MOTORING & CYCLING

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1596, 25 November 1920, 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. Sixty-two new members were duly elected at the last meeting of the Wellington Automoblie Club. ♦ * # ♦ Over 50 motor launches and other small craft were engaged on fishing excursions at Rotorua at the opening of the trout-fishing season. * * * • A prosecution —the first of its kind in Wanganui—was heard at the Magistrate’s Court recently, when a motorist was fined 55.. for driving past a stationary tramcaf. The prosecution is intended to serve as a warning to motorists. ♦ ♦ * * At the last meeting of the Otago Motor Club the following delegates were appointed to attend the conference of the South Island Union, to be held in Dunedin on November 29: The president (Mr. Ansell), and Messrs. M. Stevenson, W. Wright, F. J. Carter, J. A. Roberts, H. Halliday, and A. Fogo. * * * * Another instance of joy-riding has been reported in Masterton. A settler left his car in one of the back streets, and when he went for it he found that it had disappeared. He discovered it later two miles out of town. The condition of the car and the contents of the benzine tank suggested that it had been used for a joy-ride of some distance. * ♦ ♦ ♦ At the annual general meeting of members of the Wellington Automobile Club, held last week, the following officers were elected: —President, Dr. Prendergast Knight; vicepresidents, Messrs. C. M. Banks .and W. Stuart Wilson; committee, Messrs. B. D. Donne, S. Underwood, W. G. Mantell, H. Lloyd, L. R. Partridge, W. Pryor, and J. J. Williamson; auditor, Mr. W. S. Wheeler; secretary and treasurer, Mr. H. J. Stott. ♦ ♦ * ♦ An unusual collision occurred one evening recently at the junction of Stanley road and Gladstone road, states a Gisborne exchange, the parties concerned being a young man» riding a horse and a medical gentleman driving a motor car. An eyewitness states that the horseman was galloping up Stanley road from the direction of the beach, endeavouring to head off a couple of loose horses, . and the motorist was coming down Gladstone road close to the tram rails. At the middle of the corner, the horse struck the car fair on the side, causing a deep indentation there and damaging the door. The horsew man was thrown to the ground, and suffered a slight injury to his leg, while the horse was also rather badly injured about the legs and chest. « ♦ ♦ ♦ . The high cost and shortage of petrol in New Zealand has occasioned users of motor cars and other petroldriven machines much concern for a considerable time past, and it is because of this that a statement made recently by Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., Leader of the Opposition, that he had landed benzine in the Dominion at a cost of a little more than £1 per case, has interested them much. At the invitation of the Wellington Automobile Club, Mr. Wilford attended the recent annual meeting of members, and he then produced receipts to show that he had purchased twenty cases of petrol in California at 25 cents per gallon, and had landed it in the Dominion, after paying all . charges, at a total cost of £23. The ' spirit could be purchased at all service stations in California for 25 cents per gallon. He said he had placed the receipts before the Board of Trade. . Mr. Wilford was accorded a vote of thanks for his interesting and instructive information.

The Motor Cycle Club of New South Wales have decided to hold a reliability contest between Sydney and Melbourne at Christmas time. It will probably be over the coastal route, via the Prince’s highway. * * * • Validation of all payments made to the New Zealand flying school at Kohimarama as advances to enable the business to be carried on is contained in the annual Appropriation Bill. * * * • At a recent meeting of the Wellington Motor Club, Mr. Stuart Wilson moved, and Mr. H. W. Lloyd seconded, “That this meeting approves of the principle of the projected ‘victory’ road through the two islands of New Zealand in commemoration of New Zealand’s work for victory, and expresses its willingness to co-operate with other bodies for the achievement of this ideal.” * * * * The council of the New Zealand Motor Garage Proprietors’ Association discussed the proposal to commemorate victory-in the war by forming a national highway through the Dominion, and passed the following motion: “That this council emphatically approves the national principle of the projected Victory Highway in com crete through the two islands of New Zealand, in commemoration of the whole of New Zealand’s work for victory.’’

At a recent meeting of the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union at Hawera the following dates for race meetings were allocated to the clubs: —Bulls (Rangitikei Club), ;December 8; Pioneer (Christchurch), December 27; Opotiki (Bay of Plenty), December 27; Auckland, January 8; Manawatu, January 22; Rangitikei, February 19; Pioneer, February 26; Hawera, March 2; New Plymouth, March 5; Auckland, March 22; Gisborne, March 29; Napier, Easter Saturday and Monday.

The 1920 opening run on a recent Saturday will rank among the most enjoyable in the history of the Otago Motor Club. The people of Outram enhanced their reputation for hospitality and gave a hearty welcome to the soldier boys and motorists. The soldiers found the run into the country a most enjoyable break in their more or less monotonous existence in hospital, and, as usual, “Otago Motor Club” weather prevailed.

