MOTORING & CYCLING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1247, 12 March 1914, Page 35

MOTORING & CYCLING

Murray Aunger has lowered the Melbourne to Adelaide motor car recoird by 5 hours. He covered 579 miles in 14 hours 54 minutes and beat the express train by three hours. He drove a 25 h.p. Vauxhall car, shod with Dunlop tyres, and experienced no trouble throughout the journey. He had only one puncture during the record run.

Hamburg is the only city in the world with an automatic system of calling public motor vehicles. If no taxi-cab is on the rank, the placing of a coin in a box signals to the central office, and a cab is sent.

During the year seventy-four danger signs have been supplied to the several country councils throughouttne province of Hawke’s Bay, and have been erected for those bodies on the Main South Road, Taupo Road, and Tunanui, Maraekakaho and Kereru roads, in positions recommended by the Hawke’s Bay Automobile Association.

A well-known Christchurch resident, the father of the Ellwood instrumentalists, who has been motoring in the North Island, made some nasty remarks about the roads he passed over. The worst road of all, he says, is between Te Kuiti and New Plymouth. A hill eight miles long had to be climbed. The road is not a road really, but merely a bullock track. It was not an uncommon experience to get out and build up the track in order to get the car through. The speed at last dropped down to seven miles in three hours. As an off-set tt> those little troubles the party saw some grand and beautiful scenery. The best of this was between Mokau and Urenui, on the West Coast, coming over Mount Messenger. Mr. Ellwood believes that the scenery there cannot be surpassed in any other part of New Zealand. The road runs through the forests, which contain a remarkable profusion of fern trees of gigantic size. The fronds of one of them, growing on the roadside, covered the whole car.

A local contemporary records a strange race which took place between New Plymouth and Feilding. A lady pasenger left her infant child in a carriage while she went for a cup of tea. She was returning when she found the train pulling out on the resumption of its journey, and failed to board the vanishing train. A motor car was engaged and went away in hot pursuit, but history is silent, as is often the case, upon the most important fact in the whole sad tale — did the motor car outdistance a New Zealand train and the distracted mother again clasp her offspring, or was it another case of Booties Baby?

The subject of road-making was refered to recently by Mr. G. Henning, who represented the Auckland Automobile Association at a conference upon road maintenance. The speaker dwelt upon one aspect of the subject which never fails to arrest the attention of visitors to Auckland —the very bad method of road formation. The local bodies of the city and sub irbs seem to regard the roads as so many shingle heaps where broken metal can be “dumped” and left to its own resources. Hence the distinct impresion of traversing a series of horizontal stairs when motoring over the uneven surface. The subject of regrading, ploughing up and levelling

the surface, before repacking does not seem to be within the scope of local things. Mr. Henning dwelt upon this unpleasant aspect of the local bodies’ ideas on reading sarcastically. Local bodies, he said, evidently thought that loose thrown on a road would grow, or that something would happen to it by leaving it like that. The metal was thrown down in patches, here, there and everywhere. On the Great South Road, be’ween Auckland and Mercer, he said, there was sufficient loose metal to make a magnificent road if it were properly looked after and bound in position by men stationed at different points along the road. At present the metal acted as a pick under the pressure of passing vehicles, and thus helped to tear the road up.

The members of the Manawatu Motor Cycle Club entertained, and made a present to one of the’r members, Mr. Alex. Anderson, prior to his departure for England. The president of the club, Mr. F. Stockwell, made the presentation.

Mention was made at the annual meeting of the Hawke’s Bay Automobile Association cf the conference of local authorities and of the Manawatu, Wairarapa, and Hawke’s Bay Automobile Associations., held at Woodville on the 21st January, to consider the best means of lessening the dangers of motor traffic through the Manawatu Gorge. It was stated that a sum of between £2OO and £3OO had been set aside by the Government to be expended' under certain conditions of grants by the local bodies for this purpose. The local bodies concerned are prepared to enter upon this matter, but they consider that there should first be some

contribution by the motorists using the Gorge road, so there may be a sum available to do good and effectual work. The method, which is the only one of permanent advantage, is to widen the road at the bad corners, and to lay out at intervals throughout the Gorge road places of safety for passing other vehicles. The hope was expressed that not only members, but other motorists- using the road, will contribute to this desirab.e object.

The suave confidence trick man has made his appearance in the Cat .edral City in a new form- A day cr two agj a man who was the owner of a motor cycle was approached by a stranger who announced himself as a prospective purchaser of the mac nine After a careful examination of the mot:r cycle the stranger indicated that he was prepared to buy, but wold like a trial spin first. The owner readily agreed,, and the stranger * mounted and rode off. It proved to be a long trial run, for the owner has seen neither his machine nor the stranger since.

Castor oil as a medium for absorbing road shocks On motor cars has been introduced in the Houdaille hydraulic suspension device. The invention resembles, in principle, the shock absorbers used for minimising the re coil of big guns, and consists of a circular metal case filled with castor oil or glycerine, which absorbs the road shocks, which are conveyed to the substance by a lever fixed on the car springs at one end and operating a device inside the oil case which effectually m nimises the upward rus . of the bump, and also reduces the succeeding downward movement of the car body. There are several systems of shock absorbers for motor cars, and their use is becoming general, as they have the effect of no: only making the car more comfortable, but lengthening the life of the tyres.

One of the best-known cars on th? fiat highways of the South Island is the Fo.d roadster. The advance in business done by this company, both in New Zealand and other parts or tne world, has led to- the head of tho firm installing a profit-sharing sch me that is somewhat unique in the annals of commerce. The profits will be dis tributed fortnightly. In future a mechanic in receipt of £1 a day may find in his pay envelope twice per month a sum which will bring his daily wages to approximately 31s, while an ordinary labourer, whose wage hitherto has been 10s 6d per day, will have his earnings increased t £l. All this, Mr. Ford states, ha been made possible by the fact that the company, instead of reducing the price of each car £lO sterling w _en a reduction is justified by its profits, will devote this money to improving the financial position of its employees. Women employed by the company wil have their wages increased, but will not be allowed to participate in the profit-sharing unless they can, prove they are supporting a family. Two millions will be distributed among employees- annually. The working day for the men is also reduced an hour to eight hours without decreased pay, and a minimum daily wage for all employees of 22 years or older of 5 dollars has been decided upon. Th company has also organised a sociological department to watch the em ployees’ manner of living, and t o found using their extra money im properly will cease to be beneficiaries.