MOTOR NOTES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1874, 7 October 1913, Page 11

MOTOR NOTES

TOPICS IN WELLINGTON. > i [BT OHASBIS.] The Wellington City Council is about , to purchase a fire engine chassis, and t the tenders received htjve been referred i to the board of experts to 'decido on : the most suitable. Without entoring i into the merits or demerits of the re- 1 spectivo tenders, it ought to bo pointed < out that it is important that one of ' sufficient horse-powor will bo .selected so 1 as to enable the brigade to reach the ' hilly and outlying districts with tho < minimum of delay. If the Auckland Council finds it necessary to have two J engines of 85 and 125 horse-powor re- < spectively, and if Christchurch, Napier, and Dunedin possess 85-h.p. engines, 6urely the Wellington City Council will ' not be content with one of 65 h.p. 1 Motor V. Horse. j Motor buses aro rapidly superseding : the horse-drawn Vehicles as a means of ' transit, and it is an interesting fact j that since tho New Zealand Express 1 Company commenced running an Argyle ' motor lorry two years ago it has covered nearly 25,000 miles.' Most of this mileage is made up of runs between Wellington and Palmerston, Foxton and Masterton. Other large companies are beginning to follow the example set by the New Zealand Express Company, and will no doubt soon appreciate tho advantago of motor-drawn vehicles. The 83-h.p. Argyle motor bus supplied three weeks ago to be run at Timaru, has given such complete satisfaction that threo more been ordered. The bus is worm driven, has four cylinders, singlo-deck body, on tho same lines as those in general use by tho London General Omnibus Company and tho Great Eastern service, 3-speed gear, box-axlo overhead, and is noiseless. This bus is similar to those ordered by the Kelburno Motor Bus Company, with tllo exception that two of the latter's will bo 40 h.p. The chassis aro on the water, and one of the bodies is almost complete, and it is anticipated that they will bo deliverbd and running by the middle of November. Holiday Tours. The time is now approaching when motorists spend their vacation touring "God's Own Country," and I have heard of .several who are getting themselves and their machines into condition for the strain which both must undergo. Tho intending tourist would bo wise to indulgo in a little preliminary training, as by being thoroughly fit, he .will get more enjoyment out of his jaunt. Those who aro undecided as to their venue should have a talk with Mr. F. G. M'Donald, Featherston Street, who is tin? Hon. secrotary of the touring branch of the Wellington M.C.C., and who possesses almost unlimited information on Now Zealand) roads, recorded entirely during his own extensive tours. A Co-aliaad Firm. Tho capital of J. B. Clarkson and Co., Ltd., whoso headquarters aro now at Wellington, has been increased from £20,000 to £30,000, tho additional £10 sharos having been allottod as follow: J. B. Clarkson, 300; E. Gibbons, 100; H. B. Gibbons, 400; and'lt. D. Gibbons, 160. _ _ Mr. Len. B. Clarkson, on the Btatt of J. il. Clarkson and Co., Ltd., is m England, studying tho manufactures of his firm, and has thoroughly inspected tho latest Douglas productions. Ho writes:—"l visited tho Commercial Vehicles Motor Show at Olympia, and expect to do so again. Jt is a fine display, indeed, and it is an eye-opener to see the different uses to which _ the mCtor has been adapted. There is no doubt whatever that the commercial motor has como to stas% and that New Zealand is a good field for an enterprising .firm with good agencies." , The.' Wellington Motor Cycling Club is holding its fourth annual 12-hour reliability trial on Monday, October 27, and tho distance is to be about 200 miles'. World's Record. The world's one hour unpaced track record'lias again been secured by viho French rider, M. Berthet, who covered unaided. 26 1-3 miles in the hour, thus beating his own record of 25 miles ioJo yards, which ho held from 1907 to last year, when 0., Egg, another Irenchmau, raised tho figures to 26 miles 466 yards. Tho English record stands at 24 miles 1516 yards, put up last month at Heme Hill by F. W. Grubb, the crack English unpaccd rider. Motorist Boats Express. Chaplin, a South African motorist, has succeeded in his race with the railway express from Johannesburg to IJurban, a distance of 482 miles. Tho motorist (on a Talbot car) and the express started together at 8 p.m., and .the former, crossing tho veldts and climbing over tho Brakenherg Mountains, reached Durban at 6.45 tho following night, forty minutes ahead of the express, his time of 22}hrs. being equal to an average speed of over 21 miles an hour. . ... Mr Boucher has on view at nis premises, 74 Lambton Quay, tho 3i h.p. Rudge with which ho won the ten mile motor-cycle race at New Plymouth. This proved a most exciting race, Coleman (MOsec. start) holding the lead up to the ninth lap, though Boucher and Anderson (llsec. each) were chasing closely behind after tho sixth lap. At the seventh'lap Boucher gave Anderson tho go-by, and the struggle between Boucher, on his Rudge, and Ooleman, on his little Douglas, wbb most exciting, the former only gaming the verdict in tho last few yards. Motorists and Crossings. The Hon. J. A. Tole, K.C., addressing a jury at tho Auckland Supreme Court recently, essayed to explain tho increase of level crossing accidents as follows:—"When peoplo lived peaceably, and there Svas nono of this flying about in motor-cars', thoro was none of this agitation about level crossings. Tho agitation is. simply contemporaneous w th flying about. With the advent of the motor-car we have this agitation about level crossings. It is this rapid locomotion which is the cause of danger, and not the railways. Some motorists shot over crossings and then cheered tho engine-driver of an approaching train, whilo others momentarily stopped for the purpose of giving the driver a shock. If peoplo did not traverse crossings in a meteoric way there would be no accidents." And yet the prevalent idea is that the majority of the level crossing accidents happen to pedestrians and carts. It is not often a collision occurs between a motorcar and a train at level crossings in New Zealand. Homo Figures. As showing the popularity of motorcycles at Home tho following figures of traffic on the main read from Lon- ■ don to Worthing, taken on three days in August, from 8 a.m. to 8.30 p.m., speak for themselves: — Motor- Side- Cyclecvcles. cars. cars. Saturday 185 345 10 Sunday 140 195 37 Monday 180 250 10 505 790 57 Tho figures from the latest Board of Trndo returns show that during tho month of July the value of motor-cycles imported into England totalled £2640, against £4857 for July, 1912, and £2971 for July, 1011, and tho value of parts' imported was £16,201, against £13,444 during July, 1012, and £7267 during July, 1911. British aaports during

July wore: Motor-cycles, £71,287, against £<13,148 during July 1912, and £24,411 during July, 1911, and parts tliereof, £23,737, against £13,051 during July, 1912, and £5249 during July, 1911. the British exports for the seven months ended July 31, totalled £165,646. The tourist trophy motor-cycle races demonstrated once more that it is not always the fastest machine which comes in first, and that the Buperior rider on an inferior machine has a good sporting chance of lifting tho prize. A rider whoso machine can cover 50 miles an hour and who lacks judgment in the difficult stretches of tho course is liable to be passed before tho judges are reached by tho riilor who plods along at a good average pace, using his head and taking no risks. Tho only Australian representative in this ovent was H. H. Raglers (Adelaide) who ran short of petrol miles from any depot on the first day, whilst Froubishe, a New Zcalander, an intending competitor, was lucky in boing able to bo wheeled out of hospital in a bath-chair in order to see the race, having sustained a nasty spill whilst practising over tho course. It will be remembered that another New Zealandcr (Woodman) that to have his leg amputated a few years ago as a result of a bad smash on this same course at the Isle of Man.