BY THE WAY
There were 2,486,000 old cars scrapped in the United States last year.
The French tariff on automoblie apare parts is being increased from 2 per cent. to 20 per cent,
THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, MOTORING SUPPLEMENT.
As the result of a campaign to rid the roads of unsafe vehicles 160 cars were burned recently at Long Beach, California,
E
A motorist was summoned at
MOTOR CAR THIEVES.
"London's Figures. Feltham recently for a motoring During 1929-3,155 cars' were offence, and wrote to the court, stolen in the Metropolitan area: apologising for his non-attendance 3,041 of these were recovered. as follows: "I apologise for not The most "popular" car with the coming to court, but I have had so thief is the mass-production type. many of these summonses lately." of vehicle, as this is less easily identified. It is stated that there are four types of car thieves-the youth who is "motor mad"; the youth who wishes to "show off"; the "smaab-and-grab”
thief who needs a car which he can abandon; and the common thief who steals to sell..
The Ministry of Transport has Leaved a list of reads to be repaired during the next six months. The list includes 180 north of the Thames and 140 south of the river,
MOTOR CAR INSURANCE
PROTECT
YOUR CAR
AND
YOUR LIABILITY TO THE PUBLIC
BY A POLICY WITH
CHINA UNDERWRITERS, LTD.
Phone: 28121.
The NEW
Hongkong Band Building
The
Silvertown Tyre
Balloon That
extra
heavy
Gives More Miles
and
BETTER SERVICE
ALL SIZES IN STOCK
Next time—TRY GOODRICH !
Sule Avents for Hongkong and South China :-
THE CHINA MOTOR SUPPLY CO.
28-29A, Des Voeux Road, Central.
Telephone 21558.
Branch Office- 486 Yat Tak Road, Canton.
FIAT
Among them is Regent Street, Lon- don, which is to undergo extensive repairs..
The latest suggestion of a means for outwitting motor bandits is a lead seal of motorcar index num- ber plates. It does not appear to be a very practicable idea.
Russian Oil Products. have now come into line with the other motor spirit supplying companios and have agreed to the price and profit conditions laid down.
".
We learn that the Government. contemplates an enquiry into the dazzle problem, and that ugly word "compulsion" is being connected with their intentions.
•
*
The departmental committee ap- pointed two years ago to enquire into the possibility of dangers to to health from using motor spirit |containing tetraethyl or similar) lead containing compounds has issued a final report. Its effect is to give a clean bill of health to ethyl petrol with certain recom mendations as to its storage and
use.
USED CARS
FOR
SALE
Arrol-Johnston Touring Car, Five passenger, 1924 Model, 4-cylinder, 15.9 hp., Brown Body, Artillery Wheels, 18,592 Miles.
Pries H.K. $650.
Hupmobile Touring Car, 5-passenger, 1922 Model, 4-cylinder, 15 hp., Black Body, Wire Wheels, 31,366 Miles.
Price H.K. $800.
THE
HONGKONG HOTEL GARGE
95, Queen's Road Central,
Tel. 24759.
-SATURDAY, MAY 31, 1930.
TRACED BY TYRE PRINTS.
Modern Way of Tracking Car Criminals. [By Don Roberts,]
Deputy Sheriff Dave Chapman of Los Angeles studies "finger-prints" of a car's tyres under the microscope. Lower right photo shows how he measures the tyre prints. At left is photo of Chapman.
Los Angeles, April 19. can be identified, no matter how Criminals operating in
this worn. A bead is left on the side vicinity have a new and unique of the tread which makes a print, scientific detective to match wits with the auto tyre expert.
even if the centre is worn smooth. Deputy Sheriff Dave Chapman,
All details of the sheriff's office head of the tyre identification and each substation has a manual detail of the Los Angeles county containing photographs of every sheriff's office, originated the sys- tyre tread type. A master book tem of tyre "finger-printing" by is at Chapman's office. which he is able to tell the make and size of tyres used on સ criminal's car. Frequently he is able to narrow down the search for the car to three or four makes.
-
Get Tracks From Rond. -
Suppose u bank is robbed. The sheriff's call car arrives and other call cars hurry to guard roads near the scene of the crime.
"The system is entirely new." Chapman says, "but it is proving itself. Police departments all. In the dirt or dust before the over the world are becoming bank the holdup car has left its interested and I believe that a track.
similar detail will be established the officers are informed that the A call to Chapman, and in every department soon,"
There are 447 types of tyre treads, Chapman explains, and
each of them leaves a mark which.
SHOWROOM FIAT GARAGE
67, Des Voeux Road, (24821.)
Mod 520
6cylindero
SELLING AT THE PRE-LOW DOLLAR
MODEL 520 $2,800.
AN, OPPORTUNITY THAT CANNOT OCCUR AGAIN!
RATE!
-MODEL 509 $1,950. A. GOEKE & CO. FOURTH FLOOR-CHINA-BUILDING.
TEL, 22221.
tread is of such and such a size, used by only three or four cata. Thus the squads spend no time stopping the wrong cars.
The system hinges on the fact that no two tyre patterns are the same in the length of design, although the width does not vary in several sizes. Tyre manufac- turers have co-operated with- Chapman and he has 13.000 blue- prints on file. The exact figures proving two tyres the same fre- quently involve mathematical.com- putations to four or five decimal places.
