MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2413, 19 March 1915, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

[Bi Clutch.]

Auckland and the Motor Union. The advisability or otherwise of joining tho Motor Union of New Zealand was discussed at this week's meeting of tho Auckland Automobile Association. The secretary, Mr. George W. Hutchison, reported an interview he had recently in Wellington with the secretary of th union. Ho had explained that the main reason why the Auckland Associa*tion had not joined was the expense entailed in fees,. delegates' expenses, etc. In reply he had been informed that tho present levies on affiliated clubs had beeii found to be insufficient to meet requirements. So far as Mr. Hutchison had been able to ascertain, tho main advantage of belonging to the union was the facility to bo thereby gained for conferring with the Minister, who was averse to conferences with the individual clubs and associations. The president, Mr. Neville Newcomb, said he had been struck by the small amount of work done by the -union. The local associations did more. In any case, he could see no advantage in joining the nnion. ' The requirements of the motorists' of the north were totally different to those of southern motorists who had good roads and finger-posts. If the association joined the union it would make a big inroad into its-funds, probably £50 or £60 per. year, and there would be very little benefit. The Auckland Association was one of the strongest in the Dominion, an its requirements were exceptional. The latter were being well looked after by the association itself and by kindred associations. Mr. G. Henning said the only use he saw in the union was political. Dr. C. B. Rossiter thought it would be bettor to work in the direction of 'consolidating the clubs and associations of the Auckland province. Tho president said the association was trying to do this. Further consideration of the matter was deferred. . . American Gar Practice. An interesting article on American automobile practice appears in a recent issue of the. "Autocar." ' Tiia writer says:— In England we see only a very few of the nearly two hundred different makes of American cars, and we see the cheap ones rather, than the better class designs as a rule. Three years ago the writer made a' tour of the American factories, and found that design was then at least three years behind European work, even though the workmanship of the better cars was irreproachable. The coming of the now universal electric . starting apparatus threw such complication upon old American design that had been furbished up in detail year by year without serious alteration, that many firms were forced to redesign in order to restore their cars to a reasonable. weight and to make better manufacturing jobs of them. So lately there has been a tremondous cleaning up in the American drawing offices, with the result that a sudden bound has been made, and the American car of moderate size and quality is not now very far behind its European prototype regarded as an engineering job. It differs in nature very greatly, but it is generally clean in outline and possessed of a much higher power to volume ratio than was thought practicable in America three years ago. Haying been forced to redesign, the American manufacturer sought freedom from vibration and noise by leaping from coarse four-cylinder cars to sixcylinder models with smaller bore, partly, no doubt, because all the really expensive Amerioan cars are of six-cylin-der type. The American public took an immense fancy to these new designs, so much so that almost 'all cars are now of this variety, except the very cheap vehicles, a few Knight engines, and- a very few -big fours. Just under fifty per cent, of American chassis have sixcylinder engines, three or four have eight cylinders, and the remainder four cylindersthis including all makes from the largest chassis to tne smallest light car. There has never been such a situation in Europe, so direct comparison has become almost impossible. It is amongst the best makes that the main principles of sound engineering now seem to be taken least into account; the very costly cars now being without exception at least three years behind their medium priced competitors. In fact, they appear to maintain their sales solely by the provision of large and luxurious, bodywork. Nearly all of them would be unsaleable in England. The cheaper six-cylinder cars, however, are less likely still to appeal to British users in one sense, because they are mostly large enough to be greedy of fuel and tires. None the less, the low price of many of them is amazing, Many really well made and well finished cars to carry seven persons can be bought for £.300 or less, despite their Bix cylinders, while, of course tho four cylinders of the £200 to £275 class already well known in Europe have mostly