September i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



397 



RUBBER IIKES FOR FIRE API^ARATUS. 



T 



"\l 11 'I I' 1 1 it IS ()nl\ nine years since the first fire figlit- 

 inn niachint was equipped with rubber tires the 

 success of the cliange has been so uiaiked that at 

 this time the New York fire department alone has in 

 use 150 vehicles upon which the old style steel tires have 

 been displaced by those of rubber. Gradually the substitution 

 is being effected, and as all new machines purchased are re- 

 quired to have rubber tires, it is a matter of a comparati.vely 

 short time when the metal tire will have passed into obliv- 

 ion, so far as this city is concerned. As New York sets 

 the pace for America in whatever pertains to fire extinguish- 

 ing an'd prevention, it is but recording a fact to state that 

 in all the larger and most of the smaller cities, the tire ques- 

 tion is in the same state of transformation. 



Ivarly in 1.S97 some genius in Boston suggested that rub- 

 ber tires could be advantageously applied to fire appara- 

 tuses. So rapidly do events succeed each other in tliis busy 

 world that the identity of this Boston genius lias been U si 

 and all record of his experiments. At all events, he got 

 hold of a hand engine and fitted it with rubber tired wheels. 

 The experiment attracted but little attention and all interest 

 in it soon died out. It is said that the tires were neither wtll 

 made nor securely fastened, and that the desired results 

 were not attained. 



One man who did not lose sight of the matter was Curtis 

 VVigg, a wideawake, enterprising and insistent salesman 

 for what was then the American Rubber Tire Co., of New 

 York. He had unbounded faith in rubber tires for anything 

 that ran on wheels. Chief Bonner was then at the head of 

 the New York fire department. Wigg kept persisting 

 and insisting until he got Bonner to look with some favor 

 upon rubber tires and at last to give them a trial. 



Engine No. 23, in one of the quieter districts "uptown," 

 was selected for the experiment. In due time the enthusi- 

 astic Wigg was able to report that the tires were on and the 

 machine ready for business. Subsequent events proved the 

 soundness of Wigg's theories and the wisdom of Bonner's 

 ac(iuiescence. The experiment was a success from every 

 point of view. So enthusiastic did the latter become that 

 he had rubber tires fitted to his own runabout, known in the 

 department as a "chief's wagon." There are 53 chief's 

 wagons in the department and to-day every one of them 

 runs on rubber tires. Mr. Wigg, who by-the-way, is still in 

 the rubber tire business in New York, had the satisfaction 



of seeing the skeptics in the trade converted to his way ot 

 thinking, though not with unmixed satisfaction, since some 

 of these doubters entered the field as competitors for fire 

 department business. 



The tires used on the first steam fire engine were made 

 under the Grant patent, having two longitudinal wires 

 running through the rubber to retain it in the rim channel. 

 The same type is still used, and is ihe most popular in the 

 fire department. In the largest tires 4 wires are used. 

 These tires are 4 inches wide. In 3>< inch tires 3 wires are 

 used. These tires are u.sed on the water towers, engines, and 

 trucks. The hose wagons and other lighter vehicles are 

 equipped with tires having but 2 wires. All the other types 

 of solid tires are also used. Under the present syslem of 

 awarding contracts no company can have a monopoly of the 

 business. Bids are advertised for and the contract is given 

 to the lowest bidder for furnishing tires according to specifi- 

 cations supplied by the department. 



It is claimed, and not disputed, that the severest test that 

 can be put ui)on rubber tires is the fire department .service. 

 The apparatus is exceedingly heavy, and in responding to 

 alarms the best possible speed must be made regardless of 

 conditions, either of apparatus or streets. Strangely enough, 

 there is little call for repairs to the rubber tires used in the 

 fire department. When repairs are necessary, the job is 

 • let out," generally to the concern that supplied the tiies. 



But tires will wear out, which is a different story. In 

 this connection it is worth noting that good rubber tires 

 will last from one to three years, according to service de- 

 manded of them. The greatest foe to the rubber tires on 

 fire apparatus is the car tracks wdiich gridiron the city 

 streets. Under the circumstances the life of the tires is sat- 

 isfactory to the fire department officials. 



There are several distinct advantages possessed by rubber 

 over metal tires. The greatest of these is economy, and the 

 lesser ones are but offshoots that lead up to it. The loss 

 due to the jolting and vibration, particularly to fire engines, 

 amounts to consideraljle each year ; not to mention the 

 crippling of the department bj' having the machines go often 

 to the repair shop. The mechanism of the engines gets 

 worn, broken, and loosened, while the other vehicles are 

 thrown out of working condition. Much of this has disap- 

 peared since rubber tires were introduced, and there will be 

 a still greiter red iction of expenditures for repairs when all 



HEAVY FiKt A'-PARAlUb V\1TH RUBBER TIRE EQUIPMENT. 



