,
SAtuRDAY, Oc1'oBER .l Nt >, 1909.
THE AUTOCAR a 3ournal publtabeb in tbe tntereats of tbe mecbantcaU\? propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANEl'l.
No. 728. VoL. XXIII.] SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2ND, 1909.
[ 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. ) Post Office.
Three Editions every Friday.
The THREEPENNY EDITION. printed on Art Paper. The PENNY EDITION, printed upon thinner paper. The FOREIGN EDITION, price 3d., printed on thin paper for transmission abroad.
Editorial Office :
COVENTRY.
Publishing Offices :
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C. , England.
CONTENTS. NOTES
TI-I F. GRANTOWN-ON-SPEY SPEED LtMIT- l\I ERI0N ETHSHIRE J US-
TICES :\CCEPT DEFEAT AT LAST • .
USEFUL HINTE AN D TIPS. .
PAGll
507-508
508
soy
THE 1 2 -1 5 l-1 ° ANHARD (AR (ILLUSTRATED)
e Autocar League" . .
B ODY DESI~N AND CONSTRUCTION (l LLUSTRATED}..
NoTT1NGl--tAM A.C. CRIPPLES' OuTING (ILLUSTRATED)
ON THE TRACK
:\(OTOR l:3oov B UILDING (ILLUSTRATED)
.. 5 10- 5 I I
. . 512-514
515
• . 516-517
517
5 18 - 522
OVERI-IAULING A (AR ( lLLUSTRATED) • .
522-523
Sm,IE INTERESTING PATE:-JTS {lLLUSTRATED)-A VARIABLE
STROKE MOTOR (ILLUSTRATED)
MOTOr.. UNION ~OTES
SMALL CAR TALK • •
THE ADNIL ELECTRIC HORN ( ILLUSTRATED)..
524
525
. . 526-527
528
CORRESPONDENCE • •
FL'5HES
C1ue DOINGS ( ILLU'STRATED) • '
• • 533-538
.. 539-540
• • 541-542
Subscription Rates :
B:·itish Isles-Home Edition, 16s.; penuy (thiu paper rditio11L 6s. 6d .
Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. Sd. per annum.
Index to Advertisements appears on page 38.
Notes. Two Important Principles. Two important principles for which we ha1·e con tended in our columns have been accepted by Parliament within the last few clays. First, with regard to the Road Bill, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has consented to amend the Bill in two important respects. The po11·ers to make new road for motor traffi c alone 1rill be omitted, so that a ll roads made or improved by the new Road Board will be open to all traffic alike. Th::: lZoa cl Board "·ill also ll'Or k for facilitating road traffic generall y, and not, as the Bill ,ms drafted, to pr01·icle for motor traffi c only . This is a principle which we a re extremely glad to see accepted, as we are convinced that more harm would hal'e re ulted if the principle had once been accepted and adopted that motor cars require special roads for their exclusive use.
As it is , the mere suggestion has done considerablP damage to automobilism . Further than that it is. after all, a question of commonsense. We say this wit]~ no disrespect to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but ire ha1· held from the first that any impr01·ement ll'hich faci litated motor traffic must necessarily be for tlw benefit of all traffic. Tncleecl, 11·e 1rnulcl go further anti say that, if impr01·ements 111 the roads wert required for motor traffi c only, it 11·ould not be right to expect ratepayers at large to find the money for them. For insta nce, waterproof and dustless roaclr. are, as a matter of fact, of far more benefit to other road users than to motorists. The straightening out of needless corners. the cutting clown of hedges at danger ous cro s-roacls, and so on are all impro1·ements i1 : 1rhich e1·ery road user participates .
.\Ir. Lloyd George has also made another proposa 1
which authorises an officer of the Army .\1otor R;,se1T: to obtain an abatement of the duty in respect of t';1Ch clay hi~ motnr is usecl for a rmy purposes. This i, on ly fau, and we ha,·e no doubt that 11·hen the Territorial Reserve scheme, in which motorists are i111·itcd to participate, is deYeloped further some similar proYision will be made in the case of those motorists 11·h,1 bernrn members of the Territorial Resen·e anrl plau · their cars at the disposal of the War Of1i('t'. Thi" again is a concession which is not onlv in accordance 11·ith commonsense, but also with sentiment, as it· would not have been fair that those motorists who were 11·illing to devote their cars to the service of their countn shou ld pay the same as those 1rho decided to ha1·c nothing whatever to do 11·ith home defence.
A Good Example. A magistrate who, in addition to being a resident in a county which is a little too celebrated for its poli ct· traps, is also a motorist was struck recently with the idea that it would be a goocl plan if he could persuade his non-motoring colleagues on the county bench to accompany him on an experlition of practical im·estigation into the working of certain police traps within their jurisdiction. He was successful in obtaining the co-operation of his col leagues, and with three or four of them in his car he drove forth to make investigations. With speedometer and careful timing the magistrates knew exactly what they were doing, and they purposely exceeded the limit in the first trap they tested. At the encl they were promptly pulled up by one of their own on.tables, and 11·ere to ld ther had exceeded the limi,t. \Yhen the clri1·er remo1·ed h{s goggles the police founcl they had stopped one of their 0 11'17 magistrates, and the motorist explained th at he and his brother magistrates 11·ere testing the accuracy of the police timing. It is not fair for us to gi n~ the results of the tests which ll'e re mad-e. It ll'i!I sulTice to say that as a result of the expedition more than one trap 11·as moved from the open road to a populated area in which there is no doubt 1rh.=itever that the legal limit should not be exceeded.
The magistrates who accompanied the motorist 1rere r
