MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2425, 1 April 1915, Page 9

MOTORS & MOTORING

♦ [By Clutch.] In Difficulties in Taranaki. Motorists attempting tho Now Ply-mouth-Hamilton run via Tc Ivuiti have !to gamble on the weather. In dry weather the inland Taranaki roads aro passablo; in wet weather they are a morass. An Auckland motorist, accompanied by two ladies and a child, had a most unenviable experience on the track near Olmra recently. The party left Auckland arid proceeding south, via Tb Kuiti, passed through Ohura en roniii to Taranaki. This road ha ! during the fine weather be<;ii favoured by motorists, but the rarty when ten miles from Ohura had the misfortune to experience heavy rain. Thsv were thon about one-third of the way up a big hill called Paparata. They struggled on for two miles, the lain increasing in force all the time, and as tho road was very narrow and tho tar. inclined to skid the situation bccamo dangerous, and it was deemed advisable to stop. Tho car was worked into a fairlv sheltered spot on the side of the road; and the party slept in it for tho night. Although it rained steadily throughout the night the hood proved water-tight, and the members of the party suffered no worse discomfort than sleeping in cramped positions. Two roadmen camped close by supplied.the party with hot tea, sausages, and bully biscuits for tea. The party accepted an invitation to breakfast in the oneroomca wharo of a settler who 'ived a quarter of a mile away. The settler had a. telephone, and a message was sent to Ohura for a buggy, which a>riveii in due course, and conveyed the pif'-y to Ohura, where they i" rived little tho worse for the advenure. When last beard of, the party "vas still weather-bound at Ohura, and the owner was regretting that his car was stuck in the mud twelve miles away, and exposed to the full force of tho fllenwnts. A Dangerous Spot. The City Council some t'me ago mads much needed improvement by painting the bases of tho tramway ctar.d&rds white, and so making mem ch;.-lv visible at night. A roadway obstruction which requires similar attention, bit!' has not yet received it is tho o- the_ Kelburne viaduct, vhicn stands fair in the centre of r.he liarori Roiid. The Toad here is not particularly well-lighted, and it is by no means easy with ordinary lights to seo f'r-o obstacle until one is right upon it. To al'off tho pier to remain as at p,:osent is to invite an accident. Electric Equipment and the Petrol Bill. An interesting test was recently carried out in America by the United States Light and Heating Company, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., with the object of ascertaining the amount of power consumed in running their electric lighting dynamo and engine starter. Four runs were made on a car fitted with the device, each with a measured gallon of petrol. Two runs iii each direction "ivere made, 0110, each way, with the motor gGneratoi at work, and the other two with it out of commission. During the. four tests an. average speed of twenty-five miles per hour was maintained. When' the generator was delivering its maximum current, the car run -14.22 miles on the gallon of spirit, and with the generatoi not at work it ran 14.76 m.p.g., or 3.8 por cent, further. This means that the motor generator required .066 galloi per hour,. or, in other words, that ii will deliver its maximum energy foi fifteen hours on a gallon of petrol. A 1 twenty-five miles an hour tlie car wil travel a distance of 375 miles in 12! hours, so that, taking petrol at Is. 9d per gallon, the extra cost of spirit, owing to the installation of the motor gen erater,_is about s}d. per 100 miles which is not a high figure, considering the convenience of electric lighting ant engine starting. It is, moreover, assert ed that, instead of using more petrol the generator enables a saving to be ef< fected, owing to tlie fact that the easj starting made possible allows the drivei to stop his .engine when the car ii stopped for only a few minutes. Thii saves much waste consumption of petrol which'in some cases may amount to mon than the extra quantity consumed b; . the motor generator. Main North Road. By whatever route one motors t< Auckland, it is necessary to pass ovei the yoad between Hamilton and Drury one of- the most execrable stretches t< be found on any principal highway ii New Zealand. Some time ago a deputation discussing the question of the roa< ivith one of tjie Ministers, stated tha to put the road in repair a sum o £200,000 ivould be necessary. Tin matter is one which has engaged the attention of the Auckland Automobih Association and motorists generally, foi a considerable time, and the amounstated is generally considered by thos< who have gone into the matter to be fa: more than would be required. Mr. Perc; Watts, of Hamilton, who is an enthusi , astic motorist, has gone thoroughly int< the matter, and has submitted to tin Auckland Automobile Association i memorandum setting out in detail thi cost of forming each section of the road Tho estimate is as follows: —Section I Commencing two miles beyond