Cycling AND Motor Notes.

Otago Witness, Issue 2813, 12 February 1908, Page 59

Cycling AND Motor Notes.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Inquirer — The duty on bicycles is 20 per cent. For a first-class machine at Home you would have to pay about 12 to 14 guineas. Adding to this the duty and the cost of the freight for si single machine, I consider you would be very foolish to import one jourself. Try any of our local

cycle agents advertising in this column. You will get from them a first-class article at a reasonable price. If, however, you are keen on importing a machine from Home, ie would be far cheaper for you to import through a local cycle agent. R L , Morton Mains. — The Dunedin Sports Club clo not intend to hold a bicycle sports meeting this year. H\ DKMOIV. The Supreme Court case Roebuck v. M'George, a claim for £1000 damages, which was set down for hearing on Monday, was settled out of court. Last July the plaintiff's bicycle and the defendant's motor car came into collision in Princes street, with the result that the plaintiff was inHired, and the claim for £1000 damages for the injuries received was the upshot. The jury, however, were not called upon to try the case, the plaintiff, go it is said, receiving £550 in full settlement of his claim.

Mr A. Gibson, an English tourist, who intends doing New Zealand per medium of her roads, is at present in Dunedin with his four-cylinder 30-40 green Beeston Humber, having arrived from Christchurch on Saturday night. As showing the up-to-dateness of this Humber, it may be stated that the inside of the hood is lit with electric lights.

The 16 horse-power Buick is t. fine hill-climber. On Saturday she carried five adults up over Saddle Hill going to Mosgiel, and over Look-out Point coming back, on the top gear without slipping the clutch. The Buick can do 40 miles per hour on this gear. With four passengers up this car can do 95 per cent, of her work around Dunedin on the top gear.

Rov&r O24 r after covering 40,000 miles, is running as well aa ever. A photograph of the gear box of this oar will be taken shortly for publication.

Motor-car hiring is becoming very popular in Dunedin. One local car was hired on 21 days during last month. The motor gymkhana and floTal fete at Tahuna Park on the 29th promises to be a great success. Entries for all the motor event* are coming in freely. Tb-t 7-9 Stuart recently purchased by

