THE MOTOR WORLD

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16875, 27 October 1922, Page 3

THE MOTOR WORLD

Notes and News by

“Radiator."

The first annua] run of the Pioneer Chit- was held at Waihora Park. It Mas a merry little picrnc. The roads in and around Christchurch are in a good state at present, and many motorists are falling to the temptation to open the throttle a little further than usual, particularly along the Papanui Hoad. This, and the other main thoroughfares, are receiving the attention of the city motor inspectors. Several drivers recently have had their numbers recorded and are being asked officially: ‘‘ Please explain.” Motor-cyclists seem to be the worst offenders. The Pioneer Club will run two races on North New Brighton beach to-morrow afternoon. There will be a six mile solo handicap for private owners (first prize £2 2s, second £1 Is) and a 30-mile solo handicap open (first prize £2 2s, second £1 Is). The course is three miles long. There are nine or.tiies in the first event and eight in the second. No fewer than five new riders are coming out in the short race, and this is a very hopeful augury. The club captain (Mr H. H. Parker) informed me that club matters are progressing very satisfactorily. All mariner of mounts will be seen out. The miscellaneous assortment includes a 2% h.p. A.J.S., Si h.p. Bradbury, 4 h.p. Triumph, h.p. Ariel and, of course Harley-Davidsons and Indians. One hopes that the weather will be less boisterous than it has been of late. While on the subject of beach racing a, mild protest might be entered against the action of one or two riders who dashed merrily up and down the beach from the pier to the starting point of the races in much exuberance of spirit. This sort of thing is no good at all- As a result of one or two glaring instances the committee in charge at the meeting in the Pioneer Club last night cautioned two of their rfCTers for going over the regulation- speed on this stretch of beach. The acceptances for the premier automobile contest of Australia—the Victorian 1000 miles Alpin Motor Car Trial to be held from November 16 to November 25—closed with the very fine total of seventy curs. All told about forty different makes of cars will compete, which in itself will greatly add to the value aud interest of the contest. The amount of tax collected from motorists from January 1 to June 30 in Great Britain was £9,736,000. Of this amount £601.000 was retained by the Exchequer for payments to the Local Taxation Accounts. The balance of £9,135,000 less the costs of collection, etc., together with the net revenue of the year 1921 and other moneys of the road fund, was being expended on works of road improvement, maintenance and construction. On Wednesday afternoon two motorists came suddenly together in the middle of a boundary road —West Belt The driver of one car—a Minerva—came from a side street on to the Belt and met the other. Brakes were applied quickly and the impact was lessened considerably. Tire two drivers got out. found that little damage had oeen done, and had a genial discussion as to what set of by-laws they were under, seeing that they had collided in tlie middle of a boundary road. It is good to know tbat at last the Christchurch City Council has decided to make the Safety Zone in the Square a little safer. The area is to be. raised six inches. Apparently overhead lighting is to be tried for a start. Evidently the City Council is waking up to the fact that something of a really permanent kind should be done. Anyway the present standards have been buffeted about sufficiently, and it is time for a change. The council, however, should bear in mind that the Tramway Board has shelved for the time being proposals for the alteration of the lay-out of tho Square. The safety zone area, therefore, should be so constructed as to be canable of being taken up should the Tramway Board go the length of altering the Square lav-out. It is presumed that the kerbing will not be an abrupt affair over which pedestrians will frequently stumble. Of the troubles of the road not the least annoying to the motorist is the disfiguring of his car by tar-stains when passing over newly-made road. This happens even when, thanks to careful driving over these .new stretches, little or nothing is thrown up on to the body, for the wings always catch something, and the owner .iriver, leaning over his car to do adjustments} soon gets the stains on to his driving coat. The trouble can be avoided by spreading a cleaning '•loth over the part against which ho is going to lean. The best thing is of course, to see that the edges of the wings are thoroughly dealt with c soon as the car is garaged. A handy instrument is an old flat joiner’s chisel, which will easily clean off the halfsoft substance. JTew motorists ere aware of what proportion of air to petrol is oseentiai to proper carbtiv&'fcion- Experiments have determined that the best explosive mixture is obtained when sixteen parts of a*r to one of petrol are used. The ideal condition is to have the mixture homogenous, to have the proportion of petrol to air constant throughout the combustion chamber; but this condition is not exactly attainable in the average motor, because

