MOTORING & CYCLING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1508, 20 March 1919, Page 30

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.

There was a large attendance at an adjourned meeting of Ashburton motorists, when delegates from the Canterbury Automobile Association were present. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided to form a branch of the association at Ashburton.

The member for Egmont is anxious to have the railway constructed from Opunake to New Plymouth, says the Eltham “Argus.” A good tar-sealed road and motor conveyances would serve the farmers much better than a railway.

The plant at the Christchurch Fire Board’s headquarters station has just been augmented by the addition of the motor turbine fire engine, built to the board’s order by Dennis Brothers, of London. It was ordered in April, 1917, but war conditions delayed its manufacture and delivery. A trial has been made with the engine with satisfactory results, a speed of 25 miles an hour having been attained on a run to the top of Dyer s Pass.

An Episcopal visit by seaplane was made by Bishop Cleary, of Auckland, who started from the Flying School at Kohimarama at 7.33 a.m. on Tuesday week, and arrived at Kuaotuna at 8.37, a distance of 65 miles. He intends to visit other coastal ports by the same means and states that he is more than ever convinced of the value of the seaplane as an aid to visiting remote districts, especially where the roads are bad.

While the seaplane in which Bishop Cleary is touring was detained at Tairua owing to high and gusty winds the senior children of the Tairua and Hikuai schools were conducted to the seaplane, and afterwards Mr. Vivian Walsh gave them a lecture on the construction and working of the machine, accompanied by diagrams. Several of the children made clever drawings of the seaplane, which is being made the subject of compositions in both schools.

The Kaikoura correspondent of the “Press” telegraphs that while Horne Bros, were boring for artesian water at the Farmers’ Co-operative sheepyards they struck petroleum at a depth of 60 feet. The petroleum ignited, and the flames destroyed the derrick and gear. All efforts to smother the flow were unavailing, and the flames are still as fierce as ever. Petroleum has been discovered on other parts of the coast, but no effort has been made to utilise it. The site of the present bore is one mile from the Kaikoura Post Office.

At a meeting of the Auckland Automobile Association, the desirability of uniform motor legislation and traffic regulation was discussed. A letter was received from the Under-Secre-tary of Internal Affairs stating that no action could be taken until the bringing down next session of a Motor Bill, which, he understood, would be presented to Parliament. Mr. W. Spence said that the by-laws affecting motorists were at present unreasonable. There was no consideration for motorists, as was shown by that against cars being left standing in a street, or in the new regulations affecting “dazzling” headlights. While every motorist was compelled, under penalty of a fine, to carry headlights and a tail-lamp, horse lorries had not to carry a tail lamp, with the result that they were a source of danger to vehicle traffic at night. He had narrowly escaped collision with a dray which was on the wrong side of the road. Mr. G. H. Wynyard said he had had a collision with a dray, due to the same causes. Members cited the Sydney by-laws as reasonable, and expressed the wish that Auckland would be guided by the municipal authorities of the larger city.

A two-seater motor car which was attempting the climb up the Redcliffs Spur, Christchurch, became unmanageable when about half way up the first stretch from the main road, and somersaulting from the edge of the road, landed in ruins on the rifle range below. Mr. W. Williamson, who was driving the car, managed to get clear without serious injury.

Reporting to the council, the Manawatu County Engineer (Mr. A. G. Hickford) stated that during the month he had attended the civil engineers’ conference at Auckland. Interesting and important papers were read and discussed on concrete and other roads and reinforced concrete bridges. Inspection visits were made to various important road works throughout the city, and also the Nihotapu reservoir, which was in course of construction, and when completed would provide 54,000,000 gallons of water for the city. At the dam a rotary rock crusher had been erected to crush the rock for the concrete there. The rock was crushed down to loin, cubes to very fine chips, almost into sand to provide the material for making concrete for this great concrete dam.

A suggestion was made in Wellington that the Government should arrange for the purchase of motor boats for the training of Territorials as sailors. “This is a matter which cannot be gone into at the present time,” the Minister of Defence has replied, “but it will be borne in mind when our future organisation is being considered after the conclusion of peace.”

Inspector McGrath, of the GisborneNapier police district, makes the following recommendation in his annual report: “I would suggest that it be made an offence for any person to use a horse or vehicle without the permission of the owner, as a good deal of annoyance and inconvenience is caused from time to time by persons taking motor cars, bicycles and occasionally horses, and using them without such permission. The circumstances attending such cases generally leave it doubtful whether the persons intend to steal or merely temporarily use the animal or vehicle. For many years unlawfully using horses has been an offence punishing by six months’ imprisonment in New South Wales and Victoria, and the conditions which rendered the passing of this law neces-

sary in those States were the same in effect as those now existing in this Dominion, especially in regard to motor cars and bicycles.”

