MOTORING & CYCLING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1484, 3 October 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, wi'i be inserted in these columns if posted to “New Zealand Sporting arid Dramatic Review,” P.O. Box 52, Auckland.

Flight Cadet Daniel George Spence, who died of sickness on a transport carrying the 40th Reinforcements to England, was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. D. Spence, of the Carlton Hotel, Christchurch, and was only just 20 years of age. Having taken his flying “ticket” at the Canterbury Aviation School a little over three months ago, he was on his way Home to join the’Royal Air Force. ■

Amongst the officers who returned to Wellington by the hospital ship last week was Flight-Lieutenant H. H. D. Bothamley, son of Mr. A. T. Bothamley, of Upton Terrace, Clerk Assitsant of the Legislative Council. Lieutenant Bothamley went away with the 6th Reinforcements. Last year he qualified for a commission in the Royal Flying Corps, and did duty on the Western front until March last. Owing to a breakdown of health he has come back to New Zealand on six months’ furlough.

Lieut.-Colonel Sleeman, in an address at Christchurch on “The Air Force,” said he did not claim to know much more about flying than many of his hearers, particularly those who had been to the front. No officer, however, could pretend to know his job nowadays unless he possessed some knowledge of flying, and after the war it. would have to be studied as a means of defence. He had no idea until recently that it was in 1306 that the first balloon was flown at Peking, China. In 1760 two men went up and descended safely in a balloon in France. The ’first aeroplane flight was made in 1903, and since the war period gigantic progress had been made. He first came into touch with the old Royal Flying Corps in 1913, when he was attached to it at Aldershot as observer and photographer. The machines were not very good in those days, and accidents were numerous. The total .number of British aeroplanes when the war broke out was under 200, of which a little over 70 went to France with the Expeditionary Force.

The Gisborne-Tolaga Bay road is once more open for vehicular traffic, after having been blocked for many months, including the whole of last summer, says “Poverty Bay Herald.” Owing to extensive slips portions of the old road have been completely abandoned, and traffic is now proceeding along a portion of the new inland road, turning in at Whangara and coming out at Rotatahi, on the old deviation. Speaking to a “Herald” representative recently, the Cook County overseer, Mr. Keane, stated that apart from buggies several cars have passed through, making the journey to Tolaga Bay in good time. There are four temporary crossings and bridges at which the permanent bridges will be erected this summer. Mr. Keane anticipates that by the first week in November another section of the new road will be. available. Four bridges are in course of erection between Waiomoko and Pouawa, and on completion of these traffic will be able to avoid the Tapuai rocks, which form the worst difficulty at present for motor traffic along the Coast. In the meantime, wheel traffic can get through without much difficulty, via Whangara.

A serious accident occurred at a crossing near Masterton railway station. Mr. Robert Beattie, of the firm of Fly, Young and Beattie, carriers, was proceeding over the crossing in a motor lorry, when a train from the north dashed upon him, carrying the lorry for about thirty yards and hopelessly wrecking it. Mr. Beattie was thrown heavily and sustained severe injuries to his head and body. The train engine was damaged and a fresh engine had to be put on. The crossing at which the accident occurred is regarded as highly dangerous, as the approach of a train is hidden from view by a building in the neighbourhood.

At a meeting of the Palmerston North Borough Council a letter was received from the Terrace End School Committee, asking that notice boards be erected on each side of the school requesting motorists to exercise care when passing in order that the children would be saved from accident. The Mayor said there were some dangerous corners near the Terrace End school. The attendance of children at Terrace End was very large, and there had been several narrow escapes lately from accident, as motor traffic was heavy in that quarter of the town. At the last meeting of the Terrace End School Committee it was decided to ask the Council to erect suitable warning notices at street corners near the school, as it was thought if matters went on as at present someone would be killed. Cr. Bryant said that it was dangerous for the children to continue to use the road as a recreation ground, and if access could be got to the paddock he would endeavour to have a sum passed by the Education Board to cover rent of same. This was agreed to. After discussion it was resolved that the Streets Committee be requested to have warning notices erected in the vicinity of all the town schools.

