MOTORING & CYCLING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1471, 4 July 1918, Page 28

MOTORING & CYCLING

Photographs of private motorists in their cars, snapshots taken while on tour, or accounts of motoring trips and other items of interest to carowners, will be inserted in these columns if posted to "New Zealand Sporting and Dramatic Review,’ P.O. Box 52, Auckland.

The last English mail to hand conveys the news that Lieut.-Colonel Sir Albert E. Bingham, Bart., V.D., principal of the well-known Sheffield firm of Messrs. Walker and Hall, whose branches are established in the leading cities throughout New Zealand and Australia, has generously presented an aeroplane to the Australian Forces for the use of their air squadrons overseas. The gift is made to commemorate Lieut.-Colonel Sir Albert Bingham’s thirty-three years’ service with the West Riding Divisional Royal Engineers, and also to mark his recognition of the fine work done in Gallipoli, France and Egypt by the men from Australia. Mr. John Hislop, Auckland manager for Messrs. Walker and Hall, informs us that the aeroplane has been completed, and recently flew from Sheffield over to Ranby Hall, Sir Albert and Lady Bingham’s residence, near Retford, and after inspection the same day continued its aerial voyage south on it way to do duty with the Australian Forces in France. This magnificent gift will meet with the wide appreciation of colonials it so richly deserves, and will prove a valuable acquisition to the flying arm of the Australian Forces. The machine is of the same type as that presented by the City of Sheffield to the colony of Newfoundland. It has been named “The Ranby,” and bears the inscription, “Presented by Lieut.-Colonel Sir A. E. Bingham, Bart., V.D., West Riding Divisional R.E. (T.), Sheffield.” The trial trip to Sir Albert’s home demonstrated that the ’plane is in every way fitted for its difficult and perilous work at the front; its pilot alighted in the grounds, where the machine was subjected to a close and interesting inspection by a number of guests who had assembled for the auspicious occasion. The Commonwealth Government have been much impressed with the generous gift, and have conveyed their appreciation to Sir Albert in the following letter, received from the High Commissioner of Australia, written from “Australia House,” Strand, London: —“I have the honour by direction of the High Commissioner to inform you that he has received a communication from the Air Ministry, stating that you have generously presented an aeroplane for the use of the Australian Air Squadrons overseas. Mr. Fisher desires to express to you his warm thanks on behalf of the Commonwealth Government for your very generous gift. It is stated that the machine is now ready, and that it will be despatched overseas at an early date for use at the front. There is no doubt that in your placing this machine at the disposal of the Australian Flying Corps full use will be made of it in a manner which will be in keeping with the good work which the Australian units have already performed on active service.”

“I always consider cases of driving motor-cars over intersections at excessive speeds as being more serious than the ordinary prosecutions for fast driving,” said Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M., at the Wellington Magistrate’s Court, “and I think the penalties ought to be heavier, for it is generally at the crossings that accidents occur.” In the case under notice, in which the defendant was charged with having exceeded the speed limit when crossing the intersection of Ghuznee and Willis Streets, His Worship inflicted a fine of £3.

Experiments have recently been made by the French authorities as to the suitability of aeroplanes for transporting wounded from the front line dressing stations to the base hospitals. These aeroplane ambulances can travel at a speed of eighty miles an hour, and while in flight are free from the shocks usually experienced by road ambulances.

Only a few Sundays ago, says a Wellington paper, a motorist was driving a brother of his back from the front, and suffering badly from nervous disorder, round one of the city foreshores. A young girl suddenly jumped to the middle of the road about twenty yards ahead of the advancing motorist. She deliberately danced in front of the motor, and eventually escaped being run down just by a hairbreadth. The shock told on the nerve-wracked soldier to such an extent that he has been bedridden ever since. This dare-devil practice should be watched for by the police, and offenders severely punished.

The depth of humiliation, according to an American motor paper, is the experience of a man who went through Messines and Passchendaele unscratched, and then broke his arm cranking a motor-car.

