Cycling and Motoring Notes

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 September 1916, Page 3

Cycling and Motoring Notes

— j From the Diiulop Rubber Company of Auatruiunia, Limited, for the week j l(Jtli September, I!A.<>. j Speculation as to what will happen alter the war, in connection with the huge army of motor drivers gives plenty of scope lor the imaginative, .says a a English writer. There is one change which it is very o.a.sy to forecast, namely, the le-sentd importance of the profession of ear driver. 'I his will not he brought about by tho decreased number of ears for general and purelv business purprscs. but by tho enormous increase in the number of persons who have bee lino uiotor'sts during the war peiiod. If I were beginning my career and looking for .i su.table employment, the last I should be inclined to take up would be that of professional ehaffeur. Tt is not so many years ago that the trained professional driver was a man whose susceptibilities had to be carefullv considered: he was generally rated as a good iranv degrees hi'-der than a mere coachman, and win inclined to place himself in an entirely different category One ef tbi' truths that the war has forced home is that special intelligence is not required, to look after a modern car. During the past two or three moulhs I have spent a fair amount of time in those military circles where raw recruits.are being transformed into skilled lorry and touring car drivers. This experience has shown that with an intelligent system of instruction any man can become a good driver in three weeks, audi that two mouths' constant training is sufficient to make the average man a really clever driver of a fast touring car. The greatest difficulty is to train men for , last road work; in this section there are many failuies among men over .'lO years of ago. Jiut for commercial vc- ( hides, small and slow ears, it is found j that failure among men without previous knowledge ef motoring and with no apparent natural aptitude is not more than 1 per cent. Not very much has been said, about this fact, but it i.s nevertheless known that the army has been training unskilled men" into drivels by the thousands. This was incv- ' i(abio in view of the great iucica-e in our armed force*. Xor has the movement been confined to our own country; every nation at war has been increasing its number of motor drivers, and when the end of this war comes it will find Europe with an immeasurably greater number of experienced, drivers than it possessed in the middle of 191 I. , Hundreds of the.se newcomers to motordom will b-e tempted when released from , the army to change from their former , employment t.o ihe apparentlv pleasing | profession of chauffeur. The close corporation of drivers will become an open | one, and the wages ami professional standing of drivers will fall. It is , (juite casv to see that professional driv- ] ers arc likely to be divided; into two , distinct classes — the super-chauffeur, ; and the ordinary driver. The latter , will be able to drive, change tyres. 4 screw down grease cup*, maintain the , oil level, etc., hut will not be expected | to know anv more about the detailed , structure of a car than an under-groom usually knows about the anatomy of a horse. The super-chauffeur, who will he a really good .mechanic, will find, n limited field of,usefulness, for 1 cannot see that, men of this typo will lie needed except by very rich persons owning a number of cars. Most owners will be f|ilite sntisfietf to employ -a mere driver who does not claim to be a mechani" 1 hut who can. as events are now proving. look after, a ear with every success. ( A somewhat (sensational attS'a-ciion, which w.as worked as a feature of the Spokane, I'.iS.A., motor show, heldi recently, com prised a head-on collision | between 1111 Oldsmobile and a Studebak- , or at 3o miles per hour. The cars . were started off on their own account 1 and the result awnitecl. Both ears 1 were considerably smashed, fo-wai'd. > though, judging from a photograph, not so much as might he expected. They hotli caught lire, however, and this rpsutnably gave an ample spectacular effect to satisfy sensation seekers. The writer watched a motor taxi-dri-ver struggle with a stuck detachable wire wheel for fully half-an-hour.. one 1 night lately. Want of a little grease caused all the trouble. Every motorist and, driver who handles a car fitted with detachable wheels should make a point of removing them every 1000 miles or so. to grease the hub well. Jf you do not, yon are likely to have a lot of trouble next time you have to remove one. preparatory to replacement with the extra wheel. After the studs or locking devices have been removed, detachable wheels ought to come. otV like "greased lightning." but they will i\ .t do so unless they are greased liberally and frequently. If rusted up. removal is a fearsome job. Vorse than removal of a stubborn cover, and as water in rainy and niuddv weather roadilv finds its way into the "works" occasional attention is absolutely necessary. If a wheel does stick there are one or two tips for removal. The wheel will generally come off more easily if it is simultaneously pulledi outwards and upwards not straight out.wards. If it is the back wheel insert a tyre lever in the crack between the brake drum and the wheel, and hammer it with the idea of using the tyre levelas a lever, thus forcing the wheel off. Paraffin applied to the stuck and tlie nxle loosens rust and dirt, and makes u sturdy pull efFeeta.nl. If. aftor removal of the locking rings, replacing catches, etc. you take off the brass axle cap. and hammer 011 the end of the axle proper (preferably interposing something to receive the direct impact of the blows') the wheel will often spring towards you. The wheel, of course, must have been previously jaekedi up off the ground. But all this trouble can be avoided with certainty by the occasional use of a little grease.