Before Mr. R. W. Dyer, S.M., at the Napier Police Court, James Keyes was lately charged with allowing a motor car to ply for hire without a license, and Herbert Skelton with plying for hire without a license. Skelton had previously appeared and pleaded guilty, but said Keyes had told him to ply foi’ hire. The case was adjourned to allow Keyes to be summoned, and on appearing he said he was under the impression that Skelton had a license. ' The latter was fined 10s. and Bs. costs, and the employer, whom the magistrate said had been careless, £1 and £1 Bs. costs.

In regard to the “safety first” campaign the annual report of the Wellington Automobile Association states that notices were issued warning the public how to use the streets, which members were requested to paste on their cars. The committee notices with regret that this idea has not been taken up in a wholehearted manner by members. At the same time the committee considers it is the duty of the City Council to recognise its responsibilities to the public on how to board and leave trams, etc. The committee is still in communication with the council with regard to this matter, and undoubtedly intends to continue the safety first campaign on other lines.

In 1910 there were 16,412 motor drivers’ licenses issued in Norway. Of these 403 were women. « • * * It has now been arranged that the secretary and president of the Canterbury Automobile Association will visit Southland in order to assist in getting a local club formed on Saturday, December 4. The day will be one that should remain in the memories of the members of the proposed club, for the Otago Club will hold a “run” to Invercargill, and at night the monster rally of motorists will take place. « » * ♦ No one was more disappointed at the shelving for another twelve months of the Motor Registration Bill than the chief motor inspector for Wellington (Mr. L. S. Drake). “Here you have the whole community singing out for better control of the motor traffic,” said Mr. Drake, “and Parliament put it all off for another twelve months. I say that we will never have effective. control until there is an annual registration of cars and an annual license to drive. What is the position to-day? A man who is a competant driver to-day gets his license, and he need not come near us again. He may meet with a serious accident, or sustain a serious illness which might leave his sight or nerve defective, still he has his license, and may drive people about under its protection when perhaps he sho.uld not be allowed to do so. With the enormous and ever-increas-ing growth of motor traffic, this legislation was not only necessary, but vital to the better control of motor traffic. Parliament could spare time to pass a Bill providing for the registration of aviators, of whom there are about half-a-dozen in the country yet it shelves the Motor Registration Bill, on which people’s lives may depend.

The vehicles registered by the Wellington City Council total 5500, and of these 2720 comprise pleasure cars. There are 982 licensed drivers on the council’s register, and 200 licensed taxi-cars, while horse-drawn vehicles and motors for the carriage of goods number 1000. At the end of March last, the number of motor vehicles registered were:—Commercial 194, motor cars 487, and motor cycles 336, making a total of 1017, since when, the number has greatly increased. The revenue received by the council at the end of March from the issue of licenses, drivers’ certificates, etc., amounted to £1952 10s. 6d., and in addition the sum of £335 14s. was obtained in fines through the court from 288 persons who had failed to observe the by-laws. During the year the City Council dealt- with and refused 20 applicants for drivers’ licenses, 4 were suspended, and 6 were cancelled.

A sensational escape was experienced by a party of motorists on a recent windy day, when a large pine tree crashed on a motor car passing along the Atimuri Road, near Rotorua, the passengers being unharmed, and the car itself suffering little damage. In the car were Messrs. D. W. Lawson and W. A. Black, of Auckland, and Mr. W. K. Dixon, of Christchurch, who were returning from Rotorua, where they had had great anglers’ luck, securing some 100 trout on the fly. The car was moving at a fairly slow pace past a plantation, some five miles from Rotorua, when the tree 50ft. high and 2ft. through at the base, fell without warning across the road. One large branch struck the hood of the car, which was up, and another that came across the engine apparently took the weight on that side. At all events, the heavy trunk did not reach the car, but was “bounded” forward on to the road in front of the car, which, being promptly backed, came to a stop with the wheels touching it. The only passenger touched was the man sitting beside the driver, and all. that happened to him was that his hat was knocked over his eyes. All that was broken on the car was the framework of the hood and the wind-screen.. The trunk of the tree was found to have been grazed by the iron work.