Drur; [ and extending five miles from that point . repair work where the road is very un even and broken, -with cost of new metal i £1500._ Section 2: The next stretch o ; five miles over hills; repair work witl • tarred metal on steepest portion of thi hills, £2500. Section 3: Next stretch fivo miles into Merqer, road fairly good • amount required, £600. »Section 4 Three miles from Mercer to Rangirir Hills; repair work to metal portion, an< levelling and spreading gravel on thi remainder, £500. Section 5: Thirteei miles to Rangiriri; two miles of meta on steep grades and eleven miles o gravel, formation work and water-tables £6000. Section 6: Rangiriri to Kimi hia, seven miles requires remaking £2000. Section 7: Huntly to Taupiri metal one and a half miles and repair; , two and a half miles, £1600. Scction 8 Taupiri to Ngaruawahia, metal two an< a half miles, £2700. Total expendituri necessary, £17,400. Judging by the im portance of this road the total statec would appear to be a very small amoun for the "Government to grant for thi purpose. The marked change which the heav; rains have made to our back distric roads was brought forcibly to Mr. Hal Skelton when ho proceeded to Fukekolu with others on national defence business Use of the good roads resulting from thi long spell of dry weather no doubt caused the party to abandon caution with the result that near Pukekohe th< car ran into the clay, and as the precaution to put on wheel chains had not beer taken, caused some difficulty to extricate. Motor Buses in America. With a suddenness that has utterly disconcerted municipal and State authorities and those financially interestec in the operation of street and suburban railroads, tho "jitney" bus has coino upon the scone in many of the cities of the Western States of America The ''jitnev" is an automobile, plying in tho streets for fare and 'charging tho same price, for a ride as the trolley car or tram. The instant success witl which this now form of city transportation has met has given rise to tho prediction that tlie day of tho tram oi street car running on the streets of cit ios oil rails is fast coming to an end. Ii the two largest cities of California, Loi Angeles, and San Francisco, the streei car companies are losing thousands o! I dollars every week from tho competition of the "jitneys." In San Fran cisco, for instance, .tho traffic official; counted the number of jitney buses anc their passing a given poinl

on Market Street, tho city's main thoroughfare, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. 011 0110 day, and it was discovered that 14,847' men, women, and children were carried as passengers in that time. The faro charged for passengers is 0 cents (or 2}d.), the same as on the street car or tramway. The loss in fares to the tramway company for the day was for each minute of tlio day a triile over 1 dollar (4s. 2d.). In Los Angles the competition of the jitneys is even moro serious, and therQ tho tram company has reduced its number of employees, has discontinued building of cars, and is facing ruin. In a number of smaller cities tho street cars running on rails have been absolutely put out of business b.y the competition of tho jitney. One result of the innovation in San Francisco was to cause a run on secondhand and cheap automobiles. In a couple of weeks dealers in secondhand machines had entirely cleared oat their stocks. Tho main streets of tho cities became so thickly infested with tho new media of urban transportation that the machines seem to follow one another in a constant procession, making it" difficult to cross the street. Indeed, one hotel proprietor wrote to the Mayor that two intending guests stood across tho street from his hostelry waiting 20 minutes for an opportunity to cross. Already an improved style of jitney, carrying 12 or 14 passengers, has appeared 011 the streets. There i 6 every reason to believe that the future of city and suburban passenger transportation will be in tho hands of gasoline driven motor-cars,' rather than in the hands off electric or other cars running on rails. American Road-making. Much interesting matter on road construction is contained in the annual report of Commissioner Carlisle, head of the Highways Department of New York State. Mr. Carlisle states that it has been the policy of the Department to build only heavy, substantial roads of brick or concrete, or macadam with a heavy concrete base, in the neighbourhood of large cities. For the rural market road a lighter type of construction has been used, based upon the material available and the traffic conditions, so as to obtain tho largest mileage possible for the rural communities. Mr. Carlisle not only believes that tliis work is being done scientifically and honestly, but ho is proud of the fact that many contracts for roads which have been improperly constructed have been thrown out and turned back to the contractors, or re-advertised. In all cases in which there was evidence of rascality tho matter has beon sent to the State law officers for action. With the development of so vast a system the matter