MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2270, 2 October 1914, Page 3

MOTORS & MOTORING

[BY Cltjtoh.]

Tho Nations and Their Motors. The motor is playing a big part in the war, and the figures compiled by the London "Morning Post" as to the relative strengths of the different nations are of interest. Britain has over 220,000 motor-care, over 175,000 motor-cycles, and over 18,000 commercial motor vehicles, the last-named being a particularly precious asset at this time. Against this Germany is known to have over 92,000 motor-cars, but the figures for her motor-cycles and commercial motor vehicles are -unknown; while Austria has over 11,000 motor-cars, 3000 motor-bicycles, and 800 commercial motor vehicles. Against this Franco has registered in use over 90,000 motor-cars and commercial motor vehicles. Our contemporary adds:—"From these figures alono it is plain that Groat Britain's superiority in the possession of motor vehicles is so immense that she practically owns as many as all tho other European, nations put together, incluuiug Italy, Holland, Switzerland, and Norway. Therefore as* motor vehicles will be needed more and more as the war progresses, especially im face of tho wide area of. tho campaign on the Continent, obviously our authorities will asGist France to ensnre that she shall have a superiority over the enemy. This can be .done easily, for not only ore the necessary measures in force for commandeering every privately-owned cat, tho authorities havo besides already taken over large quantities of new cars of British-manufacture at present in stock or neairing completion; They havo also acquired numerous light cars, but these latter vehicles are not at present intended service. Only cars of strictly staudard type can bo taken at present, the aim being to get as many of as, few makes as possible of the.snare part problem on activS service. The authorities, besides, havo bought up the whole stock of a number of motor-bicycle manufacturers, Not only are these vehicles speedy-and cheap to run; they are, besides, very much needed for service on the Continent, where, for. a wiro variety of reasons, they are comparatively very searco, our neighbours not having taken yet to motor-cycling to any appreciable extent compared with the development in. this country. 1 ' Britain's' Army Motor Corps. A very considerable' mirober of officers and men of the Army Service Corps have for years past undergone special training in the organisation and handling of mechanical transport. ; Those who have followed trials and manoeuvres m which military motors have taken part in this country (writes Mr. Horace Vvyatt in*the "Mornin'g Post") can vouch for the keenness and energy of 'officers, .drivers, and mechanics connected with this branch. The work of the Mechanical Transport Committee at the uar Office has been, and still is, controlled by men who' 'have thorough engineering as well as military knowledge. Hicks© who havo studied tho progress of industrial motor transport both here and on the Continent would probably bo .found to be in almost unanimous agreement to ..the effect that a fleet composed of standard British vehicles of wcll-knowii makes would bo more easy to maintain on active servico than any similarly composed fleet available ckewhero. Tho War Department has met with very severe criticism for not having stipulated for tho construction' of vehicles or tractors capable of continuous jjood work where roads do not exist i re P'^' u 3 euch 'criticism they have been at a disadvantage, inasmuch as they could not. publicly state in what particular districts they -anticipatcd their fleet would be required to ?.P®, 'In 'this, connection there is j little doubt that their calculations were very largely based on possibilities which do not seem to be far removed from i possible developments at tho 'present moment.

Tip to the present no definite steps have been taken_ in any of the'selfgoverning Dominions • to provide any unified system of mechanical transport in connection with militia or citizen armies, and in India only the first experimental stage has 1 been reached. As already stated, mechanical transport postulates the existence of roads, and consequently it would not be safe to argue that those countries which hare at present made little progress and are still dependent? on animal transport, arc on that account, under any serious disability eo Ion" as military operations are confined to their own territories. Experience : in manoeuvres in* England. France, and Germany has proved beyond dispute that ,where roads are available motor transport represents an enormous advantage, enabling adequate supplies of fresh meat, as well as warlilw .stores, to be brought forward with sufficient rapidity and certainty to enable an army to operate at a much greater rp-dtus from its base than has been deemed possible where the older methods of transport have been employed.

