MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1915, Page 11

MOTOR AND CYCLE

NEWS AND NOTES. Detachable motor-car wheels should be removed periodically and thoroughly cleaned. If they are left in position for many weeks at a stretch there is great danger of rust forming, and thus making it an exceedingly difficult job to detach tliein. As regards the front wheels it is advisable to keep the caps periodically replenished with grease. Two of the best-known racing cyclists of France in Loon Hourlier and L. Comes were recently killed in an aeroplane accident in the Champagne district. Both were attached to the aeroplane squadron on the French front. Among Hourlicr's cycling successes were the championship of France in 1909, 1911 and 1914, whilst lie also won the French j Grand Prix in 1912 and 1914. | Many motorists, but more especially beginners, are apt to under-estimate i':e vital necessity of insurance, and sometimes postpone taking out protection. We know of one man who intended to insure, but delayed doing so. Within the .first fortnight his car was burnt. The danger is much greater in the case of third-party risks, because here the danger'may run into a large sum in case the.victim succumbs to his injuries. It is when one least expects it that accidents happen, and in our opinion the motorist should not drive without being completely covered. Most people insure their houses against fire. It is of far more importance, however, that they should be amply covered when driving a motor-car; the risk is vastly greater. The big .American six days' biejvlc , race held annually every December at Madison Square, New York, has again been decided. An Australian ridei; again figured in the winning team, A. F. Grenda (Tasmania) being the successful rider on this occasion, his team mate being F. Hill, of Boston (U.S.A.) No mileage is given in the cabled results of the race. Australian riders have been particularly successful in this important event of recent years. Last year an Australian combination, in Messrs Goullet and Grenda, was successful, with a total of 2758 miles. In 1913 Goullet teamed with Fogler ('U.S.A.), and won with 2751 miles, while in 1909 and 1911 J. Clark (Australia) also figured in the winning team, in the former event teaming with W. Eutt (German), with a score of 2060 miles, and in the latter with Fogler, covering on that occasion 2718 miles. The early motorists regarded themselves as pioneers. There was a bond of union between them, and in the case of roadside trouble practically every car that came along was pulled up and as- • sistance offered. If the custom were general nowadays it would be an intolerable nuisance to the motorist who may be perhaps changing a spare wheel or making some adjustment to his engine on the roadside. There is still, however, a large proportion of motorists who slow up on passing a car which is stopped by the roadside and ask, "Are you all right?" As a rule motorists who do not need assistance are careful not to look towards the approaching car, while those who do need it can unobtrusively attract the attention of the driver of an approaching car by ceasing work for a moment and looking in his direction. If the driver of the other car is inclined to help, lie once slow down and ask if ho cdK of any use, and we must most cases they do When designer or manufacturer «Wrs appreciate the fact that the grease-rap is still, as it always has been, a source of worry and trouble to the amateur owner? In certain other ways makers have come to realise that car repairing is not the same thing on the road, or even in a motor-house, as it is in a big factory with an army of mechanics and all manner of special tools on hand. From time to time, however, various improvements of detail have been introduced, principally in the way of increased accessibility, which make the lot of a purchaser of a modern car very much brighter than that of his predecessor of a decade or more ago. In this matter of grease cups, however, no improvement whatsoever—subject, perhaps, to an individual exception here and there—has been effected. In many cases the grease cups are so small that continual refilling is essential. WliW cups two or three times as big are ncdj fitted is a. mystery. Again, in moM cases oil caps would afford better lubJß cation and certainly easier work in tending to this necessary detail. j^M Judging by the reports of new and improvements in English jjflH cycles for next year, it is designers and manufacturers active, and in spite of the war 1913 may see many tions. In certain quarters it be thought that for the halt has been called in the gress, but those who know ly happening in the motor-^^^^^^^H aware that there the efforts of designers to still further improve true that some of the announced that in Is att enti on an increasing models more which the is n tercst^^H^^fl^^^^Hß to progress of wise many single tor-cycle many directfl^^^H^^^HlHj^^B In the motor even areas and

ably iu the question as to how far the use of motor vehicles with armies lias rendered tho railways superfluous, or, at all events, of much diminished importance. The motor-car has now ill some shape or another been adapted for every purpose for which railways would havo been indispensable, from the rapid transfer of bodies of troops from one point to another, to the haulage of the heaviest guns. It has also performed a good many serviced that could not have been tendered by any other means, and has simplified vastly the matter of commissarint and munitions and the removal of the wounded. Where railways exist, however, they will be used for various reasons, Hence great as have been the achievements 0 f motor transport 'hitherto, it is far from certain that its possibilites have yet been fully demonstrated. Certain phases of the Russian campaign have shown what tan be done in, the absence of railways, but flic lack in this respect in the Balkans is much more pronounced. Thus the new Balkan struggle may easily be even more interesting from a mechanical transport point of view than anything that has preceded it. Various kinds of material, including linen, silk, cotton, celluloid films and aluminium foil have been tried for covering the wings of aeroplanes, but none lias proved so satisfactory, so far, as linen covered with several coats of a rubber solution. This coating increases the strength of the linen about 5 per cent., makes it more enduring under varying weather conditions, and causes it to stretch to an absolutely smootli surface, a feature this is of the utmost advantage in fast flights. Silk, which would seem to make an ideal covering, on account of its lightness and strength, iias been found unsatisfactory, as it does not withstand exposure to sun and rain, and does not lend itself readily to the application of coating compounds.