metal down in patches on the -Manawalu Hoad between .Johnson vibe and I’orirua, with ceeasiomtl patches between Porirna and Parcmata. Motorists from country districts making Wellington after daik should look ont for the patches of metal on the Hint boat!.

NIGHTMARE rOEXTRV FOR MOTORISTS. Southern motorists have*no idea of what Aucklanders have to put up with in the way of had roads. The only route south Horn Auckland goes over llie notorious linngiriii elny hills, about tO miles out, and this stretch is quite innocent of road metal. At Faster, owing to lhe had weather of Good Friday, numbers of motorists who had attempted to run into the ttaikato were bogged on the Uahgiriri Hills, and to add to their difficulties found it nextto impossible to obtain accommodation in this sparsely-populated stretch. The New Zealand Herald states that even lifter the week's fine weather following Easter, the road on tho hills was found to he in a very had stale, the heavy rain having worn the soft surface into all manner of holes and ruts. TIRES TO RE STANDARDISED. At present there arc approximately fifty different sizes of pneumatic tiros on the British market. It has long been evident that this needless diversity in sizes has tended to confusion and difficulty in obtaining tires, and also to making tires more'costly. In 1013 the Tiro Committee of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders succeeded in establishing twenty-three standard rim sizes, and it is now announced that the same body has agreed to the following eleven sizes as sufficient to cover all Home tire requirements:—7oo x 80, to fit 050 x 65 infn, rims; 700 x 85 and 710 x 90. to fit 710 x 00 mm. rims; 760 X 90; 810 x 00; 815 x 105; 820 x 120; 880 x 120 ; 895 x 135 ; 035 x 135; 915 x 175.

It is evident, the “Autocar’’ remarks,, that those sizes partly ignore colonial : requirements, as there is nothing larger than 935 imn. It would seem that there should have been at least one size over 1000 mm., hut we understand that the idea is to leave the colonial sizes alone for the time being, so that, apparently, apart from the eleven British standards given above, colonial buvers will also be able to have 1010 x 90. 1020 or 1080 x 120, and 1000 or 1050 x 150 mm. Some tire-makers, too. consider 875 x 105 and 915 x 105 as colonial sizes. This reduction in the number of British sizes of tires is. of course, a natural sequence to the standardisation of rimsJ At the time the Society of Motor Manufacturers standardised the twenty-three rim sizes they scarcelv hail the credit they deserved for the simplification they had brought about, as. quite apart from the inavlnable interchangeability of the rims and tires, some idea of the needless confusion which was then existing may be gathered from the fuel that one tiremaker alone sent in a, list of fiftv-eight sizes of riiiis. Again, it follows that the twenty-three rim sizes then standardised n il) now he reduced to ten', as two of the new standardised tire sizes fit upon the same sized rim, so tlint eleven different sizes of tiles can be accommodated on ten rims.

T-TIXTS AND TIPS. To get (he best service from acetylene lamps” the spent carbide should he cleaned out as soon as nossihle'antl the container thoroughly dried before infilling. It may seem that the advice to clean out" tlia generator soon after the lamp is used onuses waste, hat the; is not the case, The spent carbide should he emptied into a wire sieve and tho dust riddled out. A simple wav to do this is to take an old carbide tin and knock in the bottom of it a number oi holes about Jin. in diameter. When the contents of the container have been put in the tin. the lid should ho replaced, am! the tin well shaken so that the powdered spent, carbide lire' s out. In refilling the generator a litf.e new carbide should he put- at the bottom and the “reclaimed'’ carbide at the top. The rapidity of formation of carbon deposit, depends on so many factors that it is difficult lo give any simple mlo to minimise it. The particular design of tlm engine and the arrangement of tho lubrication system have an important influence upon it. As.stin'.in'Z that piston rings are in good order so that no excess of oil gets into the cylinder-, and that the qualify of the lubricating oil is the bent, there should not ho any abnormal formation of carbon deposit. The t ar ought to run 3GOO miles at least without requiring the cylinders cleani ir;«r A non-smokimx oxjmnst is a tmr indication that the dylmders are nou being m-er-hihricatcd. Caro should he taken net to drive on an over-rich mixture. as this in itself causes a certain i amount cf carbon denosit. besides ovovi heating the engine and limning np the

.Wording to the'"Good Roads \ear Hook” published hy the American Highway. Association, more than 3-1.000 miles of surfaced roads were constructed in the Tnifed States during the last two years. This makes a total of Ofi.OOO miles of surfaced roads completed since KK)I. when there were only IT!,000 surfaced roads in the country. The recent rapid growth of the good-roads moiement is proved hv the fact that the total for 1914 is 18.000. whereas the averaee for the past ten years is 9600 miles. About .00,000 miles of highway were completed with the aid of .Slate funds involving an expenditure of more than ,C 10.000,000. Although the movement for Stale aid began in 1892. onethird of the 30,000 miles so built were completed during 1913 and 1911. _ All hut six of the 18 Stair's of the Tniou have State highway departments, and 30 States have appropriated money to aid road-building. The influence of the motor on political and municipal leaders when considering votes for road-con-struction was apparent, and it is admitted and accented without protest I hat that influence will strengthen as the use of the motor extends. Australia has a population of 4,830.rdT. Though about one-third tne sise of South America. American motor business’ in Australia is 30 time-s that of South America.

From present appearances there is going to he a shortage ol first-class English ears in Australasia for some time to come. The majority of the leading English automobile manufacturing plants have been in nan requisitioned by the AY nr Ottice for military purposes, which in most eases means a limitation of eats for export, and in some instances an absolute stoppage of supplies. Amongst the latter Is Vie.keis and Co., makers of the AVoltclev ear, the whole of their plant now being controlled by the niilitarv authorities. The English Automobile Association lias nnije a present to France of £50.000 worth of motor ambulances, as’the result of donations from members.

The following very interesting cable was received by the British Imperial Oil Company. Wellington, on April 20: “The proprietors of Shell Spirit at present hold sole contract for supply of Motor Transport Spirit to His Majesty’s Forces, both at Homo and on tho Continent.” This is a striking tribute to its value, and further proof of the fact that Shell Benzine can he thoroughly depended upon under all conditions, that it is absolutely pure and of uniform quality.