The century “tally” of tickets has been reached at the Canterbury Flying School, five more men having been examined and passed by Colonel R. A. Chaffey, V.D., and Major W. C. Morrison. The names of the pupils are: J. E. McCarthy (Motueka), R. R. Parsons (Kaikoura), L. H. Stewart (Aramoho), O. B. Sandford (Oaro), and D. Winfield (Taranaki).

According to a Dunedin paper, further restrictions are contemplated upon the speed at which motors may travel through the city streets. The General Committee has decided to recommend at the next meeting of the City Council that the speed of motorists between Rattray and Stafford Streets must not exceed four miles an hour, and also that the speed must not exceed this rate when motors are passing stationary tramcars and street crossings.

The shortage of petrol is reported to be seriously felt by farmers in the Ashburton county who are depending on motor tractors to do their work, and in many cases ploughing is being held up in consequence.

Asked respecting petrol supplies, Mr. J. A. Frostick, Canterbury Commissioner on the National Efficiency Board, informed a reporter that all he could say was that the matter was now in the hands of the Board of Trade for the purpose of making a recommendation on the subject to the Minister of Munitions, and the Minister in charge of the Board of Trade. It was hoped that something effective and satisfactory to the public would be done.

A reference to Paris in war time is made by a British airman in a letter to Mr. G. F. Wilson, of Wellington. “I am a good deal in Paris,” he writes, “as all our engineering shops are there, so are our headquarters, but it is not a desirable residing place at present. We have our full quota

of bombing by night, and by day the big German cannon —‘Berthas’ they call them —throw in shells at leisurely intervals. You can hear them bursting, some near and some far, but the people just carry on as usual. Even now there is the usual crowd of morning shoppers out on the boulevards. . . . We have plenty of

‘grub’ here, thank goodness, much better than in London. In England it is not easy to get a decent meal; but there is enough to keep going, and the Government is accumulating a big ‘reserve.’ The standard of the hotel meal over at Home would astound you, but it is wonderful how little you can pull along with —and keep fit on.”

“You were up before the court on a previous occasion for driving at about 40 miles an hour,” said Senior Sergeant Burrowes to a defendant in a speed case at Invercargill. “Yes,” admitted defendant; “but I was only going at about 14.” “Then why did you plead guilty?” asked the sergeant. “Because I was a mug then,” replied defendant, amid the laughter of the court.

Flight-Lieut. Arthur Winton, R.F.C., writing to his father, Mr. J. S. Winton, of Palmerston North, states that he had a somewhat exciting experience recently. While flying near Alexandria something •went wrong with the engine, and the machine was precipitating into the sea, 150 yards from the shore. After some difficulty Lieut. Winton extricated himself from the machine, and although his leg was injured by the fall, he managed to swim ashore. The machine when recovered a few days later was found battered to pieces by the waves.

A fleet of eleven motor lorries, carying a complete field hospital equipment, is attached to the Elsie Inglis (London) Unit of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, which, after inspection by the King and Queen, recently went out to Salonika to join the Jugo-Slav (Serbian) Division on the Macedonian Front. The unit also comprises eight ambulances and three touring cars for the personnel. An urgent appeal for funds for the upkeep of this hospital is made by the London Committee.

The first public indications of the future policy of the French motor industry have been issued in a report on the situation of the automobile industry after the war. The French motor manufacturers have petitioned the Ministry of Commerce to impose an import duty of 70 per cent, on the value of all motor vehicles brought into France during the first 12 months following the declaration of peace. The duty to be reduced to 40 per cent, for the second year after the war, and for the third and following years to be from 25 to 30 per cent., according to the type of car. The report states that the French makers had all turned over their plants to munition or aviation motor work, and that from 1916 the factories had been depleted of both cars and stocks with which to make cars. Thus, unless some protection was given it would be impossible to compete with other nations having stocks on hand or having factories in a position to begin construction without delay. The present French import duties are based on weight, being roughly equivalent to 8 per cent, of the value.

Nowhere is the ifiternal-combust-ion engine pressed into greater service than in America. In addition to more than a million cars m use, there is a vast fleet of privately-own-ed motor boats, while motor power is used on the farm for churning milk, threshing, ploughing and for a great variety of mechanical appliances in other industries.

