32 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October i, 1908. 



STATE OF THE TIRE TRADE. 



THE new prices for automobile tires announced September I 

 show a material reduction in the cost to consumers. These 

 reductions range from 25 to 40 per cent., the large figure refer- 

 ring as a rule to the lighter tires, the smallest reductions being 

 on the middle weight tires — the kind used on the ordinary four 

 cylinder touring cars and runabouts. There being no trade com- 

 bination among the tire makers there are, of course, offered in 

 the various catalogues varieties in price and in reductions. Some 

 have cut a trifle more on one line than upon others, but the 

 general ratio is substantially fixed. It will average 33 per cent., 

 considering all makers and all sizes. The same is true with 

 regard to casings and inner tubes. The reductions on each are 

 about the same ratio. 



The primary reason for this marked change in the cost of 

 tires, according to manufacturers, is the lower price of rubber. 

 The reduction in the cost of tires has not more than kept pace 

 with the reduction in rubber. There are other reasons, however, 

 which contribute to the lowering of the price scale. The manu- 

 facture of automobile tires is not so old, but that constant im- 

 provements are being made in machinery and in factory methods. 

 Every year adds something in the way of machinery that cheap- 

 ens and improves the product, and every year's experience adds 

 to the store of knowledge and to the proficiency of the operatives. 

 Then again, the growth of the industry, the new manufacturers 

 in the field and the sharpness of competition are all tending to 

 narrow the margin between the factory and the consumer. The 

 demand is now so steady and so strong that it costs less to sell 

 a tire than ever before; just as it costs less to make a tire than 

 ever before. The consumer is sharing these benefits with the 

 maker. 



The constant improvement in the quality of the .\merican tire 

 has brought its reward in the increased confidence of the auto- 

 mobile enthusiasts. Not so very long ago, many of those to 

 whom expense was no consideration, were persistent users of 

 foreign tires, because they believed them superior to anything 

 made in America. This sentiment is rapidly changing. The 

 American product is generally regarded as being as serviceable 

 in every respect as any tires made abroad. Many automobilists 

 prefer it. The growth of this sentiment has added to the busi- 

 ness and will add more every year. In almost every case the 

 user of foreign tires who is induced to try the home-made article 

 becomes a convert. 



The volume of business, in terms of money, is increased by 

 the steady change that has come over the character of the 

 demand. The automobile business and tire business being prac- 

 tically in their infancy it has required a considerable amount of 

 experimenting and considerable elimination to bring them to 

 standard. Not so very long ago a count of the automobiles that 

 passed you in or near New York would have disclosed the fact 

 that fully so per cent, of them were machines weighing less than 

 1500 pounds. These as a rule used very light tires on 28 inch or 

 even smaller wheels. A similar observation today would not 

 show one car in ten as light as 1500 pounds, and more than 

 SO per cent, would range between 2200 and 3500 pounds. The 

 wheel diameters are from 32 inchces up and the tire diameters 

 from 4 to s!/^ inches. The difference in the amount of money 

 spent for tires is enormous. Furthermore, even on the same 

 weight cars there is a rapidly developing tendency to increase 

 the weight of the tire. Automobilists see more and more clearly 

 that there is no economy in cheap tires. Not only the pleasure 

 of the sport but the lives of those who ride make dependable 

 tires a necessity. 



The tendency, therefore, for the coming season is to have a 

 car "over tired" rather than to run the risk of annoying break- 

 downs and dangerous accidents. Owners of cars of from 2200 

 to 3,000 pounds, who formerly thought 3',^ inch tires ample for 



every requirement are now buying 4 and s inch diameters. The 

 buyer of a new car always insists on the heaviest possible tire ; 

 the sellers of cars have recognized this demand in offering their 

 wares and in preparing their catalogues. This increase in de- 

 mand for the 4 and 4^ inch tires is the chief reason why its 

 ratio of price reduction is less than on either smaller or larger 

 sizes. In these sizes the factories have their hands full supply- 

 ing the demand. 



.•\11 of the makers now offer a variety of treads, and few 

 motorists use the tire of circular section, as formerly. This is 

 true with regard to the driving wheels especially. On these the 

 general usage is some variety of non-skid or non-slip tread that 

 adds thickness and weight to the tire and adds to its cost. All 

 varieties of these special treads are higher priced than the plain 

 tread, and their many varieties make good selling arguments. 

 In this line, however, there are few novelties offered for the 

 season. The forms that have been approved in the past have 

 practically become standard, and are turned out with slight 

 variations by all the factories. Their popularity grows as auto- 

 mobilists become more experienced and they undoubtedly add to 

 safety and to durability. 



"ARTIFICIAL RUBBER." 



[from the LONDON "mORNING LE.\DER," SEPTEMBER II.] 



■ I 'HERE is no panic in the india-rubber trade on account of 

 *■ the alleged synthetical manufacture of rubber at Burton- 

 on-Trent [mentioned on page 16 of this issue] — there have been 

 too many of such reports before. Mr. Henry C. Pearson, editor 

 of The Indi.\ Rubber World, New York, told a representative 

 that he had known twenty or thirty such inventions during the 

 past few years, and still the trade was unaffected. 



Mr. Pearson was at Olympia surveying the preparations for 

 the forthcoming International Rubber and Allied Trades Ex- 

 hibition, for which he has especially crossed the water, and at 

 which he will give a series of lectures, including one on synthetic 

 rubbers. 



The inventor, said Mr. Pearson, has to compete with nature— 

 which is supplying rubber about as economically as it can be 

 clone. In order to beat her he would have to have an extraor- 

 dinary cheap base — sawdust, say, or mud. But the demand 

 for rubber is so great that it will be sure to keep pace with 

 any supply. 



Asked for an average cost price of rubber, he said it could be 

 produced at 14 cents a pound, and would be sold at a dollar. He 

 agreed that that showed a very handsome margin, but contended 

 that the planters in Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula deserved it 

 for their pluck. 



NEW TRADE PUBLICATIONS. 



TV/Il-'^T we have to deal with here may not be a trade publica- 

 '' tion, strictly speaking, but it serves none the less as a 

 trade catalogue. It is a sample book of Rubber Balloon Fabric, 

 sent out by the Continent.\l Caoutchouc und Gutt.\percha- 

 Comp.'^gnie (Hanover, Germany). Twenty-five samples are 

 shown, a fact which alone illustrates the importance which has 

 been attained already by the new aeronautical interest as a field 

 for the output of the rubber industry — a subject to which, by the 

 way, several pages are devoted in this issue of The India Rub- 

 ber World, [g'4" x sH"-] 



Belden Manufacturing Co. (Chicago) issue their Catalogue 

 No. 4 of Electrical Wires, Cables and Cordage. They illus- 

 trate a very full line, including rubber insulated wires, and the 

 catalogue contains in addition not a little technical matter relating 

 to wire capacity and the like, arranged conveniently for refer- 

 ence. [4" X 814". 123 pages.] A discount list accompanies the 

 above. 



