HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19633, 20 July 1935, Page 24 (Supplement)

HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

NOTES BY THE ROADSIDE. London magistrates have been warned to expect a flood of cases—probably thousands more a week—as a result of the “trappings” and prosecutions to be instituted on the enforcement of the 30 m.p.h. speed limit. Mr Ernest Faulkner is a motorist at Peoria, Illinois. He was out driving in his car recently when he ran over a pedestrian named Abram Ostrander. Now (says the British United Press) the motorist is claiming £2OO damages from the pedestrian for “mental shock.” 1 Amazement has been caused in Glasgow by the placing of the full contract for tlfe 3,000,000 gallons of oil required for the year’s running of the corporation transport services with a Russian oil company.

EVER TRIED THIS ONE? Present-day motorists who drive about the city in their modern, sleek, efficient cars, seldom spare a thought for the trials of their pioneering brethren. “H.N.,” writing in the Cape Times, tells of his discovery of a book of about 25 years ago. It is called “Complete Hints and Tips for Automobilists,” and here are some of the hints and tips:—

“I have run a car with honeycomb radiator that was not ‘weeping,’ but the action of which was more like a water-pot. My cure was a double handful of bran at weekly intervals for some five months before the car passed out of my keeping ... I must have put in at least a peck of bran, and where it all went to is more than I can say, but it never had the slightest effect on the cooling, nor did the pump, which was a rotary vaned pump, suffer.”

A COLUMN FOR MOTORISTS.

CRANKCASE FUMES. With older engines in which there may be considerable cylinder wear, crankcase fumes are sometimes annoying and occasionally dangerous, because of the presence of carbon monoxide. When the pistons cease to make a perfect seal with the cylinder walls there is a blow-by of exhaust gases, and the pressure generated in the crankcase forces the fumes out of the breather cap. The best remedy is to. have the cylinders and pistons put into good order, but as a precaution either of the following methods will prove effective so far as protecting the occupants of the car. The first is to discard the ventilated breather cap and fit a length of flexible tubing over the top of the filler pipe, fixing the other end of the tube at a point well below the floorboards. An alternative is a fume extractor consisting of .a pipe, one end of which is attached in place of the breather cap and the other connected with the air-intake of the carburettor so that the fumes are at once sucked into the induction line. . . The second arrangement is said to be the better in that the oil-laden fumes are of some benefit as an upper cylinder lubricant.

ANNOYING MYSTERY.

CHANGED HOAD SIGNS. An annoying mystery that for many months has been perplexing certain residents in the Upper Awatere has been solved through the astuteness of a member of the police force who is stationed not a hundred miles from Seddon. The fun and excitement began when it was noticed that the arms of a directional sign situated at the intersection of the Taylor Pass and Upper Awatere roads were continually being twisted round, so that the arm pointing out the way to Blenheim exchanged duties with the one indicating Seddon and so on. A watchful eye was kept open by the settlers using the road, but not a clue was secured, although the signs still refused to carry out their job faithfully. Finally, in desperation, the constable was “called in,” and commenced his investigations. Upholding the best traditions of the force, he quickly found a clue, and succeeded in sheeting the blame home to a decrepit old horse which, when turned loose in the locality, is wont, in meditation, to scratch his side against the upright holding the signs, thus rotating it in its socket. THE SPARE TYRE. The spare tyre should never be neglected; hidden behind the protective all-metal cover used on many cars as the present time, there is a tendency for it to be overlooked. It should be inflated once a week and kept at the right pressure. Occasionally a change-over should be made and the tyre put into use, replacing one _of those in active service. A cover which is not used for 12 months or so may not give quite such good service when it is finally brought into use as others of the set which are regularly inflated and looked over. All tyres should be examined at intervals and flints embedded in the rubber removed. TO MAKE MODEL CARS PERFECT. Every motor manufacturer is seeking new ideas, and an overseas humourist makes the following suggestions to improve standard equipment: Silencers for all passengers, which will permit ordinary conversation, but will muffle all speech of an instructive nature. As a safety measure, it will rank with four-wheel brakes.

Gags for hikers who are given a lift and insist on relating their troubles. Neat morocco leather winkers for women drivers, to be used when driving through a shopping district. A separator which will effectively and positively divorce gin and gas. A gadget that will put out cheap cigars and keep them out. A device that will prevent a car from turning to the left after a driver has given a right-turn signal. Automatic brakes which will operate when the car runs past the red street light. Perhaps the driver will continue on his journey through the windscreen, but who’s going to care ?

