272 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May I, 1905. 



THE BRYANT AUTOMOBILE RIM. 

 The object of the new rim construction illustrated herewith 

 is to obviate the necessity, in applying or detaching an auto- 

 mobile tire, of stretch- 

 ing it over the rim flange, 

 as has been the general 

 practice hitherto. Such 

 stretching results in the 

 tire cover becoming too 

 large for the rim. ren- 

 dering it less efficient 



cm: 



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and less safe, and shortening its life. The salient features of 

 the Bryant rim are (i) a removable flange, and (2) a locking 

 ring for securely engaging this flange in place when in use. The 

 cuts in cross section will sufficiently explain the idea. The 

 steel spring locking ring is referred to as being easy to manipu- 

 late, and its use involves no turnbuckles, bolts, nuts, or clamps. 

 When the tire is inflated the flange becomes absolutely locked. 

 [The Bryant Steel Wheel and Rim Co., Columbus, Ohio.] 



THE "SQUEEZIT." 



This illustration relates to a novelty for smokers, which is a 



rubber attachment for bags of tobacco, in the shape of a self 



closing mouth, which may be used successively 



for an indefinite number of bags. In thecut, the 



rubber device is represented by the letter T, 



the remainder of the cut showing the tobacco 



bag. The patent specification describes " A self 



closing mouth for a bag, comprising a pair of lips 



flexible throughout, meeting on a straight center 



line and widest at a central line at right angles 



^ \^^o said meeting line, the lips tapering toward 



\ ^ the ends, and an elastic tube adapted to hold 



^ — = — -* ' said lips togeiher." United States patent No. 



744,846, issued to George W. Williams. 



A REVOLUTION IN WATER BOTTLES. 

 The Hodgman Rubber Co. (New York), whose taste in pro- 

 ducing goods that give the best of service and yet appeal to 

 the eye is acknowledged by all, have surpassed themselves in 

 the production of thin, light weight, cloth insertion hot water 

 bottles. Indeed, they have actually revolutionized that por- 

 tion of the sundries trade. Light (41^ oz.), flexible, portable, 

 smooth as glass — the old fashioned stifi bag cannot for a mo- 

 ment compare with the new. They are made in colors, each 

 with an appropriate name — the " Sunset," in red; the "Sun- 

 rise," in white; and the " Twilight," in gray. 



COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES. 



THE April issue of The British Trade Journal {honAon) 

 contains a singularly comprehensive article on " Motor 

 Vehicles for Commercial Purposes," in which the production of 

 such vehicles is referred to as an important new British industry. 

 It appears that at the two recent international exhibitions of 

 motor cars in London more than 70 per cent, of the vehicles 

 shown were of British origin. T\\t Journal mtnuons that there 

 are now 51,000 registered motor cars, and motor cycles [Prob- 

 ably one half of them motor cars. — The India Rubber 

 World.] in the United Kingdom, of which 3500 are used for 

 purely commercial purposes. Within the last year or two an 

 impetus has been given to the construction of omnibuses 

 driven either by steam or petroleum, and which have been found 

 to have many advantages over any system of electric traction 

 hitherto in use. Not only have several railway companies 

 placed important orders for motor driven cars, to act at feeders 

 to country railway stations and to compete near the large towns 



with electric traction, but, as already reported in these pages, 

 the principal omnibus companies in London are now experi- 

 menting with steam driven or petrol engined vehicles with a 

 view to supplanting the horses now in use. In the colonies 

 these vehicles, provided the roads are fairly good, seem destined 

 to play even a more important part than in countries already 

 equipped with networks of railways. 



In the 16 pages devoted by The British Trade Journal to this 

 subject, appear descriptions of the products of 21 British firms, 

 embracing a striking variety of types of vehicles, of which no 

 less than 27 are illustrated. These are designed for almost 

 every conceivable commercial use, and represent a wide range 

 of capacity and cost. The companies referred to include those 

 which have contracted to supply the vehicles ordered by the 

 British railway companies and the London omnibus companies, 

 not to mention the Cape Government railway of South Africa, 

 companies operating motor cars in India, and so on. 



As a rule, the descriptions given of these vehicles relate more 

 to their mechanical construction than to the character of tires 

 used, but it is to be assumed from the illustrations given that, 

 while some of the steam vehicles are steel tired, the usual type 

 of tire is solid rubber. In one case twin tires are mentioned, 

 and the article concludes with a mention of a special form of 

 rubber tire, a specimen of which is stated to have traveled 

 17.000 miles on one of Harrod's Stores' motor vans, carrying a 

 weight of 4 tons. Harrod's Stores, by the way, is the great 

 London department store operated by a stock company — very 

 profitably it is understood^and which on March i adopted the 

 policy of delivering any purchase, however small, at any point 

 in Great Britain. This is believed to be the forerunner of the 

 policy of delivering goods, and likewise of the method referred 

 to by Sir Thomas Lipton, in an important interview in a Ceylon 

 newspaper, reported elsewhere in this Journal. 



Reporting on the recent fourth International Automobile 

 Exhibition at Berlin, the United States consul general there 

 considers as specially worthy of mention the large proportion 

 of vehicles shown of various types, for industrial and military 

 purposes, as distinguished from those designed for luxury or 

 sport. Crowds of merchants, manufacturers, and other business 

 men were to be seen around these new transport vehicles, dis- 

 cussing eagerly their merit and economies as compared with 

 horse power. All the Berlin department stores, and several 

 breweries, furniture dealers, and the like, and even milk com- 

 panies, now employ motor delivery wagons, and the municipal 

 spirit is so strongly in favor of cleanliness in the streets that 

 every encouragement is oflfered to the use of the new vehicles. 

 The chief interest of the exposition, the consul general states, 

 has been as a demonstration of the solid, substantial, and rapid 

 progress of the German automobile industry, from the tentative 

 subordinate position which it occupied four years ago, to a 

 place in the front rank of automobile manufacturing nations. 



The Hungarian department of commerce intends [says Le 

 Moniteur du Caoutchouc] to purchase about 300 automobile cars 

 for use on the railways of that country. The firm of Gauz & 

 Co. (Budapest) has already received an order for the furnishing 

 of 120 of these cars, amounting to about 4,300,000 francs 

 [=$829,900]. The intention is to have these automobile cars 

 run in addition to the ordinary train service, whenever required. 



The Sociedad de Automobiles para Carga, Limitada, has 

 been incorporated, with $214,280 capital, to convey freight be- 

 tween Lima and Callao, Peru. Five automobiles are now in 

 use, with a capacity each of 5 metric tons, carrying cargo direct 

 from the Callao docks to the consignees' warehouses in the 

 city of Lima, a convenience not afforded by the two railroad 

 lines or the trolley lines connecting the two towns. 



