MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 49, 21 November 1919, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

' (By "Cluteli.") i a 1 Wairarapa Automobile Association. r The. Executive 'Committee of the Wai- r luifipd' AutumuM.e Association met at ] Ureytmni tliis week. The treasurer re- , lipncit a credit balance at tiie Hank of , ,\e\v Zealand ot Bs. 5i1., cash in j iiiuul £'t 12s. Oil., i'.O. Sav.ngs Bunk ■ account Mlj ss. W., War Jioiuls x-ii. ] ' Accounts ((mounting to a;a) ss. 2a. were j . passed for .payment, 'i'lio iollowing now. , mcni'Ders were eiiicteiiDr. Young,' Messrs. JJ. JJockelt,JV,::.\Vollaiia, W. U. . Duiton, G. A. Vincent, 11. X. Tullock, T.' Benton, G. C. Siiiimierili, Carterton Presbyterian Cliiircli Trust, Jliss Card, and jirs. \V. Toogood. '.iwo members ; wero struck off the register, and. it was ri-soivwi. to take definite steps to coiieut otilsiami.iig amounts. ." ii was resolvtil that application bo made tp the n'airarapa Bating Ciub'fpr. peimission to iioiu n_raco meeting eariy next year on tiie n'airarapa jJacing Club's course ' at Tnuherenikau. Tim secretary's actioh in uiak.ng inquiries re an aeroplane for the race meeting was 'endorsed. A letter was received from the Wellington' Antotiiobile Assoc ation asking thaVtho following rpoohitioii be supported:—"Thiit tWs'club reeoiihiieiuls the New Zealand Automobile Union to lio'.d yearly meetings alternately in Cliristchul'eh,' Auckland, lJunefliii, and Napier, iii 'add.tion' to the annual meeting'in Wellington.'"—lt was resolved to support, the resolution as requested.' ' A meeting of the diitctors of the Wai- . 'rarapfi. Automobile, Association "Mutual Insurance Company was licit! after the c'.osq of the association's meeting. The treasurer reported a credit, at the bank of .-CS3 ss. 9(1., villi cash in hand S5 10s.; . F.O'...livings Bank,' cj\' i£2o4 " 16s. -7d.j J W'l'ir Bonds; J!10f0; Sovcen'teon new cje's' frfc'rS approved. ■' British Motor Works, ' Though twelve, months', have elapsed '■ since the armistice; those English motor--car 'manufactories wuoso .operat:ons were ' • interrupted by their be:n;; rcquii.inoiiea lor war purposes have not; even . yet ' '.reached the stago of placing..their postwar prdtiuttfirßjion- the colonial .market. Awl' out 'of- about, fourteen companies that were ■ manufaotui'ing cars upon a lurge scale, all but'lwo had tho!r. works'converted:, into, munition..factories. Of tiiittc two, cue was ut'.liseu to manulac. tnre niotor-amlj.uUuiccs.. and the otherproduced motor-cars for military staffs, fill that tiie.so companies were, nli'e to lake up their, reguiar. business, immed!ately upon their release from War Office .control. The .condition of all .the rest . during tlio.'war . period may'well be summed up in the words of Mr. Eric F. lipuit, repiesenkiti've of oho m'amilac- . luring concern, who related to an Auckland paper tiie o.tper'cnce of )iis own company. "When the armistice arrived," said 'Sir. Boult; "the whole of . our .factories at Birmingham were de.vu.lecl to almost anything .but the manufacture of motor-cars,. .W.e.werp malc'.ng director firing-scar for warships, paravane blades;.to protect..ships against . .mines, motors for aeroplanes, aerop:ancs, 'artillery shells for guns of various ca!libies, and 18-pounder fuses. Motor-cars were at that -moment about the Inst.thing wo thought of." With the armistice ciiine a. sharp cKpnge. "nit'i'iin a' day or two the army of girls who had been employed on munition work were dispensed with, and the company—whoso wise was typical ot that of tiib other motor-ear companies—set to woi'k to bring together what remained of its former, manufacturing and luiniinulrative staffs alter the havoc of war among the manhood of England, and to rcorgun'sc for the'resumption of its' aforetinie business; Necessarily v the process —which involved' also tho erection 'of new buildings and the expenditure of about ■£50.000 upon tools for tho production of one model alono of the post-war cart— .was ;-a-slow one. It was the middle of February' before tho first of 1 th;> new-vi-.hieles was ready for Its road test, and Mr. Boult declares that ho will bo well pleased if the first sample to reach New Zealand is landed before the-end of 1910. ' As-Jin -indication' of what is to be.tli.o. 'ciiaracler pi' Kiiglisii-iuade lnotftr-ears or v. the new-era .that has dawned With the. .coining or peace, llr. ISouit mtntiens that. -. the weight ; of. the' chassis Of the new machine he is interested in will be only . 15cwt., as against 25cwt .in pre-war times, and the conuHeted car. v.'hen placed ...upon the road will sc'ilc 22cwt., as com- ■ pared-.with about.two tons. , 1 he..latest •' models ■ ui'i? being built upojKtlie cant.lever .suspension principle throughout. ■ The delays in export to. tile .'Dominions ' are due. entirely to the necessities ot the recouiifructidn per.o'd—there is no dim.eultv whatever ill regard to smplnng • • skici* from llugiaud—and it is ejected that eariy in the New Year the Miglisli -.car, of oil. ma,te, will l» coming overseas in large quaiitit.es. In contrast with the easy shipping situation as regards KiHish cars, an Auckland firm which deals- largely in the standard .American vehicle, states ' that it ii'.W tno greatest d fficulty in finding freight fof.i's orders. li' point of fact, it has at >u:s moiuwit ' liX) American vehicles on order—actually bought—and cannot get them brought across tiie Pacific. • Coal Gas Experiments. . The petrol shortage in England during the war period ."resulted .in many experiments w.th coal gas in place, of petrol. Consi»)orab.e headway "\\:as '."made, particularly with heavy passenger vehicles, motor-buses,,. etc. Tho authorities appointed a departmental committee to investigate the .whole position as appl'cd to motor locomotion. Their report (says an exchange) lias now; been made public, and is sufficiently enthusiastic to l<Bid to the supposition that there :s a big future for some at least of the variants of the system. The most interesting pros- . peels' are those whieh'cxist in connection with portable''suclinn-gas producers. It is clear that a good deal has been dono towards uiak'ii'g tiie systeuis.'really. 