MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 1, 26 September 1919, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By "Clutch.") Registration of Cars. ' The secretary of tho New Zealand Automobile Union (Mr. W. BeauehampPlatts) has drawn up a set of proposals •to bo submitted to the Minister of Internal Affairs with the view of bringing about a reform in the system of registration of cars. Before any deflnito action is taken tho executive of the union desires to have tho opinion of the affiliated associations upon the proposals made, and also tho opinions of the various motor traders' and importers' associations,'as they -will, to a certain extent, bo affected by the proposals; "At first sight," Mr. ' Beaaielmmp-Platts points .out,'"tho changes proposed hiay appear to be somewhat radical, but it must, bo homo in mind that the aim and'purpose of the echemo is to do awny with tho large numlwr of non-related and independent registering authorities and the confusion of identification letters and numbers arising therefrom, and this can. only 1m done by tho establishment, of li .'central registry having branches throughout the Dominion. The proposals also contain suggestions for such an am'plificatibn of the register and certicato of registration as will enable stolen or misappropriated' eavs to be traced -readily, and any'slight inconvenience or ' additional-' trouble' to which an ; owner might be put by the observance of the newer regulations would be amplycompensated for by the added security against theft. It is not suggested that these or any other _ proposals will form an insuperable-bar to theft, but it is claimed'that'they will go a'long -way •towards preventing it. Some of the suggestions contained in the ■ notes aro al-ready-in force in several States of. Ame'ricav. where.'they have'been found to work admirably, -They arc now in the proposal stage in Australia;'and from what can be learned, are likely to meet with marked favour." -. • -

• The : notes; prepared by.Mr. BeauchampPlntts are as follow:—'--

The registration of all motor vehicles is at present in'V the- hands of local authorities, which derive their power of registration, .from section- 13 of "Tho Motor ; Car Regulatioir Act, 1908," and 'the regulations made thereunder, '• By this .Act a "registering authority" is. defined as:—"The council of any .borough having a population of not less than 5000, and in' all other Cases- it means the county 'council." .The, method of registration and tho fees' payable are set out in the 'regulations'(dated-August 28, 1910, and August■" 30,' 1915), Registration is not renewable" annually, nor. do any provisions exist for' the periodical revision of tho .register, though section 18. of tho Act prescribes the method to be followed iii case of change of ownership. It winild appear, however,' that this section .is more honoured in- the breach than in thV observance, • and as a result the register-% loaded with the namesand numbers''of cars .the owners of which have long since parted with them. •'ln 1911 the then' Minister of Justice introduced to Parliament a Motor Bill, which',' inter alia, proposed to do away with the present,system of registration, arid to substitute therefor a single register- of: motors. for • the whole Dominion, with branch registry offices in the prin-. cipal'-cityor borough of'each provincial district, The proposals made iri this Bill' would' have' established uniformity of marks and numbers throughout the Dominion, and would, of course, obviate much of the confusion now arising from tho' large number qf registering authorities now. in existence. It would'not, however,' eliminate the trouble caused by frequent changes of ownership, nor would it assist "iff tracing stolen cars. This can-ionly be.done by:-(a) Making registration renewable annually; (b) amending and adding to'the particulars required in registration; (c) fixing tue onus for registration equally on the vendor arid purchaser. At a meeting of the union three years ago. these .proposals were submitted to and accepted by the Hon. the Minister of Internal. Affairs, but so far nothinc Aas come of them, and, in- consequence, it now becomes necessarv. to reintroduce: them by way of ii definite' amendment to tn.e : Mo.tp.r Regulations Act; Section 8> of the, Motor Bill -proposed tyi follows ; :-(l)-There, shall, bo a registrar--.of..motors, : ,wliosc. olhce shall be in the-City of. Wellington. (2) There shall be for- each,provincial Uis-. trict a ! deputy, registrar, of motors, whoso office shall be/in the. principal city oi borough of such provincial district. • (4) The registrar : and deputy .registrars shall bo 'officers of the Public Service, and'their duties shall, be such as are prescribed by, this - Act,, and by regulations thereunder.- In place of tins-I would substitute :-There shall be a chief registrar of motors, who shall be an officer of the Public Service. The Police Department shall be the. oepnty registrars, and shall, subject to the general control of the chief registrar ■ carry out the registration of all cars.- Their duties shall be as more particularly set out in this Act J: and the regulations made thereunder. , ..' ....

