MOTORING & CYCLING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1539, 23 October 1919, 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.

Advice has been received by the Minister of Defence that the Imperial War Graves Commission has decided that memorials to the dead whose graves have not been found or identified, shall be put up in the cemetery near to the spot where they are believed to have lost their lives, or, in the case of the men of the Royal Air Force, to the aerodrome from which they started. At the meeting of the Mosgiel Borough Council several councillors complained of the manner in which motor cars were driven on race days along the road from the Mosgiel crossing to the racecourse. It was finally decided that if there was any reckless driving on this road the council would take steps to close the road altogether to motor traffic on race days. * * * * The name of the Napier Motor Cycle Club has been changed'to “The Napier Motor Racing Club.” The rules have been completely revised. The annual meeting elected the following offices: Patron, Mr. J. Vigor Brown, M.P.; president, Mr. F. M. Schultze; vice-president, Dr. T. W. Johnson; secretary, Mr. A. Stewart Erskine; treasurer, Mr. J. D. Briasco; committee, Messrs. Blackburn, Russell, Flight, Pickering and Arnold. The committee will hold several competitions during the coming season. The borrowing of motor cars, gen-, erally known as “joy-riding,” was discussed at a meeting of the Wellington Automobile Club, and it was stated that legislation would probably pass into law making the penalty for such an offence £lO. The secretary was directed to communicate with the secretary of the New Zealand Automobile Union informing him that the committee was of the opinion that this amount was not sufficient, and that the maximum penalty should be £lOO. * » * * A cable message to the Australian papers states that, by the order of the Ministry of Munitions, Field-Mar-shal Haig’s Rolls-Royce car, containing a table on which war documents were signed, was sold at auction for 3600 guineas. The purchaser was a wholesale confectioner, who states that he will use it on the roads for trade purposes, in order to give everybody an opportunity of seeing it. The bidding was not keen, and the car brought only £5O above its price. « « • ■ The following new members have been elected on the Canterbury Automobile Association: Dr. J. F. Duncan, J. E. Muir, F. E. Jones, A. T. Robinson, J. H. Blackwell, R. A. Batstone, Miss M. Anderson, H. S. Lawrence, Stronach Paterson, L. Hansen, G. J. H. Reid, R. W. Morrow, W. Olsen. Greymouth Branch: E. A. Warner, Hugh Gilmer, K. Williams, J. Brown, G. Harker. Ashburton Branch: F. Watson, Angus McKay, W. Rowe, C. H. Taylor, C. Macguinness, E. W. Johnson. * » * At a meeting of the Motor Garage Association, held in Christchurch, it was decided to hold an Olympia Exhibition of automobiles in the Colosseum, instead of at the A. and P. Association’s Metropolitan Show. This course ’ was decided upon because it is felt that those interested in the motor business will be able to view the exhibits more advantageously at a separate and special exhibition than at the Show Grounds.

The dying hours of the conference of the Counties Association at Wellington were somewhat enlivened by a discussion on motor car speed limits, and the president (Mr. A. E. Jull) was asked if he could indicate how motorists could be compelled to adhere' to speed limits as fixed by local bodies. “Yes,” remarked Mr. Jull, “I have an idea which I have always consistently advocated, and it is this: That all motor vehicles should be fitted with a device which, when the speed limit was exceeded, would automatically ignite the petrol and blow the whole thing up!” (Loud laughter.) Subsequently, the conference passed the following resolution: “That in the opinion of this conference, it is desirable that a uniform speed limit for all motor vehicles not exceeding 30 miles per hour be enacted.” « • 9 * Replying to Mr. Witty in the House, the Prime Minister said a comprehensive scheme for the rearrangement of the railway facilities at Sockburn had been authorised and the preparatory work was now in hand.

“Motor cars are taxed in Victoria, the revenue goes to the State, and is used as part of the cost of the State’s share in the main road maintenance,” remarked Mr. A. E. Jull, president of the New Zealand Counties Association, in addressing the delegates to the Counties Conference at Wellington on the Victorian system of road control. “The tax is based upon the horse-power of the car, the maximum being six guineas. A Ford car would pay four guineas per annum. Motor cycle also pay a small annual fee. In 1918 there were 13,642 cars and 9530 cycles registered, the revenue amounting to £58,484, which, with, license fees and fines, brought the total to £62,154.”

