A UGUST 15TH, 1908
THE AUTOCAR B Journal pubhsbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall\2 propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 669. VoL. XXI.] SATURDAY, AUGUST r 5TH ,~J r 908.
[P RICE 3 D .
The Autocar.
:Published Weekly.)
Registert:d as a n ewspaper for transm1ss1on in the- United Kingdom.
Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N. Y. ) Post Office.
Editorial Office :
COVENTRY.
Publishing Offices :
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E .C., England.
CONTENTS. NOTES
P AGE 2.i.3 - 245
II THE A UTOCAR" LECTURES • • L ONDON TO GLASGOW ON A 2.J. H .P. ALBION .• USEFUL HINTS A:-lD TIPS (ILLUSTRATED) THE TOP[C OF THE S1LLY SEASON TH E ISLE OF MAN RACIN G \V EE. K GEARLESS :\ [ AGNETOS ( [LLUSTRATED) • • THE BERLIET CARBURETTER (ILLUSTRATED) • • ON THE RoAo. Bv 0w£N J OH N 0NTHE T RACK A N OLD R O)[A N ROAD (ILLUSTRATED } R OAD VVARNINGS .• CONTI:-fENTAL NOTES AN APPRECIATION-A NEW LtGHT CAR SCOTTISH A UTO)fOBlLE CLUB • • DUNHILL'S A UTO SYPHON {ILLUSTRATFD} . • A StMPLF. SELF-STARTING MAGNETO • • CORRESPONDENCE • •
245 2 45 . . 246- 247
247 247 . . 248-251
252 . . 253-254
254 . . 255 - 257 . . 258-260 . . 26r -262
263 264 264 264 . . 265- 268
A S IMPLE GovERNOR-TH E Fons A ccu:-.1ULATOR (ILLUSTRATED)
269
SMALL CAR TALK • •
AERONAUTICS THE 5½ H .P. AIR-COOLED S1NGLE-CYLINDER O.T.A.V. FLASHES C LUB DOINGS REVIEWS • • VALVE POSITIONS IN PETROL MOTORS • • FORMALITIES ON ENTERING 1 TALY
270
271 272 273-275 . . 276-278
278 . . 279-280
280
Sub&cription Rate& :
Bntish Isles 16s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s . 8d. per annuw.
I Notrs. To Stop Inconsiderate Driving. The Royal Automobile Club announces that it is at the present time es tablishing machinery which ;r is hoped will ba\·e the e ffec t of permanently curbing the ·road bog. The matter has been under discussion for ,some time, and we can only regret that the cl ub has not made a rra ngements to deal with it sooner. As things stand a small minority of inconsiderate persons who own motor cars a re jeopardising the whole motor movement, and, with the exception of the Scottish A.C. , the motoring organisations are doing nothing 1\·hat .ever to impress P arliament or the local authorities with the fact that they are strenuously endeavour- 1.ng to prevent reckless and inconsiderate driving. As we said not long since. there is no doubt \\·hat -ever that if we do not reform ourselves from \\·ithin the work will be undertaken by P arliament, and then the innocent majority will suffer for the guilty minority. The duty of the motoring orga n i. ations is to adopt the strongest of strong measures to eliminate the road hog from their midst.
Hitherto the matter has not been approached \\·hol ehea rted I Y. T he reasons for th is are mall\·. In t he hrst place, there is the natural objection of ~ne motorist to :p~- upon another, but the great cause of inactivitv ha . been the police trap on the open road. As mattl:'rs stand the man ,rho drives with the greatest considerat ion is too often treated like the worst roac.! hog if he exceeds the legal limit by a fe1r miles an hour on a n open stretch of deserted higlrn·ay, and it has been the injustice of the police and magisterial methods 1rhich ha\·e banded motorists together and to some extent put the considerate and the inconsiderate in one camp. While this is so, it is idle to ignore facts . Day afte r day notoriety seekers and other \Yeak-minded p roducts of modern civilisation ask non ensical questions in P arliament. All sorts of mad suggestions a re made there and in the daily papers. A uni versa l ten mile limit, non-registration of ca rs which can by any possibility exceed twenty miles an hour, automatic sp rags whi ch shall stop a car the moment it exceeds t1renty miles an hour, and a ll sorts of other pueril e suggestions ha\'e been made by the hundred .
');"o thinking p erson regards any one of these silly suggestion. seriously, but it is necessa ry to remember that e\·eryone of them is accompanied by one or nic,r · mis- tatements, so that there a re thousands, nay, millions, of ignorant people more or less misled by the questions asked in Parli ament and the gross inaccuracies and exaggeration written by correspondents in th e papers. E\·ery year at about this t ime there is an outcry against the motor car , but there is no question that this year it is more bitter and more widespread th an, it has been before . We do not assume for an in stant that if the reckless and inconsiderate dri\·er were abolished to-morrow that prejudice would die. :,.J'othing would satisfy p rejudice except the abolition of the motor ea r. In the first place, there a re thou ands \rho ca nnot forgi,·e it for being the fastest thing on the road . and there are many more "·ho regard it intolerantly becau e of the dust which it stirs up but does not make. It is quite useless for moto rists to attempt to please a ll men, but
\1·e shou ld at least do a ll that lies within us to render ourseh ·es as far as possible above reproach.
Although not a pro-motorist, there is no doubt that the President of the Local GO\·ernment Board is a rea. onable man, and therefore not - anxious to take any drastic measures. Despite the clamour of antimoto rists both within and without P arli ament, Mr. Burns bas preserved an impartial attitude, but, stron g minded a he is, he is onlv morta l, and if the clamour continue and motorist ·themselves \Yill do nothing to show that they really a re endeavouring to stamp out inconsiderate and reck less dri\'ing, he may feel driven to take some serious step . :,.J'ow e,·eryone knows, or should kno1Y, th at it is next to impossible for a law