The sixth annual report of the Otago Motor Club states that the financial position is satisfactory. The roads most frequently in use by motor-

ists had been receiving the attention of the club. The club had added 109 new names to its membership roll during the year. The club extends to the various county councils and road boards its appreciation of the manner in which requests have been met with regard to alterations and improvements to roads. Only one competition was held during the year, that being the Motor Cycle Reliability Trial to Timaru and return. The war has drawn heavily on the club’s young members, which accounts for the ‘usual competitions not being held. The club has to record with regret the loss in action of a number of its members, and others are absent serving in lands over the seas. To all those motorists who so willingly placed their cars at the disposal of the club’s officials for the purpose of meeting and entertaining returned soldiers, thanks are expressed.

“Which shall I send my son to, Auckland or Christchurch?” This, said Lieutenant-Colonel Sleeman, in his address on aviation at Christchurch, was a question many people asked whose sons proposed to take up flying. He pointed out, however, that the work conducted at each was quite distinct, for Auckland specialised in seaplanes, and Christ-

church in aeroplanes. The first object of both schools was to help win the war, and the second was tp help in the defence of this country after the war. Referring to the Christchurch school, he stated that in regard to equipment, instructors, and instruction, he did not think there was a school to rival it in the whole world. Since being started, 151 pupils had passed through it.

At the annual meeting of the Otago Yacht and Motor Club the following office-bearers were elected: —Commodore, Mr. A. C. Hanlon; vice-commo-dore, Mr. H. E. Moller; rear-com-modore, Mr. W. R. Waters; hon. treasurer, Mr. E. C. Hazlett; secretary, Mr. E. S. Wilson; committee, Messrs. C. G. Smith, C. W. Sundstrum, H. F. Nees, J. R. Cameron, J. Briggs’ A. Morgan, R. Gregory, D. Patterson, T. Brooks, J. A. McDonald, and A. E. Jenkins; delegates to association, Messrs. Hanlon, Hazlett, and Sundstrum; auditors, Messrs. Oliphant and McDonald. On the motion of Mr. H. F. Nees a vote of appreciation of the work of our boys at the front, and especially the club members, was passed.

The succession of motor accidents reported in Christchurch of late has apparently aroused a good deal of public concern, says the “Press,” and attention is being turned to the ques-

tion of how abuse of the city’s bylaws can be prevented. As regards the penalties that it is legal to impose upon motorists convicted of driving at an excessive speed, the Motor Regulations Act, 1908, provides a maximum penalty of £lO. However, this Act has hitherto seldom been rigorously interpreted, and the fine under this head was usually about 20s. Some months ago, however, Senior-Sergeant Cummings, when prosecuting a motorist in the Magistrate’s Court, drew the attention of Mr. T. A. B. Bailey, S.M., to the frequency of such offences, and urged that more substantial fines should be inflicted. The magistrate promised to give the matter his attention, and subsequently did so, imposing many fines of 405., and in extreme cases up to £5. A police official stated to a representative that the police were taking active measures to check dangerous driving. He, however, emphasised the difficulty of tracing the actual offending drivers, as the result of many cars having changed hands several times since registration. Often when the real offender was traced it was found that he was in or just going to camp, or was down on final leave, so that the infliction of a penalty was difficult. However, it was doubtful whether a “by-law day” at the court

passed without motorists being 'fined for breach of the regulations. Mr. C. W. Hervey, secretary to the Canterbury Automobile Association, said that the association strongly discouraged careless driving, and had no sympathy with “road hogs.” The suggestion to put “grips” on the roads was, he thought, impracticable. The infliction of heavier fines on offenders was a better method of checking reckless driving. Speaking of the recent motor accidents, he remarked that the motorist was not always to blame — although he generally was blamed. Christchurch was unlike most of the other big centres in that it had an army of cyclists, and these greatly added to the dangers of the road. Often the motorist had to swerve to one side to avoid a cyclist who was riding in the middle of the road, oblivious of the warning horn, and in doing so became involved in a collision with another cyclist, or some other vehicle. Cyclists often had a fine disregard for the rules of the road, but when an accident occurred as a result of it, the blame was laid on the motorist,

