MOTOR NOTES.

Progress, Volume II, Issue 2, 1 December 1906, Page 52

MOTOR NOTES.

By " Accumulator."

The only motor cars which were exhibited at the Glasgow Exhibition in 1901 were a 12 h.p. Dennis and an 8 h.p. Argyll. ****** The Automobile Company of N.Z., Ltd., have received advices that owing to the phenomenal demand for the new Ford " N " 4-cylinder 15-18 h.p. runabout, the manufacturers have been compelled to raise the list price of this car fifty per cent. ****** Petrol in France is obtained as easily as " cafe noir." In villages and the smaller towns it is stocked by grocers, at once indicated by tins and signs by the roadside. ****** Many New Zealand motorists think nothing of carrying provender at the rear end of the chassis, where the exhaust plays on the hamper to an extent sufficient to poison the whole party. ****** The first Dennis car of any importance to arrive m the colony will be housed in the Exhibition early in December This car, I understand, is already sold for /1,000/ 1,000 ** ****** The Automobile Co. of New Zealand Ltd , are landing one 6 - cylinder Ford "X " car, which is the first car of its kind to arrive in the colony ; also two of the 4-cylinder 15-18 h p. Ford runabout cars. ****** In carrying spare tubes in a waterproof bag, see that the large thimble cap to the valve is not screwed on so that the pin m the dust cap projects beyond it, otherwise it will perforate the tube sooner or later. ****** Messrs. Holmes & Allen, Wellington inform me that they have been appointed sole New Zealand agents for the well-known Mitchell motor cars. The same firm have also sole control in the colony for the Fairbanks marine and stationary oil engines. ♦ !(C l|l Sp,* $fi A novel type of motor boat has been designed in France for the International Cup races. The hull is an absolutely flat bottom, 8 feet wide amidships ; and the propeller shaft will be altogether exterior to the hull, having its extremities encased in bearings supported by brackets projecting from the keel. ****** It is said that a French automobilist, on paying his first visit to England the other day, when running into London was considerably perplexed at the meaning of a street board reading " Cars stop here." He is said to have stopped, until a passer-by, noticing the situation, informed him that the notice applied to trams only.

What is it goes where the big car won't ? The small car ! What is it goes when the big car don't ? The small car ! What is it costs but a sixth to run, What is it gives you just as much fun, And gets where you want ere the day is done ? Why the small car ! The small car ' ****** Here are three good fundamental rules for getting the best work, with the least consumption, out of your engine • 1. Drive with ignition advanced to the utmost, short of getting engine knock. 2. Admit as much air to the carburetter as possible short of getting misfires. This, of course, only obtains with carburetters in which the air supply is controllable. 3. Never let the engine run hot or be in want of the proper supply of lubricating oil. ****** A man lying in the road near Market Rasen, England, one dark night was run over by a motor car. The owner, Mr. William Chapman, acting

the part of the good Samaritan, attended to the man, informed the police, and in company with a police officer fetched a doctor. The medical man afterwards made a claim of one guinea against the motorist for attending the injured man. The claim, however, was resisted, and the case came before the Market Rasen County Court recently for decision. His Honour, Judge Barker, gave judgment for the motorist, holding that what he had done was an act of kindness. ****** Should a tank or other vessel which has contained petrol require repairs calling for a soldering iron, great care should be taken to clear such tank of any petrol fumes which may remain therein, otherwise there is the possibility of an explosion occurring. Petrol fumes being heavier than air, will remain in any vessel for a considerable time, even though it has an opening to the air. There are several ways of clearing away such fumes,

of which turning the tank with its opening to the lowest point and leaving it so for several hours, is the easiest. Another method is to subject the tank to indirect heat in a similar position to that mentioned ; this is, perhaps, the quickest method, though not always convenient. In any case, it is always advisable to keep it, if a blow lamp is used, as far away from the tank as possible. ****** Some sensible advice was given by the West Kent (Engl.) coroner recently, when after a jury had returned a verdict of " accidental death " on a woman killed by a runaway horse and van startled by a motor wagon, he said that in this instance had the van been left in charge of a boy the accident would probably not have happened, and he stated that in his opinion horse vehicles should not be allowed to stand unattended on busy thoroughfares. ****** It will come as a surprise to many to know that a limited quantity of motor spirit is made in the British Isles from British material. The spirit is not distilled from imported oil, but I understand it is made from shale. Shale is a slaty clay often occurring m the coal measures, and from it paraffin has been extracted m Scotland, and it appears that it is also possible to distil a spirit from the oil thus obtained. ****** The Scott Motor and Cycle Co.'s exhibit at the Exhibition is one of the attractions of the Machinery Hall. There are on view • one 12-14 h.p. Argyll ; two 10-12 h p. 2-cyhnder Argylls, one of which is a doctor's two-seater phaeton with wind screen, and the other a double phaeton with side entrance ; one 18-20 4-cylmder Scott car, a fine London-made

