WORLD'S MOTOR RECORD.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13460, 5 December 1907, Page 3

WORLD'S MOTOR RECORD.

- — : AN AUSTRALIAN ACHIEVEMENT-

777 MILES IN 24 HOURS

The" world's motor-car record for a continuous rim of 24 hours over noads is' now held in Australia. The feat of securing it was begun on Wednesday evening November 3% by Mr .H L. Stevens, manager'.of the Knowles Motor Co. (agents for the Darraeq and Mr H. B. James, of the Dunlop Motor Tyre Co.,- and 1 triumplrantly concluded at a corresponding hour next evening. In.'.'that period the 40-hors© power Rarracq car covered 777 mile?, or 171 miles better than the previous best, which was put up by an American.

'Mr James with Mr O. B. .Kellow attained to record honours in May,' 1906, covering 556 miles, but the glory was short-lived. A month later an American capped their achievement by going 50 miles further in the same time. Messrs Kellow and James-an April of this "year attacked the American's figures, but faileeV to better them. Since then : Mr Stevens has come on the scene with- a Darraeq car,'. specially built for racing, and Mr Jamas, determined' not to remain vanquished for ever, 'threw in his lot in the present successful effort. The chase after the record aroused something more than curiosity in the Western district, through much of which the . car travelled on ■ its errand;. There has-been almost .frantic excitement,- for. the 24 hours just ended. Probaly in every hamlet between the four points marked by Hamilton, Skipton, Camperdown, and ferang, the fact that the record had been achieved was known within two hours. The record has much of the sensational in it. At least one-fourth of the hundreds of miles reeled off- was covered during' a thick fog, which lasted right through Wednesday night and the earlier part of Thursday morning. There were times when the misty pall was so thick that the rays of the two brilliant acetylene gas lamps on the car could not reveal the roadwav more than a dozen yards aheid. Had it not been for the fact that excellent performances were standing to the credit of the record-breakers when the foa came down upon them they would certainly have abandoned the attempt at supremacy. Once during the night, after a momentary- lifting of the shroud a puff of wind drove the; thick masses of vapour about, the travellers again, just when a r!o=-e watch was being kept for the point where Ih- Penshurst road jo:,ns the Warrnambnol road The junction was completely missed and the car, shootjig out of its course, violently burnped and slid into the nnfenced portion of a common. Had that car. going at about 40 miles an hour, struck the frailest of fences, the c-or-69-quences must have been serious. ' Then there were times when the obscuring fog doubled the danger from sleeping cattle

br straying sheep.' ' In one burst of speed to keep the schedule, time the car plunged on to within, a. few inches of a buliock taking its ease in the roadway. During the night the trip through the fog was interrupted by a sudden intrusion upon three iiocks of sheep'. There were thousands of sheep on the roads, and the great wonder is that, as far as the re-cord-breakers are concerned, there .was no diminution in the number of flacks. Not even a sheep-dog is missing. The fog is not only a danger—it is a nuisance. In ■ a very short period on Wednesday the three occupants of the car were soaked through as a result of rushing through the moisture-laden air. Cold arops trickled from goggles, moustaches, and cap-rings. When Camperdown was reached, in" the first run home i-the well-wishers of the party were amazed to see three -drenched figures' in the car. It was idle to suggest a change of clothing. A remarkable feature of this motor-car trip was the exceedingly large number of rabbits and birds which fell .victim to the rushing juggernaut. Plovers did sometimes destruction when surprised, but magpies were slaughtered wholesale, and rabbits frisked about and under the crushing wheels as if it were an enticing pastime. A return journey along the roadway in the morning revealed evidence of the mbrtality among living things. Crows are apparently more nonchalant than magpies.- They hover curiously above the destroying agency, and so escape being run down, but their very precaution was a menace to the motorists, who had several times to beat them ' off. The send-off from Camperdown on Wednesday evening was a stirring event indeed. The weather promised well, and the x crew was exceedingly hopeful. Guided on its first journey by Mr Stevens, the car left the first eleven miles behind in eight minutes. A number of local residents, who haijl taken up vantage points in the town clock tower felt anxio'us about the. safety of those concerned in TTuch an orgy of pace. Had they been present when the car was put against the watch, and ticked off a mile in .53 4-ssec, their' feelings might haye bean more eerie.

Of course it will be said that 777 miles in. 24 hours does not indicate a breakneck pace. But in 24 hours there are many circumstances. : For five hours at night the speed /avexcigedf -only 27 miles an hour. Tha£ .was ; necessitated by the foggy surroundings. ) > Yet; it is" safe to as.s-ume that it is a, worthy record-break-ing car- which can ..run for 24; hours, 1 sometimes leaving a mile behind in less than a minute; ahyays;- capable of running ito schedule, when ipreswd to do so; and finishing, as Mr Stevens's- Darracq , did yesterday, at Winchelsea, 50 miles \ beyond GamperdownV ■' as. fit and fresh .as when it started. ..