November i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



55 



TIRES AT THE VANDERBILT CUP RACE. 



OEVENTEEN motor cars were run in the third annual 

 ^^ contest for the Vanderbilt Cup, near New York, on the 

 morning of October 6 — five each entered from the United 

 States, France, and Italy, and two from Germany. The 

 course was 29.7 miles in length and ten rounds were made, 

 giving a total distance of 297.1 miles. The race came to an 

 end when five cars had covered this distance, the order of 

 finishing being as follows : 



I-'irst, Wagner of France, Darracq car. 



Second, I.aiicia of Italy, Tiat car. 



Third, Duray of France, I)e Dietrich car. 



I'ourtli, Clement of France, Clement car. 



F'iftli, Jenatzy of Germany, Mercedes car. 



The positions of the American drivers were eighth, tenth, 

 thirteenth, fourteenth and sixteenth. One American, I,e 

 Blon, covered nine laps and another, Tracy, eight laps. 

 Wagner's time was 4 hours 50 minutes io| seconds, or an 

 average of 61.43 miles per hour. Lancia 's time was slower 

 by only about 5 minutes. Duraj- came in 16 seconds later. 



The automobiles entered, as a rule, made a showing cred- 

 itable to the makers. But two serious breaks occurred 

 among all the machines on the course, and some developed 

 no troubles whatever — except in the matter of tires, and here 

 none escaped trouble. It is only a few years since, in every 

 important race, a large percentage of the machines were 

 " down and out " before the winner crossed the tape. The 

 inference is that a further advance has been made toward 

 perfection in manufacture, and in this respect the American 

 machines arc admitted to have shown great improvement. 



Of the foreign cars, ten were equipped with Michelin and 

 two (German) with Continental tires, and all had removable 

 rims. The five American cars had Diamond tires ; the 

 Thomas car had removable rims on the rear wheels, the 

 Christie had four rims, and the other three were without this 

 latest innovation. For the American team eleven tire sta- 

 tions were located around the course, while the foreigners 

 carried spare tires (with rims) in the race. 



Rain fell on the day before the race, leaving the road soft 

 and conducive to skidding, which fact is held account- 

 able in large part for the tire troubles experienced. For this 

 reason leather anti-skid tires were used by most of the con- 

 testants, which is believed to have lessened the speed, be- 

 sides which many of the metal studded bands peeled ofi" the 

 tires, making replacements necessary. At least six of the 

 cars had bad tire troubles on the first round, seven cars had 

 them on the second, and so on. Le Blon had to replace all 

 four tires on the first round, losing 26 minutes therebj'. 

 Tracy lost 50 minutes all told with his tires. In the case of 

 removable rims, tires were replaced much more promptly — in 

 three or four minutes. And one French driver, who, as a 

 measure of precaution, removed four seemingU- good tires 

 and put on new ones, required onlj- four minutes for the 

 work. Wagner, the winner, changed four rims. 



The lessons of the race appear to be : (i) Cars are now 

 made that, apart from the tires, can be depended upon to run 

 from start to finish without failure. (2) Each car should 

 carry its spare tires, instead of depending upon repair sta- 

 tions, which are not always accessible when trouble occurs. 

 (3) Where speed is an object, removable rims are essential, 

 on account of the time they save in making replacements. 



(4) However good American tires may be, the American 

 made anti skid treads used at the Cup race failed to make a 

 good showing. 



It should be said, injustice to the American contingent, 

 that the fastest time over the course was made by Tracy, in 

 a Locomobile, with Diamond tires (without skid treads). 

 He covered one lap in 26 minutes 21 seconds, or at the rate 

 of 67.66 miles per hour. 



SALE OF CRUDE RUBBER BY ANALYSIS. 



/^\E of the judges appointed in England for the Ceylon 

 ^^ rubber exhibition was Mr. Spencer Brett, of Gow, 

 Wilson & Stanton, Limited, rubber brokers of London. In- 

 terviewed by The Times of Ceylon, he said: 



•I have been going very interestedly into the scientific 

 aspects of rubber. I have a laboratory in the office and I 

 got hold of quite the best man in London that I knew of, 

 who has been going very fullj' into the question of the an- 

 alysis of rubber. My firm thought it an extremely impor- 

 tant branch of the business, and I have taken it up with the 

 idea of its being useful to planters in regard to preparation. 

 I have also been over some of the biggest mills of manufac- 

 turers, and I am quite of opinion that, sooner or later, an- 

 alysis will enter much more largely into the sale of rubber. 

 There is no doubt that the prices paid for crude rubber de- 

 pend to a great extent on the contents of it, and, practically 

 speaking, I think it is impossible always to determine what 

 the contents are except by analysis. Of course there are in- 

 dications, in certain cases, as to the presence of oils and 

 resins. But that is exceptional. As a rule, you can't from 

 the outward appearance of the sample accurately gage the 

 proportion of the different contents." 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



EUREKA Fire Hosi- Co. (New York) lately have issued 

 some attractive booklets in relation to what they term 

 "the most valuable article in a fire department." Two 

 which are especially interesting are " Fire Hose — A Stud}' " 

 {l].i"':<^\i". 16 pages] and " Hose Facts " f4X" X 9". 10 

 pages. Both are well illustrated. 



Western RubberCo. (Goshen, Indiana) have brought out 

 a catalogue of Mechanical Rubber Goods, in which promi- 

 nence is given to their line of pump valves, a department to 

 which they have given special attention for some years. 

 [3'+"X6". 12 pages.] 



The Canton Rubber Co. (Canton, Ohio), in their Cata- 

 logue D, describe an extensive line of fine vScamless Rubber 

 Goods, Druggists' Sundries, and Molded Rubber Goods. 

 [6"X9"- 31 pages.] 



ALSO RECEIVFD. 



The Mitzel RubberCo., Carrolton, 01iio.=Net Price List of Wa- 

 ter IJottles and S^-ringe Bags. i6 pages. 



The .Mien Bag and Specialty Co., New Vork.=Allen's Specialties 

 for the Motor Car [including Tire Covers]. 8 pages. 



Hygeia Nursing Bottle Co , Buffalo, New York. — Dr. Decker's 

 Syringe Nozzles, 8 pages. 



O. C. Pike, .\kron. Ohio.=Xet Price List of Rubber Specialties. 

 4 pages. 



The .Adams & Ford Co., Cleveland 01iio.;=Everstick Invisible 

 Rubber I'oot Safety. 12 pages. 



