Notes.

Progress, Volume IV, Issue 9, 1 July 1909, Page 298

Notes.

During a bush fiie near Diomana, Australia, at the end of February, a sensational experience befel a motorist who was en route to Flinders by motor-car on a business trip. Mr. Taylor, the gentleman in question, with another commercial traveller and the chauffeur, had proceeded to within a few miles of Dromana when the flames, which had previously been seen from a distance, suddenly surrounded the party on all sides. The heat became intense, and both advance and retreat appeared to be cut off. In any ordinary vehicle all three would assuredly have perished, but the chauffeur, turning the car and putting on all speed, ran clean through a wall of fire. The travellers were all but suffocated, and all three had their hair and clothes singed, while the car was considerably scorched. ### * # The Bishop of Oxford is one of our motoring ecclesiastics who enjoys the sensation of speed as well as the convenience of the automobile. He has not, however, become sufficiently acquainted with the mystery of the motor-car to "relieve him of the indignity of sitting helpless when the car refused to stir an inch." This confession his Lordship recently made to a congregation at Windsor, to whom he also confided the information that there was "nothing much more trying to the constitution of a motor-car than to keep it continually going considerably below the speed at which it was meant to go. ' ' This piece of confession might go heavily against the good bishop should he ever be unfortunate enough to be caught in a police trap. ### # # Mr. W. Eoyer, of Ealing, has devised and patented an arrangement for automatically con - trolling the speed of motor-cars. The device automatically disengages the clutch when the speed of the vehicle slightly exceeds the arranged limit, and when necessary the brake is also automatically put on until the rate is reduced just below the limit. The brake is then quickly but gently removed and the clutch again engaged. A semaphore is also raised to warn the driver when he is approaching the maximum. The whole of the mechanism occupies only a small space, while working in oil in a compact aluminium box. #** * * The latest type of motor-cab is from the Darracq establishment. The vehicle is fitted with a 14-16-h.p. four-cylinder engine 85 mm. bore by 100 mm. &tioke, Bosch magneto ignition, leatheifaced cone clutch and three-speed geai-box. The wheel-base is Bft 3in., the track 4ft. 7m., and the over-all length -IHfc sm. The ear is fitted with an English- built landaulet body to seat lour inside, and is upholstered in leather; the driver's seat can be arranged for one or two persons, according to choice.. As the cry is "Still they come,' 3 perhaps it is well the "Taxi" has not yet set in with a rush for the Dominion. ### # # The judgment generally pronounced about the fate o± the horse at the hands of the motor may have to be suspended, and perhaps reversed, like the judgment which prophesied that machinery would extinguish manual labour. We observe that at the annual general meeting of the shareholders in Thomas Tilling, Ltd., one of the partners remarked that there was still a great future for the horse in connection with public bervice, and that the company had between 5000 and 6000 houses, notwithstanding the fact that they had increased the motor part of their business to a \eiy great extent. ### # # There is more virtue in your speedometer even than in your "If." At Wokingham County Court the other day three policemen swore that their victim had exceeded the speed limit over a length of road measured by them and guarded like the apple of their eye with the aid of ii btop-watch and the brain of a lightning calculator. The victim (a chauffeur) showed his speedometer, and the case was dismissed. Theie was no hypothesis. The Magistrates just said, "Dismissed — next case." So your speedometer

is better than your "i£" as pacemaker against the "force.' 5 Every one ought to possess so useful an ally. #*# # # A long-felt want is good to dream of after it has ceased to be felt. There are still some in motoring that are pressing. It will be generally reassuring to learn that in addition to a series of maps, Messrs. Cordingley and Co. aie also supplying a useful dissected model of a motor-car for the use of students and technical classes, as well as for amateur motorists wishing to add to their knowledge of motor-ear mechanism. The ' ' Catechism of the Motor-Car, ' ' containing about 320 questions and answers explaining the construction and working of the modern automobile, is another valuable publication in the series, which also includes the ' ' Motorists ' Diary and Year Book," the usefulness of the latter being increased by its touring section indicating the main loads m France as well as Britain. When a Dominion edition? ### # # An ignenious instrument for determining the amount of play m the bearings of a petrol engine has recently been introduced by M. Caron, of Paris. The device consists of a fitting which is screwed into one of the sparking plugs or valve cover openings of the engine, it contains an indicating hand or pointer which is connected by a fine cord with a weight resting on top of the piston in the cylinder. Combined with the htting aie a pressure gauge and a boss to which a connection from a small hand pump can be attached. The crank shaft of the motor is first secured in position in any suitable manner. Air is pumped into the cylinder by means of the hand pump until the pressure gauge shows a ceitam piessure and the indication of the pointer is noted. By means of the same pump, diffferently ai ranged, the air is then exhausted from the cylindei, and the motion of the hand, which is caused thereby, indicates the amount of looseness or play in the connecting lod beanngs. The instrument is said to be particularly useful for locating ' ' knocks. ' ' Most motorists are more or less troubled with the gradual ' ' dirtying up " of the sight feed glasses of the dashboard lubricator, a coating o± oil collecting on the inside of the glass and rendering is quite opaque. The resulting difficulty in observing tne flow of oil often leads either to ovei-lubucation 01 to lack of lubncation, both of which are great causes of tiouble. 'me glasses can, of course, be dismounted and cleaned, but this i& not always desirable, especially when on an extended tup. It then remains only to remove the oil by external means without disturbing the glasses or their mountings, and this may be done in two ways — by lamp (or torch) or by string, heat being the agent used in both cases. By the first method a hand lamp 01 an acetylene flame is placed so that it will neat the bight ±eet gidbs buifieiently to votalize the coating of oil which adheies to its mnner suriace. The second method involves the use of a coarse hemp stung or rough twine, which, after being passed once completely round the glass, the ends being held in the hands, is pulled towards the operator, fir&t one end and then the other. The friction of the string sliding on the glass will pioduce the required amount of heat to cause the oil to run freely from the inner surface of the glass in a very brief time. This method should be used whenever practicable, as it saves dismounting the glass, which is the cause of many breakages. The use of the string is an old wrinkle from steam engineering practice. # * =* # * Whenever possible, it is of great advantage to keep a car running as much as possible upon the top speed, which is nowadays often a direct drive from the engine. By so doing the wear upon the motor and the change-speed is reduced, the consumption of petrol diminished and the noise of operation made much less. Modern petrol engines are extremely flexible, owing paiticulaily to the perfection of the carburettors, and by means of the throttle and ignition levers then speed may be varied through an extiemely wide lange, at the will of the driver. This flexibility of control admits of running the cai on the direct drive at veiy widely varying speeds. Eanges of variation as wide as from four to forty miles per hour aie claimed by some makeis. At any rate, it is possible with a well-constructed engine and car, and one that is not geared too high, to drive on the top speed

about ninety per cent, of the time when travelling over good country loads, and at all times to have it within one's power to suddenly reduce the speed of the ear to four or five miles pei hour by closing the tlnottle and retarding the ignition, and, on the other hand, to at once secuie a buist of speed of any desired amount by tlnottle and ignition manipulation alone.