MOTOR NOTES.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 10, 1 August 1906, Page 279

MOTOR NOTES.

By " Accumulator." The N.Z. Automobile Co. Ltd. was incorporated on the 13th ulto.. with Mr. H. Leicester as secretary. ****** Fig. 3 illustrates an 8-h.p. Reo car^ recentlydelivered toVDr. Douglass, of Nelson. , >_ j ****** The Government have under consideration a scheme for employing motor delivery vans in connection with the State Coal Department. ****** Two of the well-known Yorkshire patent steam wagons will shortly arrive in the colony for use in the brick-carrying trade. The N.Z. Automobile Co. report that they have disposed of fifteen Ford cars during the past two months. ****** A new Dennis petrol-driven 'bus, with patent worm drive, is to arrive in the colony at the end of August. The agents are the N.Z. Automobile Co., Wellington. ****** The widespread strike in the French motor industry will, if continued, render acute the already serious delay in the delivery of various commercial motors, including motor omnibuses. It has been found by a representative of the Daily Mirror that it is possible to travel round London by electric tram cars and motor 'buses, covering no less than 79 miles in 12 hours, at an average cost of one halfpenny a mile. Fig. 1 illustrates a 16-h.p. Reo car which won the Mount Washington International Climbing Contest, and lowered the record of its class 23 minutes in 8 miles, beating its nearest competitor by 8 minutes. The Mount Washington Climb means 8 miles of steep, rocky road. In the course of his speech at a luncheon given by the directors of the Daimler Motor Company, Limited, at the Coventry works, on the 2nd June, Mr. E. Manville, chairman of the company, announced the fact that the Daimler works would, at no distant date, be turning out large numbers of commercial vehicles.

Some interesting correspondence from the Turner-Miesse Co. appears in this issue. It seems that this company considered our enquiry which appeared in the March motor number as to " Where are the Steam Cars ? " of sufficient value to warrant their supplying the answer. Their letter will be found on another page. ****** Edinburgh Corporation has to be added to the list of local authorities which are modifying their tramway projects owing to the arrival of satisfactory motor 'buses. The last month has witnessed the excision of all clauses from the

Corporations Bill, now before the British Parliament, which contain proposals for tramway extensions in the suburbs. Fig. 5 is an illustration of the Reo 16-h.p. io-passen/er 'bus, with a speed of 18 to 20 miles with a full load. This car is the machine that won the American National Trophy at the recent 6 days' Economy Contest. The machine carried its full load for six days, travelling 682 miles at a total cost of 10/8 per passenger. This car also won two other medals, in the same Contest, for economy, including tyre charges, and another trophy for the least gasolene cost per passenger. ****** Motor improvements are crowding so fast on one another that it is almost impossible to keep pace with them. Here are a few : Lamps fitted with reversible lenses, that can be made to throw either concentrated or widely divergent beams. Petrol

gauges which show the state of the tank. A combined watch, compass, and aneroid barometer fastened to a patent speed gauge. Goggles made with side mirrors working on hinges, by which the driver can see behind him without turning his head or taking both eyes off the road in front. The safety glass screen is a triumph. Two sheets of plate glass are fastened together with a sheet of celluloid between them, and the result is that when indignant foot-passengers heave half bricks, or the car tries to ride over a bull, the glass does not splinter. It merely " stars " or cracks. The celluloid sheet keeps the pieces in place, and it is just as transparent as the single sheet of glass. ****** The new motor car which has been built for Mr. G. W. Perkins, the American millionaire, puts all others in the shade. It has a drawingroom and a bed room. The former is furnished elegantly, and has revolving chairs fastened to the floor. The bed room has a couch and a complete dressing-table. There is an electric light over the couch, so that, when reclining, the millionaire may read comfortably. There is

a megaphone over the head of the chauffeur, connected to speaking tubes to various portions of the cai, so that commands may be passed without moving. Electric heaters warm the apartments throughout, and at the back there is a daintylittle cooking kitchen. There is a roll-top desk in the passage way, and Mr. Perkins uses this on his journeys for his correspondence. The car cost £5,000, and in case Mr. Perkins wants a run for mere enjoyment, he is having another car built of an ordinary pattern. Apparently the affair does not conduce to enjoyment. *** * * * From the bulk of correspondence received by the last American mail we learn that almost every British and Foreign motor-car factory is overtaxed with Home orders. So much so is this that great difficulty is experienced in filling colonial demands. Indeed, the factories which have contemporaneously gauged the dual requirements of a Home and export trade are virtually the only ones which can entertain colonial orders at the moment, and, possibly for some time to come. Amongst these the Argyll people may be reckoned with as displaying a prescience that has no record in the chronicles of a similarly expanding industry. A few years ago this celebrated Scotch concern foresaw the congestion that would ensue on the non-completion of all orders, whether Home or Foreign, with the result that to-day they can boast the largest and most complete plant in the world, a plant that is enabling their famous product to reach out to the most distant parts of the habitable globe m fulfilment of urgent orders. Other British firms which have kept pace with the times are the Napier, Wolseley, Turner-Miesse (steam), and Alldays, all of which are pushing export trade to the detriment of the products of less resourceful concerns. ****** Mr. J. Liddiard, wiiting to Progress, under date 25th May, 1906, says: — "The motor 'bus, as Londoners have it, is by far the most remarkable of modern street developments. The other day I stood m the Edgeware road for 10 minutes, and during that time there passed 18 motor 'buses, larger and more comfortable in every way than the old horse 'buses'

