126 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1906. 



ly ones devoted to heavy traction. Mr. Stewart came down 

 from Edinburgh toattend the show, but so many business en- 

 gagements intervened that he was very rarely seen at his com- 

 pany's exhibit. 



In connection with the tire business were many special de- 

 vices, perhaps the most important being the tire vulcanizing ap- 

 pliances manufactured by Harvey Frost & Co. At their booth 

 actual repairing was done for crowds of interested visitors and 

 presumably many sales made. 



[FROM ANOTHER SOURCE.] 



Considering what London weather can be in November, it 

 must be admitted that things were propitious. Certainly there 

 was some fog and also some rain during the week, but the 

 dreaded black log which works such havoc with London traffic 

 was absent and there was nothing to hinder the attendance ol 

 visitors. In fact, the attendance, especially in the body of the 

 hall, was uncomfortably large, and locomotion was attended 

 with difficulty. As far as this Journal is concerned, interest 

 may beconsidered as centering in the South gallery, where the 

 various tire exhibitors had their location, and these notes will 

 be limited to this part ol the 

 show. Price lists and descript- 

 ive booklets abounded and it 

 is noticeable how the infor- 

 mation given to purchasers 

 becomes year by year not only 

 more bulky but more techni- 

 cal. It is interesting to note 

 the varying styles affected by 

 the compilers of this litera- 

 ture; in one case it is matter 

 of fact and sedate in tone 

 without any extravagance in 

 claims or any pomposity in 

 diction ; in another attention 

 is perpetually being drawn to 

 the fact that the firm's goods 

 are not only the best that can 

 be made but are also superior 

 to those of all competitors. 



Most of the men promi- 

 nently connected with the tire 

 manufacture were to be seen 

 at one time or another during the week. Perhaps the most 

 notable absentees among the British exhibitors were mem- 

 bers of the Charles Macintosh & Co. firm, whose stand 

 was under the management of Mr. Lees, the head of their 

 London establishment. Mr. J. E. Hopkinson was constant in 

 his attendance to explain to enquirers the advantage of using 

 his firm's tires. These are of the solid variety and differ from 

 others mostly in their mode of attachment to the wheel. The 

 double continuous tread of this tire allows of considerable 

 wearing away without at all impairing its efficiency and it has 

 been found very satisfactory for motor 'buses, lorries, vans, etc. 

 Among other solid tires on view was the De Nevers patent 

 grooved tire. I had- hoped to see Count de Nevers, but was 

 not so fortunate. According to his son they are selling through 

 Messrs. Liverredge & Sons increasing quantities of these tires. 

 Though primarily a solid tire, the transverse grooves on the 

 surface give it the advantages of a pneumatic, and if the immu- 

 nity claimed from side slip is not exaggerated, the tire certainly 

 has a great deal to recommend it. The manufacture is car- 

 ried on at the mills of the De Nevers Rubber Co., at Earlsfield. 

 The Sirdar tire was personified in Mr. MacLulich and its merits 



SIRDAR RUBBER CO.'S EXHIBIT- 



were therefore not hidden under a bushel. The Sirdar Rub- 

 ber Co. have moved from their modest home at Limpley Stoke 

 and taken more commodious premises at Bradfordon-Avon. 

 An important part of the exhibits in the tire section related ■ 

 to anti-skid devices, though there was really nothing of novelty, 

 or anything that indicated that the period of suspenseand trial 

 was about to be speedily ended. Old friends such as the Par- 

 sons chain device and the various metal studded chrome leath- 

 er bands were on view, but this type has been with us now for 

 some time. Perhaps the most notable advance is the new Mich- 

 elin non-skid, which is not a separate band of studded leather, 

 but which has the leather band embedded in the rubber tread, 

 It is noticeable that the bigger tire manufacturers, such as Dun- 

 lop, Moseley, Continental, North British, and others say that 

 they cannot countenance any complaints with regard to their 

 tires where the various anti-skid devices have been attached to 

 them. This is an important matter, and must, I should think, 

 militate against the sale of the chain and studded band type. 

 The tendency undoubtedly will be to have the anti-skid part and 

 parcel of the original tire as is now done by Dunlop, Michelin, 

 and the Continental company. As a sort of counterblast to 



the notices issued by the tire 

 manufacturers we have the 

 statement of the Lamson 

 leather treads people, for ex- 

 ample, that they cannot be re- 

 sponsible for any defects in 

 the rubber in the tires to 

 which they fix their non-skid 

 treads. It is pretty well evi- 

 dent, therefore, that the pur- 

 chaser who does not get the 

 complete article from one firm 

 will have but little chance of 

 redress if the tire turns out 

 unsatisfactory as each side is 

 sure to assert its innocence 

 and blame the other. Of 

 course, where a particular firm 

 claims to have solved the 

 problem by a patented device 

 which can only be fitted to 

 their own tires, this firm 

 should get all the business 

 until a serious competitor arises. 



It has been remarked in several quarters that the London 

 press gave a considerable amount of attention and space to the 

 Olympia show — in fact, in great excess of anything hitherto 

 done in this respect. This certainly is a fact, but there was 

 nothing particularly disinterested in it. A quid pro quo was ob- 

 tained in the form of advertisements and a common feature of 

 the London dailies during the show week was a big headline 

 covering two columns of reporting, with side columns of adver- 

 tisements from the firms who were receiving notice. I imagine 

 the papers did pretty well out of it. Moreover, the occasion 

 was seized by company promoters to bring out the prospectuses 

 of three or four motor omnibus companies, bringing further 

 grist to the newspaper mill. Compared with those of some years 

 ago, the cycle and motor shows of to-day are looked upon by 

 the exhibitors more as a means of doing business with dealers 

 than as affording interest to individual members of the public, 

 who visit the shows as a matter of general interest or perhaps 

 merely to satisfy curiosity. Some complaints regarding the 

 scant courtesy accorded by stall attendants to members of the 

 latter class have found expression in print. 



