MOTOR AND CYCLE NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 154, 25 November 1914, Page 7

MOTOR AND CYCLE NOTES.

Some interesting particulars are ta ktiul of a pioneer trip on a| Ha-lford motor lorry along the trans-Australian railway route. The machine was land'ed at Bucla oil the border of -Western Australia and South Australia, the nearest point on the coast to the surveyed route of the Trans-Continental line, and was then driven a distance of 240 miles to a, chain of artesian bores that are being sunk on the tableland along the Hampton range. With a load of three tons on, the lorry averaged 8% miles an hour. Arrangements had been made to have a camel team in readiness to assist the lorry on to the tableland on top of this range. The Halford climbed splendidly to within 200 yards of the top, whtre a very steep rise of about 1 in 4 or 5 on loose ground stopped it. 'The going was so steep and loose that it took fourteen camels, in addition to the engine power, to surmount the duficulty. The journey inland was continued nest day, the* camp being reached •without the slightest trouble. The tiaek of this tableland, which extends 'for hundreds of miles, is litcjrally cov-k-red with large stones, which make it 'very rough and heavy pulling, necessitating at times as much as ten miles in 'second gear without changing. Up to '(he present the lorry has covered over )tOOO miles on an average of 5.2 miles /fer gallon of heavy benzine, which is a 'low consumption considering the amount of low gear work. As the future of this country practically depends on some reliaihle means of .traction being found, and this cannot possibly be undertaken by teams, ■owing to the scarcity of grass am! 'water, there is little doubt that thf motor lort-y is destined to play an important part in opening up this .portion of the Continent, especially in the direction of acting as feeders to the transcontinental railway line when completed.

Ovcir '.WOO drivers and conductors, employed by the London General Omnibus Co.. are now engaged driving motor vehicles with the 15'itish Expeditionary Forces in Franco and Belgium. It appears that in the early stage of the war during the retreaA of the British end French forces from Mons down to Amiens, upwards of MS English nidtor lorries and contents had to be destroyed to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. Drastic as such a course was, it was better than making the Germans a present of such a large number of valuable vehicles and munitions of war. The wastage has since! been made good; in fact, many of the leading Knglssli motor manufacturers are now working day and night making lorries for Russia anj 'France.

A s]>ecial motor tax is to be imposed in NVS'.W. on similar lines to that now in operation in Victoria, only with one important dill'erenee. In tho latter State the large amount collected is set aside for road-making and improvement, whilst in the mother State the money .promised to be raised by the Ilolman administration will not be earmarked like tile Victorian tax, but simply imposed for revenue, purposes. The petroleum export trade of the United States reached a new (record for ■ July, wiien over 230.000 gallons of various petroleum products were shipped abroad, the previous record attained last April being exceeded iby over 1O,OO0.O!K) g'allons. Taking the total export movement for the seven months oi„ the calendar year, the figures reach the unparalleled quantity of H.I4S/)00 C 0()0 or over 215,000.000 gallons in excisu of * those shipped for the seven months of the preceding year. It would be interesting to learn what quantity of the extra exports found its way into Germany. It is repoirted that all the motor-car factories in Germany are now under the control of the military authorities of that country. 1 It is announced that the annual Tas- ■ manian motor reliability contest has been abandoned, owing to insufficient ; support having been accorded. Criticism ' has been levelled at several of the sporting committees of the automobile clubs of the eastern States in deciding 'against holding long-distance reliability tests this 'season .owing to the effect of the war, but the experience of the Tas- , rnanian Club (which only received five entries in the car class) is evidence of what would also have happened had cither the X.S.W. or Victorian clubs gone on with their long-distance trials. The average critic lias little idea of the expense entailed in taking part in, say, a moitor ear reliability teat between Sydney and .Melbourne, in addition to the time taken It's all very well asking motorists to face the. expense in normal times, but hardly at a time like the present. But because the long distance ' events have been abandoned, it does not follow that inexpensive contests such au hill climbs', efficiency tests, etc,, should also be dropped. The expense of organising or competing in such events is hardly wort'n considering, and with a liew of keeping interest moving, the automobile clubs might well turn extra energy in this direction,