M^Y I3rH, 1905.

THE AI.]TOCAR B Sournal publieheD tn tbe interegte of tbe nrecllatticattp propelleD roaD carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No.+99. Vor. XIV.I

SATURDAY, MAY r3rH, r9o5

[Pnrcr 3o

TITE AUTOCAR,

(Published Weekly.)

Rcgistercd as a newspapet for transmission in the United Kingdom. Entered as second-class matter at the New York (N,Y ) Post OfEce'

EDITORIAL OFFICE:

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHING OFFICES:

zo, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND

CONTENTS.

Pec z

Norss: Tss Puautc Outcnv-Tue ALcoHor FUEL IIovEMENT 611'642 Usrrur Hrtrs AND TIPS: Lucx exo rHe TYne BIE--FroooIlc

CARBURETTERS-A Cunr ron Exctlr Kuocttlc-Crurcn MrxIpuLATToN ... ... 643 lfgr Sruus-WsrBEcK CARS (rllustrated) 644-646 OccAsioNAL Gosslp tv " THE AurocRAT " ... -. ... 647 SNowBouND AT EASTERTIME (illustrated) 618-649 Coxrnolrestrrtv oF HoRSE AND MoroR Crn coullnpo... ... ., 649 Tnr Brrxs CARTuRETTER (illustrated) ... ... . ... 619 A Tnrer or AN 8 H.p. RovER (illustrated) ... 650 CoNTTNENTAL NorEs (illustrated) ... 65I-653 ScorrrsH RELIABTLITY Tnters ... .,. ... 654 THE WTNToN Two-sPEED Gean ero Bacx Axre (i lustrated ... 655-656 Tar Dnrven's SIcN^L (illustrated) ,.. ... 656 CoRREspoNDENcE : MoroRrsrs AND THE PuBLlc-Doc-MAIMING HoRSE

DRIVERS-THE Clue exp Moron Acctprlts-PRoPosED OFFENsIvE AND Drrrxsrvp LEAGUE-ADVANTA(iEs' oF PNEUMATIc Tvars-Fex euo Coorsn ARRANGEMENT-CLAsslFIcATIoN FoR SrEED TRIALs-Txu Snow Quesrlos-Tgeuxs FoR AsslsrlNcEPornrs rN Irsunence-Berl- BEARTNGS ron Moron CeasINcoMrETENT Rerereens 657-660 CoNvERsATroNs AT A MoroR ScHooL ,.. ENGLAND v. FRANCE ... .. SoME QUERIEs AND REPLIES

66

I-662

662 663

Frtssrs...

CLUB DoTNGS (illustrated): Crus Flxrunss-FILEY A,C.-LETCESTER-

... 664-666

sHrRE A.C.-BuRNLsy aND DISTRIcT A.C.-BRrrrsH Moton Borr CLUB-BLAcxpoor axo Fvups DtstRIcr A.C.-LTNCoLNsHIRE A,C. -HERTToRDsHIRT A.C,-EntNsuncx M.C.-MeucuEsrER A.C.-RoyAL NoRTH or IRELAND YACHT CLUB 667-668

'Tho Industrlsl v.tttot" srppt"rlr-i[-tuotor Tractiotr," is insorted ln

€ scb copy.

.. THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 'Britisb lsles, I6s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. 8d. per annunr r

^/otes. The \i'ublic outcry. The recent -oto, accidents, particularly the Mark- 'vate affair, and the immense amotrnt of publicity which has beer-r at:i:orcled it, have resulted. as we feared they rvould, ir-r the strrging over the cottntrJ' of a great \\'ave 'of prejudice against motoring. Unfortunatell', the anitude of manl papers, and particrtlarly those of the sensational order, is hostile to motorists. While thev mete out this one-sided treatment' there is very little hope of prrblic prejudice being abated, as everything is being done which can be done to fc.rster it. 'l'he poptrlar halfpenny papers give their readers the inrpression that motors are the most dangeror.ls abonrirrations.'l'his encotlrages their readers io rvrite to them, and to other papers too, f or the matter of that, and to give vent to the mcst virulent prejudice. 'I'his outcry influences the anti-motor or notorietl'-seeking members of Parliament, 'lvho are allva)'s keen for any excuse, not onlv to hamper tire motor movement ?er se, but to do anything which they think rvill pleuse tl-reir constituents. So we find, as we did last rveek, members of Parliament asking all manner of her:kling rltrestiot'ts, lnd suggesting that the present penalties under the Act of r903 are not sufticientlv severe upon motorists. Other rvell-meaning members of Parliarnent are actrtalll misied rvhert thev read the terrilrle tales of alleged at'cirlertts in some' of the papers. 'l'he1.' read the flaring account of an accident, br.rt the report of the inquirr, in rvhich the moto'rist is acquitted of blame is almost al,,r,avs passed over lightlv, if, indeerl, it is reported at all.

We rkr not sav that the rlriver is ahvals acquitted, but in the vrtst majority o,f recent accidents it has been proved to the satisfactiorr of the magistrates that the motorist has not been to blame. When he is to blame thev have great powers at their hands. For driving negligerrtlv or at a dangerous speed, they can fine him dzo for the lirst offeuce, d.5o for the second, or, at their discretion, three months' imprisonment. Surely these penalties are high enough-far higher thar.r for any other form of traffic. If , in his reckless driving, the motorist has done harm to person or property, he must pay damages, and, of course, in extreme cases, ma1'be punished for manslaushter. 'l'het is to say. there is not otrly a set of very high penalties for contravetrtions of the Motor Car Act itself, lrut there is also the com- mon lnrv to rvhich everv man is amenable, and rvhich rightly makes it a verv serious offence indeed for any man to hurt or kill another through recklessness. The long and short of it is that at the present moment there are rrot onlv the ar-rti-motorist members of Parlia- ment causiug trouble, but also tvhat, for lvarlt of a better name. we may call the anti-everything members, r,r,hose main idea is appirrentlv to cttrry favour rvith the ma.n in the gutter, the loafer in the public-house-in fact, any man who ;will do anything rather than earn an horres/ living, l{ut rvho nevertheless has a vote.

rne {rconot {uet Movement. The Autonrobile Clulr lras rtever taken urore thatr a superficial interest in the question of alcohol fuel for motor cars. It appears as a clr,rb to have been quite indifferent as to whether the fuel is marle at home {)r pro<--ured frorn abroad. The Society of }lotor Nlanufacturers has also been verv much behind hand in this matter, but rve are pleased to record the fact that it hrrs recentlv arvakenerl to a sense of the importance of the question. We knoiv that its secreta.ry, Mr. Woorlline, has for some time been investigating the subject, br-rt the societv as a rvhole has not treated it much rnore svmpatheticallv than the club. However,