1929-03-06 — Page 2

Page

WHIPPET

FOURS & SIXES

INCREASED POWER

LONGER WHEEL BASE

CHROMIUM PLATED RADIATORS

LONGER SPRINGS

GREATER BEAUTY

And LOWEST PRICES ia their respective clauses

SHOWROOM SERVICE STATION

DISTRIBUTORS

**DURO" MOTOR CO., LTD.

NATHAN ROAD, KOWLOON. GILMAN & CO., LTD..

BLAZING THE TRAIL. themselves on the back as they

A BUSY. "BABY" IN THE

· TROPICS.

[BY DISTAFF."!]

From Cape York (Queensland)-- the most northerly point of tropical Australia-comes the news that Hector MacQuarrie Richard Main thews and an Ausbin Sevan, pene trating the tropical bush, have reached that place overland from Sydney in New South Wales. In numerable intrepid motorists have tackled this feat in the past.

The things which mitigate against success in such a venture are with oui number, and yet the car which eventually carried the pioners to the much sought goal was a baby- an Austin-a Seren; tiny indeed as cars are measured in material terms

Let us accompany the trio on their journey to the North. We will not bother about that portion which does not make history, bat will confine ourselves to the adven tures which befell them on the journey, say from Mackay to their destination.

The Start of the Journey. Crossing the Pioneer River at Mackay we enter upon that fertile sugar land, which is washed by the waters of the Pacific and sheltered by the Great Barrier Roof. Fer- tile indeed it is in those things which make for the prosperity of a nation, but fertile it certainly is ng in those things which con- tribute to the comfort and hap piness of the motorist. There are no roads connecting one place with another anywhere north of Mackay. Motorists are to be found in each of the many isolated townships, but their machines are used for journoys between their homesteads and the towns, from farm to farm, or place to place within about a thirty mile. radius. The car is of course in- valuable although restricted to this pecüfian sphere. It is not regarded as a means of extensive touring.

It is not very long before the traveller meets the first of his difficulties. Soon the cane-fields and their assurance of civilization are left behind, and we are in a no- mans-land, remarkable only for its many creeks. Men may write books about deserts and the difficul tics which they present, but the. pioneer motorist will plump for the desert every time it given, choice between it and the ordinary Queens- land tropical conditions.

This is a land of terriffic rainfall and old Mother. Nature caters well for the removal of the surplus water. The country is intersected with creeks. Some of them are wel, but the majority are of the dry variety, and represent pretty hard going. When the water has passed, deposited in the creek bed is a deep layer of soft silvery sand. It is sometimes possible to keep the car moving, but once stopped it is a case of dig and corduroy. The machine may be lifted with a jack (possibly by hand in the case of the Seven) and underneath is form- ed a bed of branches. The same procedure is adopted in regard t the remaining sandy stretch; the width of the creek-the depth of the sand-the proximity of suitable. corduroy material, will all govern the length of the travellers' stay in the creek bed. ̈ ̈*:

Devil-Devil Country.

I am wondering just how glad were MacQuarrie and Matthews when they found temporary, com». fort at Proserpine. The roads around Proserpine are few indeed, and the mileage brief. Not half-an- Bour CAIL pass before their troubles again begin. Creeks acores of them. Washed-out: tracks and devil-dovil country will · koop them amused all the way to Towns ville. By this time their hands are blistered and they have ceased to stow the axe and shovel under, the baggage, but are keeping them handy near the top. They are in perpetual demand" The travel Jers have found that cursing

le of no avail and gre beginning to regard the difficulties as an esasu- tial part of the journey, as indeed they are

They had a rousing welcome in Townsville. The Austin is already popular in this fine northern City, and a crowd of enthusiasts, turned out to see the Seven that had tack- led the trackless arena.

Once more renouncing the flesh- pote, they push on for Ingham. The rutted tracks, wash-outs and minia- ture creeks, will present no difficul- ties to the hardened trio, and, we can imagine that they will "pat

drive, into the muddy old cane-town, and will begin to Imagine that thei troubles are over. Just as well it is that their sleep this night is in a comfortable hotel, becsume it is. the last of its kind they are likely to get for a day or two.

Among Crocodies.

Inham

to

very

Cairns!-the. words have power at this date, and in a distant land, to make my blood rum cold, and I think of my ow journey over the same hundred or so miks and the adventures that Fell to my lot. I recall the Tully River; the fact that they were building the railway to the north; the line was laid upon sisepera across water that boasted of wome real oldman crocodiles.

I remember with what enjoyment the rallway workers informed "us that one man and half-a-dozen dogs had fallen to the maw of the sauriaa. How comfortable I felt. when essaying to cross the river on the sleepers This was the only way without a tremendous and difficult detour, as the water at this spot is anything up to fifty feet deep. Bump, bump, bump, sleeper to deeper-wonderful means of pro- ing below-a tyre blow-out and pre ression; a crocodile pomibly wait- cipitation into the sunlit but wicked-looking water.

1.

..

THE HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6th,

MOTOR NOTES

Then when we are in the very middle along comes a'ballast train, and there are soma beriso momenta. until it is clear that the driver bas hi juggernaus under control. ・・・

The crossing of the bridge takes about an hour. One hour of bumps from sleeper to sleeper, and I take my hat tight off and put it away out of sight in recognition of the men who must have piloted an Austin Seven over the same * road." I should have been afraid that, the tiny vehicle would fall between the first bar and ingloriously finished her journeyings in a watery grave. It is not on record that crocodiles have any particular fancy for Sevens, so that the Austia at least would have escaped this fate.