Mr. A. C. McCreery, a well-known and popular Victorian motor cyclist, was killed last month as the result of a collision between two motor cycle side-car outfits. Mr. McCreery was a keen motorist, a genuine amateur who

raced for the pure love of the sport. He was best known to the public as the winner of the last Mortlake 200 miles motor cycle race, under the assumed name of “A. C. Arnold.”

Nearly 2,000,000 farmers in America own and drive motor cars, and recent investigations proved that the largest proportion of them were a necessary part of the farmers’ equipment. An interesting fact recently disclosed by census is that the strictly agricultural States of America have the largest per capita ownership of cars, ranging down to one to every eight people in lowa and Nebraska.

“What do you think of our roads?” was a question put to Dr. Andre Siegfried, a member of the French Mission the other day while in Sydney. Four motor cars hafi made a dash through Centennial Park, and had gone down a road leading to La Perouse, bumping all the way, up to the axles in mud one minute, and bounding over rocks the next. The tube of a wheel of one car was torn out. “What do I think of your roads?” asked Dr. Siegfried. “Well. I think they are as good as some of those of France ... after four years’ war.”

The 15tit annual report of the CanterburyAUtbmohile Association states that the ■ receipts’ for the year (including £275'- is. lid. brought forward from,'last year) totalled £1257 Ils. 5d.; .members’ subscriptions amounted to £794 4s. 6d., an increase of £66 11s. 6d.; the association’s assets on July 31st last totalled £l5BO 13s. lid. The membership stood at 956 on the date At the close of the financial year 1917 the membership was- 830, new members elected during the year numbered 170; there were eighteen resignations and 26 members were struck off during the period reviewed. The report concludes: —“Apart from the activities of the association. in helping on war work, 64 Of our members, known to the comniittee, have gone on active servicd, two of whom (Messrs. A. W. Bishop and C. Fleming) have made the supfetne sacrifice.”

The Americans have demonstrated that a car can be produced at practically the' same cost as a side-car combination, and if one looks over the chassis of,-’ say, a Ford, and compares the number of parts with a sidecar outfit, the latter wins on the point of number •of parts. There is no doubt that a side-car combination could be made cheaper than any car, but it is'doubtful whether there is a firm in existence who will lay out the capital to' do it. By this is meant that a Ford’ type of side-car combination would -be cheaper than a Ford car if produced in the same quantities and folio we d-tlie general idea in design, but it is ’doubtful if even Henry Ford could make any first-class sidecar combination—-as they are at present marketed—as cheaply as he could produce the Ford.

A 26,000 mile endurance run without leaving the showroom is the feat recently performed by an automobile at Boston (U.S.A.). In arranging’for a test which would show the staying qualities of their car, the manufacturers wished to’ secure the maximum of publicity before the crowds which daily passed: their showrooms. So they took a cdi*out of stock, blocked the wheels clear of the ground and belted the rear wheels to an electric generator. The electrical load on the generator was fixed at • such a value as to put a load ■on the car engine equivalent to that caused by climbing a 10.5 per cent, grade at about twentytwo miles per hour at high gear, part of the power generated being used to light the showroom inside and outside. During the test period the motor was under continuous observation by newspaper men, automobile experts, and technical men from the various institutions in and around Boston. During the run the car covered a distance equivalent to 26,149 miles, and consumed 1163 gallons of gasolene, an average of 22.49 miles per gallon. The oil consumption was 220 pints, being 950 miles per gallon. The distance exceeds the previous record for a similar test by over 4000 miles.