Dr Stanley Batchelor is doinjj its work to the thorough satisfaction of ite owner. By the way, I must congratulate Dr Batchelor on having so quickly ifiastered the driving of a car. Mr Tom Stone, of Invercarjjill and Dunedin, leaves for his business trip Home next week. Mr Stone intends to make a tour of all the big English and European motor firms, and should be able" to proffer valuable advice to Home motor oar raanu- , facturere ac to how they might make special alterations to meet the road conditions prevailing in New Zealand — that is, of course, if Horn© manufacturers will take ad\ioe from anyone. Mr Stone will be absent about seven months. Dr Evans has purchased from Mb S. R. Stedman a 10-12 Humber car, with detachable tonneau. Mr Stedman has just landed from the Corinthic a shipment oE three Triumphs, which are fitted with improved carburetters, adding even greater flexibility to the engine of this well-known motor cycle. ~ • - Mr Mill's 10-12 Clemint-Talbot came through from Invercar^ill on Monday, night. F. Shearer at the driving wheel. Mi? Mills reports a most, enjoyable run. Mr Woods, Southland agent for tha( Russell oar. is in Dunedin with a doctor's two-seater Russell of 14-16 horse power. ■In Japan the use of motors is prohibited on roads less than 36ft wide, and as roads of .his width and wider are few,the \we of the motor ie limited to comparatively few thoroughfares. There are, however, very few cars in Japan — less than. 50 in all, — as, ovying to a 50 per centduty, the price is out of the reach o( most. A vehicle termed tho "Autowatercar " is so constructed as to be adaptable to either land or water. The wheels are of the disc variety, and after entering the vator from the beach the power, is transferred from the wheels to the screw propeller. Statistics of the Olympfa Motor Showreveal that there were 111,000 square feeft utilised for the exhibits, which comprised 1 some 600 vehicles and sundries, having a< value of £300,000. At the Paris Salon, the great French show, the exhibits wer«. valued at considerably over a million ster« ling, while the volume of business trans-* acted was set down a" £6.000,000. A feature of the Paris Salon wa« an exhibit showing the evolution of ths automobile during a period of 138 years, the most curious "car" being one built; by M. Ouguot in 1769. It had steel-studded! wooden wheels — the original non-skid — and was steered by a wheel, while the brake was operated much in the same way as it is to-day. In the matter of lubrication pf cycles ' there is frequently a difficulty of assuring oneself that the oil has reached the desired «r>ot. Sometimes the nozzle of the oilei* is too large to fit the lubricator, or perhaps — and which is too often the case — dustf or mud has caked in the orifice, and preIcludps pny possibility of the oil getting to the bearing, although the cyclist may. periodically aimlv the oilcan, and think he has done the trick. Some lubricators dc< not keeD out the dust any more than! they let in the oil. and it is in details like this that there is room for a deal ofi improvement on the modern bicycle. \ I The receipts in orate money at thai New York Six Dav«' Race are given as^ I £10 000 being a diarht decrease on last year's fisrnres. Of this sum 40 per cent.] was paid for the use of the building. E»^;Wi rider received appearanre money, according] to his sunposed "drawing" value. In ad-} dition. the winniner t team was paid f.9 ' , prizo-monev £300. the epcond team £20P, ! tho third £150, thf fourth £100, the fifth./ £80, tho sixth £60. the seventh £50, andij the eighth team £40. In 1896-7-B— the first j three years of the six days' race — ifc wa«| ■ contested by individual riders, hut their, [ sorry condition at the finish induced tha authorities to prohibit it on these lines, ' when the promoters introduced the teams.-: Floyd MTf'P'Rrland, with Elkes, won tha' | race in 1900. * ' The prospects for the Ormond Beach' j (Florida! racing this yfar are assuming wonderful pronortions. The committee o£ j tho Automobile Club of America has de- ' cided to run the events off next month." Foremost amongst, the events which it ha«; been decided to run is a ''U) miles race, for strictly racing cars. The entries o( famous drivers, both Americnn and Euro- • pean. are assured. The 100 miles rac« I stand in tr «tart). for all classes, for tha Minneapolis international world'-* championship, will be run. Ciirs for the Sir Thomaa Dowar trowhv and the " t,wo-miles-a» minutp " trophy must run either in thrt 250 miles or the 100 miles event, andi average over 50 miles an hour for the whole distance. One of the most interesting events will he a race over 100 miles for gentleman drivers. All doubt regarding the VandorbiH; i Cup contest for 1908 has been set at resf» by the official announcement of the Tanderbilt Cup commission that the race will) be held in Ootober next. The conditions, of the race are 10 cars per nation, buff not more than three from any one factory. There io no limit whatever _ in en gin* power. Every part of the competing car* must, be built in the country of thei*. origin. The Morocco campaign L*s furnished the French War Offics with an opportunity