Twelve months ago there were about 10 motor 'buses in the whole of London, the pioneer line selecting Edgeware road as its route. At that time the vehicles were about half the size of the present ones, they had no outside seats, and five minutes inside were sufficient to suffocate the passenger with petrol fumes. But one never spent five minutes inside, for the sufficient reason that after about two minutes the rattle-trap broke down, and somebody had to spend half an hour underneath fixing it up again. Also, the ancient motor snail could only go a limited distance, because it couldn't negotiate the hills. At the present moment there are thousands of motor 'buses in London, and they take the hills at a handspring, nor do they stink nor break down. And the monopolistic General Omnibus Company, which grinned contemptuously at the petrol car at first, finds itself outpaced by eight or ten rival concerns, and it is spending the whole of its time placing orders (on the Continent, of course — this

Fig. 4 represents a 16 h.p. 3 -cylinder Doctor's Stanhope constructed by the same company. The body of this car is of special aluminium ; seating capacity, two ; wheel base, 82" ; tread, 56|-" ; drive, bevel gear shaft or double chain, direct on high speed ; tyres, 28 x 3" ; weight, approximately 1,400 pounds, empty ; colour, maroon, dark green or black ; top, Stanhope, best buffed leather ; upholstering, finest quality of leather or broadcloth, with pockets in the sides of seats and large easy springs at the back ; equipment, two oil side and one tail light, horn and tube, tyre pump, two extra spark plugs, extra valve, and Champion repair kit of tools m canvas case. ****** Fig. 6 depicts a 30 h.p. 4-cylinder Peerless touring car, the following description of which has reached us from the Peerless Motor Car Co., Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. — Motor. — Vertical four cylinders, water cooled.

is new ; it does not have to be worn in service before developing its best power and efficiency. Even the head of the combustion chamber is finished so that no fin or projecting point can become unduly heated or collect carbon deposits which cause premature ignition and consequent injury of the motor. This also gives us the same number of cubic inches in each cylinder. Balance. — The piston and rings, connecting rods and wrist pins are all carefully machined, not only to ensure a perfect fit, but so that they will weigh exactly alike. Therefore, the motor is evenly balanced and runs almost without vibration and with a minimum of wear. Lubrication. — Lubrication of the pistons is effected through tubes running to cylinders from the forced feed lubricator. Accessibility. — As an example of the accessibility of the motor, the lower half of the crank case is divided into two parts. The lower section is so designed as to be readily removable

is " Freefood " England) for motor 'buses, and finding new routes for old horse vehicles that took two hours or thereabouts to do Six miles. Likewise, it is revising its scales of charges in a tremendous hurry, for you get an extra-sized penn'orth when you take a motor 'bus." Fig. 7 represents a 16 h.p. 3-cyhnder compound light touring car constructed by the E.H.V. Co., Middletown, Conn., U.S.A., and from the specifications received by last mail we take the following particulars : — Seating capacity, five ; wheel base, g6\" ; tread, 56^" ; drive bevel gear shaft or double chain, direct on high speed ; tyres, 28 x 3J" ; weight, approximately 1,650 pounds, empty; colour, maroon and dark red ; upholstering, best of leather, genuine hair filling, double woven springs m cushion ; equipment, two oil side and one tail light, horn and tube, tyre pump, two extra spark plugs, extra valve and Champion repair kit of tools in canvas case.

Cylinders cast in pairs, valves on side, interchangeable and mechanically operated. Crank shaft, connecting rods and bearings readily accessible. All gears housed and oiled by splash. The Peerless 1906 motor, like all other Peerless motors, is so built as to give the greatest possible power and speed. At the same time the greatest care has been taken to make the 1906 engine so simple in construction and so readily accessible that it is easy to keep in perfect condition, even in the hands of the layman who knows very little about gasolene engines. The cylinders are cast in pairs lor compactness and rigidity. Valves. — The intake and exhaust valves are located in offset ports on either side of the engine, and are mechanically operated by half-time shafts. Intake, exhaust valves and springs are all interchangeable. Compression. — The cylinders are of a special material, carefuly bored out, reamed, then lapped or polished, so that the inside surfaces are smooth and perfect when cars are shipped out. The advantage is good compression, even when the motor

without taking the motor from the frame or removing the dust pan or any part of the car. By simply removing a number of bolts this lower part of the crank case can be dropped, exposing the crank shaft, connecting rods and bearings for inspection and repairs. In this lower section a long groove or pocket projects below the bottom of the crank case and is tapped out at each end to receive a plug. These plugs can be removed in a minute's time, and with them all foreign matter and dirty oil. The crank case can then be flushed and refilled, and the owner satisfied that his crank case has clean oil and that his lubrication is properly taken care of. Crank Shaft. — The crank shaft is of solid drop forging, specially hardened and ground to exact size. The bearings, three in number, are unusually large and are of a special white bronze metal, which affords the very best wearing qualities. Gear Housing. — Every gear of the motor is housed in an oil-tight compartment of the crank case and runs in oil. Even the water-pump gear is housed, and likewise the governor which is carried in the half-time gear wheel, and only its working arm protrudes through the case. This ensures an almost noiseless motor, and one 1 where wear of working parts is reduced to the lowest possible factor. Oiling of the crank-shaft bearings and wrist pins, cam shaft and cams, is by splash from the dip of the connecting rods into the oil in the crank case.