Charged with illegally using petrol to convey a wedding party to and from a registry office, a Carnarvon motor car proprietor s^c^esS^ l pleaded that he discharged a public duty. He only conveyed the Princi pals and the witnesses, and the Order only aimed at the conveyance of guests and joy rides after the ceremony. - * *

Despite the war, a good deal of sport is being. indulged in behind th lines in France. There was indoor racing at Easter in Pans, and the first of the big road races of the season, Paris to Tours (154 miles) was announced for decision on May IV.

At a meeting of the Lower Hutt! (Wellington) Borough Council, it was l moved by Councillor Cotton that the council should consider the advisability of advocating a general wheel tax throughout the Dominion for the maintenance of main and art ® r^ a roads. He said that £3OOO had been spent on the main road in the borough during the past five years. There were approximately 16,000 motor vehicles in New Zealand, and a w iee tax of £5 on each vehicle would produce £BO,OOO annually. The number of other vehicles using the roads in New Zealand totalled 60,000, and £1 tax on each would provide £60,000. The £140,000 thus collected would, ■. in a large measure, relieve the people who did not use the roads from the heavy upkeep. The Mayor said the question was one that required cai e ful thought. Politicians had taken the matter up, but it was such & taireaching and involved one that it was dropped. Councillor Clendon stated that a tax on imported tyres would be preferable to wheel tax, and would be more easily collected. Councillor Hobbs expressed the opinion that a tax on motor lorries would only be passed on, and would be used as a lever to make the public pay'an even greater amount than would cover the tax He would support a tax on pleasure vehicles. After further discussion it was decided to forward a remit on to the Municipal Association, asking for support.

Let us consider why the young motor cyclist is so enthusiastic about flying, and, when he has mastered the rudiments of aeronautical work, makes so good a pilot, says the English journal “Motor Cycle.’ The reasons are not far to seek. The youth who rides a motor bicycle is generally in fine condition —motor cycle riding brings this about —he drives a self-propelled vehicle which has not only to be ridden but also driven; he subconsciously balances the machine, and, at the same time, uses his brain to control and get the best out of a beautifully made little engine. Not only is the body but also the mind kept fit, the nerves are braced and steadied, and the rider eventually possesses the much-desired mens sana in corpore sano. Hence the trained motor cyclist—fearless, skilled, and a good amateur mechanic —is well supplied with useful knowledge before he has learnt a single lesson in flying or listened to a single lecture on aeroplane engines. The desire to fly is present probably in the mind of every motor cyclist. How often has the feeling come over the rider, seated on a fast, smooth-running machine, hurtling along at a good pace on a straight and undulating road, when hills are annihilated, that, while shooting up some stiff gradient, it would be joy indeed to continue one’s course and sail into the clear air, leaving the road and its bumps behind, and soaring forward straight across country until one’s destination is reached ?

Contrary to the necessity of curtailing the use of petrol in England and France, the American authorities are urging the greater use of cars and trucks in order to relieve the congestion on the railways in that country and in Canada. A report from New York states that the drilling of new

wells, increased production of gasolene, and the lack of shipping facilities for export to Europe have combined to cause consumption to fall below production, witfi the result that storage accommodation is deficient. As petrol cannot be stored in large quantities because of lack of facilities and inability to build additional storage tanks, and as it is evident that no increase in export can be reckoned on, the War Service Committee urge that every effort should be made to utilise trucks and cars for hauling merchandise and carrying passengers on utilitarian errands. To the extent that petrol and fuel oils are used, for power purposes the supply of coal is conserved, and this is the most important consideration at present.

A novel and ingenious form of swindle was at one period carried out in America by two confederate sharpers. Sharper No. 1 rode through the country on a first-class machine; when a suitable town or village was reached, he gave out that he was hard up, and must sell his bicycle. He parted with it for a small sum and left the town. A few days later Sharper No. 2 turns up, apparently on the look out for a machine that has been stolen from him. He discovers the bicycle sold by No. 1, claims it as his property, proves his claim conclusively, and goes off to share the spoil with his comrade, preparatory to a repetition of the performance at the next town.

