] U)il E 30TH, 19()6.
"'
THE AUTOCAR a 3ournal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall~ propelleb roab carriage.
EDITl::D BY H. WALTER 8TANER.
No. 558. VoL. XVI.]
SATURDAY, JUNE 30TH, 1906.
[PRICE 3D.
THE AUTOCAR.
(Published Weekly.)
Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom.
Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Poc.t Office.
EDITORIAL OFFICE :
COVENTRY.
PUBLISHING OFFICES :
" 20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
NoTES: A: >atATtVR SroRT-CLCMSY DRl\'ING . . USEFUL HINTS A~'D TIPS: 0:,,: A0JUSTl~G :\JAGNETOS- Too SMALL
A CARBURETTER-BAD LLDIBING StDEGCARDS THE SOUTH HARTING HILL-CLDIB (?llustrated) .. THE G.J .J. ELECTRIC TAIL LAMP Ixo1CATOR (illustrated) THE 32 H.P. S1DDELEY CAR (illustrated) .. THE OPEXI~G OF THE >i'EW ARGYLL \\'oRKS (ilJustratcd) COPPER IN ACETYLENE LA: >alPS THE RACE FOR THE GRAND PR1x A.C.F. (illustrated) . .
835 36-339 - - 839 S-10-843 b4 1·845
A NEw DusT LAYER . .
ON THE ROAD. Bv OwEN JOHN . .
852
. . 853
A CONTINUOUS I NDICATOR FOR H1GH·SPEED ENGINES {i llustr.1ted) . . 854 THE NEW PoGNO!'o' PLUG (i llustrated) 854 CORRESPONDENCE: PROPOSED SOCIETY OF ALCOHOL RESEARCH- THE
TOURIST TROPHY RULES-MOTORISTS ANO CYCLISTS ON THE H0AD -V0JTURETTE TRIALS IN FRANCE-\VOMEN DRIVERS- MOTOR CAMPING- TYRE TROUBLES- TYRE TEsTs- S1x·cYLINDERs r . FouRCVLINDERS-ON THE ROAD : THE ROAD CLUB-ON THE ROAD: H OTELS ANO REPAIRERS- H OTELS-OBTAINING A LICENSE-THE A.A. CvCLIST PATROLS-THE ::'\'Ew 45 H.P. DAtMLERS- THE H ERKOMER CoMPETITION- SPRAGS (illustrated)-M .'.\I.C. CARSTHE fLYING PROBLEM-THE SCOTTISH KELIABILITY TRIALSSUMMARY OF OTHER CORRESPONDENCE. . b55· 59 AERONAUTICAL NOTES 860 THE I RISH AuTO:MOBILE CLUB TRIALS (lllustrared) . . . . 861 A LONG DRIVE IN AUSTRALIA (illustrated} 62 TUBULAR FRAMES 862 THE BALANCING OF PETROL ENGINE , BY ARCHIBALD SHARP 863-864 OCCASIONAL GosSJP. BY "THE AUTOCRAT" . . 864 FLASHES , . 865-867 A SEVERE RELIABILITY TRIAL . . 86 lN THE H ousE OF COMMONS . . 868 CLUB DOINGS . • 869-870
"THE AUTOCAR" SUBSCRIPTION RATES : British Isles, I6s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. 8d. per annum.
/ / Notes. Amateur Sport.
It will be seen from the cr1t1nsms on the Herkomer Trophy competition which appeared in The .d.iitocar last we k that the conditions were not all that could be wished so fa r a, genuine sport was concerned. At first sight one is inclined to blame the professional element for this, and if the 1rord " professional " is used to ignify someone who is interested in the manufacture or sale of the car h is driving, it must be admitted that the Herkomer competition, like many others, had a great number of professionals in it. On the other hand, the word " professional " is often used in the wrong s nse. People seem to think that a professional is a man who does a thing well because he is paid to do it, and that an amateur is a man ,Yho does a thing badly because he is not paid to do it, but doe it because it amuses him. Yet if a moment's consideration be given to the matter it is quite evident that many amateurs in all sorts of pursuits are at lea t as skilful as professionals. \Ve mention this matter because some 1,eople object to meeting professional drivers in competitions. \\"e do not blame them if the profes ional drivers misbehave themselves, but it appears to u that the whole que tion resolves itself into one ot management. If a competition is properly managed and the rule, are properly enforced there is no opportunity for misbeha1·iour on the part of any competitor. because he is disqualified. If 1ye take the Herkomer competition a a ea e in point. it will be seen that the real grievance was that the breaker of rule was not summarily dealt with as he should have been.
We ha1·e often thought that it would be a very good thing if certain competitions could be promoted in which the private owner alone would be allowed to compete, but there are many difficulti s in the way, and the greatest difficulty of all i the fact that some makers at least would endeavour to take part in the competition under false pretence . They would not enter themselves, of course, because they would be recognised, but they would put up some dummy who would po e a a private owner. After all, the only real hardship in the direct competition between tht makers' man and the legitimate owner is in the fact that the car ,entered by the maker may be more thoroughly tuned up than the car owned by the a 1·erage amateur. This is a real grievance. as it mainly applies to the owners of mall machines who look after their cars themseh·es and perhaps have not very much time for the work. That i to say, it does not .affect the owner:s of cars which can only be bought by wealthy men. For these cars a good mechanic is always kept, and if he is worth his salt and is given a fair chance by his employer he can keep his engine in a good trim as any car of the same power which may come out of the factory. Of rnurse, if he is not sufficiently 1vell qualified, or if his ma ter uses the car to such an extent that he has no time to keep it in proper trim, the matter is different, but. speaking broadly. there is no hard hip in the intermingling of the amateur and professional classes in motor competitions so long as the rules of sport are observed.
There is a popular delusion among many owners that all works dri,·er are great experts in car manipuJa. tion, but there is no doubt whatever that an amateur dri1·er who is fond of his car can get as much out of it as any uther man, and more than the majority of works dri,·ers. The best of them are only his equals, and it is far pleasanter for him to meet in a competition a man who is openly a professional \han to compete against people some of whom at least pose a amateurs but who are nothing of the sort. At the ame time, we think certain manufacturers in their own interests should exercise more care than the¥