for testing a motor mitrailleuse, driven and operated by a '►O h.p. motor. Three guns , p.re mounted, and 60,000 rounds of ammuni- ' tion carried. The proposal to make a special motor road from Hammersmith to Windsor (Eng.) is being actively opposed by the " Middle Classes Defence Organisation." It had beei repeatedly stated* that the King was an. favour of the 'road being constructed, fend the secretary wrote to Lord Knollys on the subject, receiving a reply to the ■effect that his Majesty had not even heard |p£ tiha scheme, and that any statement to the effect that he wished for its completion "was untrue. • Three or four years back England had practically no export motor car trade ; 5n- fact. Great Britain was the best cus- ' tornex France 'and Germany had, cars of an enoimous value being imported annually. {For the first 11 months of 1907, England expor-ad British-made cars and parts to %he value of £1,216,485, besides practically absorbing three-quarters of the home trade. These figures convey a fair idea of the sigantie strides made by the English motor Industry. BREAKDOWN COMPETITION. A novel competition has just been held in Paris, in the shape of a breakdown comjpefcition. Competitors' cars were garaged^ , and separated by curtains. A committee BiScretly arranged for different simple derangements of the machinery, which might happen at any time, and competitors had %o seek the cause and remedy it. A short pireuit in the magneto by the introduction of a lead-paper pellet was discovered fey one competitor in lmin 28sec, and by two ethers in less than 4min. A partiallyblocked induction pipe was discovered in jllxnin. A blocked carburetter jet was found in 4|min. The sticking of a float jheedle valve was adjusted in lmin 23sec. Jn. the final, a derangement of the magneto jjiras discovered by the same competitor who . Soeated the short circuit first (Paul Miltgen) hp llmin lS^ec. In the lyre repair test. pne- Bonnet removed, repaired, and" replaced & tyre in 9min 46seo. ROUND THE WORLD MOTOR TRIP. According to the Autocar (Ehg.), the pronosed motor -car run. from ■ New York to Paris ie- attracting' more attention in SLtnerica than in France, where makers do j^ot seem to be altogether in favour of this t£eans of demonstrating the capabilities of $heir oars. Most of the entries have bo far tome from America, as well as several £>rfrses. and it looks as if the Americans mil be largely responsible for the success J pf this big undertaking. So strong is the support from America that there is some t»lk of creating a cup to be run for every frear. It is hoped that the Canadian, Government will prepare a track between Seattle and Skagway to avoid the sea jourf' , bo that the entire run will be done rland except for the 30 odd miles across Behring Strata. The organise* of

this run has this week started upon an excursion through the Alps, accompanied by a De Dion, a Werner, and a Benz car, to see the effect of low temperatures upon the engines. On the face of" it the watercooled engine would seem to have a poor chance in the frozen wilderness of Alaska itnr 1 Siberia, and if any . stragglers come through there will be time enough to talk of a challenge cup. The competitors will probably start from New York early in 1909, so as to reach Behring Straits at the end of March, and be able to travel over the frozen snow of Northern Siberia. As at present arranged, the contestants will drive from New York to Seattle, and will then proceed by water to Skagway, from which point they will travel through the Klondike and Alaska to Prince of Wales Cape. Crossing the Behring Straits, the competitors will land at East Cape before the thaw sets in, and will travel across the hard frozen snow until they reach the Russian post road, and eventually join the road that was followed in last year's great motor run from Peking to Paris. 346,350 MOTOR VEHICLES IN THE WORLD. Altogether, it is estimated that some 218,000 motor-driving licences were tak^n out in Great Britain and Ireland in 1907— ar increase of 30,000 as compared with the previous year, this rumber including both cms and motor cycles. The estimated number of registered motor cars was 65,000, commercial motor waggons and tractors 4520, and 55,000 motor cycles, making a grand total of 125,320 — an advance of 24,000 on the previous years' figures. Lord Montague estimates the total number of motor vehicles ol all kinds in tho world at 346,350, and thi3 estimate is arrived at as follows: — America 130,000 Great Britain and Ireland .. .. 125.320 France .... .. •• .. 32,530 Germany 22.000 Austria and Hungary . . . . 9.000 Italy ... 6,500 Spain and Portugal . .. 4 250 Other European countries . . 6 000 India and Burma . 2 500 Egypt, Canada, Australia. Cape, Transvaal, and othei British colonies .. 3.000 Central American States . . 1,000 China, Japan, Eastern Asia, and Mahvy States 1,250 South America, including Brazil, Argentine, Peru, Bolivia, etc. ;. 3,000 Total 346,350

The sea serpent has turned up again, on this occasion at Norfolk Island, and judging by the size of it, if report speaks true, it would seem to be a record one. It was estimated to be over 500 ft long and about 2ft in diameter. The head, which seemed very hairy, was about 10yds from the beach, and the serpent appeared to be feeding. It was of a gray colour, intermixed with both black and brovi.a.