HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19899, 30 May 1936, Page 28 (Supplement)

HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

l'g A COLUMN FOR MOTOBISTS. § “Wammmwmmg

Wi'vwmvwwmv ' REVOLUTION COUNTER. I The tachometer, or engine revolu—tion counter, which is such an essential dashboard instrument on seroplanes and racing motor -cars, 15. as far as privately—owned vehicles are concerned, found only on special sports models. It cannot be denied, however. that. to the man who is really interested in engine performance, it is a \V'Ondm" fully informative gauge, particularly in those modern cars which are fitted with some form of overdrive gear or dual ratio back axle. In these cases it will show the owner in a very illu—minating manner just to what extent he saves in engine wear and tear when the high ratio is in use by giving in exact figures the diiYerence in engine speed for any given road speed as be—tween the high and low ratio. Most, accessory suppliers stock _ “rev.“ counters, and the driver who ' fits one wlll find that it adds very con—siderably 1.0 the interest or motoring. Accommodation for the dial can easily be arranged on the facia board, and the drive can ‘he taken from some suitable exposed driving shaft in the engine. : ÜBI OF BPANNERS. -—e Generally the standard tool kit of a. car contains appropriate set and box spanners for all general purposes, but it is always advisable to carry also a very small and s middle—size . atLiustuble spanner. When dealinz—t‘ with refractory nuts, which are hard to shift, the motorist should be care~ i‘ui always to employ a spanner which fits accurately, so that when heavy pressure is applied it. is not likely to slip and burr the shoulders of the nut. Sometimes it is better to employ a box spanner in preference to a set spanner, since the former makes wider contact, and if a long tommy—bar is used a very powerful turning effort can be exerted. Adjustable spanners are valuable in the absence of one that is not precisely of the right size, or = when a nut has been so burred or its corners “ohewed‘ ‘sway that a. fixed ' spanner will not grip it, but care should be taken to get as wide a contact as possible between the surface and the jaws oi the spanner. Rusted threads often present dim—culties, and it is best in such cases to ‘ squirt a little kerosene, or a mixture 3 of kerosene and light oil, on to the part and allow it to soak in before J attempting to dislodge the nut. An 4‘ easy precaution against this fault is in ' smear the thread with graphite grea v before replacing the nut. and that treatment is specially 'indicated with regard to exposed parts such as the threads of spring and wheel bolts. PRODUCER GAS FOR CARS. After experiments lasting three years, a farmer at Melton. Victoria, has invented a new method of employing producer gas as a fuel for motor vehicles. Charcoal and water are used to make the gas, and the : farmer claims that by his patents 16 lb. of charcoal will furnish as much i power as one gallon of petrol. i Producer gas has been used for in- ‘ ternal combustion engines for many years, but the disadvantages have been regarded generally as outweighing the advantages. The inventor claims to have overcome the necessity for making alterations to the normal petrol engine to provide instantaneous staring from cold, and to have obviatedgthe need for manual manipulation needed with most: other systems. He states that he has found a method of enabling a change over from petrol to producer gas and vice versa to be made at any time with any load. Thus petrol can i be used for starting, and the change over made by pressing a button on - the dashboard when the gas is of suf—ficiently good quality. A two-ton English truck chassis has been equipped with the device, and will shortly be tested under normal I working conditions. T 0 DETEGT SPEEDING. Preventing speeding is considerably more in the interest of safety than punishing Speeders after they Ihave been caught, in the opinion of |Mr Alfred Reeves, vice—president of jt-hc United States Automobile Manu—¢facturers‘ Association. I “If speed tends to increase acciidents, then it is highly important to ,do everything possible to discourage {rather than to encourage speed,” he ‘ .declares. ' l “Motor-cycle patrol ofiicers should gbe equipped with nickel-plated . :machincs and should be dressed in I‘louci. unmistakeable uniforms,‘ and should be right out in plain sight on all streets and highways instead . of hiding up side roads in the hope of catching violators. ‘ "This business of encouraging speed thou arresting~ the speeding driver, is i just like watching bandits go into a. J bank and kill the watchman and then] arresting them when they come out. “on never hear a motor cycle behind; you. or sou :1 motor-cycle cop on the highway. that you do not involuntarily l rut down your speed. Neither does any otlici' driver. ‘ SHOCK ABSORBER CONTROL. 1 __ r i In order that the action of hy-‘ ’ «imiilir shock absorbers might be, regulated suitably to conform to varying: speeds and conditions of runnim‘: ‘ manual controls- operated from the Lnsu‘umenr hoard ot' the car wore in- ‘ trmiucni .\umc iinu‘ 35:0 and nrc now ,- to ho found on svvvrnl makes of l‘al‘. ' 'llic principle of operation is that , \\hcn the driver moves the small con-‘ l irul lover, the adjustment of thel i valves in the shock absorbers is ‘ :iiiurul so that they oil'cr more or loss ‘i't'nlslilill‘l‘ lu the flexing of the springs. in ihc ucw l’liuntoui 11l Rolls» Illuyrv mmlcl ;i \‘L'l'_\' nm’cl device for governing the shock absorbers l.\' cmpluyml; :1 transmission oil pump. I \\‘hirh dclivcrs nil undcr pressure, tho 'prossurc oi‘ the oil in the shock ah—surhors increasing: with ihc spocd‘of the car. and consequently stltl‘enmp: their action. Thcrc is also a supplementary manual control.

