CYCLING AND MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 174, 31 December 1914, Page 3

CYCLING AND MOTORING.

NOTES. That there is a shortage of rubber and cottons in Germany is evident from the fact that the following official proclamation has been issued in BarEn;rr-"Sale of Motor car tyres prohibited. The sale of automobile tyres to private persons, except for use on new motor vehicles, destined for the Army, is strictly forbidden. Private persons who wish to buy tyres must first communicate with the tyre office at the Schoneberg barracks, which, acting in co-operation with the transportation division of the War Office, will decide to what extent private individuals may replenish old tyres or acquire new ones." Owing to the important part the automobile is * playing in the European War, a shortage in tyres, pneumatic and Solid, Trill be of paramount importance to Germany. It will also be a serious tiling for motorists in that country, for it will mean the laying up of most of the private machines. An effort js being made by the English Society of Motoif Manufacturers and Traders to standardise and limit the number of sizes of solid rubber motor tyres for commercial vehicles, etc. Six sizes have been selected, viz., G7o' mm., 720 mm., 741 mm., 771 mm., 850 mm., 881 mm. This is an effort in the right direction, for motor tyre moulds are mighty expensive things, which have all to be paid for by the user. The same thing applies to the pneumatic motor tyre. In looking over the Dunlbp list, it is noted that some 43 odd sizes of motor tyres are made. Each size means separate machined steel moulds, and it's the same throughout the world. Eight sizes of motor tyres would be ample to cover all the motor car requirements, and the adoption of that number as standard the world over would be the means of saving a huge sum annually { to both manufacturers and motorists. I

Electric lighting is proving itself almost as reliable as magneto ignition for cars, and there can be no doubt that before very long nearly all pleasure cars will be equipped with electric light instalation's. For the motorist who does much night driving, such an installation is almost a necessity, for the constant attention which oil and acetylene lamps require is apt to prove exceedingly irksome. It is interesting to observe how .thoroughly the manufacturers of light cars have paid particular attention to the question of lighting. Already several types at present on the market aro equipped •with good installations, and we notice that for next season a number of firms will include electric li-ht'nT sets in the standard equipment cf their cars.

Cyclists jn Otondon and other English districts arc all using oil lamps for night travelling, owing to the bright acetycne lamps being -banned by the War authorities, owing to the possibility of air raids and their use for signalling to an enemy at sea.

The subject of motor-cycle transmission is one that is often debated by motor cyclists, but many people still seem to be .very far from having any settled convictions regarding it. The belt and the chain each has its own advocates, and each, possesses a large following in respect "to practical application. There remain two other forms of transmission —shaft drive, and the friction principle. The first of these has been successfully applied to motor cycles, although in a very restricted manner, but the last named lias not so far been adapted as a means of motor cycle transmission. There is much to be said in favor of the shaft drive, whether used in conjunction with level gearing, a •■viiriu. <»• other method of converting the power developed by the engine into rotary motion of the driving wheel. Of the various means available in this direction, there can be little doubt that bevel gearing is the most satisfactory on general grounds, hut very much depends of course upon the degree of accuracy with which the gears are cut and assembled. The elimination of friction is possible in a high degree with this form of drive when such conditions are observed, and as the design lends itself in the most admiralile manner to the purpose of ensuring adequate lubrication of the. driving mechanism, -which may be entirely eased, it seems to have a most excellent prima facie for wider adoption. The fact that two among the prominent English motor cycle firms are marketing a shaft-driven model for next season, indicates that somo recognition of its advantages is at last to be made by British firms. What is possible in connection with shaft-drive for motor-cycles has been shown for some years past by the satisfactory performances of a certain well-known Belgian machine, and surprise has often been expressed that others have not followed the example thus set at an earlier period. The type of transmission referred to is essentially an all-weather fitment, and experience has shown that it lacks nothing in the way of reliability; requiring at the same time no more than the minimum of attention and skill in handling than (my other form of drive. The opinion lws sometimes been expressed that whilst the claims made on'behalf of shaft and bevel gears may be largely admitted, the fact must not be overlooked that in the event of failure on the part of any portion of the mechanism, even in the case of only a small detail, the whole system is thrown out of action, and the machine rendered useless perhaps under the most inconvenient circumstances; whereas a belt or Chain can always be repaired at the roadside by the rider himself, and usually with very little trouble. This would 'be a point of some importance were it not for the fact that so far as matters have yet gone, (lie shaft svstem lias proved so remarkably reliable that oases of breakage are practically unheard of, and the rendering of tl'e machine, hors lie combat from any cause identified with the transmission'is :i matter which hardly need | he taken into account by the prospective purchaser of a machine so fitted. The. Motor-Cycle Trader (Eng.), predicts | a marked increase in the number of firms adapting shaft transmissions within the next few years.

