MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2282, 16 October 1914, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

[Bt Cmjtoh.} British Motorists and tho Wais ''This is a motor-oar war," eaid on official of the Royal Automobile Club to a representative of tlio "Westminster Gazette." "We have been workuig eighteen hours a day for the last fortnight, and only those wlio know can appreciate what an enormous help tho motor vehicle has boen to the military authorities. The transport of tho lar Army has been completed, ho eald, and noiv tho club is helping to get the Territorials on'." ■ In an interview which the writer had with Mr. H. H-. Maroney, chief of tho touring department of the R.A.0., ho said the response to the call for 10,000 cars had been simply magnificent. Already a large number of oare are doing excellent service in conveying officers and othere to their commands in aU parts of the country, while others are scouring the couiitry to find billets' for troops and additional horses. Only the motor-car can render such unique service, said Mr. Maroney. Self-Sacrifice. Typical instances were given of the self-sacrificing qualities of motorists. In one case, a Red. Cross officer was in great distress. His car had broken down, and ho asked for the loan of another. The request was overheard by a member. "Take mine," ho said. And he did. It was a magnificent limousine costing.over a thousand pounds. When the officer saw the oarriage he said: "You may never see it again." to which the owner merely replied: 'I don't care." Another owner drove his 100-h.p. machine almost continuously for eighteen hours, and after fitting a brand-new set of tyres.at his own expense, he was eager, to render more help. Ho had not long to wait.

Gives up Horses and Gars. In another case a member living several miles from tho station his horses commandeered, and immediately he offored his two cars, which were accepted. Such patriotism * is beyond praise, said Mr. Maroney. . Owners are not merely desirous, but are begging to bs allowed to do something. In most cases, the owners drive their own cars, and in others • they are accompanied b/ their chauffeurs. They pay their own expenses, anti in certain commands, where allowances are made, thoy have been declined. Owners are not attached to fhe Army, but they are under military discipline, until they exeTcise their option to be relieved. Day and night, a fleet of vehioles is stationed in St. James's Square waiting for calls from the War Office and Admiralty, the machines being relieved every four hours by others. Petrol Prices In America. Owing to keen competition between tho oil companies, many motorists in New York State are obtaining gasoline at prices which British car owners will envy. The variations, too, at which the spirit is sold are as astonishing as the low quotations in certain parts of the State. ' Thus in Manhattan retail quotations aie from 7d. to Iβ. per gallon, while in New Jersey they range from 4id. to 10d. Some of the Now York retailers who buy from the Standard Oil Co., states a New York message, are selling it at the samo figure, and are thus losing money, when expenses sro taken into consideration. Tho oil companies aro going aftor tho censumers direct, and in some parts of New Jersey the Standard Oil Co. is delivering gasoline in 5-gallon lots or more at sd. per gallon, or Jd. more than is charged' to the dealers. Tho garages charge anything up to 10d. par c.illon, but the Standard Oil do not protend to protect the garages, as the company is willing to supply direct to the consumer. Hints and Tips. • It has baffled many motorists to find a cure for leakage at tho water pump, but according to the "Motor" repairs may be arrived at by the expenditure of a little time and less money. . Take out the offending stauffer greaser and fit, between it and the pump, a piece of piping about 6 inches long. It will be found that tho water is unable to force its way through or by this amount of grease, aud all dripping ceases. Badly fitting steering connections aro, if. not actually dangerous, annoying on account of the rattling of tho worn parts when the car is driven over rougli roads. In most cases' it will be found tliat tho noise, can bo stopped and the connection frequently rendered safer by the judicious use of springs to take up the wear or keep the moving pnrts in better contact. It is not an easy job, single-handed, to locate a. noise- on a oar, and if a friend's assistanco can bo obtained, 't is advisnblo to jack _ up the front axlo and get him to manipulate the steering wheel while you aro, searching for the cause of trouble. It often facilitates matters if the steering connections are detached in turn at various points and a process cf elimination adopted. There are some occasions' on which it-seems absolutely impossible to make a leather cone clutch grip, and any amount of fuller's earth has littlo or no effect. This probably means that the leather of the clutch* has become charred, has worn into a ridge, or otherwise is incapable of giving service. For emergencies, however, it may be possible to force tho clutch to hold by mixing powdered resin and petrol to form an extremely sticky moss, and this smeared upon the clutch leather will cause it to grip if every other remedy has failed—always provided that the leather makes some kind of contact with tho flywheel. With , such a drastic clutch dressing it may be difficult to change Rear, but at all events the position is better than it is if tho clutch slips so badly that it is impossible to proceed.

Here and There. Legal lighting up time for motor-cars and motor-cycles:—To-day, 6.23 p.m.; next Friday, 6.31 p.m. English light car owners who were willing to not on special constable work, i such as patrolling roads, hunting up, spies and delivering dispatches were requested in August to report themselves and cars at Scotland House, Scotland Yard, Whitehall, S.W. It wns stated that an allowance for petrol and tires would be made, but the driver's services aro voluntary. • Between 400 and 500 employees of tlie English Dunlop Co. have been callej up for duty either as Reservists or Territorials. Tho directors have decided to pay tho wivos of tho men half- j wages during the timo their husbands are on military service. The "Motor" states that motoring tourists who happened to bo in Franco duriiif the early stages of tho mobihsa- I tion appear, from all accounts, to havo | had a terrifying experience in their rush to tlio northern seaports. Even when provided with passports and other identification papers, they were held iin at tho point of tho bayonet scores or times, and in some cases only after tho utmost trouble in satisfying tho soldiers and polico, and after hours of delay, could they proceed. Many had their cars ruthlessly commandeered and lost ail their effects in tho confusion . A Belgian nobleman, Baron do /nylon and a private soldier wore shot dead by a Belgian patrol when driving a car full of provisions from Namur to Liege. Tho baron, when challenged, gave the countersign without stopping ahd the patrol, -who were some distance away, imagined, ho was trying to rush through and shot him. Presumably this is Baron do Zuylen do Nyevclt, 'President of the A.C. do France*