machine, absolutely silent, having an exceptionally flexible running on the high speed, and fitted with a special form of radiator ; one 8 h.p. single-cylinder Reo ; and two 7 h.p. Alcyon cars of French make, each having a single-cylinder engine, and fitted with three speeds forward and a reverse. These latter handy little machines are furnished with hoods, and are to be sold at a very low figure. ****** The enormous demand that exists for motor 'buses and wagons is shown by a letter received, by the last English mail, from Mr. Norman Heath, whose firm is the New Zealand and Australian representative of Messrs. Sydney Straker & Squire, Ltd., of London and Bristol Messrs. Straker & Squire increased their works to three times their former size, so as to enable their entering into the manufacture of delivery vans and motor cars , nevertheless, they found it almost impossible to cope with the rush of orders for motor 'buses and wagons, and have, as a consequence, been paying for some time past over per month in penalties. ****** A correspondent writes: —"A two -cylinder car began to miss while running, so I stopped to find the cause. This was quickly located in a run-down accumulator, and, another being coupled up, that fault was remedied. Happening to cut out each cylinder separately to test the firing, I found that one cylinder would not run nearly as fast as the other. After trimming up the platinum points of the trembler which fired the defaulting cylinder, and adjusting the trembler so as to give the best possible spark, I still found that there was no improvement. Searching further for the cause, it was discovered that one of the wires of the core in the coil was

sticking up above the rest about i-i6m. When this had been filed down level, the trembler was again adjusted, and both cylinders then ran uniformly when tested separately. I have never before had a similar experience, but it must be obvious that with one of the wires of the core standing up higher than was intended, it would be impossible to correctly adjust that trembler." ****** The manner in which the tar method of dealing with the dust nuisance is being taken up in Glamorganshire is most satisfactory, and is well worth the consideration of local bodies m New Zealand. The Bndgend District Council is the latest authority to put tar on its roads. Soon all the urban areas in England and Wales will treat the mam macadamised thoroughfares in their areas m this manner.

At present there seems to be a wide difference in the cost of the tarring m various places. The Cowbridge Town Council and the County Council both employ a method, the cost of which is considerably higher than that used at Porthcawl, where it is found to be cheaper to have the roads tarred than to leave them untreated. Not only do they wear better (the tarrmg need be done only once a year), but the cost of sweeping and watering is saved, and, above all, there is practically no dust. ****** Always carry a piece of bread somewhere on your ear — rye bread for choice. Well, rye bread is difficult of acquisition in this country, so a good wheaten compound must suffice. The bread is not to be stored against a prolonged panne, and consequent famine in the depths of the wilds! but because under certain circumstances the staff of life can be of much avail in directions other than that of alimentation. A slight leak in a radiator can be most efficiently, although temporarily, staunched by means of paste made from bread well kneaded with the fingers Saunier tells how one day, for lack of better material, he caulked a leak in a cylinder water-jacket with this same bread. The paste must be well kneaded, then spread over the leaky part, and worked in with some tool which will do duty as a spatula, just in the same way painters work up their colours on a palette. ****** The Turner-Miesse steamers aie now all being fitted with a new burner regulator which enables the driver to regulate the heat of the generator to any desired extent when the car is standing, or when the full power of the burner is not required. There is no pilot light, no tendency to blow out, the whole arrangement being contained in the main burner itself. This can be instantaneously turned fully up, or lowered to give an extremely small flame ; thus, a start can be made at any moment, no matter how long the car has been standing, with the small flame going. There is an entire absence of the roaring usually produced by these burners when turned low down or when full on It is of interest to note that the idea of this burner was suggested by an amateur owner and regular driver of one of the standard 10 h.p. Turner-Miesse cars The burner has been fully tested for some time and has proved very satisfactory. ***** # The special feature of the Dennis car is the w orm gear, illustrated on another page, and which is a perfectly silent drive and said to be more efficient than any other system adopted. The efficiency is equally displayed whether the worm pinion is

driving the worm wheel, or the worm wheel is driving the pinion. There is not the slightest tendency towards irreversibility. The worm pinion is contained in a specially constructed differential gear box, and runs on each end on most efficient journal and thrust pinions, The worm wheel encircles the differential gear, which is of the parallel pinion type with 6 pinions and 2 star pinions. The rear-axle casing is extended to take the bearings of the road wheels, so that they have an independent bearing on each to support the weight of the car and passengers, and the live axle has to transmit the drive only. ****** The new Dennis motor omnibus, imported by the Automobile Co of New Zealand Ltd., to the order of a Blenheim gentleman, had a trial run

through Wellington recently. Laden with 18 people, it did all that was required of it without any untoward incident The running was nearly slient, practically vibrationless, and the demonstration is reported to have convinced the experts present of the car's practicability for the service it is intended to accommodate. The engine is four-cylinder, giving 24 h p. at 900 revolutions, and 28 h p. when accelerated. The weight of the omnibus is 3 tons, and its landed cost It is calculated that its New Zealand cost of carrying a full complement of passengers will be under ad. per mile, depreciation, repairs, and all other expenses being reckoned in The English cost is under 6d. for 34 passengers per mile.

The Scott Motor and Cycle Co have been appointed sole New Zealand agents for the celebrated Renault cars.