MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2228, 14 August 1914, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

[By Clutch.] N.Zi Motor Reserve. The New Zealand Motor Reserve c Officers, which' is nofr being asked to sill ply. eleven drivers for this, motor ca; which, are to accompany the Expeditioi ary • Force, wds organised in 1913, an comprises sei-enty-uiiie officers with Liom Col. A. J[. Myers at .their head. Tb oflicers of the \Y6lliugtbii section are t follow:—Majors J;. MounseJP and A. <1 B. Bralldbil,' and Lieiits. 0. Jerusalem C. i>. Sherwood* A. E. Whyte, D: f Hihgstebn, G. Forunildos, F. H; Stockwel' IT. H. Ostler, 6. IT. B.uckeridge,' G. K l'hnrazyh, F. G. Butler, A. 0. Bishbr aiid C. F. Buscks. The other section are ill Auckland; Canterbury; and Otag< The Now Zealand Array list shows tka the various sections were mostly inuc below the strength- fixed for them;. ■ The Motor in War. The motor is being: used to a. large es tent by all the great Powers in the pros eut conflict. .What.it. is really.capable o in this connection was proved by an es periment of the British Army recently ill the conveyance of a battalion o Guards at war strength. The special cor respondent of "Tho Times" described th result of the experiment as a "complet and unmistakable' success. , ' The vehicle used on that occasion were ordinary cars supplied by tho. Automobile Association Military, calculations of times and dife tances involved a speed of 20 miles ai hour tore, column of 280 motors. Tin country was described as "difficult, witl eteep : gradients, and winding roads on thi slopes.' , : As a. result, of this- experiment it wai shown that it was possible to transpor troops rapidly oyef country where, rail way coniiuunieatioa had been destroyed but lea.dihg i motorists held that the tes was an example of how the transport o troops by motor should not be done'. ,Thi principal which had been demonstrate; was not assailed, but it was urged thai commercial ■ vehicles should have beer used. It was estimated that 2000 mbtbi omnibuses would transport 60,000 men and could be, prepared to take the roat as quickly as the troops could be gol ready. Up to its capacity the motoi .omnibus is equal to the railway in everj respect, and in Some capabilities superas a transport agent. This is recognised in Britriihi France, and Germany, for, according to the cables, motors are ploying a.- big part in the transport of _ the troops in the present war. Motors have- now become indispensable ?art3 oi the equipment 6f every nation. There are in .the Dominion alone sufficient motor vehicles, leaving motor cycles put of the question, to transport some:hing'like ■ 30,000 men at one time, and the speed would depend upon the roads. . The niotor cyclists right throughout "Jew Zehlruid aiid Australia are keen'on tho military authorities utilising their services. Many clubs in New Zealand lave offered the services of their memTh* Auto-cycle . Association of New South Wales has offered 100 members o form a corps. The. Victorian Motor Cycle Club>-has-done likewise. Where could a handier vehicle.than a motor cycle, capable of speeds up to ;65. miles per hour, aiid which will go anywhere, be found? .-■'..• Motor-cyclists' as despatch carriers would probably stand alone. In the Briths Aririy "lnbtbr-cyslists are favoured for transporting despatches and Other duties of this lialuro. Sonie time ago tlie.lntelligeiico Officers of the Commonwealth endenyoufed 'to 1 ., organise a motor-cycle corps, but without result. There was no war oh "then,..however. . Things are different now. Thd light car oaii also serve a useful purpose as it does not consume a great deal'-'more petrol'than- a motor cycle, or ut any rate, not nearly.as much as a big oar, is a good 'hill-climber, aiid cannot be heard at a. distance as a motorcycle can lie. ' ■ . Australia Dispatch Test. f • / The possibilities' of ihotor-Wrs, motorcycles, and bicycles as a means of tt'nus--port, were 'demonstrated . in a marked manner in Australia in April, 1912,: when aV number of voliintcer motorists, motor cyclists,; aiid cyclists in a competition promoted by the Dimlbg Rubber Com-' pany; each carried a military