CYCLING AND MOTORING.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 May 1916, Page 7

CYCLING AND MOTORING.

NEWS AND NOTES* Many of the present-day motorists in t 11s country ha-ve littlo knowledge of the light lor supremacy in, the early days of motoring between -the petrol and steam-driven cars. Gradually the steam-propelled machines grew less and less, and eventually, as far as pleasure vehicles are concerned, disappeared off our roads. An English writer dealing with the steam car proposition, in commenting upon the failure of this type of car, remarks that the steam car 'is not dead, nor is liUty to be, as long <as the tradition of B/itish interest in steam continues. Though ostensibly dispossessed by the petrol car, which in respects theoretical— not wholly justified m practice—is its superior, the contest so fai lies obscured by issues more or less irrelevant to the mechanics of the rival systems. The next phase of the competition promises to be with the electric battery vehicle, and the issue seems likely to be ÜBabscured, for the public to-day know all that really counts in motor vehicles, as well, if not as minutely, as the makers and sellers of them. Regarding the failure of the steam car to "make good" eommereially, many reasons, some of them merely plausible excuses, have been offered. For some critics their control involved too much tap twiddling, another set complained of delay in getting up steam, a third party found the radius of travel per charge of water too limited, while others found a difficulty with the more or less self-con-trolling 'burner. Few users of these cars complained of their being expensive to repair, in so far as they wore badly, but some resented the cost of the parts and the vicissitudes incidental to some makes. It has been stated that the ignorance or ineptitude of garage people was-a cause of decadence of the steam car, but probably it would be nearer the truth to point out that for the most part such cars did not come into trade repairers' hands, being either wholly the playthings sf their owners, or sent to headquarters when an overhaul was needed Either circumstance would explain away the garage man's seeming blame. Generally speaking, it would seem that the very virtue of the steam car, its simplicity and long service without attention, contributed to its undoing, since, for the most part, the buyer of a petrol car begins with the obsession—sedulously fostered by "instruction" books and the like—-that its details require a more or less constant attention, while the steam vehicle man neither was catered for by the literature referred to, nor too well encouraged by the makers to give the small attention to such details as the. burner, and cleansing oil filters and the like, on which the successful working of the steamer almost entirely depended. In the gradual evolution of the modern motor-car the original "oil-hole" was soon superseded by the oil-cup, and the serew-down grease cup, which undoubtedly was a great improvement. Xow there has been patented a new device which bids fair to supersede grease cups —at least on cars, and probably on other machinery. This novel device has been patented in Great Britain and is an adaptation of the well-known collapsible lead capsules, so widely used for artists' colors, druggists' products, paste, etc. The capsules are provided with a screw thread which is screwed into an adapter, which in turn is fastened to the part to he lubricated. The lead capsule and the 'brass adapter make a tight joint, and aU that is necessary is to apply pressure from time to time, as desired. When the grease capsule is emptied, one merely unscrews it and puts a new one in its place. No refilling is necessary, and the pressure of the fingers is usually sufficient to force the grease into the bearing. Anyone who has attempted to fill an ordinary grease-cup will appreciate this sug-1 gestion. |

Aii American motor vehicle of a comparatively now but small type recently performed a remarkable haulage feat at the front. A gun, 20ft long, weighing over 20 tons, was hauled over 11 miles of poor roads in one and a-half hours, as against a day and a-half, by the ordinary means. It is extremely doubtful if many of us in this country realise the stupendous tasks being successfully carried though by the petrol motors, and from reports to hand from all directions, it is very evident that the longer the war continues the greater the dependence on the motor for all descriptions of work. An effort is apparently to be made by several of the motor-ear manufacturers of America to force Australian agents to accept their cars fitted with the "straight edge" type of tyre rim, in place of the "clinch" rim which has been standard in Europe and Australia practically since the start of the motor industry . In America the straight-edge rim has of late come into considerable prominence, and most of the leading tyre houses market two types of covers to meet requirements. In Australasia only the clinch rim has been used, it being everywhere recognised as standard, the result ibeing that all tyre-makers and agents arc enabled to carry stock's of various makes of tyres to lit the standard rims. Since the war commenced, the American motor firms have been practically supplying the majority of the cars miming into this country. In all cases tin; cars have been ordered from the manufacturers with clinch rims to suit Australian conditions, and invariably they have been iitted, but with j the ascendancy of the American trade a change lias recently come over the scene, and evidently an organised effort is being made to force the American type of rim, and with it the American tyre, on to the Australian market. A moment's consideration will bring home to motorists what this movement threatens. To start with, if most of the American machines coining into Australasia are to be equipped with straight edged rims and tyres, then two distinctive types of motor covers would have to be stocked right through this country. To traders this means carrying practically double stocks. Failing this, the purchaser of an American car with straight-edge rims would be likely to find himself stranded, Vcause his rims were not according to the European standard. It is not likely that the motor traders of Australia and Xew Zealand are going to meekly submit to the latest move of some of the big American makers, and already the various traders' associations, recognising the seriousness of the position, have the matter in hand. \