Australia's Military Motors. ' | _ The Australian Defence Department I is* stated by a correspondent to have | purchased every available chassis of (two tons and over for use in connec--1 tion with the Australian Expeditionary iTorco, and has secured about 50 new vehicles, and nearly ,00 second-hand machines. The workshops of tho leadHiotor -agents are now working double shifts to overhaul and build bodies for the lloct. Old bodies are being taken off and replaced with new ones, conforming 4 with British War Office . specifications. All the secondhand wagons are being stripped and thoroughly overhauled. Magnetos are being tested, springs strengthened, engines pulled down', tow-hooks added, powerful head-lights- fixed, potrol tanks increased in ' size. Other volunteers from the motor trade are dealing with equipment for each car, tyres are being replaced, and when these machines go forth the driver will find carefully provided everything ho wants, down to tho smallest split pin, or piece of 'wire', and the-second-band vehicles will bo nearly as good as new. It is probable that tile fleet motors will bo divided as follows Supply column —30 three-tonners, general transport; 5 tlirec-tonilers, meat transport. Ammunition column, 85-90 vehicles; travelling workshops, 6 vehicles; travelling and store wagons, 4 vehicles; motorcars for officers, 7 vehicles; motorcycles for dispatches, 16. Hints and Tips, Many a leather cone clutch, which suffers from fierceness and which has defied all efforts at rectification, may be cured by inserting half-a-dozen pieces of a new backsaw blade about ljin. or 2in. long under the leather. *Tho effect of this is to make tho leather,tako up tho drive by degrees and so create a smooth action. Apparently, this is only a temporary cure, as tho pieces of blade must in timo become embedded in the leather,' and tho face resume its original contour. Curiously enough, however, the cure is. said to be lasting, and a writer in tho "Motor" testifies to many a permanent conquering of a fierce clutch by this method, but does not attempt to explain why, unless it is as Kipling says: "The ship has found herself." 1 .

A clogged-up silencer is a frequent cause of overheating and loss of power. If tlie ear is of fairly modern construction tho eilcnccr can probably be taken to pieces and cleaned by scraping and soaking tlio sections in parailin. If it is an old pattern it will doubtless. bo riveted up, and therefore incapable of being properly cleaned. Tho best course to adopt in a case of this sort is to disconnect tho silencer from the exhaust -U)e flßUge and introduce a consider-

able quantity of a mixture of paraffin and petrol, shaking it vigorously to dislodge the carbon and charred oil deposits. This operation should bo repeated a sufficient number of times till the cleaning liquid runs out fairly clear. Tho casing of tho silencer should bo lightly tapped with a piece of wood prior to introducing tho paraffin mixture. This will dislodgo a considerable amount of the harder deposit. Here and There. Legal lighting-up timo for motor-cars and motor-cycles: To-day, 6.5 p.m.; next Friday, 6.14 p.m. Germany is said to have had many spies associated with tho motor industry in Britain. Tho development of motoring has furnished a maguificont cloak for tho purpose of obtaining all maimer of valuable information as to roads, disposition of residences, and so forth. TJio ''Morning Post" 6tates that When in a southern county, some time ago, tho authorities gave- notice that they were" about to take a census of motor-cars, it was found that the morning after those notices were issued men called and gathered all the necessary particulars: yet the officials themselves did not come till some time later, when they were considerably astonished to learn that the information required had been given to unauthorised persons previously.

"Within 24 hours of the declaration of war 8000 cars wore ottered to the British Government by the Royal Automobile Club.

American motorcar manufacturers look ,to reaping a rich harvest from tho JKuropea-n War. One prominent manufacturer says: "There may be some difficulty in shipping cars to European ports, as they may be declared contraband goods, but the rest of t.lie civilised world will be free "i'rom''European competition and is America's for the taking. And once the people who have heretofore bought automobiles of foreign manufacture discover the superiority of American cars, Europe will never regain the field she hiis lost."

In a sence (says the "Manchester Guardian") tho European crisis has come upon the motor industry a-t an opportune time. With shrinking world trade for months past arid the enlargement oi the output capacity of motor factories in almost every country, it was inevitable'that in a few months wo musthave reached the point of ovor-prochio-tion in any cuss. As it is, in the case of all cara of repute, there has been a' ready demand for output this year. Only those productions about which there is nothing distinctive had begun to prove a drug on the market Therefore as regards almost all the besiAnown houses, while it cannot be said- that on the average the business done this year has been as highly profitable or as great in yolumo i as that when the boom reached its zenith last season, nevertheless 1914 has proved a profitable, trading year. Badly located and badly graded road 6, states the Victorian Roads- Board, are a heavy and constant tax on any community, as the steepest gradient on a road determines the maximum loading for all forms of produce to be hauled over it. Nor is this all. Steep gradients cause increased erosion by water and .increased abrasion from tne impact of horses' feet and tho wear of traffic. Tho expense of maintenance is thus greatly increased, so much so that tho additional cost each year may exceed the amount of intorest on the capital that would havo been necessary in securing the hotter grade in the first inst-anco. At the outbreak of war, in England tho price of petrol jurnpod up to panic figures, the average prico.. early in August being ss. per gallon. In.one instance a motor cyclist had to pay 10s. 6d. for a gallon of- petrol, and was glad to get it, as many cars and moter cycles wero stranded on tho roadside owing to lack of the (-550111131 fuel.