= Flight-Lieutenant Horace C. Lloyd, of the Royal Flying Corps (Eng.), whose portrait appears on this page, is the eldest son of Mr. H. W. Lloyd, jeweller, of Wellington, and was born in the Empire City. Flight-Lieut. Lloyd, who is only 23 years of age, was educated at Wellington College, and went with the first New Zealand Expeditionary Force to Samoa, subsequently going to Australia, where he joined up with the forces and left for England as a sergeant on transport duty. Within 14 days of Janding in London he was accepted as a cadet in the Flying Corps, and in three months he secured his commission and is now flying on the East Coast of England.

A motor accident recently occurred at Ngaire railway station, Taranaki, when Mr. W. Freer, farmer, of Eltham, driving a 5-seater Dodge car, crashed into a Ford car owned

1 driven by Mr. C. Kidd of Huiroa. it appears that Mr. Freer was descending the hill near the Ngaire station at a considerable speed, just as Mr. Kidd was approaching from the opposite direction and pulling into the station. About half-way down the hill Mr. Freer applied the brakes and steered to his right side of the road, being ignorant of the fact that Mr. Kidd was about to pull in toward the station on his wrong side. Consequently the Dodge car crashed into the Ford, the impact forcing the Dodge well off the road while the Ford car was thrown round, coming to rest in a position at right angles to the direction from whence it had been proceeding. Considerable damage was caused, but the occupants of both cars escaped uninjured. Equal blame is attached to both parties, as the one was travelling at too great a speed, while the other was on his wrong side.

An Australian cyclist who has had considerable experience in overlanding in Australia, expresses his belief

that with an up-to-date motor cycle he could make the journey from Adelaide to Port Darwin in 18 days. So far no motor cyclist has yet undertaken a trip across the Continent either from south to north or west to east, but there is little doubt as soon as the war is a thing of the past the motor cycle will be put to the test over these routes. One of the difficulties to be overcome will be petrol supplies en route, for these machines, unless fitted with some form of trailer or side-car, are not suitable for carrying large spare> supplies. The present bicycle record between Adelaide and Port Darwin (1969 miles) stands to the credit of F. Reichenbach, who in June, 1914, negotiated the journey on a Dunlopshod cycle in 28 days 7 minutes. Two Adelaide motorists, in H. Dutton and M. Aunger, tackled this trip on a Talbot car in 1908, when it took 52 days to do the journey, but tracks and cars have considerably improved since those days.

The question of the home production of cars is now being actively discussed in India. It is believed that capital, labour and plant could be obtained if the movement took practical shape. At present India is entirely dependent on imported cars, of which a good number are American. Deliveries of after-war production from abroad are bound to be slow, and it is expected that homemade cars would find a ready market. The fact that another Oriental nation —namely, ' Japan—has made a good beginning with car production is no doubt influencing the trend of opinion in India.

In the course of an address before the Wellington Officers’ Club on “Aircraft Service,” Lieut.-Colonel Sleeman, 1.G.5., Driecior of Military Training, contrasted aeroplaning and seaplaning. Because of the favourable weather conditions necessary for seaplaning, it naturally took a longer time to learn this branch of aircraft than aeioplaning. Many people did not understand this point. However, by learning seaplaning learners were generally much better grounded in their work than in the more rapid school of aeroplaning. The body work of a seaplane was much heavier than the aeroplane, because of its having to be propelled over the water. Consequently a seaplane could not be launched in rough weather. In the future defence of New Zealand seaplanes must play an important part. He could see such bays as Evans Bay making admirable learners’ schools in the future. In civil life aircraft was going to play a very important part. Quite lately they had read of an aeroplane carying two passengers flying from Turin to London in one day on a non-stop run. He was quite satisfied that three or four years after the war many farmers here would have their own services. As a commercial proposition such a service had immense advantages over land services. The time- gained would be enormous, and while the petrol consumption would be large there would be very little wear in tyres.