MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2180, 19 June 1914, Page 4

MOTORS AND MOTORING

The Union's First Year. , A number of. interesting topics'are touched oil m the report of the Mew Zealand.Automobilo Lnion, to bo presented at the annual meeting on July correspondence," states the report, "has from time to time taken place between/the .executive officers and the .soveral Ministers on matters of importance, to the union, notably on the question of level crossings, taxation, uniform traffic regulations for motor vehicles, tuo,repair and control of the Manawatu Gorge Koad, ■and other.matters. ;' "It was anticipated_ at.the last meeting that legislation with reference to automobile, matters would bo introduced during last.session. No doubt, .it would have been so had not labour troubles, disturbed the normal progress of the Legislature. The executive officios have, since the close of last session, had several informal interviews with the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Public Works, and have- learnt that a Bill has been, or is being, prepared for consideration by Cabinet, which,will deal r with automobile matters. It was not to be expected that the nature of the measure would be disclosed until after consideration by the Cabinet,•..' but it is understood that it will contain matter of serious importance to niotor.ists. The Proposed Legislation. "The. fact that the Government is considering the propriety of relieving local bodies of the management of the main or arterial roads of the Dominion must have an important effect on any legislation dealing with automobile'affairs. The tax which was suggested by the union, and which it was proposed should be collected and administered by motor councils, consisting of representatives of-local bodies, would in that case be .wholly or partially collected and ad- ' ministered by the Government. Tho delegates will bo asked at .tho annual meeting to give these matters- their earnest consideration, and jt would bo well if they could be ..discussed by the several local associations .in. anticipation of tho meeting of the .delegates. "There is still a demand on the part of local bodies for absolute power in '. fixing speed liinits, and in other matters affecting motorists, such as the licensing of drivers. The delegates will be asked again to consider the pro T pricty of giving such power as com- • pared with the advantages of uniform ; regulations throughout the Dominion. An Insuranco Scheme, ;,' "It is intended, also, to submit for 'the consideration of tho delegates a scheme for the economical insurance of cars, prepared by an insurance expert. , "Delegates will bo asked to consider in. scheme for the better control of the traffic through the Manawatu Gorge, and plans for making the road itself a safe one. "There will also bo laid before the meeting suggestions for the amendment of the Government Railways Ac't as regards level crossings! At present the restrictious on users of the road are unduly .harsh, and tho Department does not appear to recognise its responsibility for making approaches reasonably clear and safe. In a re.eont circular to local bodies there is an '.apparent: desire to throw tho onus for all accidents on tho general public." Pongaroa Motor services. :'• Interesting information as to the I.motor services from 'Pahiatua and Ekej.tahuna to Pongaroa has come to hand I this week. i';• Aiessrs. Hutchinson Bros., who run 1 the Eketahuna service,. state that at j present their Leyland lorry does not go all the way to Pongaroa, but stops at Taraumea station, as the road is unmetalled from there' on. Tinuimea is about 30 miles from Eketahuna, and , the lorry leaves there at 9.30 o'clock in 'tho morning, arriving' at Eketahuna between 12 and 12.30 o'clock, after .various stops for letters, and at two offices, Alfredton and Tawataia. The Toad is-very billy and narrow, and verv .heavy over since the lorry arrived, on jaccount of wet weather. . In spite of this, it is stated to'<be giving perfect satisfaction both to. the i company and to tho general public, who wero verv much surprised with the. easy riding •and comfort of the machine. At 1.30 the lorry again leaves Eketahuna for the return trip, and is mot at Tiraumea •by a coach, mto which the mails and 'passengers aro transferred, and go on to Pongaroa. As soon as the road is metalled the lorry will go all tho way to Pongaroa.