Annual Registration, . . The present registration fee is fixed by section 3 of the regulation (August 28, 1910)' at 10s; for u four-wheeled nioior vehicle, and' ss. for one with less than four wheels. At the last annual nieetinir it was agreed that registration should be annual/ ami that both:the original registration and its renewal should to for a "nominal" fee. This matter ot annual registration is of great importance, and its advantages |>o giL'atlj outweight its disadvantages as to make the latter of no mjmeiit. A proposal is on'foot by" certain city councils to cliango tlie number plate and its co - oui-ach year, so as to facilitate identification, and H> i s; l,l '? l ' oSl,l , lS, flL !1 Pnlir n e formed, being backed up by the Police Department' While ease,of..identihca. ti'on may be a great convenience (thecfilour of! the■plato-indicalmg'at a glance, f 110 current year's :fee has , been paid) if is more than outweighed by the trouble motorists- would be put to in annually obtaining a new plate and new I , W Tt will, I submit, bo quite .if thoegistration. certificate is ..renewed annually. ~,....

;The Register... -~ . ..,.■■. ' By the present regulations the .partipu, ■ :VbtS-" •■required : .upon -.registration :ttTO - as':'follow: - I'orin; No. ,1. (to bo ■ ■-retained ■ by registering authority) -(IV Full name of- owner;., \i): See and postal address of owner,;: .(8) description of- typo ot car (including weight of car); U) whether, rntenoed for _(,)' private use;.(h) use for trade purposes;, (c)-use *s a public conveyance; (5 particulars m to the position on the cai i>, which . it. is . proposed to place tho, don ifiction.' markJ (6) identitieaHonmark assigned to motor;,(7) particulars of previous registration (if. any); s,gna, tare of owner or person applying on his ;h trmS\.(Certificatooh^str a ix.n) -(1) Nauio'Of registering authority; (2) ■ name of owner of motor.; (3) description of type of car (including weight of cai), (41 whether: intended fqr-(a) private usoi (b) use for trade purposes; (c) iiso as a public conveyance; (5) particulars as to the .position on. the. car, in which it is proposed to place tho ideutificii ion n ark G) identification inark assigned Jomo/oi s gnaturo of officer issuing registration) . On both forms 1 disagree with section (i) There should bo no.distinction be-tween;-the-fees payable by.-different dass"s of vehicles. Tho.tradV motons is a much heavier usq.r of the road than any;otuer person, and the provision in tho Bill for.his paying only ha lees is wholly inequitable;:. If;: any thVorentiat on is to prevail the positions should be rflvemed. Section (5). lias now been amended bv the new regulations issued on February U, .1918. v To these particular should bo addeo-, (a) Engine number; (b) chassis and magneto do not bear numbers, and it should bo made an offence to alter or mutilate any of these .serial mimbors This is the present law m some of tho States of America, and from reports to hand appeai-s to bo working • well. \U may bo argued' that m somo cases tho chnsis "and magneto' do not bear numbers. This can bo overcome by inserting the "make" iii lieu "of the number, the main point-being'to obtain the most complete identification so. as to check theft. ■ - Upon registration a certificate should bo issued by the registering authority giving all thoso particulars, and it should be' made obligatory upon all holders- oi certificates to produco them when renewin" registration or upon any sale oi transfer; and the particulars noted t'lofeou should bo compared, with the numbers on tho several parts of tlio car. lipon sale or transfer tho old certificate is surrendered and cancelled, and a fresh j ono issued-; transfer fee to be the same

ns an original registration. Further, alli garage and repair men should ho reel ni red to notify the nearest registering authority of nny alteration mado to tho serial numbers of cars coming into their hands for repair,. and alt. owner when seeking tho aid of'any lepairen outside his own district or where ho is not well known, should bo. required ti> produce to tlievciKvii'er, if called upon,--his certificate of registration for purposes of comparison. By tliis means a person unlawfully in possession of a car is at once stopped. It may bo .argued -that to out such a system in its entirety wouid involve an owner in much trouble and sonic little expense. ..I.submit, however, that if such a system were in forco it would reduce' theft to a negligible quantity, and would also .save heavy premiums at preterit,payable for insuranea against theft. End to "Left Handers." The death knell of the left-hand driven motor-car has just about been sounded in Auckland, for by a decision of -tho civic authorities no licenses will be issued to any how "left-handers." . This is a step in the direction of minimising motor-ear accidents. With the left-hand car it is. * difficult matter for tho driver toViignal over the side of the car with his right hand, as 'demanded in certain cases by tho "rule of the rond" laws in force in that citv. •In America tho rule of the road is just the.reverse, consequently this car is suitable there, ;bu,t importers in - Auckland ■ frequently ; pay the .£3O demanded by, American .firms, to convert the car into a "right-hander." The same work-is undertaken in New Zealand, but ••the charge 'is somewhat higher, approaching on ,CSO.

