THE MOTOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1455, 1 June 1912, Page 14

THE MOTOR.

(Bv Ampuius.) Motor-Cycle Notes. A. J. Moorhouse, a well-known English motor cyclist, recently won an open 10(1 miles motor-cycle race on Ijrooklands Truck, ill the fast time of lhr. 3l)miii 7m.'C, which is a record lor England. The worlds best is De .Hosier's Hit. lSiniii. -i 2-s>ec, accomplished on the wooden track at I.os Angeles in 1910. Air. .1. .Ue Rosier has lately been badly hurt in n Hack accident. When racing at the Los Angeles Stadium (California), at a speed of Oil miles an hour, one of the. riders fell, and liis machine shot across tho track right in front of i)c Kosier, who crashed into it, and then into the fence. The American was picked up very badly injured. When tho last American mail left he was out of immediate danger, and it was hoped to save his maimed leg. He is recognised as the finest and cleverest speed motorcyclist in the world. It will Ire remembered that lie beat C. R. Collier, England's champion, in a match at Brooklands (England) a few months back. Amongst his performances, his hour record of 83 miles, 135 yds. stands out as the most wonderful. War Trials. Bather interesting are recent trials in England, on the continent, and in Australia as to the eliiciency of motor vehicles, for war purposes. The latest took the'form of a mobilisation test, and was held in England last month. Every English 7iiotoi--c.vclist who wished to take part had to notify the organisers of the scheme of his willingness to proceed to any given point at any given time, and to hold himself in readiness for a call at any time during a period of two weeks." Upon receipt of a, post-card bearing tho instructions as to time and place, each volunteer had to make his way as fast as possible to the appointed place which had (until the receipt of tho postcard) remained a secret. The English IVar Office was interested in the test, and General A. Thorneycroft, C.8., inspected the assembled motorists at the appointed rendezvous. ftiders from all parts of England took part in the demonstration. Automobile Club. Most of the English illustrated papers have given views of the magnificent club built for the fioyal Automobile Club of England. ■ It is probable the finest club that has ever been built, and it now has a membership of over 71100. Last year a profit of .£10,309 was made. A 'fair idea, of tho magnitude of the club's operations may be gained on consideration of the actual turnover for the year, which was almost ,£1,000,01)0. Over 150,000 meals were served, 7G.0Q0 bathing tickets wexe issued, 7000 people used tho club's Turkish baths, and 190,000 rounds of ammunition were fired'at the shooting range. "Cut-Outs." Exhaust "cut-outs" are now prohibited on motor-cars, both in England and tho United States, and tlie same condition will yet apply to this country. No properly constructed touring car needs a cut-out nowadays, when' the construction of most silencers'and exhaust boxes is so scientific, and when less than 2 per cent of the- power developed' by the engine is absorbed by making the exhaust silent. Tho abolition of the cut-out would meet the approval of the majority of tho automatic community, but the order should go further, and be extended to motor : cycles, many of which emit reports like maxim guns as they go through the streets. There is no more difficulty in having a silent motor-cycle than in having a silent motor-car, and. perfectly efficient silencers are now fitted to the best makes, thus demonstrating that it would be no great hardship to suppress open exhausts on motor-cycles, which are a, long way the worst offenders as regards ear-splitting exhaust noises, on our public highways. French Motor Trade. During tha last. 15 years the huge sum. of ,£10,000,000 has gone into France- as tho result of its motor-car exports to all parts of tho world, t'p till 1010, their car exports annually showed a big increase, reaching to ii«, 320,000 in the year.named. Last year's figures showed no increase, hence tho action of tho French Government in bringing pressure to bear upon the French automobile trade to again revive international motor racing on its highways, and it is hoped by the French authorities that the forthcoming Grand Prix at Dieppe will prove a big advertisement for French cars. When France was invinciblo on the road, orders flowed in.from all parts of tho globe, but when Italy started sweeping the boards in the big French road contests, and trade followed, the French manufacturers decided that the events were doing them harm, and their Italian rivals good. It was then decided to drop their annual road events. Sinco. then the French exports have not increased at a rate to satisfy the French Government, who arc keenly alive to the importance of keeping their automobile trajlo in the van. Hence international motor racing is to be again tried. France, in 1900, had less than 3(100 motor vehicles on the road: To-day, it . has 61,157 private cars exclusive of thousands of taxi-cabs, motor buses, and commercial vehicles. It must be remembered that the use of petrol-power for commercial traffic has vastly increased in France in the last few years—as in-' deed it has done in England. Mgdern Reliability. Considering the rapid rise of tho motorcar it is astonishing the degree of reliability that is now attained. A remarkable test was recently mode in California. A 30 h.p. car started out 'with official checkers aboard to see how far it could run withont an involuntary stop of the engine. After running some 5000 miles, a choke in tho petrol pipe necessitated a stop. This, of course, spoilt the run, but starting straight away again after cleaning out the pipe, a run of an additional 10.350 miles was successfully carried through without once stopping tho engine for any oause. " Motor Sport in Wellington. The New Zealand Motor Cycling Club organised a successful day's sport with a motor-cycle paper chnso on Saturday last. Mr. H. N. White, with a Twin Ro'x and side-car was the "hare," and led an excellent trail round Wilton's Bush and Wadestown, finishing at Kelburne. Fortyfive started and fifteen managed to "hit the trail." Jlr. C. G. Sherwood arrived first liimin. after the "hare" who had 45 minutes' start. To avoid over-fast riding sealed orders wero carried, and tho competitors were required to estimate the mileage. Mr. W. 11. Cameron obtained first place. Mr. U. S. Bender second, mid Mr. If. Garstein third. The next event for local cyclists will bo the Paekakariki Hill climb which is to take placo on Juno 3.