MOTOR AND CYCLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 December 1917, Page 3

MOTOR AND CYCLE.

NEWS AND XOTE.S. .A very f' lie motor-cycle performance lias hi-ei, recorded in South Africa by Mesfi's .McKcag and Wright on a "Royal Enlield" hidecar combination. The rough .journey from Johannesburg to Durban, some 421 miles, v/aa negotiated in H hours I- minuter. Seven attempts iiave since been made to cut those figures but all failed.

After a careful investigation of the petrol situation in America the ffirector of tiie Bureau of Mines o! the Department of the Intciior, has issued the following statement:—-One hah" of the petrol used in the United States i 1,250,000,000 gallons) is used in pleasure riding. It is estimated that the United States Army will need 350,000,000 gallons for aeroplanes, trucks, automobile tractors, and other machines. There is no way of obtaining this in the country ex* cept bv saving from the existing n'pply, and this economy may be procured >by voluntary cutting down of pleasure riding (for instance, the man who takes his family Out on Sunday for a 50-mile ride can cut, this in half). It has been estimated that by economical use enough gasoline can be saved to supply not < lily tiie United States but also its" allies for war purposes. The following suggestions should be observed by automobile owners: Do not allow engines to run ie'le. Tjse kerosene, not petrol, for cleaning purposes in the garage. See to it that the carburettor does not leak. Form the habit of shutting off the uetro! at the tank. By judicious regulation of the mixture of petrol and air in the motor, both greater power and economy of fuel may be obtained. Automobile owners need not lay up ears, but should use for trade or pleasure purposes" thoughtfully and judiciously. If this advice is followed there will be no endue scarcity, for the United States possesses an abundant supply for ordinary purposes.

The statement is often heard that braking action has a deleterious effect upon cycle tyres, the itlea being somewhat prevalent that in some way the braking strain is taken at the point of the tyre's contact with the road. A little reflection, however, should make it obvious that tl-is can only to true when the wheel is actually'locked and skidded. So long as this does not occur the only effect of the brake is to cause the wheel to revolve more slowly and eventually come to a standstill." The rim and spoke; take the strain, and the eontact of the tyre with the road remains perfectly normal.

Despite the war activities in France road racing is still carried on to a limited degree. Some of the big classics have had io be abandoned, owing to the routs.? being within the fighting zone, but still several of the most important events have been decided, but not v ith all the old-time cracks competing for many 'have made the great sacrifice Che of the long distance events recently decided was the Trouville-Pa-is race, over a distance of 1-241-5 miles. H. Pelisser, the French road champion, proved the' victor, in the good time of 0 hours 23 minutes 294-5 seconds.

It K estimated that America will train 10,000 motor cyclists for service with her arm;- in France.

Presumably not an ounce of new rubber gets into Germany from overseas, yet somehow, so far as military requirements are concerned, there seem to be supplies of it—or else of a substitute— available Has German,- solved the artificial rubber question? Circumstantial reports from America some months ago stated definitely that it had been solved, and as satisfactorily as the cotton problem. It occasionally happens that when motorists fill fl)e radiator or tank hurriedly the filled cap is not properly replaced, and becoming loosened bv vibration it falls off and is lost. A simple device to prevent this consists of a short length of brass chain attached to the filler cap by a s?™" small bolt, £'ikl also in a like manner to the ladiatrr or petrol tank as the case mav be It it is not easy to attach the chain to the radiator or tank by a screw, it may be niflicieni to pass a loop of the chain round the projecting lip of the filler orifice or to so'./er the chain to the radiator Another devico is to fix the chain to the filled cap on the inside and to attach to the free end of th» dm,in a stout pi:>ce of , brass wire or rod of greater length than the diameter cf the filled orifice The chain and rod are then allowed to hang inside tKcTiank and in the event of tlw cap becoming detached the rod is pulled across the filled orifice and tio. cap saved from falling off the car. This seconfl method is not absolutely safe as the rod, being made to enter it, can also leave the orifice, but in practice, it is not easy to pull the rod out without guiding it through. There is no doubt that many car hoods i wear quickly through being folded down car-'lessly. The chief point is to get the hood folds as far back as possible and to see that none of the fabric is nipped Y any extension clip. Most hoods are the better for being strapped down firmly when not in use.

The Qreat scheme or standardisation of tee 100.000 American aeroplanes is now in full swing. The U.S. Government has obtained the services of thousands of firms engaged in the manufacture of the lighter slass of metal work, such as typewriters, cash registers, and sewing machines. All these firms are now at work day and night in turning out the million of parts recft>lred. An amy of 150,000 aviation officers and men* are to bs trained to handle and look' after these machines.