Tramcars and Crossings. '. . A suggestion that •' tramcars. should stop '33ft. from crossings to. enable motorcars to regain their -proper side before reaching the crossing was put forward by Mr. D.-Sykes at the Christclnu'ch-Trams way Board this.week. He said that the Au,tomo-bilo'Association' had' suggested it, and he moved that the Traffic Committee should consider it. lii tho course'of discussion members stated: that to avoid i accidents, the.' cars were now ••'stopped with the front just projecting, oyer .this crossing to' enable drivers to, seo"them. The.'motion was 'agreed to,: and''it was also suggested that the 'committed, should consider tho proposal that motor-cars should he prohibited from passing wait-1 ing tramcars hound in the. 6ame' direction. It was,stated'that in other-centres the cars were obliged to pull, up, while in Christchu.rch they took great liberties with • tho lives.. of tram passengers, '•' Gasoline Substitute. • : A substitute for gasoline, said to be satisfactory in-every respect,' to cost less than gasoline, to be available in ample quantities and to give more' power than gasoline, has undergone a series' of tests' by the Bureau of- Standards, .U.S.A. The fuel is the,.result .of experiments..-, by Captain E. C. Weisgerber, and the formula is secret,,but a deal lias been made to. commercialise the product and place it on. the market. The substitute is in liquid, form a still process, composed of commodities which are now a drug on the market and which arc plentiful enough to nssuro supplies to meet .the future demands. The formula is a secret in tho hands of the General Engineering Depot and tho inventor. The cost of manufacture is said to 'be tO per cent, lower than that, of making gasoline. ■' The substitute, which is known as Liberty fuol, is the direct result of experiments By Captain E..C. Weisgerber, an oil and ,gas eniineer, who was first connected with the Engineering Corps, and has lately' been working at tho Bureau of Standards.'Ho'was ordered to conduct the experiments by his commanding officer to obtain a. fuel other than gasoline and more powerful nnd economical if possible. The substitute is described'as scentless, tasteless. .»nd without gasification seent.->-It is- said that its products of combustion are cooler than gasoline. - It is reported to he non-corrosive. It does not give out 6oot or carbon, according'to the reports, and starts easier The qunlity and specific •gravity' are:'-change--able"'at Will, it is stated, substitute slibwe ii'o'"ill'effect.on tho liibn* eating oil. It will ignites only -from: ppark -of' flame." No 'special apparatus is'fennired either in the-engine. or carburettor or in tho : manufacture of-the fuel. " '■'■■■' -; "• ; Accessory Suggestions, . Motor robe, limousine case,, camp stove, tonne'au refrigerator basket,. robo rail pocket, aluminium knives and forks, motor-car stove, aluminium,, folding, baker, clock, motor-car robe, .clips, camp blanket, radiator' monogram, mat for running board, air cushion, extra seat, travelling alcohol lamp,. folding camp cot, overalls, blue book", collapsible cupboard, duffle bag, flask with leather cover, cushion with handles, feot warmer, car heater, thermos .lx>tlte, cooking outfit, pocket cook kit, footstool, record book, gauntlets, water-bag, heel .protectors, goggles, drinking cup, rubberised .basin, canvas gloves, spotlight', wrench set, horn, spark plug?,, screwdriver, cigar lighter, radiator cover, windshield cleaner, firo extinguisher, .tyro .tester,, battery tester,- chains,. spring spreader,, hand ■warmer. ' Hints. . / ■ A valve spring ; elauvp is a clamp'for holding valvo springs ;conipresscd'while placing them ,in 'position; It'is; made of two pieces of sheet metal eadh one bt which is bent aj; right" angles; Holes are drilled- at intervals in one of tho pieces to correspond to the wire lock and 1 the clamp can thus bo made adjustable .for' any size spring. ' To operate, the spring and tiro two iron-piece's, are placed, in the'vise, the vise closed, and the' wire lock then inserted through the holes. This locks it. in the position .and' the vise can'bo loosened-,aud. the entire..outfit removed.. >. ~, , If the magneto is' performing its duty in a satisfactory manner, leave it-alone except to continue to keep it clean aii(l oilcn. Any magneto needs very , littlo lubricant-bnce,,-in 1000 • miles.-.. If the magneto needs charging, it will be indicated by a falling .off-in-the intensity of ■tho spark. If the bearings lire worn, it can tie determined ■the ends ..of tho armature shaft. It. is: not at all uncommon. for magnetos to ■_ work perfectly for, four, or, live- years wi' ■'... a particle of attention other than oiling ■and cleaning. ■•.-■• u , Piston ring groovo can be :q)eaned : ;of' carbon by grinding half a piston ring to a chisel point and forcing this''pointed end around the groove. This will cut tho carbon both from- the sides- of tho groove and from the bottom. Lighting-up -Time.—To-day, "5.50 p.m.' Next Friday, "5.58 p.iu •,'-'•'■ •■" • ,