MAY 23RD, 1908.

THE 'AUTOCAR !l Journal pubhsbeb tn tbe interests of tbe mecbanicau~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANE~.

No. 657. YoL. XX.] SATuRDAY, MAY 23RD, 1908 .

lPRICE 3D.

The Autoca.r.

(Published Weekly. )

Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the Uniteci Kingdom.

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

~ditorial Office :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., England.

CONTENTS.

~OTES • . lN THE H OUSE OF COYMONS USEFUL HINTS AKO T IPS .. THE r 4 H.P. SroDELEY CAR (ILLt.:STRATED} A CoMBINATION CAR T YRE PRESSURE EYPERIME:STS .. THE STAR \.V1:-.r o SCREEN (ILLUSTRATED) HINTS TO P ROSPECTIVE TOUR ISTS THE MOTOR UNION CHAIRMAN (]LLUSTRATED) RELIABILITY ANO SPEED J UDGl :,.IG CO~IPETITIONS EISEl\fANN l\f.AGNETO ! GNITIO!'.' THE HIGHWAYS ACT, PROPOSAL TO A~IE:-.'O. THE S COTTISH A .C. ANO THE M. u. PETROL AN'D PETROL T ESTS A CAR FOR S YRIA (ILLUSTRATED) THE So H.P. NAPIER CARBURETTER ON THE R OAD THE SICILIAN RACES (ILLUSTRATED) CoRRESPONOENCE . , CoNTlNENTAL N OTES AERONAUTICS FLASHES CLUB DOINGS

FAGE

743 744 745 · · 746-749

749 750-752

752 753 · · 754-755

755 756 757 757 758-759 . . 760-761

76r . . 762-763 . · 764-766 .. 767- 771 . · 772- 773 · · 774-775 · · 776- 777 .. ;78-780

Subscription Rates :

British Is les 16s Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. Sd. per annum f Notes. The Club Chairmanship. On Thursday it was officially announced that Mr. C. D. Rose, LP. , found himself unable to undertake the duties of the chairmanship of the R.A.C., to which he was re-elected at the Committee meeting following the election of the Club Committee for the current yea r. At the p resent time he is on hi way to Canada, and will be away for some considerable time. He has been a most able chairman and a tower of strength to the Club, and he has been asked in recognition of the great services he has rendered to it to accept a vice­ presidency. Simultaneously with this announcement comes the welcome news that H.S.H. Prince Fr:111cis of Teck has accepted the chairmanship of the Club. We sincerely congratulate the Club upon its good fortune, , as the new chairman is gifted with a great '.:apacity for work-a capacity which he has already shown in a position not ,·ery dissimilar from that which he will occupy m relation to the Royal A.C. In short, Prince F rancis of Teck is no mere figurehead chairman, but, if we may say so, be combines the advantages of the figurehead and the hard conscientious worker. 1'he R.A.C. Journal in making; the official announcement of the acceptance of the chairmanship by H.S.H. Prince Francis of Teck says i "It appears to us u eful to summarise the career of the new chairman, although we recognise that that career is too well kn01rn to need any detailed description. H.S.H. Prince Francis Joseph Leopold Frederick of Teck, K.C.V.0 ., D.S.O., is the second son of the late Duke of Teck and of H .R.H. Princess Mary Adelaide. After an education at Wellington and Sandhurst, Prince Francis joined the 1st Dragoons in 1890, was A.D.C. to the General Officer commanding at Quetta in 1896, and Captain in the Egyptian Army in 1897 (medal, with clasps). Later, Prince Francis was A.D.C. to the General Officer commanding the South-Eastern District, and served in South Africa (Remount Department) in 1899 and 1900 (despatches, brevet majoi:). The new chairman's clubs are the Bachelor's, the Xa1·al and Military, White' , the Marlborough, nt Beefsteak, the Turf, and Prince's. "

Perro! and irs Price, When consumption trials are under discu sion it is frequently asserted that the cost of petrol as a fuel in comparison with the energy derived therefrom is a negligible quantity. This may appear so to the quidnuncs, but the price per gallon of the limpid essence from which our beloved cars derive their being is a matter that, negligible or not, is generally uppermost in the thought of the automobilist. Of course, it does not approach that treasure melting factor, the cost of tyres, but with a la rge majority the constant hand in the pocket over petrol is gnat like in its irritating effect. ).Tow, if the signs and portents of the oil market go for anything, we are on the eve of a considerable break in the price of thjs spirit, and this fact might be made of avail by the big petrol interests in combining to bring about something like an equable price throughout the country. Excepting certa in slight extra charges for transport difficulties, the cost of petrol to the consumer should be fairly uniform a ll over the country, and motorists should not find an imposition of 1 s. 4d . per gallon, as we did one day last week in a lo ality where the retail er should be able to supply at IS. zd. ·per gallon. In the view of those intimately connected with the industry, petrol should be retailed anywhere but in parts difficult of access, and just now the southeast of England, at 1s. Id. and IS. 2d. per gallon. And the price should be lower yet as the year advances. If the labouVi of the Agents' Section of the Society of Motor l\fanufacturers and Traders were directed towards an equable price per gallon throughout the country, which price should embody a fair profit over and above the cost of the fuel and carriage, they would find themselves supported by all the petrol importers, to who e interest a fair profit and no cutting or fanc,· prices would undoubtedly redound.