12 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[OCTOBSB I, 1906. 



hij^her the speed required, the more important does the mat- 

 ter of road hold become. In the case of motor trucks, which 

 wear solid tires and run slowly, road grip is not usually so 

 important as the danger of skidding, and small road contact 

 is aimed at. to lessen road friction in running. Conse- 

 ((uently, tlie tendency in this case has been away from flat 

 treads toward twin tires, which give less suction, have less 

 road contact, give sufficient traction or road grip for their 

 low speeds, and thus very greatly lessen the danger of 

 skidding. 



At Ormond lieach, I'lorida, measurements showed that 

 round tires, when running at high speed, made tracks in the 

 sand not over a quarter of an incli wide. In other words, 

 the tires have not time to flatten and thus secure the neces- 

 sary road hold. Consequently the drive wheels spin around, 

 losing much motion, throwing up clinids of dust or tar and 

 chafing the tires so that they heat and burst. 



Thus it was for the use of racers that flat treads were first 

 made. Running on a smooth track, there were no obstacles 

 to drink, (pioting Michelin, and it mattered not if the trend 

 were a bit stifi". What the racers wanted was a good pur- 

 chase on the ground, so that every turn of the wheels would 

 count, and they found this in the flat trtad. Resilience is 

 so unimportant on smooth, hard sand, that the Ormond 

 racers have argued that wooden tires would do as well as 

 pneumatics. 



The fact that racers used flat tires appealed to the sporty 

 instincts of many motorists, especially in Europe ; but to 

 their surprise, the)' found, on experience, that this type was 

 well adapted to ordinary tripping, having considerably 

 longer life and being much less apt to skid. The difference 

 in the power needed to drive it is small, and its friends 

 claim that this tire runs steadier and smoother than the 

 round, and that it behaves as well or better on new made 

 road. All agree, however, that flat treads will not do on 

 front wheels, being hard to steer. Users of these tires do 

 not see that they run any heavier in mud, but all agree that 

 they will not skid in mud. As for dust, there seems to be 

 little if any diflerence. Flat treads allow of abundant corru- 

 gation, the principal English flats, as the Palmer and Im- 

 perial, having several bold ribs. These ribs lessen the pos- 

 sibility of suction and make the tire practically skid proof, 

 both of which are points of such importance that some of 

 the best tire experts consider them as fully justifying the 

 flat tread type. 



Flat tread tires are usually made of stronger canvas than 

 the ordinary tj-pe, so that it is not always possible to at- 

 tribute their greater durability to the flat tread ; but some 

 companies, like the Diamond, put the flat tread on their 

 regular type. In such cases the cost is 10 per cent, more, 

 owing principally to the extra rubber ; but as the life of the 

 tire is said to be prolonged more than 10 per cent., the extra 

 cost is more than justified. A tire necessarily wears most 

 on the center of the tread, especially on smooth roads ; but 

 much of the influence of the flat tread in prolonging life is 

 due to its protecting the tire from punctures and stone 

 bruises, which alone would recommend this type to many 

 drivers. 



Of course much depends upon personal likes and dislikes, 

 and the flat tread is undoubtedly better fitted for certain 

 conditions than for others ; but unlike most goods, it seems 

 to show up better in practice than in theory. 



INDIA-RUBBER GOODS IN COMMERCE. 



EXPORT.S FROM THE UNITED .'STATES 



OFFICIAL statement of values of exports of manufac- 

 tures of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, for the month 

 of July, 1906, and for the first seven months of five calendar 

 years : 



THH PROPEKTIbS OF NANTUSI. 



NANTUSI is the name of a vulcanizing agent and pre- 

 servative lor rubber, manufactured under a ."^ecret 

 firmula, which, after several years of trial, has come into 

 large use in England and elsewhere. It is offered as pre- 

 venting the superficial cracking of rubber exposed to the 

 atmosphere ; adding life to and preserving the quality of the 

 rubber; doing away with the possibility of acidification in 

 sulphur as ordinarilj- used ; and reducing the cost of the 

 mixing. In connection with 20 pounds of fine Para, for 

 example, instead of 1 ;4 pounds of sulphur, 2){ pounds of 

 Nantusi are used. While the cost is somewhat higher, the 

 volume of the compound is increased enough to really 

 cheapen the cost per pound. " The use of the cheap grades 

 of new rubber," it is claimed, "is attended with risk of 

 quick deterioration in use (z. e., ' perishing '), and the objec- 

 tion of considerable ' softening ' of the uncured scrap upon 

 rewarniing and calendering. The use of Nantusi modifies 

 both of the above objections very materiiilly." The manu- 

 facturers of this material are The Rubber Chemical Co., 

 Limited, Birmingham, England. 



PROPOSED NEW ROUTE TO THE AMAZON. 



SENOR EDWARD MORLEY, of Huigra, Ecuador, writes 

 to The India Rubber World that the government of 

 Ecuador has granted a concession to himself and Mr. George 

 P. Altenberg, of Cincinnati, Ohio, to construct a railway 

 from Huigra to Cuenca, Ecuador, a distance of 90 miles, 

 with the right to extend it to the upper Amazon at a point 

 where it is navigable for large steamers, a distance of 150 

 miles more. Huigra is on the Guayaquil and Quito rail- 

 way, 72 miles from Guayaquil, the principal port of Ecuador 

 on the Pacific. The completion of the new railways will 

 give a line of 312 miles from the seaboard to the upper Ama- 

 zon, and facilitate the shipment of rubber, since some of the 

 richest rubber fields of the world will thus be placed practi- 

 call}' 3000 miles nearer New York by the use of the route 

 across the isthmus of Panama. 



Overheard at .\ Colombo Dentist's. — Dcntis.1 (to pa- 

 tient) ; "You have several teeth which need attention," 

 etc. Patient: "Oh! you need only do those that abso- 

 lutely cannot wait, as 1 would much sooner put the money 

 into rubber than teeth just now." — Times of Ceylon. 