WET WEATHER DRIVING. Observers who are not fully acquainted with all the factors influencing safe driving in wet weather sometimes assume that because one car overtakes another at a much faster pace the driver of the speedier vehicle is “looking for trouble.” That is by no means necessarily the case, for if the equipment is in good order it is often almost safe to keep up a high average in rain as when the road is perfectly dry. But it should not be forgotten that some surfaces are far more treacherous than others* find that as a rule the time when skidding on wet, hard roads is prone to occur and braking distance is to be increased exceedingly is when the surface has become sprinkled with rain and not saturated. In such circumstances even the best cars may be difficult to handle, and wheels are prone to lock if the brakes arc applied suddenly, so that the safe course is to reduce speed in accordance with prevailing conditions. Fast driving, be lhe weather wet or fine, is only justified if the brakes arc well equalised and very effective and the best self-imposed rule to observe is never to approach a danger point on the road at such a rate that the car cannot be stopped within flic limits of driving vision. Altenlion lo that precaution is specially desirable at night, and Iho clTrclivo projection of the light from the headlamps should he in.led. Kxpericnecil drivers instinctively conform lo these precautions, but some novices do not, seem lo apply their minds to I hem until they become, ingrained habits. Another important point when driving in rain is lo sec that Hie vision is not impaired by a clouded windscreen. I'nless the giass immediately in front of the driver is kept, free from moisture it is easy |u overlook some obstacle or fault in the road. See that the screen wiper is working well and Hint when necessary the rubber of the wipin' arm renewed. Often when travelling fast the arm of

a pneumatic wiper does not swing briskly enougli to deal with the rain, in which case the pressure on the accelerator pedal should be momentarily relaxed so as to increase the suction effect in tho manifold and speed up the wiper arm. It is also a good plan to keep handy a -piece of dry cloth for wiping condensed moisture from the inner surfaco of the windscreen.

SPARKS. Salesman: This car, Mr Hossei\ is sound in every part. Mr Hosser: So I hear.

There is a slump in the elephant market in India, the reason being that motor cars are becoming more fashionable and popular. Elephant “runing costs" have also become much higher.

Fortune teller: You are going on a a journey, and you will meet with good fortune. Motorist (eagerly): You mean, when I drive down town to-morrow I will find a place to park?

The latest motor cars are so silent that the noise created by the radiator fan is noticeable, and so, in some models, the blades are spaced unevenly to make the fan quieter.

Miss Fay Taylour, who was in New Zealand several years ago riding in dirt-track motor cycle races, is now mentioned as a competitor in a motorcar hill climb in England.

After being under his car for half an hour the tourist broke the sad news to his wife. “I’m afraid, dear, that the crank case has a crack right across it."

“Never mind," she answered, pleasantly; “it won’t show down there—no one will notice it."

When a car loses power and begins to spit back through the carburettor and back-fire, there are several possible explanations. It may be the result of defective spark plugs, badly adjusted and pitted contact breakerpoints, or sticking or burnt valves. Another common cause of this trouble, however, is the partial blocking of the jets in the carburettor with carbon or foreign matter.

One person in every 20 in Britain owns a motor-car. One in every 15 has a driving license. In the United States one person in five owns a car. In Australia the percentage is about one in 10. Sally Blane, the screen star, said to have driven along a Hollywood main street at 42 miles an hour, has been ordered to post the sign “traffic violator” on the windscreen of her car. This is a new method of dealing with errant motorists in Los Angeles. It is just 51 years since the first patent was issued for a petrol-driven engine. It was an air-cooled motor, and the patentee was Gottleib Daimler, to whom belongs the chief credit for the development of the light, in-ternal-combustion engine as we now | know it. Daimler was also the first I man to realise the possibility of using I the lighter part of paraffin—afterwards called petrol—as a convenient portable fuel. Because of the wear which takes place when a new engine is being I run-in, minute particles of metal colI 1 ect in the sump oil and will act as ! an abrasive on the bearing surfaces unless removed by changing the oil. The. following programme of oil changes arc recommended for the early stages of a car s life:—After the lii'st 250 miles, after an additional 500 miles, again after an additional 750 miles, and subsequently every 1000 [ miles.