February i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



155 



TIRES AT THE NEW YORK AUTOMOBILE SHOWS. 



NlvW YORK has lately seen two automobile shows, 

 each larger and better than the single show held for 

 five vears past at Madison Square Garden. The 

 two shows really made but one, so far as the public went, 

 since the two were less than a block apart, and the street 

 exhibits actually made it all continuous. And instead of 

 being a "national" show, as one of the exhibitions was 

 officially termed, the whole might properlj- have been called 

 an international show, on account of the number of French, 

 German, and Knglish exhibits of both automobiles and ac- 

 cessories. The attendance throughout the week January 

 13-20 inclusive, was sufHcient testimony to the great hold 

 which automobiling has taken upon American life, in its 

 social and commercial aspects. 



Even a cursory review of the shows as a whole is out of 

 question in the space available here. Neither a catalogue 

 of the automobile exhibits can be given nor a description of 

 the decorations, both in the Madison Square t>arden and the 

 new and beautiful Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory, which 

 presented a more artistic aspect than had been seen before 

 at an automobile show in America. 



The reason for two shows, primarily, w^as that Madison 

 .Square Garden, which had been shared in past exibitionsby 

 all the motor car interests, was secured for this year by the 

 Association of Licensed Automobile manufacturers, compos- 

 ed of the makers of automobiles under the ,Selden patents. 

 The Automobile Club of America, therefore, repaired to the 

 new Armory building, where, with the active help of the 

 American Motor Car Manufacturers Asssociation — manufact- 

 urers who refuse to recognize the Selden patent — was organ- 

 ized a show second in neither attractiveness nor attendance 

 to that which the public had been accustomed to visit at the 

 Garden. 



The number of automobile tire manufacturers exhibiting 

 was greater than ever before. More American rubber firms 

 have taken on their production, and the number of foreign 

 makes offered in this market has increased. Naturallj' nov- 

 elties are pushed strongly to the front, and a detailed report 

 of the shows would necessarily give to some of these novel- 

 ties a prominence out of proportion to their commercial im- 

 portance. The one dominant feature, however, was the 

 prevalence of the " clincher " detachable type of tire for all 

 but commercial vehicles, and it was hard to find a tire of any 

 type that would not fit the "clincher " rim. 



The second impressive fact was the dread of punctures and 

 skidding, as shown in the vast number of casings and treads, 

 designed to prevent these mishaps. In the matter of treads 

 the Bailey and the "Samson" types are the standards to 

 which the others approximate more or less closely. The 

 Bailey, an American patent, is a rubber tread with round 

 projections or studs of rubber rising from the surface, de- 

 signed :o get a better grip on the ground, to lessen the dan- 

 ger of punctures, and to lengthen the life of the tire. The 

 "Samson," a French invention, consists of a leather casing, 

 fitting any tire, and a leather strap atop, riveted to the cas- 

 ing, and bearing rolls of round steel studs. The leather cas- 

 ing is vulcanized to the tire shoe. 



The same dread of punctures has also brought about a cer- 

 tain recrudescence to the old solid and cushion types with va- 

 rious modification;;. These were mostly found at the Armory 

 and attracted considerable attention from people who are 

 w'illing to forego some resiliency for the sake of certainty in 

 getting there and back. Single tube or hose pipe tires are 

 still shown by several important companies, though these 

 are practically obsolete. 



" Single tube, " by the way, is so seldom heard, that its 

 counterpart "double tube" is a misleading term, suggest- 

 ing a ])articular device like that shown by the Diamond 

 company, rather than the prevalent t3pe of pneumatic. 

 The term "detachable tire" has also taken on a special 

 significance, meaning a tire which is removed by taking off 

 one of the rim flanges, which hold it on. Quite a number of 

 these were shown, designed to make repairs easy. A ten- 

 dency exactly opposite to the " detachable " feature is shown 

 by the increased use of other devices to make the tire stay on, 

 regardless of punctures and skids. To high speeders this 

 seems to be the all important point. The tendenc}- of all car 

 drivers who want speed on easy riding is to run on .soft tires, 

 while all tire makers urge that they be blown tight. Running 

 on loose tires tends to crack the sides of the tire, which ten- 

 dency is largely offset by a shape which will distribute this 

 strain, and b^' regulating the relative thickness of the rubber 

 on the sides and tread. Hence it was noticeable that all 

 clincher tires are pretty much the same in section — that is 

 circular instead of ^^ shaped as last year. 



With one or two exceptions the tire exhibits were dupli- 

 cated in the two shows, so that in the details which follow 

 it will not be necessary to specifj' where the tires were seen. 

 And most of the exhibits, on the closing night, were started 

 for Chicago, for the great automobile show in progress 

 there, at the Colosseum as these pages go to press. 

 THE TIRES IN DETAIL. 



Am.\zon RriiBKR Co. (Jamestown, N. Y.) showed a motor 

 tire of the clincher type, in the exhibit of the E. J. Willis 

 Co. (New York), dealers in motor supplies. 



CoNSOLiD.\TED RuHUKR TiRE Co. (New York) showed the 

 Kelly-Springfield endless solid tires, a feature of which is 

 V shaped retaining rings, wrapped spirally with canvas to 

 which the rubber vulcanizes ; the rings are inserted in the 

 base of the rubber and, bearing directly on the band of the 

 wheel, eliminate internal friction. Also, single tube vehi- 

 cle tires. 



Representatives : Van CarlwcU, president : Frederick .\. Seaman, secre- 

 tary : E S. Roberts. New York branch manager; F. A. Oatman, New \'ork and 

 New Jersey traveler; F. E. Holcomb, southern representative; E. Kissell. 

 Pliiladelphia representative. 



The Diamond RuiiHi-:R Co. (Akron, Ohio) showed their 

 "Diamond clincher," which this year is practically round 

 in tread. In the way of novelties was a flat tread pneumatic 

 tire, otherwise of the regular Diamond construction, and a 

 "diaphragm" tube, which really is one tube within an- 

 other; if the regulation tube is punctured, the interior or 

 emergency tube can be inflated without removal of the tire, 

 bj' means of a separate valve. In addition to the Bailej' 

 tread, the Diamond show-ed a steel studded anti-skidding 



