JULY 2Sn,, 1908.

THEAUTOCAR B Journal publi9beb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\? propelleb roat, carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 666. VoL. XXI.J SATURDAY, JULY 25TH, 1908.

LPRICE 3D.

The Autocar.

:Published Weekly.)

Register~d as a newspaper for transmission in tht- United Kingdom.

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

Editorial Officz :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

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

CONTENTS. NOTES UsEFUL H rNrs AND T1p_; .• THE RELATIO'.'l" BETWEE:0: POWER AND SPARK l{LLl.i.HRATED) THE ALLOTMENl .')F SPACE .-\T OLY:\fPl..\ OVER THE ALPS ·ro V ENICE (ILLUSTRATED) .. .\. CONVICTION QVASIIED .• ANOTHER SHORT Boov (ILLUSTRATED) ON THE ROAD. Bv OwEN Jo1-1N THE R.A. C. DusT T RIALS ( I LLUSTR.-\TED) .. IN THE HOUSE OF CO:\OIONS .. THE HASTINGS GYMKHANA (ILLUSTRATED) ..

TRAMCARS AND THE RULE OF THE ROAD L1GHTS 0:-1 VEHICLES A CT, 1907 THE GRAND PR IX. SO:\IE CONSIDERATIONS ..

\VIRE VERSUS \Vooo \VHEELS ( ILLUSTRATED) CORRESPONDENCE .• THE E.l.C. HIGH TENSION ~h.GNETO ([LLUSTRATED) THE TORKINGT0:-1 TVRE . .

ON THE TRACK .•

A SUCCE-.SJtUL A~tERIC.\N A EROPLANE nL1.u-.TRATED) • , FLASHES . . CLUB DOING..: THE M OTOR UNION AT H ARl<OGATE THE 2,ooo_MtLEs TRIAL R F.PORT

I2I - l22

I23 . , 124- I27

I27 . • 128-r30

IJO

l 3 I r32 . . r33- r36

137 138 . . 139-qo qo ·, q.1 - 143 · · 144-146 , . Lt-7 - 151 . . 15:.-153

153 154 155 •

• I 56- 158

162 162

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British Isles 16':;. Abroad (thin pdi,er edition), 22s. Bd. per a1111u111

Notes. Practice for the ~our Inch Race. Last week we referred to the extremely interesting possibilities o.f the Four Inch Race in the I sle of :Man next September. We dwelt upon the fact that not only would the winning car be fa ter than the Tourist T rophy winners, but also on the extreme unlikelihood of any of the cars being slow. As a ll the competing cars will have 4in. engines, or engines within a fraction of 4in., and an unlimited supply of fuel, it stands to reason that the slowest of them will be fast, so that the importance of a ll the dri,·ers being good men and well acquainterl with the course is greater than ever before. Up to now the Isle of Man races have been conducted without any very serious accident, and it is most desirable in every way that this record should be mainta ined. Practically all the accidents which have o•cc urred have heen due to incompetency on the part of the dri vers.

Quite apart from the seriousness of a fatal accident as such, there is no doubt that one such occurrence would do a great deal of harm to racing.

In the interests of all the competitors some steps should therefore be taken if possible to see that the drivers of the cars are competent, or, at any rate, that they have su ffi cient practice 'before the race. The· accidents in the Grand Prix with the exception of the one to Cissac, were due to lack o f knowledge of the course, and it seems to us that as the Isle of Man regulations permit of practice in the ea.rly mornings on fourteen week days prior to the race, only men who have made a certain minimum number of practice circuits should be allowed to drive in the race itself. The Club has power to make any new regulations in addition to those already published, and if it could do something to weed out from the race itself the incompetent drivers, or those who have not had sufficient practice, it would be taking a course whirh has long been desirable. Considering the speed of the cars, the likelihood that many of them will be very close together in the race, and the difficulty of the course, it is really necessary that some special precautions should be taken upon the lines indicated. Some of the cars will be very light, and not all of them will be low built, so tha: they will not have the same stability at high speeds as cars de igned and built solely for racing. This means that great judgment will be necessary on the part of the drivers, and a good knowledge of the course indispensable.

It may be argued that it is impossible to look after the incompetent, and we are not suggesting this, but rather that the incompetent should be, if possible, eliminated, so that the skilled and practised drivers shall not be put to risks which no skill or judgment on their part can avert. We know quite well tha.t no racing can be absolutely safe. No real sport is safe. At the same time there is a large di fference between what one may call fai r sporting risks and those which are introduced by permitting the driving of high speed machines upon a difficult course by men who are not really qualified to control them. It is unnecessary, perhap , to add that we make the suggestion in no carping spirit, but because we desire to see the firs t real road race we have held since the Gordon-Bennet: Race in Ireland entirely free from accidents. It shoukl re ain an ,annual affair, but it will undoubtedly he s opped if rt is marred by serious a cidents.

~ British Patents granted to Foreigners. There seems to be an impression prevalent that, after the 28th August next, the bulk of the British patents granted to foreigners will come to a sudden and inrr lorious termination. But this is very far from being the case. It is true that under certain ci rcumstances the Comptroller is empowered, by the new Patents Act, to revoke patents on the ground that the patented article or process is manufactured or carried on exclusively or mainly outside the United Kimrdom. And there are a number of conditions to be fulfilled, apart