A meeting' of the- directors of tho Pahiatua-Akitio Motor Company was hold, at Pongarc* on Tuesday' night, when it was stalad that before next winter tho roads would probably be in sufficiently good order to enable the motor'services to bo run to Pongaroa throughout the year. It was generally considered ithat v.he value of business transacted by tho company since the motor service was instituted was very ■satisfactory, '.('he directors decided to ! draw .the attention of the Minister of Public Works to • a promise he made !last year when visiting tho district that a grant would be made to further improvements in the roads. A Live Body. Tho annual report of tho Auckland Automobile Association has a record of solid progress to cfironicle. The membership roll during the-year,has increased from 103 to 231, anrf the balancs-sheet shows a surplus of '£117. Since tho. last annual meeting the club has become affiliated to the Royal Automobile Club. Tho formation.of country .branches had been started at Cambridge. Tho committee thanks members for tho generous manner in which they g.tvo the use of their cars and contributed funds where necessary for charitable and other purposes. A sum of £250 was voted to tho Auckland City Council towards the formation of tho "Exhibition Drive" at Titirangi. It was tho intention of the committee that this amount should be raised without drawing upon tho club funds,, and the sum ol £lot> Is. bad already been subscribed by members. A great deal of attention was again paid by tho committee to the Great South Road, and as a result a sum of £200 will bo spent on the Rangiriri Hills, and steps will bo taken to cut down that notorious ■ corner known to motorists as "The Devil's Elbow." The matter of roads and by-laws was taken up with a number of local bodies. Tho Raglan County Council is taking steps to amend its. by-laws so as to permit motor traffic on the Ngaruawahia-Wai-ngaro Road. By arrangement with tho club a number of warning notices wcro placed on the Whata Whata-Raglan Road at dangerous points. The high premium payable for motor insurance led' the committee' seriously to consider this question, and efforts were made to induce the Underwriters' Association to issuo a policy at a reasonable premium. Tho matter was also recently brought under the notico of the general managers of tho Now Zealand and South British Insurance Companies by An alternative scheme for the founding of a club-mem-bers 'guarantee fund was discussed, and, failing a substantial reduction of tho present premium, this fund will .probably prove a practicable way out of tho difficulty. - • ■ A test of Tarauaki oil was made by the club for motor purposes, but the industry is apparently not sufficiently advanced to allow of tho (|uality'and priro of this oil being such as to,warrant its general use by motorists. i Among other matters gone into were

