THE MAJORITY OF THE MOTOR

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2302, 14 July 1921, Page 1

THE MAJORITY OF THE MOTOR

The Royal Automobile Club recently celebrated the twenty-first anniversary of the first 1,000-mile test, for motor vehicles held in England. In spite of excellent individual performances, that event probably marks the “birthday” of the motor in England. Eightv-four vehicles started on that run, which was planned to take a week; 80 were driven by petrol, 3 by steam, and 3 by heavy oil. They started at seven in the . morning from Hyde Park Corner. By eight .in the evening about 50 had reached Bristol. It was i thought a wonderful performance.

Some of the cars covered several consecutive miles without a stop. At that time the speed permitted was only 14 miles an hour. In 1903 an Act was passed raising the limit to 20, and from that time the popularity of motoring in England has rapidly increased. IV here as only 84 mustered in 1900, there were in 1905 74,038 registered. In 391 G the number had grown to 332,000. The last Budget estimated for a return of £4,500,000 from motor vehicle duties. But figures are less significant than the transformation of daily life. Fifteen or sixteen years ago it' was still true, as it had been for a generation, that the swiftest vehicle on the streets of London was the hansom cab. About that time efficient motor-pahs were put into service. Now the stray hansom is a curiosity, and all London is conveyed to and fro by mechanical transport, the highways of the kingdom have come into use again, have been rebuilt, and now are thronged as. they never were in the heyday of horse transport. The war could never have been fought on its stu-

pendous scale without the motor vehicle. It was the motor-lorry which saved Verdun. It was the motor-engine armoured in the tank and flying in the aeroplane which at last broke down trench warfare. Aviation itself as we know it at present is a by-product of the motor industry. •