suffered price reductions, and they have also been improved in detail'. Though it is not shown by the present models, inquiry suggests that a large number of makers are thinking very seriously of putting out an experimental light four-cylinder model of an entirely new design. Light for America, that is: probably about 3500 c.c. Country Hotel Garages. The lack of accommodation in certain country towns was a grievance considered at Tuesday night's meeting of the Auckland Automobile Association. It was decided to make a direct appeal to country hotelkeepers with the view of bringing about an improvement in this .espoct. The president, Mr. Neville Newcomb, Btated' that he. had interviewed the president of tho Auckland Provincial Council of the Licensed Victuallers' Association, Mr. A. S. Bankart, and had pointed out to him that not only motorists, but also the travelling public generally, were of the opinion that the time had come for improvements to be made in the country hotels, now that the result of the licensing vote at the last general election had given tho trade a fair tenure provided that houses of the right class were maintained. Many of the hotels should, he had urgod, be cleaned, painted, and! even refurnished. He had -also discussed the need of motor garageß, or shelters, on hotel properties in certain towns. Mr. Bankart had pointed out that hotelkeepers were averse to interfering with private interests in the latter connection. However he had stated that the Provincial Council would be meeting this week, and lie had asked Mr. Newcomb to supply him with the names of the towns where there existed a lack of accomodatimon for motor-cars. It was decided to ascertain in, wh->t places there was a lack of accommodation for cars, and what the hotelkeepers in those places would be prepared to do. Motov Operating Theatre. A moto? operating theatre, equipped and arranged in exactly trio.game manner as tho most up-to-dato hospital theatro in Australia, is"?t present being constructed ' at ■ Newport, victoria, c,..y the use of the troops at i-be fro" 1 . T is to bo the gift of the i -nploy'", Victorian railways, and iio mci . ~u.uid' present could possibly have been conceived. Tho theatro is to be furnished with every modern convenience, including ' appliances for sterilising water, lignting and'heating. Gas will bo generated by means of primus burners on the Bunsen principle. Details in connection with the lighting of the theatre have been worked out with the great-

est care, and particular attention has also been paid to protective measures against dust and flies. Tho idea of constructing such a theatre, which will probably be the first of its kind ever seen, originated with Colonel Fetherston, acting director of ruedioal services in Australia He was asked by the employees of the Victorian Railways to suggest a suitable present for the Australian trcops at the front, with the result that he thought out the design of a motor operating theatre on the lines described above.- Tho suggestion was immediately acted upon, and the theatre is now about half completed. The cost will be about £1000 or £1200. It will be dispatched as soon as possible to tho front, where it will be attached to a field unit, taking the place of a stationary operating tent. Now that a start has been' mado in tho construction of travelling operating theatres there is every likelihood of their being generally adopted. The "British Medical Journal" has recently taken up the matter, but to Dr. Fetnerston belongs the credit for both the idea, and the dosign of the first theatre of' the kind to be built. Dispatch Work at the Front. For dispatch carrying in France, the official average rate fixed by the Eng-. lish authorities is 20 miles per hour for motor cycles, and eight miles for the cyclist. The great extent of ground to be covered in France necessitates •in many instances bicycle relays being established. These are generally concealed at points well distant from towns and villages; and the men work-in "reliefs" as sentries do—that is, take it in regular turns for duty. . Where cyolists and motor cyclists are eemployed each post contains at least ono artificer for repair of machines. - -The number and position of relay posts depends a good deal on the nature of the country, the attitude of the inhabitants, the state of the roads, the weather, etc. At each relay post there is always ono man ready to start at a moment's notice, with tires pumped hard, kit adjusted, etc. Very often these posts have to be entrenched. It is very important for scouts or reconnoitring patrols to know exactly whsre these posts are situated. Motor cyclists are generally required to take , their, -messages right through .without stopping at relay posts. Wellington-Auckland Road. Improvements to the main road from Auckland to Wellington are being urged and encouraged by tho Auckland Automobile > Association. At its meeting this week information was received to the effect _ that good progress was being made in one or two directions.' The Te Kuiti_ Chamber of Commerce reported that it was takhig action in its district. From the Whangamarino County Council, controlling tho Rangiriri Hills district, _ came an acknowledgment of a donation of £5 from the association, and that it had. spent £250 on the Great South Road. News was alos received of intended improvements to the road south of Huntly by the roa dboard of that district, and tho association thereupon decided to contribute £5 to the funds of each of the two local bodies concerned. Headlight Clare. The necessity for powerful headlights on cars for night driving is admitted, and although the glare may sometimes, be disconcerting, even to drivers approaching each other, they would sooner put lip with the inconvenience for the tew moments than be compelled to nse lamps affording indifferent illumination. Many devices have been used to overcome the blinding effects of the brilliant searchlights now used, but with indifferent results. An interesting attachment has been evolved l by Mr. W. L. Tobey, of East Boston, Mass., U.S.A. The device consists of a circular shield of amber-coloured glass, 4Jin. in diameter. It is attached to' the edge of the wind shield by spring clips, and oan be adjusted to any desired position. When the approaohing headlight throws its -glare into- the driver's eyes, hemerely has to move his head until the amber-coloured disc comes into his line of vision, the 'diso, it is claimed, being large enough to cover a field of 30ft. in diameter at a distance of 100 ft. The device weighs 7 0z.,' and can be attached to any kind of wind shield; it can be clipped to the oross-bar of a divided wind snield, and may be left permanently in place, or remo/ed for daylight driving. Leaky Valves. It is to be expected that after a certain amount of usage minor defects may begin to make themselves manifest in the running of the car by loss of power. It would necessitate a long article to detail all the possible causes of such diminution, but two of them in' connection with the valves are briefly alluded to by a recent writer in the "Motor.'' In the first place, the tappet mechanism may need adjustment, and on a good many cars this work is fairly easy of accomplishment. In some cases, however, the mechanism is so inaccessible that the work of making an adjustment is the reverse of pleasant. When an adjustment is made, it should be accomplished while the engine is quite hot, and the tappet should be so adjusted that when the valve, is on its seat the head of the tappet is "praotically touching" the vaive stem. ... It must, of course, be • remembered that -when the engine is at rest .some of the valves will be in a partly raised position; consequently, . care must be taken to see that the valve is on its seat before starting the adjustments If it is not, the ongine must be turned round until it is. Another point is that of valve leakage, either at the seating or from tho guides—more frequently the former. This can be traced by turning the engino over 6lowly in a quiet spot, when a hissing noise will be heard. Having traced the cylinder in which the hissing takes place, see first of all that the tappet adjustment is all right, and that there is nothing to prevent the valve coming down properly on to its scat. If this adjustment is found to be correct., it is then necessary to remove -the valvo cap and.examine the valve. Occasionally a particle of grit of some kind or other will become firmly attached to one or the other , seating, thus 'causing the leakage. If this is not the case, tlion it is a matter of grinding the valves in. Occasionally plugs and valve caps are found to develop a leak, but tho cure for this is quite obvious. Here and There. Legal lighting-up time for motor-cars and motor-cycles:—To-day, 6.11 p.m. Next Friday, 5.59 p.m. The stocks of lubricating oil in Germany are reported (on Gorman authority) to be running out, and tho Federal Council has been petitioned to fix maximum prices. Motor-cars appear to be ministering in no small degree to the deserting proclivities of some of the officers of the German Army. A message from Amsterdam states that in the course of a few weeks some sixty officers of the reserve had taken "French" (why should we not now say Gorman P) leave with their motor-cars, and that, in consequence, an order has been issued forbidding officers to drive alone. An anonymous donor has provided « fully-equipped motor bacteriological la- !' ; ; atory, and has placed it at the disposal of tho War Office. The car- is" rf;ing equipped with up-to-date bacteriological apparatus, and has been accepted by tho War Office, whioh is making arrangements to send it overseas, where a similar car is already _ doing useful work in the investigation of disease.