CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 1000, 6 May 1909, Page 13

CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES.

The French Union Velocipedique recently took a vote to detei mine who was the most popular rider, and the choice was Thorvald Ellegaard, the Dane. While in this country he did not seem to make many friends, being somewhat reticent, even morose, at times. Ellegaard polled 417 votes against 15 7 for Friol; the rest being practically nowhere. Major Taylor scored 9 votes—seemingly, few for him —but Clark’s total was only 2, and Macfarland worse still —merely 1; Clark, by the way, has been classed as an American by the Yankee papers —since he started winning in Europe. Still, in discussing his future movements, Clark wrote to a friend in the States (from Europe) to the following effect.—" We meaning Macfarland and himself have some very good offers to remain in Europe; but we are not sure yet, as we have also a good offer from Vailsbury (U-S.A.), and America looks good to me, even on the map. I can’t see this place, even with a pair of field-glasses. I will be very glad again to be under the Stars and Stripes, for you know I consider myself an American, and actually will be one some day.” I did hear that there was a possible Mrs. Clark; also that “ Pedaller ” Palmer- had married.

Under the heading of the “ Car of the Future,” a contributor to an English motor journal, who evidevntly is a firm believer in the steam car, rightly says that to the average motorist, the employment of steam as a motive power is associated with bulky and heavy boilers, and with numerous gauges, &c., to watch. This is not in accord with modern methods of steam generation using flash generators, which has been explained in this column; and it has been demonstrated that, power for power, the engine on a modern steam car weighs less than that on a petrol-car, and that the fuel efficiency under running conditions is practically the same for both, owing to the losses of power in the gearbox of a petrol-car.

Referring to the article again, the writer concludes as follows: —“My own idea is that a power-plant can be produced which will be a combination of the internal and external combustion systems It is not a generally known fact, that highly superheated steam contains a fair proportion of oxygen, due to dissociation, and my experience leads me to believe that an engine could be constructed in which the steam would do work in the cylinder, in the ordinary way, by expansion, and then further work would be obtained by the injection of a small quantity of fuel, which would be burnt by the oxygen in the steam.”