MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1916, Page 11

MOTOR AND CYCLE

NEWS AND N'OTES. British motorists who grumble at tin! restrictions upon motoring which the Government has imposed owing :to war conditions do not. know when they aro well off. A "state of war" exists in Mexico, too, and General Villa, on a recent occasion, calmly annexed all the motor cars he could find between the City of Mexico and Chihuahua. It. is said that several hundred cars were thus confiscated—not, be it noted, for the use of the army, but for the purpose of raising revenue for the insurgent chief, who loaded them upon railway trains and sent them across the border into Texas for sale to second-hand dealers.

The authorities of the City of St. Louis, U.S.A., arc dealing with "the headlight question in a novel manner. They have decreed that all headlights must be set so as to throw their ray 3 downwards rather than the reverse, and aro imposing a fine on the owners of any cars the rays of whose headlights are thrown mord than 3ft from the ground at 75ft distance. Recently over 200 motorists were arrested for infraction of this regulation, and it is interesting to note that the authorities have provided what they term substantiators" at the police stations where motorists may test their lights. These are Cft planks set vertically at the end of a 75ft black line painted on the pavement, the plank being nnrked oil" in feet and inches. The motorist drives up to the end of the linu and turns on his lights and corrects their adjustment if necessary, and is then provided with a "tag," which prevents his being palled up by an oyer-oliicious constable.

Motor-cycling for latfles is growing in popularity at Home, and it is not an uncommon sight to see ladies running machines in Taranaki. There seems to have been an outburst of fantastic enthusiasm over the proper dress for the pastime in England, and ladies have been portrayed in all sorts of weird garments, from very abbreviated skirts to the special overalls that the man motorist occasionally dons when he thinks he is going to get especially dirty. This is, however, only a phase of the business, and no doubt the ordinary skirt will be found satisfactory enough in most cases. It is no new thing for ladies to drivo motor-cycles in New Zealand, but alt the present there are a. few who are frankly learning the art (both morning and evening). The handling of a motor* cycle is usually attempted by ladies with some reluctance, owing to the numerous controls and ;t<ie added imaginary possibility of falling off, which is more impressive than it is real. Nevertheless, they seem to make quite good and reliable riders after a reasonable amount of practice. u _ » • •

The balance-sheet of the Ford Motor Company just issufcd is an extraordinary document, says The Motor. Whatever wild dreams of success may have been in the mind's eye of some of the early pioneer automobile workers, they could certainly have never thought of such colossal success as that indicated by the returns referred to. Owing to a change in the fiscal year, the period referred to in regard to the figures quoted is only ten months. We give the figures on the assumption that the other two months would have been approximately equivalent in proportion to the turnover foi the ten months dealt with. Upon this basis, the company set aside the extraordinarily large surplus of £18,000,000 odd. This is an increase of some £3,000,000 over the figure for last year, The cash in hand aud at banks item is almost more staggering—certainly more astonishing. It amounts to £13,130,000. The total assets are represented by the enormous sum of £25,750,000, whilst "merchandise" (which means raw and finished materials) at cost, stands at £4,300,000. Buildings and fixtures are a no less extraordinary item at approximately £4,000,000. On the liability side there is an item of £3,750,000 for the reserve fund for profit sharing, which item could, of course, have appeared on the assets side of the balance-sheet, thus increasing the surplus figure to approximately £22,000,0& for the twelve months. • * •

A motoring tragedy which has a lesson for many drivers occurred recently at Beachy Head, England. A yoimg officer temporarily left his car, in which his- wife was sitting. The engine was stopped, and as far as could be remembered by the officer the gears were disengaged. At all events, whether the geara were accidentally engaged (they were afterwards found in the first speed), the lady seems to have been tempted to turn the switch of the self-starter. The car started ofT, and the lady, being of a. nervous disposition and quite ignorant of how to stop the car, couid do nothing. The car ran over a clilT and she was killed. The moral is that special care should be taken to see that the engines of cars fitted with electric starters are free. The Motor suggests that there is an imperative call for a safety device which could very simply be fitted. It would provide that the starting circuit should be broken in two places—at the controlling switch and also at an automatic switch operated by the gear change lever, and only closed when it is in the neutral position. Considering that such an addition would call for extra equipment only to the extent of a few pence, or shillings at most, it will probably be fitted before long. As a matter of fact, almost any motorist handy at "rigging gadgets" could make and apply the device to his own car. Quite apart from accidents such as the Beachy Head tragedy, which was of a character one need not expect to repeat itself, there is always a risk that a starter may be tampered with by unauthorised persons, and a car could easily be smashed up, even if it did not bring in a heavy claim for damages from another party.