JUNE 2ND, 1906,

THE AUTOCAR B Journal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 554. VoL. XVI.]

SATURDAY, JUNE 2ND, 1906.

[P RICE 3D.

THE AUTOCAR.

(Published Weekly. )

Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United} Kine-dom.

Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Pos(Office.

EDITORIAL OFFICE :

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHING OFFICES :

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

CONTENTS.

PAGE

NOTES: SECRET COMMISSIONS-COMPANY PRnMQTION-{220,000 -ii FOR EXPERIMENTS ... ... . • . ... . . . 691-692 U SEFUL HINTS AND TIPS: MAKESHIFTS ON TouR (cominued) 693 T HE 10 H.P. ADAMS-HEWITT L1GHT CAR (illustrated) ... 694-697 A BACK LIGHT TELL TALE (illustrated) ... 697 T HE FROME's OPEN HILL-CLIMB lillustrated) ... ... . .. 69 -701 To KING ALFONSO. THE MOTORING MONARCH (illustrdted} . 701 THE NEw 45 H.P DABILER CAR (illustrated) . .. . .. 702-704 ON THE ROAD. By Owen John .. . .. . ... 705 TJ<E NEW G. AND A. CARBURETTER (illustrated I ... ... 706-707 IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS . .. .. , ... ... 707 AcCESSIBlLITY tillust r ated)-JOHN-01-GROAT1S AND BACK 708 T HE LAMP AND SPEEDOMETER TRIALS 708 THE SCOTTISH RELIABILITY TRIAL... .. . ... ... 708 CONT INENTAL NOTES AND NEWS: THE CouPE o'OR (illustrated)-

THE CIRCUIT D'AuvERGNl!-THE TouRAiNE A.C. TRIALS-THE TOUR DE FRANCE-HONOUR AMONG BRIGANDS-A FREMCH INDUSTRIAL VEHICLE TRIAL ... . . . .. . ... . .. 709-710 AN O ILY ExPERI!!:NCE- THE LONDON TO EDINBURGH RuN ... . .. 710 CORRESPONORNCE: How WE ARE TREATED -THE GRANO PRIX­

SPRAGS-THE CONSTITUTION OF T H E A.C.G.B.1.-TowINGA 5UGGESTION-Rl':ADERS AND TRADE CORRESPONDENTS- AN EXTRAORDINARY A CCIDENT (illustrated)-A SPRAG T HAT FAILED (illustrated I -MOTORING I N FRANCE-DUST TRIALs-WoMEW DRIVERS-MOTORING IN INDIA (illustrated)-T HE REAL ROAD HOG FOUND AND FINED-T HE AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION SCOUTS -THE LIFE OF GEARS lillustrated)-EFFICJHNCY AND T H F. SMALL CAR-IMPQRTS OF MOTOR CAR PARTS- THE RoAo HoG IN SWITZERLAND-SUMMARY OF OTHER CORRESPONDENCE ... . .. 7Il-7[5 A ERONAUTICAL NoTKS (illustrated) ... - -- .. 716 THE I NTERNATIONAL TOURIST TROPHY RACE, 1906 ... 716 SoMK AUTOMOBILE CLUB TESTI NG MAC HINKS (illu strated) 717 A RuN INTO WALES (illustrated) ... 718-719 T HE DUST QUESTION 719 FLASH•s... ... ... ... .. . ... ... ... ... ... . .. 720-722 CLUB DOINGS: THE MOTOR UNION VISIT TO BlRMJNGHAM (il\us-

trated)-SouTH HARTING HILL-CLIMB-NORTH-EASTERN AUTO· MOBIL E ASSOCIATION- YORKSHIRE A C.-MOTOR CvcLI?- G CLUB - CLUB FIXTURES, ETC. . . . . . . 723-725 S0:-.1& QUERIES AND REPLIES ... 726

"THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES: British hies, 16"- . Abroad (thin 1•..t pt- r edition), 22s. 8d. oer a n num.

/ Notes. Company Promotion. Within the last few months there ha.s been a great deal too much company promotion in connection 1Yith the motor industry. Kot only have an enormous number of companies been registered. but many of them ha1·e been floated. Some have been good and sounct conc-erns. but these ha1·e not ah,·a,·s recei1·ect the most enthusiastic support. Others ha~e been of a nature which makes it extremeh doubtful whether they can eve r make a profit. In this· last catego ry it appears to us must be in cluded the Anglo-Frenc-h Herald Co. How is it that this company has not been floated in France: > There is no difficulty in getting capital for rea lly good motor companies in France, but it appears to us that the purchase price of £67 ,ooo is out of all proportion, considering the position which the company holds in the motor world. It should be clearly understood that we do not wish in any way to belittle its productions, but if the British public are anxious to pay £67,000 to buy a French motor business which may or. may t be worth the money, we can only say t~¥bey ar even more ready to part with thei r money try~n ire i agined.

Secret Commissions. lt seems a pity that the .--\utomobile Club and the ociety of l\lotor :.lanufacturers, 1rnrking in concert, cannot do something to stop the abuse of paid driYers getting commissions from agents and repairers. We are informed by the manager of the Advertisement Department that he is constantly refusing advertisements from London and provincial garage proprietors or repairers, which state plainly that the ad1·ertiser is open to share profits on motor repair work introduced to him by the owner's chauffeur. 1 n fact, there is a great deal too much of this illicit commission business going on. not only in the way we have indicated, but in directions 1Yhere it would scarcely be expected. We ha1·e been assured more than once bi' makers of certain specialities which are admittedly th.; best of their class that they find it quite impossible to cret these things taken up by certain car manufacturers unless they offe r some special inducement to those responsible for buying the material. This applies particularly to electrical fittings and things of that kind- that is to say. parts of the car which are not usually made by the manufacturer of the vehicle, but which he buys from other sources. What is 11·orse, these particular parts are those which. as a rule, ne1·er give troub le when the car is new. Speaking broadly. a poor electrical equipment is almost as good as a superb one for the first few hundred miles. It is when the car has been run over a o- iyen distance that the ad1·antage of a good coil or a good distributer is appreciated. It should be understood we d-o not infer that these malpractices are general, but they are more prevalent than the1· should be. and there appear to be certain firms in 1Yhich ther are winkect at. .--\ t the ame time. it is quite impos~ible for the club or any oth-er borly to entirely stop suc-h prac-tices. because those 1\-ho indulge in them are naturall r ven· careful indeed to c01·er thei r tracks, and in most ·cases are in a positi on to produce documentary evidence which upon the face of it shows nothing to their discredit. Like most other abuses. it will right itse lf in time. Illicit commissions are in most cases only possible because those who suffer from them do not realise that they are suffering; 1rhen they do. they are usually in a position to put a stop to them. This applies as much to fi rms as to individuals. T he master who suffers through tbe malpractices of his servant will put a stop to them, and so will the manufacturer when he realises that he is expected to guarantee his car as a whole. and if he fits anv part to it which is not reasoriably satisfactory in the long run his re putation will su ffer severely.