How tin.' motor car is proving invalniililc in tin' Kmopean war is told loy Mr R. (i. Merry, who ia driving for General Ciounmd of tin; French Army. Mr Merry says: —"I am plunsed to think that I inn doing n.y share for my country and for France. I have long Wen waiting for the opportunity, and now it has come. My fifteen years a* racing manager for the l)unln|> Tyre Com- | panv on the Continent is now very use- I fu lto me, as I know Euro alwepnkd ful to me, as T know Europe well and speak finite a few languages. My first dav of service totalled CfiO kilometres, equal to 372 miles in fihout 10 hours, then 11 (til kilometres, e. t nul to (183 miles without a stop. My total mileage up to (ile ~,..,,,; (!,,:,!,,• 21). is 12.(100 kilometre- ual !o 7.5t2 miles The motor service plays a most important service in thw war. AnrVs and towns are moved by motor car. The French have no fewer thftn 45,000 motor vehicles, so many with chcli Army Corps, each with

i their supplies and travelling repair shops, and staffs almost ready to build a new ear, if necessary. It is a new arm of the service, but it will be quite believed that in this respect the French are right up-to-date. The repair trains are always full of work, for the service Jb much too severe for many cars. Take my own car, for instance. Without consideration of the distance travelled, I have run my engine for days and nights practically without a stop of any importance, and frequently over road? so frightfully cut up that I had to be hauled out of morasses by horses. We have now received sets of hauling rope hid sets of PaH'.iivb chains cogvtae - . with a supply of glycerine for the radiators. This looks «ib if we wove in it for tins winter. I am more than lucky to be driving General Gournatl, a-i I have to fake him 'it-i the very thick of it. Sometimes, it is a little too thick, One night—l shall not forget it in a liurry —for I spent the mog', of it dicing through a huge forest, without any light as the Germans were about. In addition to much obstruction, we were frequently held up by the prone bodies of the dead and wounded lying all over the road, to say nothing of the artillery trains, troops and transport. Dead horses, too, are not nice at night; the poor animals' are having a bad time of it, but thanks to motor cars, they arc spared a lot. Motor cars supply us with light, post, telegraph, food, etc., and indeed the progress of the war would be slower still without them, out sometimes they are too fast. One night the Germans brought 40,000 troops forty miles by i means of motor cars. We have captured many German cars, but they now find it very hard to get any of ours, as we are advancing all the time now. But even when we are retreating, we carried [ the broken down cars with us. lam more pleased than I can tell you to be : in the French Army and to wear the .' French uniform, as I get a big recept-! ion everywhere. My French comrades ' always offer to share anything that J they have to eat or drink, or have their | straw when they are resting, but in addition I have strongly acquired the ■ art of getting quite a refreshing sleep in a car. lam beginning to feel that ' I have almost seen enough of the hor- i rors of this war, and like many others, I shall be glad when we arrive at the finish, which must be in Berlin. Dcs- ' truction reigns everywhere the Germans ! have passed, and we have shot many of i their spies they have left behind. The German shells are bad enough, but from j ■what I have seen our French shells are . even more effective. I will not give any j details, as they are too hoTriblo to mention. It is a- fearful thing to see your officers and friends struck down all round you, but notwithstanding all these trials everybody is as hright and happy as possible, borne up by that; cheering thought of attaining in due course the great end we have m view.".