Officers were elected as follows at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Automobile Association: —Patron, Mt. Richard Allen; president, Mr. J. S. .Hawkes; vice-president, Mr. R. W. Lochhead; hon. treasurer, Mr. H. Lightband; council, Messrs. R. Macartney, W. E. Mills, F. W. Freeman, H. T. Cooper, F. W. Johnston, P. S. Nicholls, N. M. Orbell, A. S. .Clarkson, and A. R. V. Morten; auditor, Mr. T. Newburgh.

“You taxi drivers will have to obey these signals, else the fines will be made heavier,” said Mr. E. Page, S.M., at the Wellington Magistrate’s Court, when fining a taxi driver £1 and costs 7s. for failing to stop his motor car when signalled to do so by the traffic constable. £, « • • A Gisborne paper relates an amusing adventure which befel a local cyclist. It was his experience to have to make an early visit to the establishment at which he is employed. He got his machine ready for starting when he was amazed to find a wandering gee gee paying far more attention to his doings than was to his liking. When he raised his head after the operation known as “priming” it came in contact with the nose of the inquisitive equine. All attempts to frighten the animal away completely failed. To his astonishment also the animal when he did get under way, chased him into town and he was simply nonplussed when, on leaving his place of business to remount he found the interested old crock “mounting guard” over the machine. Passers-by raised a hearty laugh at the expense of the perplexed cyclist.

The Canterbury Petroleum Prospecting Company’s well at Chertsey has been drilled to a depth of 2076 feet, and the casing is down 2G58 feet, states a southern exchange. The ground traversed for the last 60 feet has been very close clay, varying from yellow to blue. A supply of five-inch casing has been obtained from New Plymouth. Two thousand five hundred feet of four-inch casing has been ordered from Canada. • • • * “It is a rule which I think should be strictly observed by all motorists and quite a number of accidents would be avoided if it were,” said Mr. E. Page, S.M., at the Wellington Magistrate’s Court in a by-law case in which the defendant had failed to observe the regulation relating to the turning of corners at street intersections. The defendant, instead of directing his car behind the constable on points duty, cut across in front of him, and thereby passed to his wrong side. A misunderstanding of the signal given- was the defendant’s plea. A conviction was recorded and a fine of ss. imposed.

At the Magistrate’s Court in Ashburton last week, Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M., expressed surprise when evidence was given showing that a number of motorists had exceeded the speed limit at Tinwald, all at a uniform rate of 30 miles per hour. Inquiry showed that in one or two cases Ford cars were the offenders. His Worship addressed Mr. Dailey thus: “What, another Ford, car —30 miles an hour? Don’t you think you over estimate the speed of these cars? (Laughter.) Is your stopwatch all right? Extraordinary that they should all take ten seconds to do the measured distance!” The different automobile associations and motor trade associations are being circularised by the secretary of the New .Zealand Automobile Union on the subject of reform in the system of registration of cars. The aim and purpose of the scheme submitted is to do away with the large number of existing nonrelated and independent registering authorities, and the confusion of identification letters and numbers arising therefrom, by the establishment of a central registry with branches throughout the Dominion.

The proposals contain suggestions for such an amplification of the register and certificate of registration as will enable stolen or misappropriated cars to be traced readily, and any slight inconvenience or additional trouble to which an owner might be put by the observance of the newer regulations would be amply compensated for by the added security against theft. It is not suggested that these or any other proposals will form an insuperable bar to theft, but it is claimed that they will go a long way towards preventing it. Some of the suggestions are already in force in several States of America, where they have been found to work admirably. They are now in the proposal stage in Australia, and from what can be learned are likely to meet with marked favour. The alterations are proposed to be effected by legislation providing that registration shall be renewable annually, and that the onus for registration shall be equally on the vendor and the purchaser. It is proposed that the Chief. Registrar shall be an officer of the Civil Service and that the deputy-registrars shall be the police officers in the different provincial districts. 1