WW I NATIONAL DRIVING. _ The application of common sense _ in car driving makes all the differen--5 ence between the good and the indif--3 ferent driver. 5 The good driver is he who cultivates road sense and trains himself to read the road’s own signs. For instance, ; pedestrians crossing a side street _ will often by their behaviour give y warning of the approach of a vehicle 1 from the street long before it is visr ible to the driver. _ On a blind curve the driver can ° often learn from the telegraph posts ' whether the bend in the road is easy t, or acute. The driver with his mind i on his job learns to see sideways 5 without looking sideways, so that he 3 sees the child on the footpath with—- ' out taking his eyes off the road. ; -————-—- ' SPARKS. ‘ ~ l 3 “I saw someone walking over the 3 crossing, but it was not a pedestrian,” said a witness at Highgate Police Court. . It is reported that a well-known tyre firm has made arrangements for large-scale production of gas masks in Britain. g While out riding in Milwaukee, Miss Agnes Kubam, aged 20, was thrown 7 from her horse, but landed unhurt on L the top of a motor car. 1 A battery which is loose in the con ' tainer and jolts about with the move- ! ment of the car often causes cables 3 and ground wires to break. I The story is told of an employee L at a_ Welwyn factory who, although .- earning only £2 105 a week, was able ; to own and run a car. When taxed t with‘this revelation, his explanation , to his suspicious superiors was that L he made enough money to run the - car by rafi'ling his salary each week ; to his 100 or so workmates. i -_.... I A motor highway encircling the Baltic Sea and running through eight different .countries is planned by the Joint Tourist Committee of the North—ern Countries, which has now concluded its international conference at Stockholm. The new route will bei ready in about four years, and will, .enahle tourists to visit eight capitals, icfl‘ering also an extensive variety of‘ .'cnery. l Wipe the windscreen with a sheet of newspaper and see how much better are the results obtained. This is particularly appreciated in the summer time when the glass is so quickly covered with a film of dust. Whilst not particularly noticeable in the day, the dust considerably accentuates dazzle from. other headlamps at night time and increases eye-strain. Pedestrian crossings de\ised by 11. Paul Chassaigne-Coyon, a municipal councillor of Paris, were installed to eliminate the danger of crossing the Champs Elysees. Last month hel was killed on one of his own crossings when he was hit by a taxi cab, ‘this being the second time he had been knocked down on one. He was 80 years of age. An analysis of breakdowns in cars carried out by nit British R.A.C., as a result of roadside service given during 1936, showed that once again the ignition system and axle shafts are the most susceptible parts of a car. Out of over 13,000 cases ignition troubles represented 22.9 per cent. and axle shafts 158 per cent.; carburetion troubles have risen to 6.1 per cent. of the total. Five months ago an entirely new type of Morris van was announced. In that period the demand has been so great that its sales show an increase of over 53 per cent, compared with those of its predecessor during the same period last season. This van, of 10cwt. load capacity, incor~ porates a semi—forward control position, which means that the fullest possible use is made of the chassis space. A carrying capacity of 119 cubic feet is obtained. The combined overseas sales of Morris, Wolseley, Morris-Commercial and MG. products for the first half of the current season (August, 1935, to January, 1936, inclusive) showed an increase of more than 27 per cent. compared with the corresponding period of last season. The territories mainly responsible for this gratifying expansion in orders were Europe, New Zealand, Australia, India (including Burma and Ceylon) and Africa. “She stated that if people wanted to cross the road there they could walk round her car,” stated Trafiic Inspector C. H. Newcombe, in the Timaru Police Court, in prosecuting Sheila Vincent for parking her motor car on a marked pedestrian crossing lane in Stafford Street, “Or climb over ‘ the top of the car,” observed the mag- ] istrate smilingly. The defendant was ’fide 55 and costs. l Motorists who travelled between \\'('lliiigl(ln and Levin during the , Easter holidays were subjected to the annoyance of punctures caused byi small tucks becoming embedded in, the tyres. ()nc motorist was informed i by an ()taki garage proprietor thatl during the holidays he had mended‘ more punctures than for a long time: previously, and tacks and small nailsi i were the cause. He believed the tacks i had been intentionally spread on the} roadside. I “I think that these white posts willi ' eventually solve the problem of dazz-i . ling lights," said Mr S. G. \Vhittall at . a meeting of the oxecutivc of the -iAuLomobile Association (\Vanganui) ' when the question of erecting white ; posts along highways was under con- ; sidcrution. Mr \Vhittall, reports the‘ r'\\'ang:mui Chronicle. said that these i posts were erected right down through - ihc \\'nirnr:\pu and over the Rimu- ' i lnkus to \\'ollin;rlon. lt was a pleas- - I ore to drive along these roads at . l night. Against the dazzling headlights ~ I of approaching vehicles they indicated -lthe edge of the roadway and made ‘' a motorist feel safer. It was decided r to refer the matter to the Roads Com- - mittcc to bring down recommendations to the next executive meeting.