dispatch .across . three . Australian States .in-.the quickest possible tira«. The carrying of the message—which was from the military cbminandant : of South Australia to the cohirtiandant in ew. South Wales—was a Severe test of \ ie endurance 'of the dispatch-bearers and i the utility of the machines used.' In re-.' : calling the test, the' Sydney ."Telegraph"., ated last week that ■ the military on-t-horities displayed considerable' interest in this "dispatch ride," and were astund'ed. at. the performances put up 'on tho run of IU9 miles froih Adelaide to Sydney, over roads which are, for'.the greater part, uhnittdp bush tracks, , while the dreaded Cooi'dng Pe'sert:in.South Austrii-. lia had Also to be crossed. The main inter-State highways in threo States were used. , The most remarkable performance on lis military dispatch ride was that of the cyclists, who were, dispatched .in pairs.. There were 130 of them, divided into 65 relays, which ranged from 10 to 25 miles. All sorts of conditions prevailed —bad roads, rain, and head' winds —«'nd yet the cyclists handed thjir dispatch to the military authorities in Sydney in 69 hours 32 minutes, averaging l K\ mile3.per hour for tho 1149 miles/ which separate Adelaide and Sydney—an 'astounding performance considering the falls, punctures, adverse conditions,- and night riding. A Rough Journey. ' The motor cyclists had 2G relays, and they rode in pairs. : There were 52 of : them engaged.. They had a rough time, <\3 the roads were slippery and greasy 'for nearly 1000. out of the 1149 miles. Some of the extracts from the remarks of the motor cyclists who took part show the hard ride they had on that occasioa The two that carried the dispatch from Meninjjie to Wpod'e Wells reported :~ "Clay tracks, greasy and slippery, water right across tracks in places,; rain -squalls, strong head wind, and both had falls." . .... Haig and Fitzgernld, on the Kingston to Furner section,. reported: "Fitzgerald 'struck culvert post, "breaking leg.. Haig had two falls,..but. delivered dispatch. The two riders.from Mount GFambier to Strathdownie reported: "Dark, hard horrible ride, in rain and slush, mony falls, track almost impassable. Brown smashed machine, aaul Collins finished alone," Another report read: "Okey covered sec-, tion . alone. Had . five falls on rough track", , while another,read: "Watts had two bad.falls, breaking machine in halves on. second occasion, and smashing his hand* badly. Obtained j inker and drove three miles into Albury to hand over dispatch." . .■■__'. Even under such Tough conditions the motor cyclists handed over their dispatch in 51 hours CO minutes, averaging 2i 1-6 miles per hour. y What the Cars Did. The motor-cars only had four sections for the long drive. ' The first was from Adelaide to Mount Gambier—3o3 guiles— and Murray Anger and H. Bowman, in a Yauxball, covered it in llh. 17min., averaging 26 5-8 miles per hour, although rain accompanied, themvfor the last 118 miles, and. the- Cooroiig Desert had to be crossed. . ■ ' From Mount Gambier to Melbourne— 271 miles—took Messrs.' Wiseman . and Bell, in a Maxwell, 12h.-Gmin., arid they averaged 22J miles'per hoiir. Froiu Melbourne to Albury—2ol. miles --was the next stage, and Messrs. Smith' and Lane (in an F.N: car), and Syd. Day .and P. Allen (Vinot) averaged 21 1-3 miles per hour over it. . The last stage was from Albury to Syd: ncy—37J. miles—and Messrs. Roy Sandford and D. Campbell (in a Chalmers), and Allan Galo and T. Heron (Flanders), eet'oiit tog-ether the negotiate it. The latter car, can-yiug the dispatch,. lost its way, and Messrs.■ Sandford and Campbell —after waiting eome considerable time at Goulburn—arrived in Sydney an hour ahead of the car with the dispatch. Al■thon"h tho latter went GO miles out of its way, it did the trip from Almiry toSydney in 15h. 58iiiin., and averaged 23 1-3 mi'les uer hour. '~,., Over the whole route, from Adelaide to Sydney, the cars averaged 21 miles an hour, doing the journey in 4711. 'lOniin. This dispatch ride, in order that it should be a tliorb-ighly reliable lost, was made a race, with the cyclists receiving 30 hoiiirs start, i.ml the motor cyclists 21 hours start from the cars.