Man may seem a pigmy by the side of the marvels he lias created, yet nothing has been more remarkable in the history of locomotion than - the way in which the human brain and physique have maintained their ascendancy throughout; Pioneer motorists will remeniber how wonderful it seemed when a motor-car first attained a speed' of sixty miles an hour. Yet it is riow many years since S. F. Edge went round the clock at an average 0 f sixty-five, although a wellknown specialist had declared that the human brain was quite unequal to controlling a motor-car at sixty miles an hour for more than a few minutes at the outside. It is a good long time, too, smce two miles' a minute was first accomplished on the Florida Beach, and •even the hundred miles within the hour at Brooklands is now an ancient record. Tlt~ annual balance sheet of the Ford Motor Company has been issued, and shows some remarkaffie figures for the fiscal year ending July, 1917. The business transacted for the 12 months exceeded £70,000,000, and 785,432 oars were made and sold, showing an increase of The average daily output of Fords was 2CIB. With new plant going into operation in October the daily output was anticipated to reach SOOO cars. Employees munfber 37,000. Cash o» hand, including Ibanlf deposits, amount to over £9,000,000. The company anticipates a big increase in ibuainws for 1817-1918, as in addition to makingiV jto I* M MW. b-Wimm*,#

thousands of aeroplane cylinders for the American Government, also 40,000 war trucks and thousands of ambulances. It is interesting to note that in 1903-4 the output'of the company for the year was only 1700 cars, just about hall of 'the greatest daily output of this now gigantic concern.

Then flying introduced new problems; and when the mastery of the air was finally obtained the question of high speed arose once more. There are machines now in existence on which it is possible to attain a flying speed of 145 to 150 miles an hour, and this means that, with a gale behind, the 200-miles mark may at times be passed, while drives may even be brought off at a speed considerably in excess of that figure. Still the human brain and human physique have proved equal to the demands upon them of pure speed. Now, however, a new factor has arisen. The aeroplane is not merely fast; it can climb to heights that were once undreamt of. The exigencies of air-fight-ing liavn made it necessary for the field of action to go higher and higher as the war has dragged on, and the machines themselves havo been continuously improved until it is not out of the way for fighting scouts to fly as high as 20,000 feet. But alpinists well know that every thousand feet tells where respiration is concerned, and aviators being able to climb still higher than the loftiest AFp, are now finding that in some cases the 'human factor must needs be reckoned with in a way that has hitherto been unknown-. The number of men who can move in comfort at 15,000 feet is gradually reduced at each succeeding stage beyond that altitude; and when it comes to '20,000 feet and over the machine itself, in some eases, is more efficient than the man. 1

An English pilot was invalided home as the result of high flying, and, when he had apparently recovered, and went out over an English aerodrome, he found himself unequal even to a moderate effort and came down with a crash. At last, therefore, man has produced a machine which may be greater than himself, save in exceptional instances, and it will be necessary to exercise great care in the choice of men fitted for the* task. But the interesting point that still remains is this—so far, no one has evolved a motor-car too powerful for a man to drive. Will aeroplane construction progress until the machine itself will be able to attain a height beyond the pilot's faculties?

Several cases have recefitly been reported where motorists have /had their spare cover and even spar wheel, stolen from their car whilst standing on tlie roadway. Considering that a detachable 1 spare whepl and tyre runs into anything ifrom £2O to £3O, this means a serious loss, and worse still in some cases duplicate spare wheels have not been available, necessitating the heavy expense of having same made locally. It therefore beihoves motorists to pay more at-, tention to the "chaining up" of their essential spares, and a few shillings spent on a padlock and clipn is an efficient ami cheap insurance against the depredations of the gentry who are now turning their attention in this direction. It will surprise many people to learn what a small net profit is made on every Ford car mad*?. The actual factory profit per car ia only about £5 ss, a maTgin that appears remarkably small, but multiply it by the 311,933 cars made by the Fort Co, for the first five months of 191"7 and the net profit assumes, huge proportions. In May last' the output of Fords was 83,616, or at the rate of over a million a year. If these figures a,re maintained it represents over £6,000.000 factory profit. It would foe interesting to know what the selling profit 011 Fords throughout the world amounts to. The Ford Co. employs 37,000 men, two thirds of whom are likely to 'be called to arms but as the company has a waiting list of over 2&000 applicants (the lowest wages are £1 per day) tlieworksjire not likely to be shorthanded for long.