MOTORING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1408, 19 April 1917, Page 26

MOTORING

Motor-cycle enthusiasts in Wellington have lately been discussing a rather peculiar-looking motor-cycle which has been seen round town recently. The machine has an extraordinarily long wheel-base —almost like a car—and, as far as a cursory glance could reveal, is powered by a fourcylinder a'r-cooled engine. The countershaft gear-box provides three speeds, but, what is most unusual, a reverse. On either side of the back wheel are two small rubber-tyred wheels, which are in use until the engine attains a fair speed, when they are drawn up by means of a pedal.

A 12,000-ton motor ship is stated to have just been laid down at the Cramp shipyard, Philadelphia. The length of the new vessel will be 420 ft. and she will be equipped with twin Diesel engines aggregating 3100 i.h.p. i.h.p.

At the Napier Motor Cycle Club’s Easter race meeting the 15-lap heavyweight race of New Zealand was won by P. Coleman, 8-valve Indian (Palmerston North), J. Dauber, 3g h.p. In-

dian (Palmerston North) being second, and J. A. Karton, 41 h.p. B.S.A. (Palmerston North) third. Time, 16min. ; average speed, 58 miles per hour. Coleman led practically the whole way, and won by three-quart-ers of a lap.

Considerable excitement occurred on the Paekakariki Hill the other day, when a large motor car, bound for Auckland, caught fire. The occupants managed to subdue the flames, but, it is stated, left behind a part of their luggage, which contained £lOO worth of jewellery and £5O in notes. On reacting Otaki they noticed their loss, and immediately returned, only to find no trace of the goods.

There are enough motor-cars in New York State to move its entire population to other territory in three days; enough to mobilise the whole Greek army and move it from one frontier of the Empire State to another in two days. New York claims precisely one-ninth of the cars of the entire United States.

Careful estimates of the probable demand for motor tyres in the United States during next year have led to the conclusion that the total requirements will not be far from the huge total of 22,500,000 tyres. * * * *

From Mr. D. Thomas Curtin’s articles in “The Times” on “Ten Months in Germany,” we learnt that, “in the automobile quarters of Berlin, shop after shop is filled with handsome cars for which there are no purchasers and which are tyreless. * » ♦ •

A Honiton motor car proprietor was summoned the other day for using motor sp rit for purposes of a trip contrary to the Defence of the Realm regulations, but was acquitted, as the Bench considered that the car used was not a char-a-banc or like vehicle. As a matter of fact, the car, which was of an ordinary type, was . used to take three men on a shooting expedition. It was represented that the killing of game was a necessary act, and that the expedition was not one for pleasure, but was of a practical character.

An unusual case of the recovery of lost property occurred recently when a number of unclaimed bicycles and other lost property was being removed from the Palmerston police station to a local auction mart for the purpose of being disposed of. As the bicycles were being placed in the mart one was claimed by a person in the room, and being able to establish his ownership beyond doubt, the machine was handed over to him after it had been missing for about two years.

A very interesting article appeared in “Motor-cycling” (Eng.), a few weeks ago respecting the needs of the more elderly motor-cyclists in regard to types of machines. What was wanted, it was thought, was a slower machine altogether. No doubt there are many elderly people who have considered the purchase of a motor-cycle, but have hesitated before making up their minds what to do about it, because it has been so difficult to obtain any experience from older riders. The younger generation has countless machines from wh’ch to choose, but what suits this class is not what the older people desire. Writing on the subject, a correspondent to the same paper says:—“What we want, I take it, is a first machine that will run slowly, say, at 10 m.p.h., and which embodies reliability, economy, comfort, silence, and safety, all of these qualities being equally necessary. To start, the main consideration is a mach ne that will run slowly, for without that few elderly people will take the plunge, and few will learn to drive a machine that must tear along at 20 m.p.h. This is the general impression one receives when he first suggests learning to ride.

A peculiar accident happened to Mr. P. A. O’Dowd, manager for Mr. G. R. Donnelly, at Wa’raki, Hawke’s Bay, last week. In alighting from a car to go to the assistance of a

motorist in trouble he stepped into a rut, slipped, and broke one of his legs just above the ankle. He was admitted to the Napier Hospital. * ♦ * During the Easter holidays Mr. H. Y. Collins, with a family party, motored from Te Awamutu to Wellington. Leaving Te Awamutu, they proceeded to Taranaki, reaching New Plymouth at the close of the first day’s travelling. They then went on to Wellington, proceeding through Wanganui and Palmerston North. Setting out on the return journey they crossed the Rimutaka Ranges in to the Wairarapa, but at the close of the first day’s travelling from Wellington, being then in the vicinity of Eket.ahuna, they met with a mishap that necessitated an abandonment of their plans to continue the journey through Hawke’s Bay. At the time of the accident they were proceeding along a very narrow strip of road, and rounding a bend, the car collided with a cow. The force of the impact par-

tially overturned the car, and though the occupants were thrown out none of them suffered any injury beyond a good shaking. The car was slightly damaged, and the party entrained and returned to Te Awamutu.