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level railway crossings, redttetioo of freights on benzine, mutter* pertaining to tho issue of drivers' licenses, centre tramway poles, and tho necessity for distinguishing marks ou taxieabs." Motor Registration Marks. In the "Gazette" t'i-ic other day appeared the list of registering authorities, and the distingnhhtiig letters ajid numerals allotted to each. ' For convenience of reference we have re*arr««g-' ctl tho list according to the letters assigned to each district:— A—Auckland City Couaeil (1 to JOflO). AC—Ajvatere County Cwiucit ,(1 to 25ft). AO—Akaroa County Council (1 to 506). AbH— Ashburtoii C'oitntv CouiiM-1 (I utm wards). - BC—Bruce County Cwmeil (1 bj SO). BUL—Buller County Cottitoi! i'l to 250). C—Geraldine County Council (L'ftOl to HO'iS), C—Tiuiaru Borough Council '(220147(10). C—Levols County Cottncii (2TBI to 3200). C—Mackenzie County Coismril fiii'Ol to-3SOQ) C—Wuimate County Council CSSto te 3500). C—Geraldine County Council (38M iv iaBO) C—Waimairi County Cosiiicit (COQI ix> (KOOJ CC—Clutha.County Couticil (1 to gso). CH—Christchui-ch Citv Council (1 fo'IAAA) CH—Christchurch City CoHiioil Mill to 8000). D—Dunedin City Coa.teil (1 to l*!iW). DV—Dannevirke Coufttv Cwumril (1 upwards). r E—Eltham County Coaiiei! (1 t« 250), . EC—Ellcsmcre County Council <1 to «f>o). EG—E»niont County Cwutcil (1 upwards}. EKA—Ekctahuna County Council (1 to 250). ■: F—Peatherston County Counail (t t0.2a% ■G—Gisborne Borough Council (1 to Sflcij.' CM—Greymouth (1 to 250). H—Hawke's Bay'Coiiiity Cc-U-fleil flat to . 500). -. " H—Waipawa County-Council (EOO to BSD). H—Hawke's Bay County Ceutrcil (1)00 a,p. wards). . ' HA—[Tastings Borough tjouncii i'l to 7GO). HC—Heathcote County Council (t to 'M). HN—Hamilton Borough 'Council (1 to 250) HO—Horowhenua County CoUjicjl (l to 150). .HO—Hawke's Boy County Council (lf»l to SCO). ;-. HW—Hawera County Cotmeil (500 to 7551 InS—Tnvercargill' Bormrek Council (1 to GOO).- ■ • . • " K—Kairanga County Couiioit (1 to 100). ■ KC—Kaikoura . Cpimty CcfUiicil (1 -upwards). KCB—Kowoi County,Couaictl (1 upwards). KlE—Kaitieko County Cstineii i'l. to 25(1}. KW—Kiwitea County Council (1 te 25.0). LK—Lake County Council (.1 to- J.(!!i), M—Masterton County Council (251 to 31)0). MC—M'anawatu County Cwwjil (j upwards). MK—Mackenzie County Council fl to 250). M M—Matamata. County C'aiineil (t to 2ffil), MN—Malvern' Count}- C»inrn.ml (1 to 250). MO—Maniototo County Council J't to loo.t MS—Masterton Borough CoviU-eii (1 to 500)..-' NA—Napier Borough Cosin.eil (1 in- 231)).' N.C—Ashley County-Comiiil (i upwards). NP—New Plymouth Bofaugh COMbqii (1 'to 500). 'OHR—Ohinemuri County Couiocil (1 to 250). OP-Opotiki County Cottncii (I- fc MO). OU—Oamaru Borough CO'UDGiI (1 -upwards) OW—Oroua-County Cowueil (i ta 50O). OX—Oxford County- CwincM (1 b» 250). P—Petono Borough' Council (300 te 753). PA—Papai'tw County CoMhe.il (I to SO). . PC-Patea County Council tl to 200).' PHA—Pahiatua County Couneil (1 to 25ft). PK-Pinko County'Cowntilfl to 23!)). PN—Palmerston North Berough Council (1 upwards). • ' RGAC—itangiora County Council O to -250). - ' " ■-. S—Selwyn County Council {I. to 50'fr). il t&.2-SSI SD—Stratford.Coimtv_Coimal (t to &0). SO—Southland County Council (1 to £W)„ T—Toranaki'County Councß- (1. to SOB), TA—Tauranga County ■CotHWsil (1 to H«)), TAK—Takaka County Cbjinci'l, (.1 tip* . wards).' ".'.'. TBC—TiniarU' Borough 'CoiinsU- '. (T tip 1 .- ivdrds). ' ■ " '■'"-■ ' • ; '' TC-T.aieri County Council {}■ to 2-50), TU—Tuancka-County Council (I up- . wards). ...... VO—Vincent County Council (1 to 1-00J- . W—Hutt County Council (1 to 500), . W—Masterton Borough Council (SBI to 1000). ' W-Wellington City Council (MOl to 2000). ' '"'" W—Kongitikei County Cg-utic.il (2MI to

