MOTOR & CYCLE

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1436, 1 November 1917, Page 28

MOTOR & CYCLE

There are stated to be- 125,000 motor cars in England that are laid aside for want of petrol, and, further, some 50,000 public service and goods carrying motor vehicles would shortly have to be garaged for the same reason. * • • • Some English experts consider that coal gas in the near future is the only ray of hope, and advise that immediate steps be taken to manufacture and equip vehicles with this cheap but cumbersome fuel. v a • • There is keen rivalry between the various manufacturers of farm’ng tractors. One company that handles the Whiting Bull motor tractor has challenged the M.O.M. Ford mechanical ploughers to a ten hours’ continuous ploughing match, the test to be decided by the actual cubic measure ment of the soil turned over, the consumption and the labour employed. The stake is to be six ambulances valued at £3OOO, which the loser must present to the Red Gross Society. Every motorist is naturally anxious to get the most out of his tyres, and many a man has been heard boasting that he has just discarded a tyre which has run so many thousand miles. Good tyres plus luck enter very largely into the question, but, all the same, careful management goes a very long way towards this end. A plan that helps towards lengthening the life of tyres is to run

the car for a thousand miles and then take off the right rear tyre and carry it as a spare, replacing it vzith a new tyre. At the end of another thousand miles the left rear tyre is removed and used on the left front wheel, and the right rear on the left rear, and a new or little-used tyre is placed on the right rear. Thus the tyres are kept moving from wheel to wheel in a clockwork direction. It is assumed that the right rear or off-side tyre gets more wear than the near side, as the lattei' has a better surfaced part of the road to run upon. As the new or little-used tyre comes in turn to the off-side rear wheel its direction of running is reversed. The system is claimed to add many miles to the life of a tyre. » * a * At the Wellington Magistrate’s Court last week, Percy Withers, chauffeur to Mr. Walter Johnston, was charged before Mr. S. E. McCar-

(CONTINUED.)

thy, S.M., with manslaughter. The charge arose out of the death of a hoy 5V 2 years of age named Gordon Challis, who died at the Wellington Hospital as the result of being knocked down by a motor, car driven by the defendant. Mr. P. S. K. Macassey prosecuted on behalf of the Crown, and Mr. A. Gray, K.C., with him Mr. G. G. Watson, appeared for Hie defendant. Mr. Macassey, in opening, said that the facts were simple. About 4.20 o’clock on the afternoon of September 14, a little child was killed in Molesworth Street by a motor car driven by Withers and owned by Mr. Walter Johnston. The motor car was proceeding in the direction of Lambton Quay. The car was travelling close to the footpath, and it appeared that Withers, when he saw the child on the road, blew his horn and applied the brakes of the car. In trying to avoid the child Withers mounted the car on to the kerbstone, and carried away a verandah post. On examination it was found that the car had skidded for 75 yards. The question, said counsel, was whether defendant was culpably blameworthy. When the defendant first saw the child the car was thirty yards away, and Withers should have had his car under control so that he could have pulled it up. He had no right to assume that a child, 5% years of age, would take as much care as a grown-up when crossing a street. Knowing this, defendant should have pulled up his car. Mr. Gray, K.C., emphasised the

fact that the unfortunate occurrence was the result of an inevitable accident. Evidence had been adduced that Withers was a careful and competent driven Everyone was Table co err in his judgment. When the defendant saw the child run out on to the street a collision was inevitable. At a point nearly 100 feet away from the scene of the accident the defendant made an attempt to reduce che pace of his car, if not to stop it altogether. The most that could be said was that Withers may have made an error of judgment in driving at the speed he did having regard to the hour, although the speed was not excessive, or he may have erred in trying to drive round the child. There was no evidence that the child had been dragged by the car, and it was possible the accident might have been avoided had the defendant transgressed the rules of the road. If an error of judgment had taken place

the defendant could not be held to be crim nally liable. Mr. Drake had put his finger on the spot regarding * children of tender years being allowed on the streets without being accompanied by persons of more mature years. The defendant had already suffered agony through knowing that he had unwittingly caused the death of a child of tender years'. Having - a child of similar age to that of the deceased he suffered great pain of mind. The defendant had done nothing that any other expert driver would not have done in the circumstances. The evidence at the coroner’s inquiry did not show that the defendant was guilty of negligence or want of care. The Bench said that when a person loses his life through the act of anothei* only slight evidence is necessary in order for that other person to answer for h’s act before a common jury. Although it was inadvisable for children to be allowed on the streets unattended it must be expected that they would be on the streets and drivers should make provision for such being the case. In his opinion there was a case to go before a common jury. Defendant, who reserved his defence, was committed to the Supreme Court to stand his trial. * * $ # Very few motor cyclists pay proper attention to the lubrication of the moving parts and the various joints of the brake control rods. These require as much attention as, if not more than the hubs of the wheels, which one sees so many people oiling in their spare moments. Others fail to realise that in the case of a brake operating on either the inside or cutside of the belt rim, the actual brake block must at the moment of application be bearing along its whole length on the belt r’.m. When, too, a new brake block is fitted, it should be seen

that it conforms to the contour cf the rim, as otherwise there will be trouble. Several manufacturers seem to omit to give any adjustment in order to correct the position of the brake block and bring it to its proper position; and a very large number of motor cyclists, even when this adjustment is given them, do not know what it is for. When will both manufacturers and motor cyclists realise that efficient brakes on their machines are more important from the point of view of the public than the engine? If they would pay more attent on to brake design adjustment there would be fewer accidents among motor cyclists. T * * * The American Government has dropped the projected tax of £1 a vehcle on all motor cars to oe collected at the factory. In its stead a stiffer tax has been imposed on the user, ranging from 30s. to £5 per annum, on a sliding scale, according to value, age of car, etc. By this means it is anticipated that a war revenue of £8,200,000 will be collected from the 3,610,000 motorists in the Un.ted States, whilst motor cyclists will add to the total by paying an annual tax of 10s. per machine. The scale of charges on cars will be as fohows. Up to £lOO selling price, 30s. on 1,400,000 cars, bringing in £2,100,000; from £lOO to £2OO, a tax of £2 on 760,000 vehicles, resulting in £1,520,000 revenue; from £2OO to £4OO, a tax of £3 on 1,219,000 cars, bringingin £3,657,000; from £4OO to £6OO, a tax of £4 on 231,000 vehicles, amounting to £924,000; and on cars exceeding £6OO a tax of £5 will ue payable. It will be noted that the largest contribution will be made by the owners of such cars as the Buick, Chevrolet, Hudson, Hupmobile, Oldsmobile, Overland, Scripps-Booth, and Studebaker.