CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

Horowhenua Chronicle, 2 June 1916, Page 3

CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

• • (Kiom the I>unlop Rubber Company of Australasia, .uimited)

An effort is to be madie this week by an Adelaide motor cyclist, Mr E. G. Gartner, to establish a mot-,r cycle record: between Adelaide and Melbourne. Little attention has in the jrast been given to this overland route by motor cycle speedmen the Coorong sands, etc., between Aleninge anti Kingston evidently ueing greatly dreaded by record aspirants. The motor car record, !betw,een Melbourne and Adelaide is two hours taster than tlie Melbourne-Sydney record, demonstrating that of the two Inter-fitate routes the Adelaide one is the faster. It is therefore 'somewhat surprising that a motor cyclist has not yet succeeded. in negotiating the 579 miles between Adelaide and Mejtibnrno in a day. Murray Aunger did it in a Dunlop-shod Vauxhall car in 14 hours 54 minutes, so that with the up-to-date powerful motor-cyeles now available, one wouldl think that it would bo a comparatively easy task for a motor cyclist to accomplish tho journey under 24 hours. 'Mr Gartner, who purposes tackling this proposition, has inspected the course and considers that with decent weather conditions tile trip can be accomplished under 20 hours. He proposes riding through the Ooorong diesert in the ni;rht, his idea being tKat owing to the pace being, limited he c;m make v- 1 " as good time by night as by day. A reasonable argument as long as he does not get- bushed in the many winding tracks through this wild stretch of country. The machine to be use by Mr Gartner is a Dunlop-shod 7 h.p. twin cylinder Excelsior with- overhead valves.

It is - flurprifiing that with the advance made in the price 01 petrol m this and other countries, that some endeavour has not been made to eliminate the expense ai the standard four gallon tin, the cost of which must run inito huige figures in twelve months. In America the majority of motorists are supplied from bulk systems, the petrol being delivered through pipes or nooes and checked by automatic gauges. The saving as regards wastage and handling Outside the coat ot tins ib very considerable. A few of the more progressive firms in this country have already installed petrol systems, but the petrol is delivered in tins, which are emptied in/to the bulk reservoir, so that the cost of canning, Handling, etc. lias still to be paid for Dy tlie consumer. This costly method is one, tha/e shoulil be by more u p-to- j diate and economic systems.

''Bicycle days ot other yearis" is the title of a very interesting article which recently appeared in "Bicycle News," New York. it is stated that in the early bone-shaker days of 1808 and 1809 there was a regular cr xo w,r tho ,sport. It »vaa mostly carried out in rinks or schools. The Nen Yoik papers of that period gave inrjh bpace to the new pastime, and the editor oi the IVow York bun, who was an enthusiastic ridier, advocated :ui elevated path for velocipedists in New \ork. "Harper's Weekly'' and ,ue ".Scientific American" also devoted mucli apace to the subject. The craze dieu out rapidlj'j and it was not about unitil 187? that the subject of bicycle envelopment again came into prominence. By that time the oldi wooden bone-shaker had been transformed into the high ordinary. It waa in that year that Uoi. Albert A. Pope, then in the air-gun business in Boston became interested in the bicycle business. He commenced by importing English machines. He started manufacturing in 1878, and organized a great riding school. He advertised to an; enormous extent and in 1882 offered a prize ot £250 for the Ibest article on the bioycle. In 1888 he started a monthly magazine called "The Wheelman," and all the best outdoor writers contributed to it. He spent £25,000 on the magazine and sold it to Theodore Roosevelt and others who changed the name to "Outing" and developed it on * more«» general Jities. At that period the English manufacturers did &' big trade in America, and some of tfiem had branches in that oountry, but on the development of the home trade a prohibitive tax was imposed.