188 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



[March i, 1903. 



the same class of vehicles would be as nearly under same condi- 

 tions as it is ever possible for tires to be. A separate tire test- 

 ing contest might have much influence, but the one lately held 

 in England was of little value because of the limited number of 

 makes of tires entered. But the value of such a test, even when 

 more representative, could never equal the value of a complete 

 report on the tires of a reliability run. 



There can be no doubt in the mind of any one who watched 

 the endurance runs of the past, and who followed the progress 

 of this year's run, that great improvement has been made in 

 the matter of tires. This has been due in great measure to ad- 

 vances in the art of tire making — in the compounding of rub- 

 ber for tires, in improved (because stronger) tire fabrics, and in 

 details of designs of tires. But another thing has contributed 

 no less to this favorable result, namely: the automobile manu- 

 facturer is beginning to see the reasonable side of the tire man- 

 ufacturers' point of view. For several years the rubber manu- 

 facturer has been told to finish the tires "as ordered," and in 

 far too many instances the order was based solely upon price. 

 The tire maker, knowing as he does that the average vehicle 

 uses up several sets of tires, has an even deeper interest in the 

 success of his product than the automobile manufacturer has, 

 since a good showing in the matter of tire efficiency will secure 

 for him the renewal trade, while a failure will be sure to induce 



the user to change. With this idea in mind, the various tire man- 

 ufacturers have conducted extensive tests, the results of which, 

 added to the information secured from customers, have given 

 them a fund of information more comprehensive than that of 

 the automobile manufacturer himself. This puts the tire man 

 in a position to furnish the automobile manufacturer with the 

 tire best suited to the requirements of the latter. The ques- 

 tion of diameter of tires should always be left to the tire man- 

 ufacturer, and in many cases the diameter of wheels would be 

 altered if he were taken into consultation. 



Although anything like exact data bearing upon tires was en- 

 tirely lacking in the late run, it is a fact that no other line 

 of progress in the field of motor vehicle manufacture was so 

 apparent to the veteran of former runs, as the improvement in 

 tires, evidenced by the lack of tire trouble. Almost as con- 

 spicuous was the ease with which tire repairs were effected, 

 and the lack of the old exhibitions of dread displayed by the 

 operators of the contesting vehicles as they set about a job of 

 repairing punctures. A certain degree of satisfaction must be 

 felt by every manufacturer of automobile tires in the United 

 States at so ceditable a showing, and every effort should be 

 made to induce the Automobile Club of America to include in 

 its records in future a detailed report on the work done in all 

 its runs by the different tires entered. 



SOLID vs. PNEUMATIC TIRES IN FRANCE. 



By J. W. Perry {Paris). 



T^HE automobile industry has brought about a revolution 

 in many branches of trade, and developed in certain of 

 them a perfection of manufacture that, a few years ago, 

 would not have been thought possible. The automo- 

 bile itself has become more than a " horseless carriage," and 

 is no longer regarded as a toy or a pleasure vehicle ; it is already 

 a necessary and important agency in the transportation of pas- 

 sengers and goods. The rapid progress by the makers of auto- 

 mobiles in the perfecting of their motors has awakened new 

 life in many industries by creating new demands for their 

 products. The industry which has received probably the great- 

 est impetus and the most benefit, though it has been forced 

 into its present satisfactory position, is the rubber manufacture. 

 The development of high speed in automobiles was retarded 

 for a time by the lack of a suitable tire to carry the vehicle. 

 But when rubber manufacturers realized what was required of 

 them they bent to their work, and, sparing neither material, 

 time, nor money, brought out the tire which to-day is accepted 

 as the standard all over Europe and largely in America. To 

 the two great pneumatic tire manufacturers of Clermont-Fer- 

 rand (France) is due much of the credit for this progress. 



In the incipiency of the automobile industry these vehicles 

 ran upon steel tires, and a little later a few of the more coura- 

 geous chauffeurs tried the "Clincher" solid tire, which, although 

 rolling out of the steel rims every few hours, were nevertheless 

 accepted as better than steel. This held good for automobiles 

 while the maximum speed remained at 15 to 18 miles per hour. 

 But when motors were built to run at 25 and 30 miles an hour, 

 the chauffeur felt the need of something more resilient than a 

 solid tire, and the pneumatic was tried. The debut was made 

 with a section of 65 millimeters [=2^2 inches], and as vehicles 

 were made heavier and ran faster, larger sections were experi- 

 mented with and adopted, until to-day a section of 120 milli- 

 meters [=5 inches] is widely used in France. This was the 

 turning point as between solid and pneumatic tires. As soon 



as the public became assured that a "pneumatic" permitted 

 greater speed and more comfort, they discarded the solid tire. 

 It may be said that this transformation occurred between the 

 years 1898 and 1899. 



No automobile manufacturer in France to day thinks of talk- 

 ing to a solid tire maker relative to making yearly contracts. 

 They are no longer used except, on rare occasions, on heavy 

 trucks. But the making of annual contracts for pneumatic tires 

 is one of the important problems to the automobile builder. 

 The use of pnematic tires in Paris has become epidemic. At 

 first, owing to their high price, only automobile owners could 

 indulge in the luxury of pneumatic tires, but since competition 

 and improved methods have lowered the price, the number of 

 users has increased enormously. The contagion attacked the 

 fiacre (four-wheel cab) owner two years ago, and to-day he 

 " has it as bad as any one." 



There are about 17,000 cabs in Paris, only about 10,000 of 

 which are in active service and pay city license. Four years 

 ago there were all told about 6000 fiacres with rubber tired 

 wheels — about 5800 with solid and 200 with pneumatic tires. 

 On January i, 1903, there were between 450 and 500 with solid 

 tires and about 4000 with pneumatic. The other 1500 which 

 formerly had solid tires have gone back to steel. There are 

 tire contractors in Paris who will fit up a cab with " clincher " 

 solid tires and rent them at 27 francs [ = $5.40] per month, and 

 these contracts are made for two or three years, which ac- 

 counts for there still being 450 to 500 on the streets of Paris. 

 When these contracts shall have expired, the contractor in- 

 tends to replace them with pneumatic. 



Several American houses have attempted to introduce solid 

 tires in Paris, but the attempts proved unprofitable and have 

 been abandoned. The " wired on " solid tires proved even less 

 successful than the " clincher " solid. The peculiar fiint gravel 

 which is scattered over the Parisian pavements uses up the 

 solid tire and wears it out as if a file had been used on it. In 



