CYCLE AND MOTORING NOTES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 77, 23 November 1912, Page 6

CYCLE AND MOTORING NOTES.

Over Half a Million. What a {inference a few years do make! Four or live'years ago the Victorian Racing Club refused to admit motor cars to Flemington, and even j members were not permitted to drive their cars into the carriage reserves. On Cup Day there were fully 1500 cars in the inner and outer motor paddocks worth over £600,000. Tramway Motarbus.

In a comparatively young _ country like' ours, the experience of London and other big cities should be worth consideration. At the present time nearly every capital in Australasia is thinking of extending its tramway service to cope with the growth ot traffic. The experience of London says “Don’t”. As finance so largely enters into this important question, tire following figures may lie interesting. The total capital of the various tramway undertakings in London may bo stated in round figures to amount to about 20 millions sterlings, while the capital sunk in motor omnibuses certainly docs not exceed 4 milliom sterling. At the present moment, however, the motor omnibus companion of London arc taking weekly more in fares than the tramway companies, though the capital of the latter is five times as great. For the week ending August 14th, the relative takings of the London Country Councils tramways was £38,798, as against £51,63C for motor omnibuses owned by tin General London Omnibus Company, The capital of the former £13,500,001 and of the Bus Company £2,500,000. It is not difficult to see the lesson t< he derived from these figures, oi ti draw conclusions as to what is likely to happen in the near future. llk tendency also of the tramways to lose passengers, compared with the motor omnibus, is further evidenced by the fact that for the week ending Septem her 11th, the London tramways showed a decrease of £3741, notwithstanding: that more miles are in operation thar last year, and the population of Lon don is continually increasing. \ln view of these facts it behoves city councils and co-operations in this country who are proposing to spent ratepayers’ money in tramway exten sions to move slowly and not to lost sight of the fact that the march of mechanical evolution is going to kil fixed tramway systems in this country as surely as it is to-day driving the ■London tramways into bankruptcy.

Tha Cycla in Warfare. The military value of the cycle anc cyclist is now fully recognised by the British War Office, and the Englisl Army is numerically stronger in. this branch of the service than any of tin great Continental Powers. But theii superiority does not lie only in mini hers. Efficiency counts for something in the serious; business 'of modern warfare, and the English cyclist soldiers are second to none in this respect. During the recent English manoeuvres' over rain sodden country the cyclisl battalions greatly added to the reputation they gained last year. Theii mobility has been a revelation, and their general knowledge of road craft their skill in scouting, and their adapt ability to all kinds of service and ali conditions of transport, have shown ii a convincing manner that no defensive force of the future can he contemplated without- its quota of trainee cyclists.

100 Miles Record. F. B. Keefe, the well-known Tasmanian Road Crack, is keen on making an attempt on L. Meredith’s 100 miles out and homo unpaced road record oi 4hrs 52min 51 -l-Gscc, accomplished ir. England in 1910 and ere this is in print he will probably have made ar. attempt to win the £2O and £5 5s gold medal offered by the Dunlop Rubbci Company to the first Australian win betters the Englishman’s time. Keefe, whilst on a racing visit to Amerie; last year, made an effort on the Californian roads, and whilst missing Meredith’s figures, succeeded in establishing a new American 100 milcr ont and home unpaced road record—by riding the ‘century’ in shrs 2mins, after losing time owing to three punctures. Keefe’s ride will ho checked by officials of the League of Tasmanian Wheelman. New York to San Francisco.

One of the biggest schemes for making a good transcontinental road ir. ,being engineered from Indianapolis, the idea being to raise £2,000,000 amongst motorists and allied trades for the purchase of road metal for constructing a first-class highway from New York to San Francisco. The road is to be 3300 miles long, but only 2200 miles of new road would need constructing, as there are many patches of good roads spread along the suggested overland route. It ir proposed that the road metal shall be delivered to the various county and state authorities along the route, who will build the road under the supervision of the engineers of the United States War Department. An efforl will be made to have the road finished in 1915, in time for the opening of the Panama-Pacific Exhibition at San Francisco. Should this hope lie fulfilled, it is expected that many thousands of motorists would use the route and visit the exhibition.