CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 August 1916, Page 2

CYCLING AND MOTORING NOTES

i'loni tiio Dunlop Rubber Company of Australasia, Limited, fur the week 12th August, 1916.

l'"ew people have oven a faint idou of what- a. tremendous iawhistry the puini-uiati-c lyre business has developed since the romantic invention of the Dunlop tyre by Mi' J. li. iDiuiilop, the Belfast veterinary wirgeon, in 1888. The influence <il the pneumatic tyre has in turn made cycling and motoring possible in every civilized; part of the globe. The capital of the original Dnnlop Company was CIS.(XX); in six year* £'3.000.000 cash wars offered for the TCngli.sh business. The company started with six workmen. The English firm alone has now nearly 30,000 engaged, whilst nrllioji.s of mem and women are now employed throughout the world in the making of pneumatics. To-day the tyre industry is one of the greatest in the world. America alone producing I at the rate of over €70.000.000 worth i a year whilst the world's output is estimated to reach C' 130,000,000 per, nai-

mini, all attributable to the fact that J. U. Dun lop built up an air-eonitained rubbery Lyre for his son's bicycle, with a view to reducing vibration on the rough roads. fj'he rapidly .inn-easing liso of internal combustion iinigjites in all t.yipes of self-propelled vehicles, in motor-boats, a.s well as in the numerous stationary power applications has resulted in a scarcity of petrol which has .not been a serious factor to consider until this year. As a. result of the iiwrensing price nu-me-roais suggestions have been made that, kerosene be used as a. substitute fuel. A irtmber of rVvn ■ s arc offered for vaporizing kerosene. ind many cla : m.s are made by promoters for these that arc not always thoroughly borne out in' practice. While kerosene i\ fairlv tilentifiil. ils physical properties aic such as to render it a poor substitute for petrol with e.x'st io'j- carburettors and engine design. The main drawback is that kerosene i.s much less j volatile than petrol, and must, be ra-s--------ed above atmospheric temperature before it will vaporize readily. This iaek of the property of (piick evaporation, which has been the greatest adiva.nt.'i"'o of petrol, not only interfere-; with rapid volatilization. Li-it make-- kerosene ■' "s'ltefl.v" fuel (o handle. Kero-'ene has irark"d advantages, which will appeal to fc'ie user of internal combustion engines n'ore whnii entirely milnhle devices are evolved for "■nsifving if Hieeessfully. The big advantage at the pri st nt time is the relative cheapness, the cost being somewhat less than onehalf of the present price of petrol. At the present, time ninny of the world's ablest anlemobile engineers are experimenting with the object of devising workable carburettors for use with kerosene. It is only a matter of time when (he difficulty will bo overcome, in fact it must Tie in ftie face of the. serious petrol situation that now looms nheadi of motorists the. world over.

ft iis stated tliat .some -1000 motor lorries were used in t-Tio French defence of Verdun. When n't, liecnme apparent that a ifi'i.'nt, assault wan to lie made upii.ii tin's important point, tlio Frc.neh command, ron'Tisiiiisx the inadequacy of the railway (.-iimii 11.1 i.tiiic;ifi<m organized a complete system of motor transport, lor tlie purposes of which roads wore completely closed to other triiflie. The above-mentioned* fleet of motor carried out l-lie .special duties of Mipplyin'jr the Verdun limit's with luuuit.io.ll>> and lilld reserves. These motor-lorries, 1111111 ill y; each about 100 miles a day maintained a ewi'stiint and reliable flow of supplies for the divisions at (he frorn. and also lor tin* auxiliary -mires such a.s those of the engineers and; of the jnodica.l sta.lT. The special British correspondent with the French armies wrote that never had the value of iiHitor-t.ru nsport. been more brilliantly demonstrated. On the average about L',ooo lorries serving Verdun pasned each diny in cither direction. One may visualise the resiillniit muddile had these machines not been in a high decree relia.blu.

A remarkable 1,'200 mile* motor car journey lias been .successfully carried through across North Africa. A French motorist, jr. dnrenne. drove from Tunis to C'asa>blanea in 7 days o hours. This is the first occasion upon which a motor ear has negotiated this part of Africa.

Some .prophecies about motor cars of the future :—Longer stroke engines: increased use of aluminium in engine eonet-iiM-tion; Jiglrt- steel pressings in place of wrought steel ; smaller engines : lighter ear.s: enclosed springs: overhead valves: detachable cylimdor tops ; ailunvininni pistons: lighter valves and weaker valve springs: .Four speeds instead of three; reduction of un.sprn.iig weight: electric starters and electric light standard practice; lighter bodyWork; mechanical tvre iuflators: unitconstruction of gearbox aiild engine; more scientific use of me fails.

In reference to R. .M ill ford,'s record twenty-four hiHirs' motor-ear track run when he covered 15R1. mile.s l.'tOO yardin a full day and lowered S. F. Edge's record by miles, the Litter gentleman when interviewed stated that he saw no reason why the figure could not, easily be raised, to 21)00 iniie*. am! stated that in his ease he did not liud the strain trying. Of course, though, the strain would be 100 irrcat for a man not phvi-ieallv lit. He consider* Chairlcs Jiirratt London to -Monte. Carlo ride a lar move trying performance.

I'roin time to time one hears of the wonderful organisation at the immense Ford motor oar works in Detroit (l and at times people are sceptical aibout the stories that are told concerning the Ford plant. A recent, Australian visitor to these works was Mr. W. J. Proctor, general manager of the Dunlop Rubber Company. He hoars out in many respects the reports of the up-to-dateness of this immense organisation, which is now turning out cam at the rate of over 1300 a day. One of the most spectacular displays at the Ford works, says Mr. Proctor, is the gigantic conveyor upon which the cars are asembled. Hundreds of workmen are stationed along this moving workshop, eaeh man havinu nl tyotfsackao r o e nxttrd hlcnetash only one task to carry out. First the chassis is dumped in on to supports on the conveyor. At a. speed of about four feet a minute, the conveyor moves through a line of workmen. the engine is placed in. frame, mechanics attend to so many holts and nuts. It moves away to the next group wheels are slipped on. and thus it proceeds for about, half a mile, until the completely asembled ear. greased auul oiled, slides off under its own pnwer into the test-

iug yards. A continuous stream of oaiTs is thus pasing in tront ot a small army of workmen; every unit doing his own work, wiiioh he* keeps on repeating a.s the ,m>xt «ir puswsa along. No man must mies his appointed task, nor must ho delay, othonvj.se the clockwork system ot assembling would 'be deranged. To avoid trouble in case of accidents, deputy workmen stand ready to take any place thus rendered vacant. One complete ear is delivered off the eonvjeyor every minute. Several other

big American ear manufacturers, including the Overland, have also adopted the same >ystemi of assembling.

A .sum of about £l<> will be netted ''or the Red Cn»s I'und l;y the Oha.u .branch, as a result of the highly successful concert and dance held last week. The branch now lias in contemplation a second -concert and dianco, to bo -held next October, in which the sympathies of the whole district from Ma.nakau to Levin will be sought. arrsTimanMn