MOTORDOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 800, 22 October 1929, Page 7

MOTORDOM

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HEADLIGHI

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MOTOR-CYCLING FIXTURES October 26 —Start o£ 4:,6-mile reliability run. October 28—Racing at Whangarei; finish of test. November 3 —Run to Orewa by North Shore Club. November 9 —Opening of Western Springs, and at Wellington. November 17—Sports Club races at Muriwai. November 30—Sports Club races at Mangere. December I—North Shore Club’s beach races at Orewa. December 7 —Grass track races at Takapuna. January 2 s—Car and cycle races at Muriwai. March—North Shore Club’s championship meeting at Orewa. March—Grass track races at Takapuna. OUTING ON WEST COAST ROADS IN POOR ORDER Two members of the City Club and three from the Women’s Progressive Motor-Cycle Club took part in the North Shore Sports Motor-Cycle Club’s run to the Waitakeres on Sunday. The road to Walatarua was in good order, and the party decided to continue on to Karekare, on the West Coast, a further nine and a-half miles. The surface was in a bad condition and spills were fairly frequent. Several mishaps of a more or less minor nature marred the outing. After a picnic dinner and a ramble along the beach the party returned to the city, arriving abdut 6 o’clock. The following riders took part: Mrs. V. Penny (Harley-Davidson and sidecar); Miss Brierly (New Imperial), Miss V. Matthews (Velocette), Messrs. R. Richardson (Rex Acme), S. Brookes (Velocette), A. R. Myers (Indian 4), J. Parker (Velocette), Ted Roach (Har-ley-Davidson), C. Baldock (Sun), G. Jull (Douglas), A. Christie (Francis Barnett), and A. Long (Calthorpe), also two City Club riders mounted on New Imperial and Matchless machines respectively. LONG RELIABILITY RUN Twenty riders are expected to leave town on Saturday afternoon on the Sports Motor-Cycle Club’s 457-mile reliability run through the Waikato over the Labour Day week-end. The first men will leave from opposite the Fire Station, Newmarket, at 1 p.m., others following at Intervals. The first night’s check will be at Te Awamutu. Riders will check In as they arrive back in town on Monday afternoon shortly after four o'clock. The average speed over the whole distance will be about 23 miles an hour.

MOTOR EVERYTHING

PETROL THE “MOVING SPIRIT” OF BRITAIN

The institution of a “flying squad” in Birmingham to deliver the latest novels from public libraries to people who order them by telephone is another example of the extraordinary number of uses to which motorvehicles are put. Petrol Is the “moving spirit” of Britain. Inhabitants of remote villages look forward to the weekly visit of the motor-cinema; engineers tour the country in wireless cars detecting the oscillating fiend; and furniture vans are motor-driven. Orders for special types of vehicles are received by British manufacturers from all over the world. Britain has acquired a reputation- for the construction of vehicles to special plans. Orders are frequently received for super-luxury saloons for Indian maharajahs’ hunting expeditions, and occasionally for motor caravans from showmen and gipsies. An interesting development this year is the great increase in the number of specially designed six-wheeled shooting cars for the moors. “Many have been built from designs similar to those used for the King’s shooting car, and it is a tribute to British skill and workmanship that several Americans who have taken “shoots” in Scotland are using sixwheeled vehicles of British manufacture. An order was recently received by a manufacturer from a missionary society for a motor church. It was fitted with an altar and reredos, and was consecrated before it started work.

The latest innovation on one of the new motor-coach services in the Midlands Is the provision of automatic cigarette machines in all the buses. The phrase “Licensed to sell tobacco” has had to he painted over the door of each vehicle.

EDUCATIONAL LECTURES FILM SHOW “AGE OF OIL” A series of interesting lectures on “The Age of Oil” is at present being given to high schools and colleges throughout New Zealand by the Vacuum Oil Co., Pty., Ltd. These lectures, which are of exceptional educational value, are being well attended, and are much appreciated by the scholars and masters. A special feature of the lectures is the screening of motion pictures showing various methods of boring for oil used in the Mexican oilfields, and the by-products that are produced fromthe crude oil. A distillation test is also carried out, and is especially enjoyed by the boys, being of particular interest to those studying chemistry. The whole process of the handling of petrol in bulk in Australia and New Zealand is also filmed, from the arrival of the tank steamer to the filling of the well-known kerbside pump, from which the petrol is dispensed to the general public. Educational lectures of this kind have been carried on by the Vacuum Oil Co. Pty., Ltd., for many years, with the aid of lantern slides, but the introduction of moving pictures makes the lecture much more interesting, and illustrates it in a far clearer and more comprehensive manner.

A Questionnaire answered by several million United States families brought the information that 6.2 per cent, of them owned phonographs, 24.1 radio sets, 40.4 pianos, 50.6* telephone service, and 55.7 motor-cars.

A motor show recently held in London was entirely devoted to used motor vehicles, the object being to relieve stagnation in the used car market. Certificates were issued to purchasers, and attached to every car.