MAIN HIGHWAYS FUND

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 764, 10 September 1929, Page 6

MAIN HIGHWAYS FUND

MEETING OF PROTEST A meeting lias been convened by the council of the A.A.A. for the Chamber of Commerce rooms on Friday afternoon. Delegates from county councils, road boards and all other local bodies interested in Main Highways finance are invited. The purpose of the meeting is to | consider and if thought fit, to pass a resolution to be forwarded to the Prime Minister protesting against the expressed intention of the Government to withhold from the funds of the Main Highways Board this year the annual grant of £200,000 from the Public Works fund and £35,000 from consolidated fund. REVERSE ACTION NEW SERVO BRAKE INVENTED A Swiss engineer is the inventor of a new servo brake which is the reverse in operation to that generally fitted to cars. The orthodox plan for braking by a vacuum caused by the engine is inverted, the springs which usually pull the brake off being tbe force which applies the new brake. The mechanism is so arranged that the brake pedal operates an atmospheric valve which releases the vacuum. The brake is then pulled on by the springs. Varying degrees of braking pressure can be exerted to which he is retarding the car through the pedal. The outstanding advantage of the new brake is that braking power is not lost through stalling the engine Provision is made for releasing the brakes independently in the event of the engine stopping. STILL STANDING UP TO IT From time to time instances come to light of motor-cars being put to odd uses. There was recently, for example, a 20-year-old Rolls-Royce working on a building site in London where the engine provided motive power for an air compressor mounted in place of the body. Despite its age and its known road mileage of 250,000 miles before its conversion, it was still dead quiet, and it was possible to balance a penny edge, wavs on its radiator. In Brisbane, a 9 b.p. Standard chassis has been converted to run on rails, carrying an ambulanee body. There is accommodation for one stretcher case and one sitting or lying down case in addition to the driver and attendant. During a local demonstration a total weight of passengers amounting to 116 stone was carried, but the car negotiated the steepest grades on the line of 1 in 50 at a speed of 40 m.p.h. Heavy head winds were encountered during its first long journey of nearly 600 miles to its destination, but, nevertheless, an average of 34 m.p.h. was obtained for the whole journey.