MOTOR & CYCLE

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1442, 13 December 1917, Page 28

MOTOR & CYCLE

(CONTINUED.)

In a charge heard at .Leeds against a lady driver wearing a khaki uniform, it was stated that the speed of the car was so great that the whole of the four wheels of the vehicle were off the ground at one time.

The increasing shortage in petroleum fuel, which threatens to become acute the world over, offers a great opportunity for the wider introduction of electrically-driven vehicles, wh’ch depend for their supplies on power developed by other classes of fuel, or water power where available. The electric vehicle is by no means an experiment, for it has performed most satisfactorily for a number of years, for both pleasure and commercial purposes, and has proved itself em nently practicable. This the public does not appear to be generally aware of, as the more spectacular or sensational features of the petrol-driven car have monopolised attention; but impending condit’ons will undoubtedly force a wider recognition of the undoubted merits of the electric vehicle.

A writer mentions that when well over forty he “had to look around for a suitable form of exercise to maintain fitness when the days for tennis and sculling were passing by, and fortunately discovered cycl ng.” Cycling provided just what was wanted —exercise which could be graduated to su't the seeker’s condition and inclination, together with mental activity in various drections, as, for instance, the study of human nature as encountered along the road, the road itself and the reason for the course it takes, the incidents of a journey, and so on. It may well be said of cycling that “there is more in it than meets the eye,” but the point with which we are mainly concerned at the moment is to emphasise the fact that “when well over forty” cycl ng s an admirable means by which the devotees to other exercises, now becoming too strenuous for them, can “carry on.” A remarkable

point about cycling is its “flexibility.” There is no need to pile up miles by the thousand each year, or to average 15 or 16 miles per hour, n order to extract a full measure of enjoyment from the game. On the contrary, each cycl'st should make a point of riding well within his physical capacity, and the result will inevitably be that the man who can achieve no more than a single thousand m les in the course of a year at an average pace of eight m les per hour may cbtain exactly the same amount of satisfaction and pleasure as the one who can manage ten times the distance at twice the speed. Cycling, we would again emphasise, ’s essentially the pastime for young and old, but perhaps because of its “flexibil ty” it is peculiarly the recreation for those who, having passed the milestone marking middle age, and finding that tenn’s, or sculling, or whatever game has hitherto claimed their affection, is no longer comfortably possible, who —wisely enough—shrink from the thought of idleness, cast about for

some means of keeping fit. As we have said before, cycling is just what a man likes to make it. Possessed of youth and strength, he will naturally enter strenuously into the game. With the years piled up behind and in the face of dim nisiting powers, a more restricted programme naturally suggests itself, though a light and wellconstructed bicycle, shod with light resilient “Dunlops,” does much to 1 ghten the exert on associated with cycling nowadays. Further, it is wonderful how much can be ach eved in the way of pace and distance by experienced cyclists who make it their business to keep fit through middle age and onwards. However, the main point of these remarks is that cycl’sts should not relinquish the pastime “when well over forty.” They should merely adjust their comings and go ngs as may seem necessary. And non-cyclists at the same stage will

find in the pastime an admirable substitute for the recreations they can no longer follow.

“An automobile cannot in justice be called a pleasure car any longer; it is a vital economic factor in the existing order of things.”

Three more pupils of the Canterbury Aviation Company qualified for their aviator’s certificate on Monday week, making 19 in all to date. The successful airmen were S. Templeton (Spreydon), M. Chapman (Papanui), and H. Dolwood (Christchurch).

“Coal gas has come to stay,” says one of the leading English motor journals, in its comments on the increasing use of gas as a substitute for petrol, which is now almost unobtainable in England by private motorists. One of the advantages that is being favourably commented upon by EngI sh motorists who are using coal gas is the great ease with which an engine can be started on it as compared with the indifferently-’/olatile fuels available to-day. The explanat'on is a very simple one, in that the new fuel is already in the true gaseous form and the mechanical admixture of the gas molecules with the air is obtained perfectly and without any extraneous aid, such as a jet or choke tube. No liquid fuel —and present-day

petrol least of any—can be expected to form a perfect mixture. At best, the intermixed fuel particles must be of appreciable size, a condition which tends towards forming what might be termed a “crude” mixture, whereas with coal-gas a “fine” mixture must necessarily result. Furthermore, such a mixture can he maintained at an even density, which fact must tend to economy. In winter tune the advantage of coal, gas is even more marked, though it should be pointed out that abnormally cold weather may possibly adversely affect the starting, a point wh’ch requires testing by practical exper'ence. This fact opens up the interesting possibility of the application of coal gas solely as a starting medium as an auxiliary to liquid fuel. There is no reason why a comparat vely small gas container made of aluminium or alloy should not be carried on all cars, even when equipped with an electric starter, as' the fact should not be overlooked that it is the quality of the mixture which is the determining element in ease of start'ng.

An nteresting announcement has been made by the Willys-Overland Co., one of the largest motor car manufacturers in America, to the effect that they are going to specialise on a car to sell at less than £lO9, and are go ng to compete against the “Ford” for the low-priced runabout market. The weight, complete, is to be 15001 b., fitted up with electric I ghting and start ng equipment, a 4cylinder engine, 314 in. bore by 4in. stroke, will be used, and although it is a smaller engine than the Ford, it is claimed that it will gve about 50 per cent, more power.