2500), WAl—Wairoa County Council to MO). WAU—Waiapu Comity Comwdl (lto'Aift) WBC-Waihi Borough Counfcll \l to 250). WG—Wanganui Borough Couueil (1 to - GOD). . .-'.'■ WH—Whakatane Borough Cotineil (1 to 250). Wl—Waipawa County Council (1 to 51M». WL-Wallnce Co'untv Council (1 to 3CB). ,WM--Wahnea County Ouncil 0- to sfiJ), 'WN-Wellington City. Council (1 up-V/O-Wikato County Coimcil (1 to 2SO). WP—Waipa County Council (1 to 2Bfl). WW—Waim.ate West Country Couueil (I ' to 250). -. A Remarkable Production. In the United Kingdom: of Urea-t Britain and Ireland no registratioa afi' thoiity lias more than two letters as its identiheatiou mark. In New Zealand wc, have already got up to lour "R.-GAC," and on.the present method .of allotmentsome unfortunate local body will probably have half the. alphabet showered out on it before long. From tho above list it will bo seen, that sis; dilfewMifc districts have tho letter ;l 0" as tiseir mark, four have "W," .two ha.ro ,"H," and two "HO." Fivo bodies have two, different marks allotted them,' thus— Hawke's Bay, "H" and "HO" ; Masterton Borough Council, "W" and, "MS" ; Timaru Borough Council, "C" and "TBC" ; Waipawa County Couueil, "H" and "WI"; .Wellington t'ity Council. "AY" and "WN." The nlliieatiait of numbers is in the. same state ,oi' elinos, Hawera, tho only district with "HW," has -for some inscrutable reason to start at-000 and work to 7.50; ra the "C" serins nothing lens than SOU. is allowed, .and there is a jump from -1000 to G001; in "CH" there is. a. jump from 1000 to 4000; "H" begins at io'l, .itriiiw= from 500 to 600, and from GTO to 900; "M" begins at 251; and "P" begins at'soo. Safeguarding Nlglit Trafflc. At last Saturdays' meeting, of tue Eltham County Council, the toli-gato keeper at the gate oil the ISlthani Road forwarded a list of about thirty names of people driving along, that road without lights during the month. . In ajis.wer to. Councillor BoMier, the clerk said the chairman had considered that the cost of prosecuting; all' those , whose names had been sent in previousf ly would be too heavy. They had there- . fore put all names in a bat and drawn oho of each description of vehicle. _ After some discussion it was'decided that it would be advisable, to prosecuto all. It was also agreed that proceedings should bo taken against all offenders, •" future, and s-urfaoc-mon were instructed, to report, ail cases of people driving vehicles witlKrat-lights. Road Improvement Work. Tho Wiiimate West County CottUßil is proposing to borrow £00,000. for road improvements iu. its district which lies around Manaia. The chairman, in discussing the. financial, aspect said the overseer had carefully prepared estimates, and he calculated that, Oiie* the. sixty miles of road were well bid, future maintenance with tar and sanding would cost £3180 a year; iiickfenfoitsi (salaries, hospital contributions, etc.), and interest and sinking fund £3300, or a total of £86-10. A 'i'Ate of a penny and 5-10rl. would p'rcKhifn £7713, plus a subsidy of £930; wutild give £3013. The overseer enlrfltatetl that the first, dressing'of tar aa-d s-rilwl would cost £-1,900—20 gallons of. tar to the chain, at 7d. per gallon, plus shingle and labour, came out at life, 3d. per chain. Subsequent dressiags were

estimated mi 12 gallons, to the chain, costing 13s. 3d. •..-■■

The now concroto bridge over the Oroim River and Raiigiotu, on the road between _l''osto» and Palmerston, is now rapidly approaching completion, and it practically requires only the approaches to be liiel-iilltj-tt for tile bridge to bo ibroivii open for traffic. It has been constructed by tbe ilaiiawatu and Kaira.tigu. County Cotmeils.

Tho'portion of the Main South Road running through Waintiit.e West C-oui'ty ClWuaki) that ha 4 been treated witij Hnpreparott tar, has how been top-dress-ed with sealtar, also about 3U chains of iKstv mad. 'J'he overseer reported-that 22 gniions of prepared tor cover the same area a-s 4U gallons of wn-prep-ared tar. Tlio county engineer is askiug far a setoi-id road it. Her,

Ts liuiti .and Taumarumti aro agitating very strongly to get the main Aiieldund te Wellington road completed far through traffic. At present (ttocotdiijg to the Waikato "Atgus"). peeplo caft motov from Wellington to about 20 miles beyond T«unin*t!ifm—although tlia last 20 miles is rough and bad-lv tornied -"-and then there is a gap of about IS miles which used to be a fairly good road, but mmiing as it dee*, parallel w-ith tho Main Trtmk line,' the Government hayo lot it get «t of re-pair. Frojjj six rnijes on the Ta.innari}flai sido of Te Ivuiti there is it good swni&er motor raod right into Auckland,