Nicholls’ new brick motor garage at Taihape was destroyed by fire last week. » * * » Although there exists in almost all countries, legislation prohibiting the use of dazzling headlights on motor vehicles, the reason why it is not enforced is because there really is no means available to comply with the law. In a perfunctory sort of way, motorists observe the regulation by preventing the uppermost rays of the headlight being projected more than 4ft. above road level. But in providing a light that would answer the requirements of the motorist, that would comply with the law, but would not dazzle other road users, a nice problem had to be solved. In a paper prepared by Mr. J. Graeme Baltillie, A.MJ.E.E., of Melbourne, results of a number of interesting experiments are given. With the projector used a fan-shaped beam of light was thrown so that the roadway was brilliantly illuminated up to 150 yards distance, with a breadth of 58 yards, and not higher than 4ft. above road level. Although such a iresult {might appear perfect, such was not the case, as the motorist could see only portions of the legs of persons or horses and parts of wheels. The fact is that the human eye is accustomed to see complete objects, that is, in perspective. Pedestrians then were caused to walk straight ahead from the projector, and it was noted that at 65 yards visibility, that is instant appreciation ceased; and although the observer behind the projector could see these people at that distance with difficulty, the pedestrians, with their back to the light, could see a further distance of 150 yards and recognise objects distinctly. This proved that the reflected light from the brilliantly illuminated road surface was actually producing a glare sufficient to interfere with the resolving power of the eye of the observer. Provided the pedestrians kept their eyes above the height of illumination there was no interference with their vision. « * * • What has to be ascertained is that intensity of light which can be projected into the eyes of a person without interference with that person’s vision on the one hand, and on the other, which permits of an observer placed behind the projector to see that person plainly clearly up to, say 80 yards from the projector. But experiment revealed that the vision of all persons is not alike; what was glare to one, was not to another. Some had astigmatism, and others normal. It was decided to introduce means to diffuse the projected light because it was recently established that for accurate, definition at a distance far better results could be obtained by a much reduced intensity of lighting, provided it be diffused, than by direct lighting of great intensity, the relative intensity being as one is to four: and the nature of road lighting achieved by this innovation was a vast improvement on that produced by direct lighting, although the unit intensity of lighting was reduced to one quarter. It is considered that the ideal headlight must (1) be incapable of producing a beam intensity greater than that which the eye can view without interference to the vision; (2) project a uniformly distributed diffused beam of light which illuminates the total breadth of the average roadway and the whole of the objects met with; (3) be made astigmatic as far as its optics are concerned, because this is the only means known whereby light can be projected efficiently as a strip or bar in cross section. The dimming devices at present permitted are considered unsatisfactory because in the event of a travelling car striking a bump the light is thrown upwards, momentarily dazzling persons looking at it; and unsatisfactory from a motorist’s point of view because there is inadequate lighting of objects on the roadway. Dimmers also are at times wrongly applied, because if the source of light is placed exactly at the focal point, the effect is to reduce the volume of light by one half.

There are few parts of the car which the motorist forgets more than the valve springs (so long as they work), and, of course, these are now usually of such good material that a long service may be expected before a new spring is necessary. It is a pity, however, that the average motorist should wait until a spring actually breaks before giving it a little attention. In view of this, it is worth while to discover just what illeffects may result from using springs that have lost a certain amount of their original elasticity and in order to do this it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the work the spring has to perform. The work which the spring has to do does not consist merely in closing the valve — even a weak spring will do this —the spring must close the valve as quickly as the cam will allow. This, of course, does not mean that the quicker the valve closes the better, but that the cam is shaped so as to obtain the best average closing speed. The cam, therefore, is capable of controlling the rate of valve closing, but to do this it is' necessary for the spring to be capable of moving the valve so rapidly that the tappet always “follows” the cam at all speeds within reasonable limits. Now the valve does not close at a uniform speed but usually commences to close comparatively slowly increasing in speed to a high velocity, and then, as the valve nears its seating, slowing down its action again to a gradually decreasing speed until the valve is seated. After a time valve springs become “fatigued”—and the result is a poor running engine owing to the valves and tappets failing to follow the cam fast enough.—this results in noise due to impact—besides wear and pitting of parts—as the tappets get behind their work and come into violent compact with the cam. Springs do not cost much, and its a payable proposition to have a new set fitted after some months of use on the inlet and exhaust valves. It means higher efficiency and a “sweetmeans higher efficiency and a “sweeter” running engine.

According to available statistics there are 522,112 motor cars In use in Europe, exclusive of motor trucks. * * * * The following have been elected officers of the Wairarapa Automobile Association for the ensuring year: — Patron, Hon. Sir Walter Buchanan; president, Mr. W. Benton; vice-presi-dents, Messrs. D. Smith (Masterton), W. Howard Booth (Carterton), F. C. Bunny (Greytown) , Martin Elgar (Featherston); committee, Messrs. E. F. Barton, D. B. Carick, and S. M. Baird (Masterton), A. M, Broadbent (Carterton), W. A. Hutton and A. P. Balfour (Greytown), H. H. Stewart, C. J. Carlyon, F. W. Smith, A. Donald, and H. Lawson (Featherston); treasurer, Mr. E. Mclntyre; auditor, Mr. J. M. G. McKenzie.