MOTORING NOTES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 18, 16 July 1920, Page 14

MOTORING NOTES.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE PASTEBOARD SLIPS. We are all familiar with the slips of cardboard now issued by all railway book-ing-offices, but not so the travellers on the first railways. In the old days a wouidbe passertger, when he applied at a book-ing-office, got a slip of paper on which the clerk entered the name of the station, the- traveller's name, and the number rf his seat on the train. One railway, Leicester and Swannington (the oldest line M the modern Midland system) issued bronte tickets, about the s'ze of half-a-crown, and octagonal in shape, The paper tickets were easily lost, and the filling in of the necessary items was extremely tedious — especially when the clerk mislaid his pencil! The bronze tickets were expensive, and liable to he confused with coin, so both types were supplanted by the well-known cardboard slips. Thomas Edmondson, a station-master the Newcastle and Carlisle railway, introduced the modern railway ticket ahout 70 years ago. He knew well the inconvenience of the paper tickets, and conceived the idea of print-ing tickets and numbering them in succession. SIDE-CARS. I wonder how many drivers of a combination are running with their side-cars out of line? It is very easy to te-11 — there is a terrific pull to the left all the time the machiue is in motion, and it is very difficult xndeed to pull the machine around to the right. Even if the side-car is correctly lined up when first fitted, various things may tend to set it out of line later on— rough roads, strain through taking corners too fast, and so on. Not only is such a machine very tiring to drive for any distance, but various things may result from running a combination in that condition. The tyres will be found to wear away much too rapidly, and in time there may be a permanent "set" in the frame of the cycle— usually at the steering head. So, if your side-car has got out of line, it behoves you to set it true once more. LINING UP. There are several ways of doing this, and it all depends on what you have. If you have a garage with boarded floor, it is quite easy. Set the wheels of the machine along one "crack," and with a long lath held against the side-car tyre, see whether this wheel is pointing along another "crack" parallel to the first, If not, the various clips are slackened until the wheel is in line with the other two. If anything, a very slight inclination towards the front wheel may be allowed, as then it will tend to pull straight.