f'eBR WARYji7TH :1906.

THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publisbeb in tbe interests of the mecba.nicall\? propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 539. VoL. XVI. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH, 1906. [PRICE 3D.

THE AUTOCAR.

(Published Weekly.)

Reg.:stered as a n•wspap er for transmi~sior. in the United Kingdom.

h.ntered as sccon1-ciass matter at the New Yoc,;. (N.Y.) Post Office.

EDITORIAL OFFICE :

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHING OFFICES:

2 0 , TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.

CONTENTS

PAGE

NOTF.S: UNOFFICIAL TRIALS-MOTOR ROADS-A RACECOURSE-

G,0.1 KLING JN MOTOR SHARl:S... ... .. . ... ... . . . . .. 195-196 U~E!'UL HINTS AND TtPS: ACETVLENF. L,UfP TUBING-LEATHER

Cov1rns FOR UN1veRsAL Jo1NTS tillustrated)-BALL BKARINGs AND D ISTANCE SPRINGS-Loss OF ENGINE POWER-STARTING DARRACQS .. . .. .. . 197 ON THR RoAD. By Owen John 198 A 200 M1Les CoNi;;uMPTtoN TEsT ... ... . .. .. . 199 A W1Nre:• ·s DAY RuN. By the Maid of Orleans ... ... 200-2QI BALANCING OF PeTROL E~GtNES (continued) ... ... ... . .. 202-204 CuNTINKNTAL NoTES ASD NKWS: CoN~UMPTJON TESTS, 62 MILES

ON Two G ALLONS 1illustrated 1- THE DRJVY.R T H E M AIN FACTOR -THE EUROPEAN CIRCUIT-THE GRAND PRIX-AN lNTF.RESTJNG W AR CAR (illustrated)-CouNTRY CLUBS AND THE GRAND PRIX .. ... . .. ... ... ... ... ... ... . .. 205-207 A MILITARY MOTOR AMBULANCE (illustrated) 208 T HE Gu~ntATOR CoMPETJTION . .. . .. . .. . . ... 208 A SUBSTANTIAL IGNITION Ct:LL-THI!: TYRI! AND LAMP TRIALS ... 2ll , . SOMR UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN MOTOR ENr.JNERRING.'' A Paper by Lieut.-Col. R. E. Crompton ... .. ... ... ... ... 2I0-2II THE INSURANCJ! OF MOTOR CARS ... ... ... ... . .. 211-212 A VICTORY FOR STEAM-AN INTl!:RESTING POLICE CASE .. . ... 212 CORR!!<;PlJNDENCK; ENGINK COOLING I N AUSTRALIA-THE ETIQUETTE

OF THE HORN-KARLY OIL ENGINES-SIZE OF EXHAU~T VALVi!:S - HILL-CLIMBING AT EDINliURGH-NATURAL C u tCULATJ0N- A OJCTOR1S SMALL CAR-Wt!ATHKR·PRQOF UPHOLSTERY- THE STANLEY STKAM C AR-AERIAL l\AVIGATION-A MISTAKE SoMEWHERt!:-ENGLJsH AND FRENCH CARS-TAIL LAMP TKOURLl!;MoTOR CARS FOR SOUTH AFRICA- DRIVING APRONS-SUMMARY OF CORRERPONOENCE ... ... ,,. . . .. 213-217 T HE ITALIAN RELIABILITY TRIALS ... 218 UNOFFICIAL Ttt!ALS . . . .. . .. . 218 T HE FrAT SHOOTING BRAKE (illustrated) 219 THE Mo roR INDUSTRY ... .. . ... 219 FLASHKS . .. .. . ... ... ... 220-222 SOME Qu1rnJES AND RKPLJES... ... ... ... ... .. . 223 T ,u, MOSEUY NoN-SKID ANTI-SLIP RUBBKR RETREAD (illustrated) 224 THE C UBAN M&ETING-MANCHESTER SHOW ... .. . ... ... 224 P<TR0L MoToRs (continued) .. . ... 225-225 CLUB D01NGS ... ... ... 225

"THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES. British Isles, 16s. Abroad (thin pa er edition), 22s. 8d. per annum.