of maintenance becomes of great importance. "For the first time," declares Mr. Carlisle, "the division engineers and their assistants have been really able to undertake the problem of maintenance," and this ho calls the most intricate of all the highway problems, for no road surface has yet been designed which will stand under the traffic upon our trunk lines. The heaviest reconstruction work is dono by contract, but the rest by section gangs equipped and managed by tho Department after the manner of the railroad repair gangs. The mistakes of the past make inevitable a large amount of reconstruction, for not only were roads constructed too light for their purposes, but they were left to go to # pieces as soon as they were finished. ' No fewer, than four millions of dollars will be necessary for this road maintenance in 1915. Mr. Carlisle believes that there should be heavier taxation of motorcars. that visitors from other States should pay for the privilege, and that some of the bus lines which are using , tho highways in competition with cars . should pay well for their privilege, as it has been found that their tires and weights are doing a very great damage to the roads. Mr. O.rfisle believes, . however, that as soon as the old roads are properly repaired and all are given : constant supervision, it should not cost ' more than four to five millions of dollars to keep up the entire system of twelve thousand miles when completed. Hints and Tips. The following useful hints are taken 1 from that handy publication the *&rs--1 tin Advocate": —Tho leather covers on , tho joints of the steering connections 1 should be removed and packed with fresh grease monthly, at any rate not less than every two months. Squirt a little oil into the oilets on top of tho joints. Never run without leather covers, and remember that as soon' as ' water and mud have found a way inside them, the latter and tho grease form an abrasive and not a lubricant. 1 The swivel axles are provided with 1 greasers which should bo given a turn ' before each run. It is not a bad plan ; to jack up the front wheels occasionally, ' and force grease mixed with a little Dixon's graphite'into the swivels, while 1 locking the wheels from one extreme to ' tho other. This is the only place where ; the use of a little graphite is pennis- ' sible. | The Self-Starter in Cold Weather. — ' Before starting from cold, particularly , in cold weather, don't neglect all the little preliminary precautions that you ) would observe if starting by hand, such | as flooding tho carburetter, injecting ' petrol, etc. Kemember that, although ' the starter will turn the engine over, 1 however stiff it is, a little help is worth a deal of pity for tho battery and ; tends to lengthen its life. Don't sit turning the engine round for five min--1 utes or so, and then find you have omitted to switch on or turn on tho 1 petrol or to pump up pressure. This : may seem to be superfluous advice, but 1 we have seen all these things done, ' or rather forgotten, by people who, ; should know better. When starting does not involve hard labour at the starting handle, itr is astonishing how | easily these' little details are forgot- ' ten. ' Mud.—lf it can be helped, never I allow mud to remain on the panels all .■ night, but turn the hose on to tho car directly it comes in, even if it is not 1 finished until the next morning. Too much force of water on the panels from 1 the hose is a mistake. A stream does 1 not want to be directed at right angles 1 upon the panels, but run_ down them from top to bottom, and it is a good | plan to gently dab tho mud with a wet 1 sponge. Do not rub the mud off on ' any account, but allow it to become thoroughly soaked and run off of its own ' accord, with a little assistance in the 1 way of loosening with the sponge. If there is 110 hose, use a bucket, and after dabbing the panels with the sponge, | squeeze the contents down the panels. ' When all the mud has been removed 1 and the panels thoroughly rinsed, finish with a chamois leather. Do not put paraffin in the water; it attacks the varnish. If, when tho varnish becomes dulled, it is desired to freshen it up, rub a little Itnseed oil into the panels and finish off with a soft bit of linen or silk. Here and There. Legal lighting-up time for motor-cars and motor-cycles: To-day, 5.48 p.m. Next Friday, 5.35 p.m. Members of tho advance guard returned from Samoa speak eulogi6tically of tho amount of work which the motor- • lorry presented by tho Auckland Automobile Association has enabled the forco to carry out. The lorry is in daily use, and has rendered much service in conveying stores from the wharf to tlio wireless station, tho steep grades of the road preventing tho carriage of heavy gco'ds by the railway. On Saturday Mr. George Fowlds and party were unfortunately on tho notorious Rangiriri Hills 011 the Waikato 1 Road during the rain, with tho result 1 that the car had to bo left fast in the ciay and accommodation sought at ,a boai'dinghouse in the vicinity. WnorK Rrpat Peppermint Cur?, For Coughs and Colds never fails, Is, ed," J