March 



' 903-1 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



189 



my personal experience I have ntver known a wired-on tire to 

 last more than 8 or 10 months on a public cab. The contrac- 

 tor who rents out his "clincher " tires at 27 francs per month 

 can get 12 to 14 months wear out of them. This additional 

 wear is due to the fact that the rubber is made of special lorm 

 and contains 37 kilograms [=Zi% pounds] per set of four 

 wheels, while the wired-on tire requires on an average of only 

 27 kilograms [=59^^ pounds]. 



The makers of wired-on tires could put in 37 kilograms of 

 material, also, and get more wear, but as they do not rent their 

 tires, but sell them outright, the prices at which they would be 

 forced to sell would make their use prohibitive. Some one 

 may say that the cab owner pays a high price for the " clincher " 

 tire when he pays 27 francs per month for 12 to 14 months, 

 and that the wired on would not be any dearer in the long 

 run. This argument will not hold good, as anyone will under- 

 stand who will notice the class of cabs mounted with solid tires. 

 The cab with solid tires is generally ill kept, the horse is half 

 fed, and the cocker ill dressed and surly. This combination 

 generally means " insufficient capital and inability to pay " ; 

 therefore, they rent their tires. No self respecting cab owner 

 will rent tires, as he prefers to be his own contractor and get 

 all the benefit there is in the business for himself. 



There are two good reasons why the cab owners have adopt- 

 ed pneumatic tires : (i) they last longer, and (2) they are more 

 sought after by the clients. It may be difficult to convince 

 some American readers that pneumatic tires outlast the solid, 

 but the best proof of this statement is their general adoption 

 by cab owners. A set of four pneumatic tires will last (with 

 ordinary care) 13 months for front wheels, and 15 for rear 

 wheels. When the tires are on cabs of a cooperative company 

 they will last 15 months on the front wheels and 18 on the rear 

 wheels. A tire may pick up a nail once in a while, but this 

 puncture is quickly repaired by a workman on the company's 

 premises. 



Prices of pneumatic tires in Paris have fallen to 400 francs 

 [=$78.20] for a set of four, including four wire wheels with steel 

 hubs turned up to fit the stub of the axle, and the whole 

 mounted on the cab. This same outfit two years ago sold for 

 750 francs [ = $144.75]. This great reduction in price has made 

 pneumatics cheaper than solid tires. The cab owner does not 

 feel the outlay, because it is the public that " pays the freight." 

 There are very few owners of a single cab ; most of them are 

 owned by men who have from 20 to 100 cabs, which they rent 

 by the day to responsible cockers. The average rental without 

 rubber tires is about 15 francs [=$2.90] per day, with the privi- 

 lege of changing horses once during the day. If the cab has 

 pneumatic tires the price is from 2 to 3 francs more, or $3.28 to 

 S3.47 per day. Cabs with solid tires are rented to the cockers 

 at the same rate as the steel tired wheels. 



The Parisian is now accustomed to wait until he finds a metal 

 wheeled cab before he gets in. Nearly all pneumatic tires for 

 cabs are mounted on wire wheels. The Parisian is evidently 

 of the opinion that pneumatic tires on wood wheels do not give 

 the same comfort as on metal ones. The pneumatic tired cab 

 isalways busy, and loadsoftener,and the Parisian is more liberal 

 with his pour boire than he would be if he used a steel or solid 

 tired cab. 



It is expected that there will be about 6000 pneumatic tired 

 cabs in Paris by the end of this year, and if the two large cab 

 companies adopt them, a cab on the streets of Paris without 

 pneumatic tires will become as great a curiosity as was the first 

 cab that appeared with pneumatics. This will simply be his- 

 tory repeating itself, for it is only a few years since great ex- 

 citement was created by the appearance of the first automobile 



with pneumatic tires. To day it is the automobile with solid 

 tires that excites comment. So it will be with the yfatr^. The 

 carriage builders and owners of private carriages are also fast 

 adopting pneumatic tires, which are put on in a neat manner 

 by doing away with the wooden fellies; then metal sockets are 

 slipped over that part of the spokes that were in the felly, and 

 the pneumatic tire rim is screwed onto these sockets from the 

 inside of the rim. This makes a neat job and a graceful one. 



To resume, and to prove that the solid rubber tire is destined 

 to disappear, I may say that, \n round numbers, the total 

 amount charged out for solid tires in 1902, by all makers, was 

 about $250,000, while for pneumatics for carriages and auto- 

 mobiles the amount was about $3,500,000. I think these fig- 

 ures are sufliciently eloquent to tell their own story. 



AUTOMOBILE TRADE OF FRANCE. 

 The value of exports of automobiles from France during 

 three years past, as officially reported, has been as follows : 



r9'>3. 1901. lgo2. 



Francs 9,417,000 15,782.000 30,251,000 



U. S. money |i, 817, 481 §3,045,926 $5,838,443 



These figures, however, are not based upon selling prices, 

 but result from the French government's official appraisal of 

 motor vehicles in bulk at 10 francs per kilogram. It is asserted 

 that the actual export values were considerably higher than 

 shown in the official returns. At a recent dinner given in his 

 honor by the Automobile Club of Great Britain, Baron Roths- 

 child stated that seventy concerns, with 45,000 employes, are 

 manufacturing automobiles in France, while if all the manu- 

 facturers of accessories were considered, employment is given 

 to 180,000 people. The tire industry alone is of great import- 

 ance. Baron Rothschild said that $3,000,000 worth of tires 

 were sold last year by one house, and several hundred thou- 

 sand dollars worth by the smaller concerns. 



SUBMARINE CABLES OF THE WORLD. 



THE total length of submarine cables now amounts to over 

 200,000 nautical miles. Charles Bright, F. r. s. e., in a re- 

 cent address before the London Chamber of Commerce, stated 

 that they represented a total investment of about ^^50,000,000, 

 while the present market value of their combined capital largely 

 exceeded this figure. The cable construction and shipping out- 

 put of Great Britain is about 100 nautical miles per day. The 

 cost of construction to-day may be roughly estimated at ^150 

 per mile. The cost of laying may be estimated at half as much 

 again. A cable carefully manufactured and laid, if the condi- 

 tions of the sea bottom be favorable, should be expected to last 

 30 years or more. It might be kept in operation indefinitely 

 by the successive replacement of parts. The cost of mainte- 

 nance is usually put down at /6 to /8 per mile per annum, 

 though the possibility always exists that heavy expenses may 

 be called for, for repairs. Deep sea cables have generally 

 proved very remunerative. About 6,000,000 cable messages are 

 now sent in a year, the number having increased out of all pro- 

 portion to the increased mileage of cables. 



In regard to the use of India-rubber as an insulator, Mr. 

 Bright said : " Lest the scarcity of Gutta-percha should be ser- 

 iously considered, attention may be called to the fact that a 

 very considerable length — somewhere about 2500 nautical miles 

 — of cable insulated with vulcanized India-rubber has been 

 worked through for years, and is doing good service. India- 

 rubber is superior to Gutta-percha for tropical waters infested 

 with teredoes, or sword and saw fishes, such as abound in mod- 

 erate depths." 