'practical; but much more remains to bo dcii'e,..'.although, there .secnis no reason why flull eueeess should riot be iioliievcd. If .this surmise is correct, the sphere of the self-contained' suction-gas vehicle will still be limited to the liaulage of fairly heavy loads at, moderate . speeds. The figures -'given by the committee as to fuel costs are very striking. Tho comparison puts tin? capacity lor work of the iihction-gas vehicle at seven and a half toii-iii.lcs for every penny expended on fuel, and tho corresponding figuro for the petrol vehicle at only one and three-quarter, ton-miles. . On the subject of the.-gas-biw method.the committee -islukewarm. The thing is too unsightly and unmcchanica.l ever to be regarded as anything more. than. ii_ way out of a t.empt'iary.' emergency. ..No- manufaclurer is .ever, likely . to push t as a standard means of propulsion of ( his vehicle. Some . of tho witnesses. br.fore the commitleo pave evidence to the lefiVet tliat it hail. ■ shown big financial savings. AVero it possible one would lx> inclined to say that the senii-r.gnl container has eveii worse jiiospects than the ordinary gasbag. -II .shares to a fair degree most of tho disadvantages of tho gas-bag and of the rigid metal container. The time ■spoilt: by tho committee -.a nevlsmg a specification for a semi-rigid container was entirely lime wasted. The n>;o of the rigid-container has d'slinet but limit- . Ed possibilities. Willi our present knowledge of metals and cylinder-making it should bo possible to cut down tho weight to a •reasonable, figure. The conta'ners must, however, be so placed that they can take no conceivable part in : any collision, or accident. .This really | seems to. mean Unit lliey must be cmi bodied in the first, instaiu'e as part of Hie design of the complete, vehicle mid not 'merely attne.luvl later on 'by I ho user. Horn ajtnin Hie veli'ele manufacturer,. who is also frequenllv 111" bodybuilder of tlje commercial vehicle, w ; !l not standardise with a view lo the use of '-onl-W,, hec'inse il is only in a Kin-i'l, )i'"i">'-ily of cases that; ".lie use can It" justified. Here' and There. i To try Ib .oveicdnii; the Joy-r:<iing evil and tliii driving.of cars by intoxicated persons or those addicted lo the use of narcotics severe penalties are imposed under the revised motor vchiclo laws of 'California. A prison scntcnco ol nor iesi than olio year or more llian five must bo impo.-ed upon the joy-rider. There i.s no alternative of ii fine. 111 .case of violation of the section relating M liquor . ami. drugs, a line,, of from , Jil|W lip 10. ' JllOtK) may lie imposed,, or, in lieu thereof. imprisonment for not less than six months:,-hoc more than oiie. year, i

the war magneto design bccartie more or less standardised, as a result probably of tho industry being in the. hands of a German monopoly. Its reliability was taken for granted, the possibility of improvement attracting-- littlo nllention. in the motor press. Yet (says nn exchange) we all-know that magnetos are. subject to failures, the most common being n 'sticking contact-iireaKer; while other troubles, although rare, are not unknown. During the. war the British magneto industry was deevloped, and ? it is now in such a position that tho , English motor industry is rendered en- ? t;rely independent, of -outside sources of 1 supply. To-day, tree of Government control, tho industry is .beginning to show.. !! that the magneto is capaWe of further ; improvement. . 8 . "Tho motor-car ns a means of trans- ' porta lion is driving all tlio electric car 'r lines bankrupt," remarked Mr,. D. H. ' Rundle, of Nelson, in n. letter written from San Francisco. "Wherever you wantto go in California these days you can }• go in twin six cars, costing here ..,£IOOO i each. ■ They , aro very comfortable and i. 50 per cent, cheaper than railways." Sir.' Fuiidle adds: tho California to-day has j an auto, for every six of population! The c country; towns are crowded with them, , driven or. owned by people of almost J every nationality. Petrol runs about lid. t a gallon, though to local -people' that sounds high as'in 1914 they got it for ' •IJd. . ■ ■'- ' A South African motor-cyclist recently rode from Durban to Ladysmith—a'dis-, .'■' tance of 30fi miles—in less than -nine ' hours, giving an average of 33 miles per ! hour. This performance was registered ' ■ in an endurance run.' . '' '' . ; ; One hundred and forty-six motor, c.vcl : sts recently took part in the LondonKdinbnrgh liability trialr-ono of the . severest motor-cycle tests 'held in Bug- : land—and 110 of them' w'oii. gold medals... 111.. America tho question of roads is well to the foro, and Mr. W..8. Wilson, the Secretary for Labour!' i's'qnoled in.- > * one of the American motor journals- as. Bnyins: "Bn'ild now the fia'tioiial'State'. and county rouds we need, and'"prosperity . .will rida to every Amerieaii.tjate, Jfoney spent wisely for good roads will, coin.o back, because the. roads will .bring it back. You can not : te the. hajl-niarks of prosperity along good rpads." . .. Lighting up Time-Tp-day,' 0.55 p.m!Ke.xt Friday, 7.3 p.m., ■