the carburettor w’ill not- supply an ab solutely perfect vapour. In other words, tne first part of the charge sucked into the cylinders may be weak and the last part rich and only the intermediate zone will be of the cor rect propoi lion. Again, there is al- - a certain amount of burned gas left over from the previous explosion, and this does not mix with the incoming charge, with the result that some parts ot the, mixture are diluted by it more than other parts. The competition between motor vehicles aud railways in the carriage of passengers and goods is attracting attention in many parts of the world, says the latest issue of “ The Radiator.” Statistics compiled by the U.S. National Automobile Chamber of Commerce in the year 1921 comparing the volume of motor transportation with that of steam railroads are most interesting reading, % as the following tables shotv :—Passengers carried Motor-cars 6,990,862.000; railroads, 1,034,315,000. Tonnage carried—Motor trucks, 1,430,000,000; railroads, 1,642,251,000. A study- of these figures ’ clearly shows the growth and importance of motor transport. There is a reason for this phenomenal growth which cannot by any stretch of imagination be regarded as a flash in the pan.” Motor transport is proving that for distances up to 100 miles it can heat railroad competition out of sight. It is well to record that there is not a great deal of abuse of the parking areas in the city. Motorists, with only a few exceptions, now leave their cars correctly on the defined areas, keeping a good alignment. With the idea of straightening the position out better yet the City Council, on the recommendation of the By-laws Committee, adopted the following additional regulations : (1) Every such stand or parking place shall have a uniform width of Bft and no more. (2) In the case of a parking place at the side of a street, the width as aforesaid shall be measured from and at right angles to the kerb or footway adjacent to such parking place. (3) In the case of a parking place or stand in the centre of a street, pne-half the said width shall lie on one side, and other haif on the opposite side of the centre line of the street. (4) A car, any part of which is found t > be projecting beyond the width of the parking place, shall be deemed to bo not on such parking place but alongside it. (5) No car or. other vehicle shall be brought to a standstill for any purpose whatever alongside of any parking place which is on the side of the street. THE OLYMPIA MOTOR EXHIBITION. The committee in charge of arrange ments for the Olympia Motor Exhibition is having a most busy time, but arrangements are being forwarded splendidly. The entries are greatly in excess of those of previous years. Compared with those of the two previous veal's, the entries are:

There is no doubt that the Olympia this year is going to be a very, important event, and quite the most preten tious this side of the line. <c Our Christ - church members are leaving no st-on * unturned to excel their previous efforts, and this year’s exhibition should easily establish fresh records in every direction,” said Mr T. Newburgh, the secretary, the other day. Visitors to the city next month should not miss this Olympia. CARELESS MOTORISTS. There are daily instances of carelessness on the part of motorists. It fre quently happens that when a tramcnr is on the point of staatixig a car will come along and attempt to get over the lines before the tramcar passes. Tho acceleration necesearv tn manv case-' makes the motorist commit a breach of the by-laws in going beyond the speed limit over the crossings Besides this, he is committing a breach in not gving nreference to the traffic on the main thoroughfare. for every road with tramlines is deemed to be a mriu road There is. again, the careless driver who puts on a spurt to beat a tramcar when it is proceeding in tho same direction as he is. Oniv the other day a taxi driver swung out to beat n trnm car and ni’sp’dcred bis enace badj-v- h~ being crushed between an oncoming vehicle. One ounce of caution in these things is worth a ton of bravado. COP R EOT L TTT>n Tr a tton Over-lubrication of engines is a fault that results not only in waste, but in causing great annoyance to the gen eral public. In some cases it result® partiallv .if not wholly, from the fact that when an engine is quite new it reel u ires a generous supply of oil Consequently. if the trough system of lub rication is employed, the manufacturer is apt to send out the vehicle so adjusted that ample lubrication will be given from the first. After the engine lias been well run in the supply of o’’ becomes excessive and waste auH ®rr°' are the resu’tv Later on in the b- : tory of the vehicle there will again b: occasions upon which a more than ordii arily generous supply of oil is advisable. This will happen when, for ex-

nmple, big end bearings have been taken up or rebushed. Avery neat way of meeting this variable requirement, and one that might well be of common application, is incorporated in the design of a British engine. The oil troughs are adjustable in height. The adjustment is made by means of wing nuts accessible through the engine doors and clicking each half turn so that the amount of adjustment can he accurately measured. The idea is n very simple one, but that ,it. is also a very effective one is Droved bv the com - plete absence of the exhaust smoke nuisance from the London streets in which so many vehicles fitted with these engines operate.

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

* "NEW ZEALAND COUNCIL. INTERNATIONAL TOTJES DISCUSSED. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON. October 2G. At a meeting of the New Zealand Foot ball Council to-night a hope was expressec that local associations would in future not extend the Soccer season, to avoic trouble with kindred sports. The Australasian delegate in Londor wrote that the English team s visit looki as far off ae ever. Mr J. Campbell sug gested as an alternative tbe securing o! a visit from a Canadian team. Mr C Fordham (chairman) proposed that th< English Football Association be asked foi particulars of the itinerary of the Englisl team’s visit to Canada, with a vew tc securing a Ca-nadian team. if strong enough, provided that the English tearr was not coming to Australia in 1924. This course was adopted. The Commonwealth Football Associatior wrote declining tho offer of the New Zea< land Football Association of £IOOO and tc take over the English team at Sydney In the event of an English team visiting Australia they had decided t.o estimate and negotate for the visit of an Englisl team to Australia only. It was considered that the Common wealth Association should have asked foi an alternative offer before refusing and acting as they had. The Australian tour receipts were £4.720 including £lll7 guaranteed now returned leaving a credit balance of £lls.

1920. 1921. 1922. No. of cars . ... 80 68 150 No. of commercial vehicles 10 0 15 No. of accessory exhibits . 18 18 20