Culled from Contemporaries.
Page 17
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Selected Collection of Extracts from the British and Foreign Press.
The Beneficent Automobile.
A fruit grower in Normandy has found something of benefit to his vines from the automobile. He noticed that the grapes and plums growing cloae to a highway upon which automobiles passed constantly were not so susceptible to frost and grubs as were other fruits on the plantation. He states that the dust raised by the machines settles on the buds and adheres to them by reason of the sap or liquid secreted, thus forming a protective coating. The grubs and other insects doubtless do not like the flavour of the dust.—" Omnia," Paris.
Millions and Millions.
Over one million acres of land returned SS "cultivable waste '' in India is colossal enough to give even the thoughtless man pause. Why is it not cultivated? Chiefly because in the majority of cases there would he no means of successfully dispcsing of the results. The happy marriage of produce and market is one of the problems of India. The proper introduction of the industrial motor vehicle is one solution to the question. As regards the ethical aspect of the question there is much to be said. How far will the native benefit? The present bullock haekery and pony-tonga may be slow. but thousands of natives find in them their only means of livelihood. Will motor dak service oust these people, and if so what will be the result? Personally, I think that they will find better and more remunerative methods of employment.—especially so if, instead of crowding to the large centres, they can go back to the land and earn a comfortable and even lucrative living by cultivating some part of that 100 million acres of " cultivable waste."—" An Occasional Correspondent " in " The Pall Mall Gazette."
Edison's Hardy Annual.
Mr. Edison, America's " greatest inventor," announces, says the New York " Daily Telegraph " correspondent, that, after years of patient, hopeful, and persistent work. he has elucidated the problem of the storage battery, and, in conversation with an interviewer, he declared that the question of supplanting home and solving street problems is within easy distance of settlement. He predicts that noiseless street vehicles will within a few years be in the majority. Mr. Edison says that the storage battery will supplant. gasoline motors for motorcars, and next week he is giving hie apparatus a final test in the street tramway-cars of West Orange, New Jersey.
The inventor explains that the eel& of his perfected battery vary in weight from 13 lb. to 18 lb. A 60 cell battery of 18 lb. each is the kind that will carry a 1-ton truck from London to Southampton in less than a third of the time it would take a team of horses to haul the same load.
" 1. expect," continues Mr. Edison, " soon to see every taxicab run by the stew storage battery. All vehicles can be equipped with them. I estimate that the
life of the battery will be not leas than four years. The process of recharging the battery is as simple and easy as pumping a bicycle tyre full of air. All that is necessary is to carry a pump along ami hitch it to the nearest wire, then pump away, and in a jiffy your battery will be recharged and you are ready to resume your journey. Vehicles equipped with the new battery will be about as noiseless as it is practicable to snake any rapidly-moving thing!'— " Evening News," 'London.
Motor Ploughing.
A writer on motoring points out how the driving engine in various forms bids fair to create some such upheaval in the demand for labour as the invention of machine looms did in the textile trades. Thus ploughing is already being done with incredible rapidity by a share driven backwards and forwards by two traction engines, one at each end of a great field. The ploughman will not stand long against this competition.— " Freeman's Journal," Dublin.
A "Mare's Nest" Discovery.
Some of the omnibus proprietors have rather ingeniously circumvented the police regulations as to the size of motor omnibuses. Those regulations provide that the omnibuses shall not carry more than a certain number of passengers, but their intention is to reduce the size of the lumbering vehicles which are now the most important factor of traffic along the main routes. By reducing the width of one seat on the roof and by a little spacing out the companies have cut down the seating accommodation on some of the omnibuses to that required by the regulations. This is probably only a temporary measure in the case of omnibuses actually under construction when the regulations were changed. Nobody is going to continue to build vehicles of the present size. But personal experience suggests that if they did, and reduced the seating, there would be a very real increase in comfort to the passengers. The position of the traveller on foot. and of other vehicles, however, would be as bad as ever.—"The Westminster Gazette."
Lubrication of Springs.
Comparatively few owners and even drivers seem to realize the necessity of oiling not only the spring shackles but the leaves themselves. There is mere motion between the leaves of a spring than the average person imagines. It shoald be lubricated., if for no other reason than eliminating the annoying squeak that accompanies a dry spring. The best lubricant for this purpose is a mixture of ordinary oil and graphite or the regular graphite grease that is on the market. To facilitate the injection of the grease between the leaves, jack up the frame until the axle partially hangs by the springs. This will open the leaves, and with the aid of a thin stick the grease can be spread easily. A screwdriver or similar tool can he used without harm to further spread the
leaves if necessary. It is best to be liberal in the application of this grease to insure its being squeezed over the whole surface when the frame is let down. The surplus can be wiped off, and with this treatment the leaves will not require attention for another season.— " The Horseless Age," New York.
The Invaders.
(A taxicab race has taken place at Brookla ads.)
No patriot more ardent, I may state (Neither Lord Roberts—no, nor Mr. Masse), Than me exists. Yet sometimes, if I'm late, I take a taxi.
Men have been seen, who were undoubted " dabs " On Empire, wearing Territorial tunics, Riding unthinkingly in Fiat cabs, Or, maybe, Unies.
We must have cabs. But when one has to fly And, leaping without taking time to look, lands Beneath the Vanguard host, one wonders why They go to Brooklands. —A.P. in "The Evening Standard," London.
"Extras."
(In the course of a rase invoicing tarieab rates at Willesden, Alderman. Pinkham decided that, however many passengers !there may be in a taxicab, tile driver is not entitled to ask for any larger fare than, is registered on his meter.)
It's no good getting waxy When you're skipper of a taxi, And quite a lot of people want to ride You must gently keep on smiling As on board they keep on piling, And must never never mutter "Full in side."
In his well-known haughty manner, A solid extra " tanner " Claims the cabby for each person over two, (Many times myself have paid it.) But. very much afraid it
Does not apply, my dear young friend, to you.
Though the vehicle they load up, Do not tell them there's a road " up," Or say you're out of petrol—'twould be wrong I A nuisance you may think 'em; But remember Mr. Pinkham; And heed the warning of any little song.
If the crowd your cab encumbers With its all-increasing numbers, Forbear the bitter jibe or harsh retort. . .
Hist This is the merest chatter, And it cannot really matter ; For I know that you'll do nothing of the sort !—" Globe."