On a recent Saturday Mr. H. J. Ranger put up a record for a motor car trip to Dunedin and back which will take a lot of beating (says the “Christchurch Press”). The double trip has not been attempted before. He did the journey from Christchurch to Dunedin in 8 hours 34 minutes, and the home run in 8 hours 20 minutes, or a total time of 16 hours 54 minutes. From this has to be deducted an estimated time of 1 houi 45 minutes for sundry stops at different places, so the actual running time of the car on the journey was 15 hours 9 minutes, which means that an average speed of about 33 miles per hour was kept up — a remarkable performance on a long trip over roads which were indifferent in parts, and which had to be negotiated for some hours in fog and darkness.

Recently the British Trade Commissioner asked the municipal and county authorities throughout the Dominion to assist in the collection of statistics regarding the registration of motor cars and motor cycles during the year 1916. The figures he has secured show that last year no fewer than 5,756 motor cars and 3,191

motor cycles were registered in New Zealand for the first time. They were newly-imported vehicles, and the startling feature of the figures is the enormous preponderance of importations from the United States. « * 9 9 An army truck driver for convoy formations can be trained in 15 days. A capable touring car driver cannot be produced in less than 6 to 8 weeks. This is the experience of the French army authorities in the trainin.. thousands of men who have not had previous motor car experience. From their various regimental depots the men are sent in batches to a big touring car school, which is of only recent origin. Everything has had to be obtained since the outbreak of war; officers and instructors; sheds for the men to live in; kitchens in which to cook their food; shops for repairing the trucks, and a uniform programme of instruction calculated to produce the best drivers m the shortest possible time. The methods adopted for the training of a touring car driver are entirely different from those applied to the production of a truck driver. The latter is rarely, if ever, called upon to work entirely unaided. The touring car driver, on the, other hand, must always be independent of outside help and sufficiently expert to get his car home no matter what conditions may be met with en route. Speed is a difficulty. While any ordinary man, without previous experi-

ence of motoring, can be trained to drive a truck, a certain proportion of recruits more than 30 years old are naturally incapable of becoming the drivers of mile-a-minute cars. The method adopted at the lead’ng French army touring car school is a judicious combination of theory and practice Except when weather conditions are altogether unfavourable, instruction is given on a broad, shady avenue by the side of a river, all approaches to this avenue being barred by sentinels. Just as in the old school d ivs the pupils are divided into classes,, of which there are about a dozen, each one in charge of an instructor. The sight of this modern military open-air touring car school is rot lacking in picturesqueness. At the entrance to the avenue about thirty men are gathered around a sectioned motor car chassis. The machine is a Darracq of simple construction, from which the radiator has been removed and the front of the timing gear housing taken away. Parts of the water jacket and the cylinder walls have been cut out of No. 1 and 2 cylinders, so as to expose the two pistons. A colour scheme has been adopted as an aid to comprehension. Thus the water pump, the inlet and outlet water pipes and the exposed portion of the water jacket space are painted a uniform colour. The accelerator, the gasolene feed pipe and the carburetter are another colour. The brake pedal, rods, shoes and drums have all been daubed from the common pot, and so on throughout the entire chassis, thus making it easy for the novice to trace the connections from one part of the machine to another. In this class elementary instruction is given to men who have, for the most part, entered the school without any notions of motor car construction and operation. In the centre of the next group is a practical object lesson consisting of a touring ear with its rear axle jacked up and its front wheels locked. Here the men are learning to crank the motor and to change gears, the latter operation being one of the most difficult the instructors have to teach. The gearbox cover is removed, and first the pupil is allowed to watch the revolving gears. As soon as he has realised that the object of the change speed lever is to put into engagement sets of gears of different diameters, it is insisted that he make all changes with his eyes on the road ahead. Following the gear-changing classes there are two others dealing with pneu-' matic tyres. A large portion of ihe

pupils are not aware that a pneumatic tyre comprises an outer casing and an inner air tube. This is explained to them, and also the manner of mounting and demounting tyres and inflating them to the correct pressure.