Mot-oT'Cyding Nates. Some reniariiably accurate work was done in tho spefid-jiidgiiig conyjetitiou held by the Wellington ulotor o'vcli.tvg Ohib last Saturday ai'te-rnfiou. " The course, was trow tho Clyde- Quay School ituntl- the Queen.'S Drive to llva us Bar, over tho Worse* Bay hill, on to Mirahiar, Lyall Day, island Bay, nnd back to the school, a distance of 20.5 miles. The competitors, of whom there- were about a dozen, woro eaeli given envofopds coatamiiig a> card with a certain speed r«ta nuirked «i it. Tlw wihit« was B. Creed (17| miles per hour), w.liosc: titii'e error was 2min, DUs.ec. lii' E. Edmonds (18J miles) was ijfi&t, with an ori'oif of Bmin. Isec, a-M J. Roiiclief (1 ti miles) third:, with an error of iiniji. 13soc.' . Tins club programme to-mcrrow is.a fast hifUdknb' at Severn Street, Island Bay. On Saturday week there will be a petrol consum.ptiah test, and an July i a _teams' trial, The lottor event will be ia the ustare. of a fiseil gear trial, over au'evea more severe route than tite last, • botwessn teams of three eiwh. oil tKe same make of mac-bitte. The Seutfeeni HaA'ko's Hay Club held its a.miu-al mcetnig, at Dattravirke oft Friday tot, Mr, Bs. Osgood presiding. The report aftd felanco-slieet shoivcd a ei'edit- bnSTinee of £8 l(ss. ii. Sir. J. Neugle wrote stating, that, tho silver cup oifered last yew, Imt not eosnpe-ted for, would be again olferod this year. It was decided to reduce the aimua'l Siibscripttan from 1.05.' to ps. llws electm pi pfßcers re-stilted.: .President. 'or. W. H. Daw-son-; vico-pre.s : iderits, Messrs. ■S. Osgood,. J, Mt'fiowll, J. Neaglg, R. Y'j: B'win-.v j tsoM-mittco. iiUi-ssrs, b': Ajla-r----dtee. A, A. Best, (L White, 'J, W. Hood, hi. N-e-ilseu. H. M. Fair'hurst, A. Nash, S, Osgood, and 1. Blsseii; captain, Mi', S.. Osgood; Loll. see-ratai'.v, Air, W. P. H-ope. Twelve new members -svero elected at the nvjet*

A .raeotiij.g was to bo held this week for the pwpose of, forming a mot-o-r----cy-clijig ehib at Hamilton,' Hitits and tips, OH is not -of UHwh use for Jubrieating kaf 'springs, as it is so dftsrly f.firted o(it. A writer in the "Light Car"- i'-e-* t'.oJirmnnds a' njisttiro of 'equal parts o-f ewi.i-man' grajshito n-nd aeai'.l>ax'g'reaso. Probitbly .'a still better"iftbrißant 'ts tli-a.t • rceoiiimended by Mf."G. ft. Lajiobesiw, wlio states t;h:tt; lead, paint oi v "grey prijjintg," s'Ugijtly tliiujied with raw linscea oil rtiid" , al)o«t lij .per-ceiit, of gtftphito a'Wiitpre whidli w-lll'gcjtei-'atty'awtlast bw-o br three ajiplieafiOiis o'l common grease'. Meted talloiv, 15 :alsp stated to bo eJceellelit as a spring leaf Hibrioaht. Most owners pay little attention to Icecfting the load on their cars clown to ppS'-per limits,' Overloading is not only likely to result in damage to of - tKe breakage gf the springs-, but afeo great-iy to'increase tyro wear nivd the danger of ffoqtirasfc panokt-'fes, espeeiallv if, as so often is the case, the size of t-lio tyres is nbiJ.fc too ample .for tho iiorma! weight tho chassis is- called upon ip catty. Tiro "Autocar" thjiiks it te wt'fcfcjji tL© mark to fay that the average etigho mli run 2t)00- miles with decarbonisttig, Soiwb will inin a great deal liiore, aftfl sotr» veiy mtifih less, but 2000 ffljles is, it thinks, ft fair a.p:pMii.matioii, A tip worth fAifiei-nterijig is that if the radiator ea-p is faifceti oif boiling i-H claab-ing a 'long hill will be postponed. The ge-ii-era% accepted tliebry that new tyres should Isn put on the back wheels ahd tke old ones, fi-ijished off oft tlte {rant wtacfa iffasti-oivgly disagreed with by-the Northern Motor Company. Tliey state that If a' burst seettrs on & back wheel, no. sohwis result foifews. A burst ou a front wlieijl, hwyever, at 0..UC0 interferes with the steering, and if i.t occurs at a daagei'Ous spot .way ■preetpit-ato a serious accutart. Ilrctr ' advice is s Ahvftys seo that your front fcyf-es are absolutely sn-uiad, snail run your old ones .off flu tltb back wliseJs,

