~EPTEM BER 7TH, 1907.

THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publtsbe~ in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelle~ roa~ carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 620. VoL. XIX. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH, r907.

THE A UTOCAR.

(Published Weekly.)

Registered as a n~wspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom,

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

EDITORIAL OFFICE :

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHING OFFICES :

2;1, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.

CONTENTS.

PAG!:

NOTES: EXCESSIVELY C AMBERED ROADS-THE SEQUEL TO AN

AcCIDfiNT

USEFUL Hnns ASD TIPS

THE }ON ES SPEED0'1ETER . .

AN INCREAStNG OUTPUT

PROTECTION FRO l'C THE WEATHFR (IL LUSTRATED ) . .

THE M.U. AND THE A.A .

37y376

. . 377

378-379

. . 3i9

380-38r

. . 382

FITTING AN ADDITIO~AL SEAT

. . 383

TESTS AT BROOKLANDS-THE EFFECT OF \\'EIGHT ON Sl'EED tlLLUS·

TRATED)

TRANSVAAL A.C. RELIABILITY TRIALS

CONTINENTAL NOTES AND NEWS

As OTHERS SEE Us . Bv OwEN J OHS

A DIARY OF MOTORING I N SOUTH AFRICA . .

THE RACES AT BRESCIA CORRESPONDENCE END-TO·END OF I RELAND (I LLUSTRATF.D ) .. AM ER ICAN NOTES

384-385

. . 385

386-387

. . 387

388-390

390-394 395-399 . . 400 . . 400

AFTER 2r,ooo MILES (ILLUSTRATION)-So,tE M OTOR EXPERIESCES . . 4OI C LUB DOINGS (ILLUSTRATED) 402 FLASHES . . 40J•405 MOTORING I N MASAJLAND (ILLUSTRATED } . . . . 406 ANTI-FRICTION M ETAL TESTS (ILLUSTRATED \ · , 407 THE BARNES COMPOUND MOTOR 408-409 ANOTHER SUBSTITUTE FOR PNEUMATICS. 8\· E. H. ARNOTT llLLUS·

TRATFO)

• . 4 I O

"THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES : British Is les, I6s. Abroad (thin paper edi ti o n), 22s. Sd. pe r annum.

Excessively -( ,m~~;ts From time to time we have referred to the excessive cambering or arching of roads in different parts of the country. Most motorists who have done much driving know how great is the care which must be exercised when driving on a road which is too steeply arched. The sad fatality near Sheffiek1 last week will perhaps draw the attention of road authorities who sin in this direction to the danger to which they needless ly expose road users . As we show in a diagram on page 403, the centre of the road at Moscar where the accident took place was r2in. above the side, i .e. , 8½in. more than it should have been . So far as can be gathered, the driver was proceeding quite cautiously, but the combination of a very greasy limestone surface, excessive camber,

and con iderable overhang of the load over the back axle resulted in a side-slip which brought about a colli sion with a telegraph pole and a stone wall, and resulted in the death of two or three people and the injury of several others.

It may be urged, and probably will be urged, that if a road is cambered and greasy one should drive slowly . We quite agree. Every motorist worthy the name a lways does drive slowly under these conditions, but wh at the makers of excessively cambered roads do not recognise is that when such roads are very greasy and excessi,·ely cambered they are practically unusable. More than once in the Cotswolds we have stopped when we have met a car.t coming towards us because we knew by experience that it was really unsafe to be running at the side of the road when meeting any other vehicle . As soon as th e cart ha~ passer! we have gingerly crawled out on the first speed with the wheels slipping badly, and often it has been with difficulty that we have regained the c rown of the road. As to driving on one's proper side, no one dreams of it on these excessively barrelled limestone roads. One only retires to the side when it is absolutely necessary to do so. What makes matters worse is the fact that in the majority of cases roads of excessive camber are made in limestone districts. Material altogether unfit for road making is used, and it is of such a porous nature that it is ass umed, quite wrongly 1Ye consider, th at the proper archi ng or cambering of 6in. must b e greatly exceeded .

The rule of correct road construction is that the crown of the road shall be 6in. higher than the side or gutte r for a road 30ft. wide, and yet we find on the Yloscar road little more than half this width with a. treacherous limestone surface that the crown of the road is about 12in. above the gutter. This is the sec ti on which has been sent us by the makers of the cha r- a-b;;.nc, which, v·e understand, they have taken at the actual spot where the accident occurred, and if this is so, a road constructed to such a contour is a death trap , aQd we pity everyone who uses it from the cyclist to the driver of a huge traction engine. Probably the people who are least inconvenienced are the drivers of heavy farm carts, but such a road, whil e it may not inconvenience the drivers, is terribly hard on the horses , as the tractive effort required to bring the load up on to th e crown of the road every time anothe r vehicle has been met or overtaken is excessive.

Some road engi neers maintain that a large camber is necessa ry, so that water may drain off quickly and not \\'a h all'ay or make holes in the surface of the road, and thus they clai m the cos t of road upkeep is reduced. Thi s ll'o ul d be true if the re were no other factors at work . but it must be remembered that all flat metaltyred ,·ehicles when runnin g on an arched road must from the \'ery nature of the contac t between road and tyre se ri ousl y cut up the road surface, whether they run on the crown or any othe r part of the road, since only the e dge and not the full face of the tyre makes contact. In fact, all flat metal tyres tend to cut slices