A French airman named de Romanet attained a record speed of 190 miles an hour in calm weather near Paris last week. w • • - *■ When questions regards the price of benzine and kerosene and the mode of conveyance thereof were under discussion by the Farmers’ Union in Wellington, Mr. Balsillie remarked that in his opinion tank ships would have to be built suitable for the carriage of these oils. He prophesied that before long seamen would refuse to sail on boats containing benzine cargoes unless tanks were supplied. US • * • Speaking at the Tourist and Expansion League meeting at New Plymouth, Mr. A. E. Sykes said that in California there were thousands of magnificent motoring roads, extending from Seattle right down to the Mexican border. They .were made of concrete and crushioned with a tar and pitch compound. Tarring itself had proved a failure. A motor tax of £lO was levied by the Government, which found half the money for the roads. Motorists did not object,' for the very good reason that tyres, which on New Zealand roads would do no more than 3000 to 3500 miles, would do 23,000 miles there. One person in every seven in California owned a motor. In Los Angeles alone there were 107,000 motors. It was an ideal country for motorists. The determination of the police to stop drivers of motor cars and motor cycles from exceeding the speed limits as laid down in the city bylaws has resulted in a number of offenders being brought before the Wellington Magistrate’s Court. The magistrate commented on the shortness of the trap (110 yards), and Sub-Inspector Emerson said that in a number of the thoroughfares of the city it was impossible to secure a measured distance of a quarter of a mile, which would be more satisfactory. The police did the best that could be done under the circumstances. In a discussion of the relative merits of concrete and tar-sealed roads, Mr. E. Crow, of Wanganui, the consulting engineer for the Restar Company, claimed that owing to the nonresiliency of the concrete it was the general practice in other parts of the world to cover the concrete with a resilient carpet to prevent deterioration and during the remainder of the lifetime of the road maintenance was expended on this surface covering. The reason, he claimed, that- a concrete road would not stand the wear of traffic was that it was non-resilient and disintegration was caused in fine layers, and owing to the varying quality throughout its structure, the wear would be uneven, hence the need for the resilient mat. He said that in Wanganui a stretch of road was put down four years ago by a bituminous process at a cost of 4s. 6d. per square yard, and a stretch of concrete for experiment at 12s. 6d. per square yard. After two years the concrete stretch was worn so badly as. to need a coating of bituminous material. As against Wanganui’s experience, it may be pointed out that in Auckland Anzac Avenue, the new outlet to the city, is being constructed of concrete without a tar covering, after experiment with sections of concrete roading in other parts of the city.

The request of those participating in the motor cycling events at the championship meeting, that their events should be given a better position on the programme than that indicated in the draft programme, certainly seems to be a reasonable one (writes “Pioneer,” in the “Gisborne Times”). Without doubt motor cycle racing is the most dangerous class of sport in existence, and as during the latter part of the afternoon the light on the track becomes bad on one bend, some consideration should be extended to the riders who’ are risking their lives for the purpose of providing sport. It has also to be remembered that the motor cycle events on the programme will attract a very large number of visitors, who would not come at all were the meeting confined to athletic events only. The complaint of returned soldier taxi drivers that they were being prevented from using the telephones on certain stands in the city was dealt with by the Auckland City Council. On the recommendation of the Finance and Legal Committee, it was decided that “as it is undesirable to create class distinction,” no separate stands for returned men be appointed, but that the council take over all telephones on the stands, and charge all licensed drivers for their use. The city solicitor was instructed to arrange for the authority to enable the council to make the change.

A monument to the mothers who had waited so bravely for the return of their sons was suggested at a meeting of Christchurch motorists by Mr. J. S. Barrett. Such a monument, he said, should carry the inscription from the introduction to Nansen’s book. He had often admired the extraordinary sublimity of the language of the explorers of the polar regions. Scott’s last message could never be surpassed, and the epitaph on Oates, “hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman,” was enough to stir anyone’s blood. Nansen, also, in addressing his book to his wife, wrote, “To her who had the courage to wait.” That was the inscription that should be placed on the mother’s monument. A * » a Those firms who confine their programmes to the manufacture of lightweight motor cycles alone, are, says an English writer, experiencing an

unprecedented demand for machines at the present time, and if it were possible to compare the number of orders placed for all classes of motor cycles, it is more than likely the lightweight would predominate. A factor in the situation is no doubt the lower initial cost of the mediumpowered and especially the singlegeared machine, although this approximates to and in many cases exceeds that of the 3j h.p. standard of the pre-war period. Then again, purchasers look to the- cost of running their machines when they get them, and the lower petrol consumption, longer life of tyres and greater economy generally of the lightweights weigh in favour of the latter to a considerable extent. Not that the more powerful and higherpriced models are not in demand, the position being in many factories that orders for delivery this year have ceased to be accepted for the reason that in present circumstances it would be impossible to execute them before the end of 1919. The lightweight firms, including those who market heavyweight machines as well, are equally stressed with work, and it is often the lightest and cheapest machines that .form the bulk of the trade. The popularity of the lightweight is already established, and the conditions now prevailing appear likely to accentuate rather than diminish this.