OUR ILLUSTRATIONS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue XXIV, 16 June 1900, Page 1119

OUR ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE NEW ZEALAND ALLIANCE. The Rev. T. J. Wills, Vicar of Ormondville for some eight years past, and the newly-elected president of the New Zealand Alliance, was born at Bell Block. Taranaki, spent his boyhood in Nelson, and received his training for the church in Auckland. He is the first New Zealand-born president of the alliance. In 1874 he joined the Good Templars at Motueka, Nelson, and in 1876 represented the General Havelock Lodge of Hawke's Bay in the Grand Lodge held at New Plymouth. There he took the Grand Lodge degree. Ever since he has been prominently identified with the total abstinence and prohibition movement of this colony. In 1892 he introduced the question of legislative temperance reform into the Synod of the Diocese of Waiapu, held at Napier, and carried a resolution declaring for local option. On his motion the Synod also petitioned Parliament for an Act giving the people, within defined areas, the power to determine at the ballot the question "license” or "no-license,” and it is not generally known that at the time the Bill of 1893 was before Parliament a petition from the Synod of Waiapu lay on the tables of both Houses. Every year since 1892 the temperance question has occupied a prominent place in the deliberations of the Synod at Napier. In 1894 Mr Wills published his first book, entitled “The Church and the Liquor Traffic.” which was characterised by Dr. Stuart, formerly Bishop of Wiiapu, as “a magazine of facts and arguments.” In 1897 a oook. entitled “Bishop Nevi H's Mistake. by the same author, was published. Ihis was a reply to the famous speech by the Bishop of Dunedin, to his Synod. 1896, in which His Lordship argued against the principle of prohibition. This book is now in its fifth edition: but editions four and five appeared (in deference to the feelings of some of the clergy) under a new title, “A Reply to Bishop Nevill.” In 1898 Mr. Mills acted as secretary to the Waiapu Committee on Temperance Reform, and made an exhaustive enquiry into the whole question under consideration. Information was obtained from Great Britain, Scandinavia, United States and the colonies, which resulted in the well-known “Waiapu Report.” Last year Mr. Wills took part in the lecturing campaign in the interests of prohibition, and ’also published his third book, “The Liquor Problem, which contains both the Waiapu and Christchurch reports on temperance reform, and much of the information on which those reports were based, together with Mr. Wills’ review of the whole. This book is now in its second edition.

WHERE THE BOER PRISONERS ARE CONSIGNED TO.

Our photo, represents Happy Valley, Ceylon, where the prisoners taken by us in the war will find a temporary prison. The extent of the accommodation to be provided is for 6000, with capacity for further enlargement if required.’ Half a British regiment is to be stationed at the place as a guard. News to hand by the last mail MajorGeneral Hamilton, commanding the 41st Company of the Royal Engineers, and the whole of the Engineer Company, had left Trincomalce, their destination being Dirjatawale, near the valley. They will be engaged in erecting huts for the accommodation of the British who will act as guard. There appears to be some uneasiness in the minds of some of the British residents in Ceylon at the idea of such a large number of Boers being kept in their midst, but the fears seem somewhat groundless. But granting the possibility of danger if the Boers in any force were kept in Ceylon, there

is every prospect that their stay there will not be long. The end of the war is at hand, and when the enemy have tendered their submission there will be no necessity or justification for keeping the Transvaalers and Free Staters prisoners.

THE MOTOR CYCLE IN NEW ZEALAND.

The motor tricycle illustrated in this issue, recently imported by Messrs Service and Henning, with a view of actually testing its suitability for Auckland roads, and as a means of advertising their respective lines, cycles and tyres, is made by the celebrated makers of Paris, De Diou and Bouton, whose agency they have secured. This firm employs 1500 men entirely in the motor and parts industry. and assert they have orders ahead for three years to come. Though a novelty in our streets, they are common enough in Europe. In Paris they are dangerous rivals of the. cabs, carrying from 1 to 50 people. In England their manufacture was not seriously entered on until recently, but now there are numbers of firms who are turning them out in large numbers. The motor itself is on the. Otto principle, like the ordinary gas engine, only in this case, where, weight is anything, the speed to develop the 2f horse it is credited with has to be very high. The power is derived from the mixture of naphtha vapour and air exploded at the proper moment by an electric spark from a battery and induction coil carried on the back bar. The exhaust passes into a silencer and thus deadens the sound. There are several little level’s which control speed, starting, stopping, etc. These, though puzzling at first sight, are mastered by any reasonably intelligent man in a few hours. The speed is anywhere from 1 to 25 miles per hour. Those cyclists who have rashly attempted to beat the motor car have regretted it. The driver just touches a lever and the machine does the rest. Its hill climbing powers are marvellous, though this depends to a great extent on the driver, whose manipulation of the levers means all the difference between riding it up or pushing it. As an instance, it has climbed from Stanley to Symondsstreet, past the bowling green, a rise of 1 in 7, and quite steep enough to prove its power. Ordinary hills can be ridden down quite safely without a brake, the engine being always connected to the wheels enables it to a'.’i as an air brake. The tyres, which are Henning’s, are thick enough to withstand ordinary puncture, being almost, like a lifebuoy. The whole machine weighs 2101bs. It cannot be called, like the cyclo, a silent steed, there being a regular plunk, plunk when running, rendering needless the constantly ringing bell our city fathers insist on. In the larger cars built for 2 up to 50 passengers, chain or belt driving is used, thus reducing the noise to a minimum. During the recent tour of 1000 miles through England, 75 automobiles of various types started from the tricycle to 16 h.p. ships of the road. A hillclimbing competition was held. The climb was 2.1 miles long, and the total rise 650 feet. 1 in 12 was the steepest portion of the race. The rate varied from 4 to IS miles per hour. The winner was a tricycle on the same lines as our illustration, fitted with a 31 horse engine. There were 44 starters. The machine illustrated may be seen by anyone interested nt Mr Service's premises. Queen-street, at any time.