On again, to face creek alter crock and more of the devil-devil land, which by the way is a black soft which, after the rain dries up into a deeply pitted formation. The sensation of driving over this is and that must be experienced to be properly appreciated. The traveller becomes certain that his teeth are rattled loose, and is con- vinced that the entire car is die time he will integrating. "For continually get out to make inspec tion Progression is at the rate of about 3 miles per hour,"

Eventually the trio arrive in Cairns two lone, brown, scarred. and tried men, and a car that car- ries with it specimens of innummer- able soil conditions. An agricul- tural chemist might find it use ful exhibit...

Chocking Every Inch. Northward from Cairns the pen entirely fails to describe what must have been the experiences of our friends; from the very outset they are faced with a mountain range, 'familiar "only to the feet of the pack-horse. No car travels north- ward from Cxirns—such a thing was entirely unhesred of until now;

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C. 27

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and how the three climbed upwards south. To commemorate the feat, from the coast will be something | the municipal council tendared the that this scribe will never be able | overlanders a civil reception, and to explain. Inch by inch they journey now, chocking the car every inch with huge boulders-look ing ever upwards for fear that a backward glance will reveal the dangers of an impromptu descent.

Then the Cape York Peninsula itself--Heavens how hot it is Only the old-timers who make the trek with a pack-horse and several water bags might be expected to properly explain in the vernacular. No matter how hard the traveler may endeavour to keep cherful, he will remember the stories of the old 'specoers, who paid the price of a similar temerityisad, whose bones have bleached on these uncharted. plains

MacQuarrie in a telegraphic communication to Sydney admits that they negotiated twenty rivers, some hundreds of erorkes but proud- ly tells the world that the car was always and all the time under its own power. We can be sure that its occupanta lent a pound or two occasionally, and it is more than possible that both of them pushed while the little veteran gamely panted away with set throttle and in bottom gear. We can imagine how thankful they were that the [ wall cooled engine required büt little additional water, for here we are once more away from the rane of heavy rainfalls and in an area where water holes are scarce, and the supply must be carefully board- ed against possible emergency.

Municipal Appreciation. An indication of the unique nature of the trip as furnished by the fact that the car was the first- to ever reach Cooktown from the

presented them with an illuminated address. This mentioned that prior to the arnival of the Baby Austin the last vehicle to arrive at Cook- town from the south was a bullock- droy, and that was four years pre- viously

1929.

Cape Turk is a far cry from Cooktown and even the bullocky ventured no furthes North than the Latter Town. The arrival of Mac- Quarte, Matthese and the Austin ANC at the Cape must have created wild excitement. A memorable event indeed; let us attempt to para phrase an Australian poet's eulogy to a gallant stockman:

And down by Jardine River, where the Groes they take their

68.0.

And in the tropic township, where cars come overseas,

They talk about the "Baby ** and the phacky men it bons,

The car that beat the outback and blazed the trail for more. The Austin Motor Co., Ltd, were advised of the success of the travel lers by the receipt of the following terse telegram which reads:-

Reached Cape York Wednesday completing three thousand, three hundred miles seven hun dred roadless crossing twenty bridgeless major rivers hun dreds creek gulleys" finally transverse passage two hundred yards deep Jardine river alliga tor infested surmounting inco1- ceivable diffenities car, always under own power approximate ly twenty-five to gallon in had country remaining excellent condition please inform Anck land Cape York present tele graphic address.”

WILLYS

KNIGHT

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TRUCKS.

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DISTRIBUTORS :-GILMAN & CO., LTD.

REMARKABLE PERFORM-

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GEARLESS CAR, would engender in the driver of a ear in which the transmission iv entirely automatic, and for that reason it is necessary. This side lever, maredvar, cazi also be set in two other positions one for posi- The recent trial of the Robertson tive neutral, as distinct from the gearless car was a complete success.engine idling-speed neutral, and the other for reversing. The device It does all, and even more, than was expected of it, and the traffic consists of two special friction discs tests showed that the advantages weight type in the flywheel: The and an engine governor of the bob- conferred by an automatic drive of this kind are very real. There the engine when the car is at rest,"

latter controls the idling speed of are no gears to fiddle with, an

or when the pace is reduced to a clutch pedal to operate, and no adjustments of ignition and gaastail, and the pick-up is not only crawl. Thus the engine cannot levers have to be made. All the driving is done on the accelerator pedal and the foot brake. In con- trast to other variable speed de vices, the engine can be used as a brake right down to its idling speed, so that the driving of the car in this important respect is the. same as with any vehicle of the conventional pattern, and nothing could be saler.

On a gradient too steep for the normal gear ratio, you can drop into a lower one by pulling the side lever rearwards. The effect of this is to speed up engine revolutions and acceleration The presence of this band control, obvistes the helpless feeling that its absence

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Seventy-seven years ago two brothers started

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average car of its rating-3 hp, in smoother, but faster than the this case which is because the transmission automatically adapta itself to the infinitely variable con ditions of rosd, load, and speed.

The mere act of accelerating the engine brings the friction wheels together, and the car then starts away in the equivalent of low-epsed, position. As the resistance is over. come, and the speed increases, the equivalent of direct drive is reach ed. Thus the discs serve as clutch and gear-box, and as the pressure on the discs is only a fraction of what they will stand they will Inst for an indefinite period

Today each of the four great Studebaker and Erskine models is performance champion of its price class. Today, Studebaker holds every official Ameri- can stock car speed and endurance record. Small wonder that Studebaker's sales in world markets during 1928 were the largest in the history of this great Corporation. Come in and see the latest models.

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« QUEEN'S ROAD CENTRAL

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