CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIX, Issue 1090, 26 January 1911, Page 12

CYCLING AND MOTOR NOTES.

The number of taxi-cabs registered in New South Wales is now just over the century—lol, to be exact.

The strangest procession of its kind ever seen was the funeral of a motoi cyclist in Kansas City, U.S.A. A motor ambulance bore the deceased, followed by a motor waggon filled with floral tributes, while 25 club men and motor cycles, together with 20 automobiles containing friends, brought up the rear. Most of the 200 persons that attended were clad in motoring apparel. Perhaps the most remarkable feature —a grim one truly— was that the deceased met his death by crashing into a waggon containing a tombstone!

A correspondent of The Times prophesies that traffic upon the roads in 1950 will be continuous day and night, and the speeds of the lighter traffic will not be far short of the railway speeds of the present day. Such a forecast is, to my mind, far from being extravagant; indeed, I think 40 years a very long time for its fulfilment, judging from the progress made during the last decade. My idea is that before 1930 mechani-

cally-propelled road traffic will have supplanted all other kinds almost entirely, with, of course, a marked increase of speed.

The chauffeur who, in Austria, indulges in joy-riding is said to have taken a “black run” (schwarzfahrt); but, according to the existing laws, he cannot be proceeded against unless he has used the car-owner’s petrol, in which case he is open to prosecution for theft. Deterioration in value of the car and tyres by use, seemingly, does not count.

One of the chief objections raised against the motor cycle is that it is dirty and greasy. In support of this objection, one has only to look over a collection of machines, as at a club run. It will be found that not more than one or two out of a dozen are really free from oil that has sprayed out of the engine base, and which covers the outside of the chamber and everything near it. Since all other requirements of the motor cycle are being so well met by careful design, and manufacturing enterprise, the cleanliness of engines, free from exterior oil, should soon be a standard instead of an exception.