CYCLING AND MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 170, 24 December 1914, Page 2

CYCLING AND MOTORING.

I liu English motor cyclists in Franco and .Belgium arc doing splendid work, and every general stall' olWcer cannot say enough in praise of the valuable services rendered at the front by file motor cycle despatch riders. An Kng--1 is!l «ar correspondent recently had a:i opportunity of observing- and chatting with a number of [heir couriers at an .obscure little l-'rcneb village, and as a corps he .-dates thai, tin- Kngiisl, motor cyclist, unit certainh iia-• not, its equal in !tn\ oi file an,'Hi'-; in flu* held

their invaluable services hi! "Jj'or the moment I am thinking only of the spirit of those youngsters who gathered round me in the circle of light thrown by their powerful lamps, rest ing on; their travel-stained machines, eager, impulsive, high-spirited hoy:-,, laughing at the layer of petrol-scent I . were nnered, making light of the miles ' behind them as of the miles to come, though a cold and frosty dawn lay.between them and their ultimate destinai tion. .Most of them had a rifle slung J across tli-oii" backs; some hail none, but a revolver was strapped to the leather belt encircling 1 their ii.vralls. (In the carrier behind them they mostly carried a begrimed r-ack with their possessions, a brush and comb, a tooth brush, sleeping things, and shaving tackle, with perhaps a few maps. Looking at them so dusty, so dirty, and so cheerful, 1 eouhl not. help thinking of them as many of tlieni were in Loudon, the immaculate motor-cyclist of the suburbs, with the lady of his affections instead of a. grimy pack on the carrier behind. All classes are represented among the army motor-cyclists. Host of them are under-grailuates or public school boys, many have come from the Officers Training Corps; many are clerks and shop assistants. '.All the varied accents of class and country are heard in their speech, Trum the studied correctness of Oxford to the homely burr of the West. But the most complete democracy exists amongst these knights of the road. Cliques and classes seem to have vanished when the blue and white arm-bands of the signallingCorps of the Royal Engineers—the em. blem of their branch —was fastened to their sleeve. Doubtless, after the man,ner of Englishmen herding together, they have also evolved their own code of manners and customs from which it is not iiermitted to depart, an inch. On.e thing I know, anything like "grousing" or, shirking is "barred. I offered a clothes brush to one bronzed yo mg man who was so smothered in dust that he looked as if he had been dropped inti a flour bin. He, politely doclin»J it 'lf you In.)'; ]', perlv dusty," hj; said apologetically, "they'll see you've jinf !). en shirk-In,-, en': ji.u know." "The life is none too easy. The motor cyclist has mostly to shift for himself; lie moves too fast and too often to he provided for by the machinery the army arranges for finding quarters. On arrival at headquarters with a despatch, after he has presented it and been (lis- ' missed until wanted again he sets out to find: (a) somewhere to wash; (b) 'something to eat; (c) somewhere to sleep, and (d) where the petrol is kept. 'No speed limit, thrills all round, an open nil- life, ijnd lots of variety.' is the way in which one of the motorcyclists summed his life at the front. They are the gallopers of modern war, though they must stick to the roads '(some of these dare-devils try to use their machines across open country, Willi dire ivsulN.l All along the straight white roads leading to the zone of operations you may meet them whirring by in clouds of dust—gone, before you can bid them God-speed. Their total lack of sentimentality about themselves and their work", their unselfishness towards one another, and their disregard of danger are worthy of the highest traditions of t-he British Army. Meeting them one begins to understand something of that ■ moral ascendancy which, according to oflicial dispatches. 'French's contemptible little army' has already succeeded in establishing over the. German troops. Yet these boys have not been soldiering long enough to absorb the traditions of the ;trii:\-°Oiie would like to think that theirs is the spirit of us all." A very bold scheme in the way of promoting an Australian Cycle Ttacing Circuit has been made by Mr. Tf. Mackay, who occupies the dual position of secretary to the Federal Cycling Carnival Council and the New South Wales ■League, and if the proposal only materialises it will have the effect of causing a revival in professional cvcle-racing throughout the Commonwealth. The, scheme which it is proposed, to carry oufe is to promote race meetings in the capitals and the principal rural towns in the six Australian Slates. By this means, it is the belief that the Tcderal Council secretary that the Company which is to provide the, capital, will make profits out of its enterprise and place the sport on the high pedestal it occupied in 'the boom days, when as many as 50,000 people attended the night carnivals in Sydney The promotors will cari'v their own electric light plant for illuminating the tracks and a motor lorrv will be used to transport it from town to town. The best six riders in Australia will be engaged and given a special guarantee. Other good riders will r ollo\v the circuit of their own accord, and the local riders will provide the remainder of the men : required to fill up the programmes. Race meetings will be held at two hundred towns in the six States. As the proinotors already have sanction for a Sours' race this month, and a six days' race nt Master. Sydney will not. be included in the programme, but the bigger New South Wales country towns will. IA start will he made with a meeting at Newcastle, which will be followed by another at Tamworth, thence Lismore, after which the circuit leaves the State.

Some experts estimate that close on 250,000 motor cars, motor waggons, etc., are engaged in military service in F.urope. The Allies command 175,000j)f these, Germany having the balance, 15,_ ODD. The Allies' licet, of vehicles is hcing augmented at the rate, of at least 250 a week.

No less than 500 motor ambulance vehicles have been donated in England for service at the front. This patriotic movement has also met, with considerable 'success in Australia, and fully thirty donated motor ambulances will follow the fovements of the Australian Expeditionary Force, and more are wanted.

Brick roads are being used with success in some parts of the United States, 'and although exceedingly expensive in •the first place, have proved most econ. omieal on account of their extraordinarily long life. It is said that such roads will last for upwards of twenty j 1 years and cost very little to maintain.