Attack Smooth Pavement.
"We are learning new phases of this method every day," says Chapman. "I haven't perfected the latest yet, but soon I will be able to make prints of tyres on pavement, asphalt or concrete. That seemed to be the chief draw- back, but I've discovered that tyres do leave prints on pavement that can be developed by brush- ing with aluminium powder similar to the development of a latent finger-print.
"In some cases where there bus been a series of thefts we have been able to obtain the entire set of tyres. Knowing the location of the tyres on the wheels, it is not difficult to clinch a case. We have only one conviction, so far, in a major crime case but that was brought about by showing that the car used in a series of small thefts which the defendant had admitted was the same as that used in the major crime."
"
Deputy Chapman, admits that hia system does, not attempt to calculate the weight of a car or its speed, although a truck used in a large fruit theft was proved to have entered a driveway un- loaded and to have left loaded. The print width varied almost an eighth of an inch, he found.
SEAPLANE PASSES SEVERE TESTS.
י
Convertible from Pas senger to Bomber Type,
THREE POWERFUL
MOTORS.
TÄKING NO RISKS.
The Scottish manager of a fest
of hire cars visited an English Spa.
He noticed that a local concern was
doing a flourishing business in tak
ing visitors in care to various managing director and asked him beauty spots, so he sought out the
how it was done. For answer, he' was shown a notice, stating that all The largest seaplane, a Ford all-patrons over 80 years of age were metal and tri-motored. in the carried free of charge. He was told United States, if not in the world, that this had brought a lot of pub- has successfully passed a series licity and had cost very little. The of tests recently at the Philadel-Scottish manager thought this over phia Navy Yard.
very carefully." When he got home
Primarily this ship is a passen- he had the following notica prepared ger transport plane, which can and displayed: carry 14 passengers, baggage and mail. It can, however, be quickly converted into a bomber or torpedo ship, a 20-passenger troop trans port or a hospital ambulance,
Patrons over. 807UKIN of age carried free of charge, if accompanied by their pareste Contact in The Motor.
As a torpedo carrier, It has of 103 miles, a stalling speed of 65° capacity for two Mark IV miles and that with full lead it can torpedoes weighing 1,800 pounds take off in 17 seconds. This is an each. As a bomber, with landing outstanding performance for milf- wheels substituted for boats, it tary or commercial twinfiat; sea- has a useful load of 8,000 pounds, planes.
equivalent to a cargo including a The plane is powered by thres pilot, radio operator, bomber, Pratt and Whitney Wasp motors, gunner, three machine guns, two any two of which are able to main 1,100 pound bombs, 800 pounds of tain the ship at normal gruising smaller demolition bombs and fuel speed with the third sufficient for five or six hours idling. This ability of the ship to engine flight.
keep ita speed on two motors is Landings on Land or Water," an important military factor since The new plane is known as the in the event of engine trouble the 5At tri-motored seaplane. It is plane could take its place in adapted for water landing and a formation or; if carrying a load, take-off by the substitution of two could accomplish ita mission or metal floats about 22 feet long for return to its base without having the wheels commonly used on the to discharge its torpedoes. SAt land plane. It is different
Ford Production Increasing.
from flying boats, which have been World production of Ford ears built to larger dimensions in that and trucks in February Was it can be readily converted from 148,160, including units produced water to-land-use
with 100,927 in January, the Ford
Tests at the Philadelphia Navy Motor Company announced rocent- Yard showed that with full load ly. This is an increase of 47,233 the plane has a high speed of 127 units. Production schedules for miles an hour, a cruising speed March called for 7,750 cars and
THE NEW MODEL R.
MARMON
THE ONLY TIME-PROVED STRAIGHT 8 IN ITS PRICE FIELD
ST
New Model R. Five-Passenger Sedan
GHT-EIGHT engine-built and proved by Mormon...wellpowered... Roomy dimensions (14 feet 4 inches overali)....... Handsome Marmon front-end ...Massive radiator and oversize-type headlamps... New double-panel bonnet louvrès... Bodies of modern 'Appearance ....... Single-button control on steering col- umn (for starter, lights and horn)..... Newest develop- ment in cam and lever steering and short turning radius make handling amazingly easy... Duo-Servo mechanical four-wheel brakes completely enclosed, rit-proof, water-proof-easy, positive action... Marmon Down-drast Manifold....... Typical Marmon easy riding due to long, wide springs, two-way hydraulic shock absorbers and self-adjusting noiselessspring-end mounting... Deep luxurious seat cushions in eleguni · material
If you want a straight-eight in this price field, thur is time-proved-your choice narrows to the Murmón Model R. Built by Marmon, the straight-eight leader after four years of building this type alone....... Marmon builds four straight-eights in all; The New Model R, the New 869, the New 879; and the New Big Eight.
Arrange for an early Demonstration
Sole Distributors
In a recent report issued by THE ORIENTAL MOTOR CAR Co.
the Ministry of Transport on the general census of Class I roads in Great Britain taken in August. 1928, and the special census taken) during 1928-29, it is stated that the total length of such roads was 25,528 miles. The approximate number of motor vehicles licensed has grown from 873,700. In 1921 to 2,036,000 in 1928.
353-7, Hennessy Road,.
Tel. 20406.