{ nofficia..c;als~ Of eS. We are informed that the Automobile Club is no1r taking definite action to discourage unofficial trials. It 11·i ll preYent all car which take part in unoffi cial trials from entering, or in a ny 1ray taking part in, any competition organised by or held under the au. pices of the club. Till we know further details of the working of the pre1·entiYe measures we resen ·e comment. In the meantime, we understand that the c-lub is carefu ll y i1westigating the cost to th e entrant for an offici al tri a l 1rith a ,-ie1Y to reducing the obsen ·ing fees, if possible. It should be clearly understood that this matter is not one of profit. \,V e mean to say. the club is not desirous of more than paying expenses so far as the observati o,n of motor trials is concerned. What it is interested in is th e maintenance of reliabl e records. so that the mo•to r world may not be in any 1rny misl ed by performances 11" hi 1·h may be claimed for certa in rars though the1 haYe been rnuched fo r 11·holl: o r partl: by interested persons.

~ ot only so . but as 1\'e hal'e pointed out before, th L offi cially obsen·ed trial s do not end 1rith the behal'iuur of a car upon the road. E1·ery day, after the conclusion of its run. it is gi1·en up by its dri1·er to the club o ffi cials. who lock it up till the next morning, so that nothing can be dune to it except under obsen ·ation of the o ffi c ials. l t appears to u.- to be to the interest of everyone concerned that the club should be loya lly supported in its endea1·our to keep long-distanC'e motor trials above suspicion. \\.hil e they are ob. en ·erl by the promoters. many 1Yill cast doubt upon them. howe1·er honourably th ey may be conducted, whil e trials 1rhich ma) be shre1nll: suspected of incompleteness in one 1ra) or another 1ril l recei1·e no greater discredit than the honest unoffi cial trial. The only 1rny to remedy this is for the public to be educated to refuse to recog11ise any tri7s 1rhich are not carried out uncler entire ly disinterestfl observation.

Motor Roads. The foolish project of the motor road from Cru1 don tu Brighton has been temporarily dropped, a; the promoters have announced through their agent that they 1rill not apply fo r Parliamentary po1rers this sessio n. This is a 1·erY 11·i e decision. A motor road is absolutely unnecessa'ry , and at the present time undesirable, particularly such a motor road as it was understood the Brighton route was to be. The idea was that the gradients should be reduced in el'er) pos ilil e way and the road engineered more or less after th e styl e of a rai ilrny. 1r ith cuttings and embankments. \\'e forget 1rhether tunnels were included 'in the programme or not, lrn t this is immaterial after all, as th e main idea was lo build a road which should l..,e q ui te unsuitable for pleasure motoring. Imagine th e tedium of clri1·i11g to Brighton or any1rbere else on a nearil· level road, which, like the average raihray, 1rould keep as far as possible to the low levels of < the countrl', and from which a really extensive view would ne1·er be obtained.

So far as the motor car is concerned the aYerage road as it stands is needless ly well graded; it would noL matter a bit if many of the hills were steeper and longer if it 11·ere not for considerations of ho-rse traffi c . There is nothing to equal the Roman roads, 1rhicb more or less ignore gradients. and go straight over hilf and dale. The .great point in their farnur is that they are straight. and, passing as they do 01·er the bi lls. the 1·ie1rs from them are magnificent. What is wanted at the moment is not motor roads, but the improvement of th e present roads. particularly in the way of eliminating the dangerous element at c rners and crossings. while in many places judicious widening 1rould be appreciated by all cla ses of users. This kind of irnpro1·eme11t can be effected 11·ith out seeking fo r additional Parliamentary powers.