An accident involving the total destruction of a motor car and a narrow escape from fatal disaster befel a party travelling over Mount Messenger. The facts, as reported by the Stratford “Post,” are that Mr. E. Heal left Stratford one Saturday morning on a trip conveying two men, J. Lavin and G. Hall, over Mount Messenger in connection with Public Works business and their return to Uruti. On the return journey, while at the foot of Mount Messenger, the accident occurred. The spokes of the left front wheel collapsed, and at the same time the tyres on the righthand wheel came off, the car immediately capsizing into a depression covered with • “lawyers” and fern, where the occupants were pinned down, but eventually escaped, all being bruised about the legs and body. It is stated that had the car been travelling at a fast speed nothing could have prevented the whole party being somersaulted into the river many feet below. The car having taken fire after being capsized,

their precarious predicament may be • imagined. Assistance was rendered the stranded party by a traveller in a trap, and by the aid of four cars at various stages of the return journey home was reached late at night without further mishap. Mr. Heal, who is lame as the result of the accident, is a heavy loser through the destruction of his car, as it was insured for only a small sum. This is the second car burned on Mount Messenger within a period of about a month.

Some interesting remarks relative to plain concrete, tar macadam and tar-painted roads were made by Mr. A. H. M. Wright, engineer to the Kairanga County Council, in his report of the proceedings of the annual conference of civil engineers at Auckland. Some excellent examples of plain concrete, tar macadam and tar-painted roads were, he said, to be seen in Auckland, one length of plain

concrete road adjoining the Railway Wharf, carrying as much as 2000 vehicles in one day, had now been laid about 12 months and was showing very little signs of wear. However, to construct a similar class of road locally, 18 feet in width, would cost nearly £9O per chain, or, reducing the thickness to six feet, about £64 per chain. Of course, it had to be remembered that the large cities were endeavouring to lay down concrete roads to take the place of wood block and Neuchatal asphalt, coting more than double that amount. In Wellington, Continued Mr. Wright, cheaper concrete roads were being laid, and in their case the concrete was surfaced with a bituminous or tar-wearing coat. A tar macadam road inspected which had been laid for six or seven years appeared to be in excellent order. A number of experiments had been carried out with patented preparations for road surfaces, but in most instances they appeared to be a failure when subjected to very heavy traffic.

Some few days ago Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., heard evidence in Wellington in a civil action in which John i\lbert Henry Schwass, for whom Mr.

A. W. Blair appeared, proceeded against John R. Stansell, who was represented by Mr. T. W. Hislop, to recover £143 17s. damages following a motor collision on the Horokiwi Valley Road on September 30. Plaintiff alleged that the accident was caused by the negligent driving of a servant of the defendant. Defendant, however, counter-claimed for £59 55., alleging that the collision was due to negligence on the part of the plaintiff. In the course of his reserved judgment, Mr. Riddell said that on the afternoon of the accident the cars had approached each other in a narrow part of the road, where it was impossible for two cars to pass. Plaintiff said that he did stop, and drew into the side of the road, but he (Mr. Riddell) was not satis-

fled that he did this at once. Neither car was travelling at an excessive rate of speed. Defendant’s driver said that he was driving at about ten miles an hour until within two cars lengths from the plaintiff, who was coming toward him at about the same speed, when he reduced speed and almost came to a standstill, when his car was struck. There was some evidence to show that the brakes on defendant’s car were not as effective as they should have been, and that possibly was the reason why defendant’s driver did not pull up earlier. If, however, both drivers had acted promptly and with reasonable care, there would have been no collision. Each party was non-suited without costs.

According to Mr. Handley Page, whose great aerial weight carriers have become famous for their remarkable doings —his latest machine can make a non-stop flight of 2500 miles at 100 miles per hour. This means that the trip across the Australian Continent from, say Perth to Sydney, could be negotiated in one day.

A naval officer, Commander F. W. Belt, D. 5.0., R.N.V.R., who has seen a great deal of service in the war, was a passenger to Australia by the Niagara. Commander Belt was attached to the Armoured Car Division in France and Belgium in 1914-15, and at the end of 1915 was second in command of the detachment of 500 officers and men which proceeded to Russia. The detachment was ordered to the Caucasus, and fought in Armenia and North-west Persia, the Grand Duke Nicholas being in charge of their operations. It removed to Roumania on the entry of that country into the war, and remained there until transferred to Galicia to assist the Russians in their final attack in July, 1917. The division led the attack, but when the Russian panic set in the cars had to cover the retreat. Early in 1918 Lenin and Trotzky confiscated all the cars, stores and supplies, and the detachment had all it

could do to get out of the country with kit-bags and rifles. Commander Belt was subsequently sent to America on Admiralty work. He is a native of Adelaide, South Australia, and is now proceeding there on private business. Afterwards he will return to England.

It is proposed that the thousands of motor lorries and tractors used by the American Army abroad, should be returned to the States, repaired, and put into service as motor postal expresses. Congress has been asked to appropriate nine million dollars towards this scheme.

It will be a long time, according to an English authority, before any reduction in the cost of material and labour will make itself evident by a reduction in the selling price of motor cars manufactured in England of given type and quality. The maintenance of output by a large factory involves heavy stocks of material and large commitments. The material that comes in to-day does not go out in the form of a part of a complete vehicle to-morrow. Right up to the present moment the cost of material has remained substantially at war maximum. Were the cost to begin to drop immediately, many months would elapse before the effect would be felt in the cost, and therefore in the price, of the vehicle as a whole. We all hope that later on manufacturers will be able to quote lower prices, but the decline at the best must be gradual, and the saving effected by buying a new vehicle in six months’ time instead of now would therefore be very small if it existed at all. Thus the saving on first cost to be effected by waiting is not likely to be more than trifling unless we are prepared to wait’ for at least a year or possibly longer.