The Motorist.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XII, Issue 721, 31 December 1903, Page 14

The Motorist.

AUCKLAND TO ROTORUA. A SPLENDID RUN. On Wednesday, the 23rd inst., Mr G-. H. Grapes, of Tauranga, accompanied by k r R. Caldwell and two enthusiastic motorists from the ‘‘Sporting. Review” office, left Auckland for Rotorua. It may be here mentioned that Mr Grapes recently obtained a contract from the Government for carrying the mail between Tauranga and Rotorua, and with commendable enterprise decided to purchase a motor car for that purpose, and had it specially built to enable him to carry passengers between the districts named. The car is a 12-h.p. twin-cylin-der Darraqq, and was supplied bv Messrs Skeats and Bockaert, of this city, and the body was built by the Cousins and Atkin’s Carriage Factory, Ltd. Judged by the splendid run from Auckland tr Rotorua, one can hardly see how the venture can turn out otherwise , than successful. A start was made from Auckland at 5.35 a.m., and a stop of ten minutes was indulged in at ; Ellerslie in order to pick up some members of the party. Drury was reached at 6.48, the actual running time for the first 23 miles being 63 minutes. A delay of some 44 minutes occurred between Drury and Razorback, owing to the fact that the car had been overladen .with some 5-cwt. of goods in addition to its four occupants. Mercer was reached at 8.50, the actual running time for the 40 miles. being 2 hours 11 minutes. Here it was found necessary to obtain the local blacksmith to repair the ironwork of one of the mud-guards that had been broken going down the rough Pokeno Hill road. . A fresh start was made from Mercer at 10 a.m., but owing to f the rough and hilly nature of the road, it was found • necessary to drive slowly to Rangiriri. This was the slowest part of the journey, the fourteen miles, including stoppages, taking just two hours. Arrived at Rangiriri at 12 noon, and after filling up the benzine tank and taking water, left ten minutes later for Huntly. Finding a cool and inviting spot alongside ,the banks of the river, 30 minutes were spent in regaling the inner man, and Huntly was reached at 2 p.ttn. It was decided to ship the hood of the car (which was suffering considerably from the roughness of the roads) to Rotorua by train. Leaving Huntly at 2.20, the Darracq now seemed to recognise that some fast work was necessary in order to reach Rotorua that evening, 106 miles having yet to £e traversed, and right readily did She spin along. As this was only the second time that Mr Grapes had driven his car, it will hardly be out of place to state that many times the occupants experienced that peculiar “hair-raising” sensation so often felt when one gets into a tight corner in motoring. The “recoveries,” however, were nothing short of marvellous, and Mr Grapes deserves the highest praise for the manner in which he. drove his car on the second attempt. Hamilton was passed at 3.45, and Cambridge at 4.18,. .arriving at Oxford at 6 p.m., and Rotorua at 9.15, there having been three short stoppages after leaving Huntly, for water; benzine, and lighting up. The journey took 15 hours 40 minutes, and the actual running time being 11 hours 21 minutes, which must be considered a good performance after allowing for the rough and hilly nature of some portions of the road.

I shall be glad to publish an account by any members of the A.A.A. of their runs to Rotorua, as no doubt these trips will become of greater interest as the motoring fever increases in New Zealand.

An accident, with a moral, occurred recently to Sir Francis and Lady Winnington on a trip from Edinburgh to Settrington House. It was a dark, wet evening, and the acetylene lamp, refusing to act, was put out. Owing to the imperfect light, the driver ran the car into a mill race, where it overturned. Lady Winnington had several ribs fractured, and sustained severe concussion of the brain, the other occupants escaping with a mere wetting. * * * * Dr. and Mrs Haines left Auckland for Rotorua at 4.45 a.m. on the 23rd inst., arriving at Rotorua at 7.30 p.m., after a most enjoyable run. Mr Geo. Henning left Auckland for Rotorua on Monday last, reaching, there at 10 p.m. the same day. * * * Dr. Purchas and party ran from Auckland to Rotorua on Thursday, the 24th, but I have no particulars at hand of the time taken on the journey. Some of the English Railway Companies are taking the motor car into their service, to the great benefit of their patrons. There are many places in New Zealand beyond the termini of the railway system where it does not pay to extend the line. A motor car service in connection with the mail trains is worthy of the consideration of the Government. •» * * * On October 12th, the Hon. C. S. Rolls broke the world’s motor record for half a mile, cutting out the distance in 26 2-ssec, a speed of 84| miles per hour. This is faster than the speed accredited io railway trains on any known run, although not faster than that of the elec-trically-driven train lately tried in Germany. < * * # Next year a six-cylinder engine car is to be put on the market by the wellknown English makers, The Napier Company. The multiplication of cylinders of an engine over two makes for smooth and silent running, owing to what experts term constant torque on the engine shaft. The Tasmanian Postal authorities have decided to run a motor-car mail service between Launceston and Hobart on .Sundays if a suitable car is available, and the price is not prohibitive. The distance is about 120 miles, the surface of the road being good, with very few hills. The time allowable for the journey would be about twelve hours, and the weight of mails about 21 cwt. * « A- ■ A curious feature of motor cycle racing in Sydney is that the entrant in a motor race is allowed to put a driver up on his machine. This is a matter that requires altering or providing for, otherwise InterState motorists are not likely to visit Sydney for motor races. The Sydney authorities should follow the rules of the Auto-Cycling Club (London), and compel entrants to ride the machine they enter on. According to the arrangement allowed in Sydney, a 12st motorist may enter for a motor race, and put a 9st driver up, which makes a wonderful difference in a man’s handicap.