At a rough guess, there are more parts in the average side-car outfit than in a Ford car —they, may not be such large parts, but that does not count; it’s the handling of the parts more than the material of jyyhich they are made that brings up the cost. To compare a Ford chassis with a firstclass side-car combination is like comparing a two-stroke engine with a four-stroke. There are nearly a hundred parts in a twin motor engine. At a guess, we should say the Ford 20 h.p. 4-cylinder engine has less parts. It is easy to ’imagine that the Ford frame costs less' to produce than a motor cycle and ■’side-car frame. True, there are four wheels', as against the three on the motbr cycle outfit. It would appear that manufacturers have made no attempt to design a cheaper machine. A simpler design need not be less efficient, for it only requires the absolute essentials, and the extras incidental to the latest up-to-date outfits can be omitted in the case of the potential ■motor cyclist, with whom low initial cost, dependability and economy are first considerations.

Few motorists pay sufficient attention to the condition of the : plugs. If they are not all right there is a loss of efficiency, which means a serious extravagance in petrol., The ’spark gap should be checked periodically

by means of a gauge, which can be had for the purpose at any accessory shop. They should also be cleaned at regular intervals, for carbon is bound to accumulate. As a rule, petrol and a stiff brush is used, but the best way to deal with them is to immerce them in a strong solution of boiling washing soda. ♦ * • *

Of the motor cars in use with the British forces in Mesopotamia, the Ford outnumbers all other makes combined by at least ten to one.

The New Zealand editors visited aeroplane factories, and made a flight over London. The party, including Mr. F. Pirani, had an exciting experience. A machine,' developing engine trouble, became almost unmanageable in the high wind, and experienced great difficulty in landing.

Captain Malcolm McGregor, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Ewan McGregor, of Hamilton, has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Captain McGregor, who holds a position as fiight commander, entered the fighting zone early in May, 1917.

Advice has been received that Pilot C. J. McFadden, who left New Zealand to join the Royal Flying Corps, has received his commission. Lieut. McFadden was one of the first six who qualified at the Canterbury Aviation School.

Military cyclists have taken a considerable part in the recent big engagements in France. The authorities have at length realised the importance of this arm of the service. In some respects it is superior to cavalry. The average cyclist who is in good form can cover 60 miles a day, and at the end of it be quite fit for action, wheras an infantryman in the field would be done up after 20 miles, and, unlike horses, cycles don’t need rest. They are invaluable in an offensive or a rearguard action. Another advantage over the cavalry is to be found in the fact that machines can be left without anybody in charge; where horses are concerned one man out of four is occupied in holding the animals. The cyclist, too, has the advantage of being able to carry his outfit without much inconvenience. As a rule, motor cycle-drawn machine guns co-operate with them, and are very suitable for the purpose, for they lose very little time in an advance, or in retiring from line to line.

The erection of 100 caution notices at various points on roads within the Waitemata County, requiring careful driving on the part of motorists, has been arranged between the committee of the Auckland Automobile Association and the County Council. At a meeting of the council the chairman stated that the Automobile Association had agreed to provide and erect the notices free of cost to the council.

According to Lieutenant-Colenel J. L. Sleeman, I.G'.S., there are some popular illusions regarding flying. In an address on aviation at the Canterbury Officers’ Club he said he had come to the conclusion that the average man’s impressions of the sensa-

tions felt on a 'first flight were erroneous. No sensations were really felt on a calm day. The sensation at the start was really one of annoyance at the noise of the machine. There was a general impression that a flight caused giddiness; but such was not felt at a height from the ground. Swinging was felt very slightly, and bumping was uncomfortable only on occasions. The sensation of flying was not at all uncomfortable. It was no use looking from the ground to see in which direction the wind was blowing. The first duty on the western front before dawn was to send an aeroplane up 15,000 feet to record the winds and their velocity and direction.

It is stated by the Ashburton County Council’s traffic inspector that upwards of 1000 motor cars from the south crossed the Ashburton traffic bridge, bound for the Grand National meeting in Christchurch. Several numbers have been taken of persons exceeding the speed limit over the bridge (10 miles).