'l)i reply to the request for iiifonrnw tio-ii as tii Iho retreading of tyfos, .published last wec?li, tiho Motor Tyre- Repair* .viig Company, -of \Vei.lii!gtoft, stats ttet their csperiewco is that from 3000 to rfOOO ffiiles. can, as a rule, he obtained on a retread. They ■ advise that retrsaded tyres shwild be run oft the front wheels, A local firm ninnfeg a delivery vaii was recently supplied with three, retreads at tho eiist of one ise\V tyre, and present iiidicsitioiis iiretliot they will S*t w-ear- equal to that of two uewtytes-. The greatest damage to tyre fabric .irises from uiKfer-iuftatioil, and tyres that bays been tonsistenily ui.ide-r-m----.{tated catimst be expscted -to give the sam-ft waixr as tb«o properly treated.

H?ro and there, Legal Hghtiiig'up time for motor-cars and inotoiH'yeies; To-day, i.% p.m.; next Friday, 4.23 p.m. , A Canterbury Provincial Moter tJTikni has been formed in CMstctoUrOn, ajid will apply for affiliation tm- tho New Xeabsnd Autojiiobilp.UniaH. Its tsccutivo |3 iirging the CaiiteTbiiry bile Assocktioiis to folinq-ufslt their affiliations to the N.Z.A.TJ-, and be re.» pvesfruted on. that. body' through the piovinct.il afl ion. The I'resideut of tho Canferbttry Association w-IU bo ex ofTicio piiait-mau of the unLou. ' ' At a weeting at Ngaiaro, Stratford Gomnty, it was urged that, a to-li-gato-should ,'be erected «» the Jforth .Raad, A tally taken m the road showed 'a pro-pm'thm of two motors foi' «wy Jjwse-(ir«Vn vehicle. Stratford Comity lias 187J- miles of metalled road to nmintai-i!, and the cost, according to Ms\ A'Y. Ba.t-li.iway, county chiiirman, works out at £i3O, a'niile (esj elusive of bridges, eulve-rts, ii!i(t adiiiinistraf.ion).. . . 'J'lie iMotmt Albert Borough Council has refeetl to maintain level crossings, iwitieo boards, m in the eve.rst of accident it iiVrgl.it became tiabfs for damages, Feildini; !»s abo taken, the same stand, A cycle-Krai* is being turned out in AusiH'iea with n fow-eyhtrier, 1(5 h..pi engine, at £83, H hirs three forward speeds and ft reverse' slia'ft, drive, and a differential on the- back n.xle. Tii* imparts of- tlrited States nnd Canadian cars to South Afiien in. 1918 Were Hearty, 3'5 per cent, greater than those frojti tlrcat Britain. At si meeti.sg attended by between 20 vittd 30 motor-car and wotor-eyele owih ers in Now Mym-oiitti it was decided or -Monday hist to form an automobile association affiliated to the Now Xcalawd Antfimnhile I'ninn. Mr. T. C. List, who presidetl, said lie believed that, there wow 6.17 ears and eyries rr-gistered in Sow Plymouth., and at the present rate of reul-itrotton the iiiimber would soon bs doubled-