MOTORING NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 105, 26 September 1914, Page 7

MOTORING NOTES.

When the expeditionary military force departs from Australia it will leave a big gap in commercial motor traction in tine Eastern States of the Common- • wealth for a part of the equipment will Ibe some 140 commercial lorries. As only I high-powered three to six-ton lorries | have been purchased by the Commonj "wealth, for a part of the equipment will I various trade and commercial houses (ranging in value from £SOO to nearly k £1000), tins means that the pick of the motor commercial vehicles in Australia will be leaving its shores. The i total" value, including spares, etc., will be little short of £IOO,OOO. As the Kuropean supplies of this class of vehicle are almost certain to be considerably restricted, even if not all bought up for military purposes on the Continent, it will be some considerable time before the lorries bought for the Australian contingent can be rcp'aced. This will unfortunately mean a considerable set-back to the motor traction movement in Australasia, for many commercial houses, which had discarded horsedrawn vehicles for the more efficient and better service rendered by up-to-date motor lorries, will now have to fall back on horses again. One thing is certain: There will be a spirited demand for any i new motor vehicles landed, for once comi mercial houses have appreciated the adj vantages accruing from the use of motor transport, they are hardly likely to be satisfied for any length of time with J the less efficient and slower mode of | transport. It is to be sincerely hoped , that the British automobile manufacturI ers will be able to supply Australasia's requirements in this direction, and that the orders go there, for now is the time that our support must be given to Eng- | laid. The very latest idea in motor assistance for cyclists is a little engine of 1-h.p., together with magneto, carburetter and tank, balanced over the front wheel, the engine platform being supj ported by two rods,, which give additionj al strength to the front forks of the I bicycle. . This auxiliary power unit difj fers from others, inasmuch as the trans- : mission is effected without the aid of J either belt or chain, a small pulley con-, j nected with the engine driving on to , the tyre of the front wheel. A handle ■ attached to the centre of the handle-bar f i» connected with the friction pulley, and by turning it to left or right the rider can at will depress the pulley on to or disengage it from the tyre. Moreover, infinite grades of contact can be brought . about, these various pressures corre- ■ sponding to different gears. The great : merit of the invention lies in tho fact that the greatest novice can at once, . without any previous mechanical know- : ] ledge, ride a, machine fitted with one of : j these tiny engines. With pulley discn- i gaged the cyclist mounts and pedals ' away, gradually bringing the pulley in- * to contact with tho front tyre. Directly I contact is made the engine starts up. j The magneto and carburetter being auto- ' matie, the cyclist has no cause to think ! about them. If he finds that the engine • begins to slow down when climbing a I slope, the cyclist releases the pressure of ! the pulley, thus causing the tiny engine 'to "rev." more freely. The pulley is ; made of a special composition, so that | there is practically no wear on the tread : of the tyre, the pulley wearing out in- ' stead. A spare pulley may be obtained 1 at a very small cost, and the worn one | detached in a few seconds by the mani- ; pnlation of a single screw. Any pattern of handlebar can be supplied at the . option of the purchaser. The engine | will give speeds ranging from six up to about 25 miles per hour, and should any- ■ thing go wrong the cyclist lias but to ' release the friction pulley from contact with the front tyre and pedal home in ' the ordinary way. This highly efficient ■ little power unit, which can be fatted '; quickly to any type of bicycle, will run j about 170 miles to a gallon of petrol. j The price in England is £lB. The report that the German armies inj vading France are losing large quantij ties of their ammuniton and food eon- ] voys, owing to their petrol supplies be- • coming exhausted, will be a most serious ! loss to the Germans, for motor fuel is I just as essential nowadays to any army j as coal or heavy oil is to a navy. Should the war be a protracted one, shortage j of petrol or benzole will become a mat- | ter of great moment to Germany, for | ■ her supplies in this direction depend on jan open seaway. Benzole (produced i from coal) is said to be made in consid- . crable quantities in Germany, but hardly I I in sufficent quantites to supply the needs of the tens of thousands of motor ve- j hides now continuously in use by the '(various German armies in iiie field, for any great length of time. In this respect the Allies are in a far better posi- j tion, for with England in command of the seas she can land supplies at almost any point in France or Belgium. Russia can supply herself from her numerous oil fields. For the motorist one of the most important things to remember is that speed always costs money, especially speed round corners, high speeds up hills, and rapid acceleration and deceleration. It is a fact that on two identical cars running an identical number of miles in the year, one driver will make his tyres last nearly twice the distance compared with another driver, who, to the uninitiated, is apparently driving in much the same manner and varying little in time from place to place. As regards petrol, also, one driver will get lo or 16 miles a gallon out of a big car ami 25 to 30 miles a gallon out of a small car, while another man, probably in many ways o good driver, will get two or five miles less mileage per gallon. To secure economy speed should rarely, except where the road is straight, and the surface good, exceed at any time from 25 to 30 miles an hour, for it should be remembered that every mile of increased speed means not only more exertion on the part of the machinery, and therefor* more expenditure for petrol, but a greater proportional wear and tear on the tyres.

MY MOTHER USED IT. "When only four months old, our little baby Frank was attacked with a terrible coroupy cold," says Mrs C. J. ' Smith, Mootwingee Station, Euriowie, N T .S.W. "My mother having used Chamberlain's Cough Remedy for me when I was a child, I at once gave it to my baby and he got immediate relief. I have adopted it as a family cough remedy: it has never failed me ome. I trsst people living in the back country, as we do, will benefit by our experience and always keep Chamberlain's Cough Remedy in their homes." All chemists and stores. .*;: ' •MilSt