MOTORING NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 58, 29 July 1914, Page 7

MOTORING NOTES.

An electrically-driven motor car ; s promised for early next year. It will or.g.naw from ,j,, (; 111t ,.,i . ()i| . " '* me oiHcoine <.f an cleclrie runai'oiu. Imi.t two years ago for children's use. After having been ;„ i; ] lt . mi | ls ~f t , l( , 'micd .Mates of Aim-nca latent Oilic ior eight years»-the application was made m l!)uoWatcnt No. 1,000.9111 has been granted to Chas. Y. Knight, the inventor oi the sleeve valve engine that bears his name. The patent .supplements anoUhcr that was issued i„ luio and it covers a single sleeve valve device Ih.j new patent claims to have 4et ilmproveineiits, and covers the whoile ct the iunght sieeve valve mechanisms, and also deals with an improved lubrication system.

, Should your carburettor ever catch fire, don't get excited and try to beat out the flames, but at once turn off tiie petrol, if the engine is running, throw sand or dirt over the carburetter. Water will not extinguish petrol flumes, so don't rush for a bucket of water to help you. The wonderful progress in penfcc'in.i the two-stroke motor-cycle engine has been demonstrated by the climbing On June 26 of Mount Snowdon in Waies by a motor-cycle fitted with a 2'/, h.p. two-stroke motor. Tiie total height of the climb was over 3500ftj. the quantity f petrol used was one gallon and a quarter, and the time occupied two hours ten minutes. The engine displayed no signs of over-heating, an.l was considired by the representative* or the trade present a veritable triumph for the two-stroke engine. A motorcycle with £r> engine similar to the one ' used> in the Ml climb has been placed | upon the New Zealand market. | Motorists will notice the effeet of ipir pressure on carbu-ration when tour-1 ing in mountainous districts. Engines turned up at sea-levels often fail to give satisfactory results unless adjustments are made. Nearly two years ag? "La Technique Automobile" conducted an investigation into the effect of barometric pressure on the efficiency of petrol engines', and the result showed that 50 per cent, of power was lost through the low air pressure not being met by providing the engine with more air. ffew people realise the tremendous power .that is developed in the cylinders of an ordinary motor-car by the explosion of the mixture of air and petrol. Each explosion generates' a pressure of approximately 2501bs on each square inch of piston surface. This means that in a 50 h.p. four-cylinder motor a force of nearly three tons is concentrated on each piston with each ignition of the charge in that particular cylinder.

A remarkable motor-cycle .ride lias been accomplished in America by a rider named E. G. Baker. Baker crossed the American continent from California to New York, 3507 miles in the astounding time of 11 days 12 hours . 10 minutes.': The previous best record | on a motor cycle was 20 days 0 hours 1 (minute. The longest day's ride was -370 miles, accompli'shod in 10 hour* The motorists themselves, through their associations, could do much to suppress their black sheep (the "speeders") by punishing to the extent of their means every breach of the Jaw by motorists. They cannot and do not approve the abuses, which fo often make the. motor-car « scourge, but their disapproval should be active. No one wishes to interfere, with a reasonable pleasure and a valuable ,aid to the activities of life. But motoring must be | consistent with the safety of the nonniotoling public, and at all costs t'his shameful practice of fleeing from the scene of their own wrong-doing must be suppressed (says the London Daily News.) Here is a motor story that was heard •not long ago at the Automobile' club. A man was tinkering with ». brotaidiown motor-car by the roadside. A sympathetic but inquisitive stranger came along the road and stopped to watch Mm and ask him questions. After -innumerable other questions, he asked: ""What horse-power is your car " "Forty Oiorse," Teplied the. owner. There was a short pause; then the stranger began again, "What's wrong with it do you ttink!" "I'm not quite sure." the other told him patiently, "but I begin to think that thirty-nine of the horses mu't bo. dead." The estimates made in the House that there were from 7000 to 9000 cars m New Zealand was probably conservative. [There are 1300 cars in ChristelniTOii .city alone and 1700 motor cycles. Canterbury could easily muster 3000 cars and perhaps 4000 cycles (says the Star). ■I« 191S tiie motor-cars imported into New Zealand were 4117, and in the year ended March 31st last, 3809 These are still in the Dominion, without counting the thousands tihat arrived earicr. Then motor cycles are imported at the rate of nearly 4000 a vcar, so that the tax from motorists seems to be promisingly, large.