THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[OCTODER 1, 1913. 



secured in ritteen different instances with 4-inch tires 

 and with 5-inch tires used on the same vehicle. It will be 

 noted that in some instances the substitution of a 5-inch 

 tire for a 4-inch tire increased the mileage secured over 

 3C0 per cent. The table shows an avera.<:;e increase in 

 the cases under observation, where a 5-inch tire was sub- 

 stituted f(ir one an inch narrower, of 58 per cent, fur the 

 front wheels and 123 per cent, for the rear wheels. 



While this table shows simply the great economy from 

 the standpoint of tire expense of the wider equipment, 

 there must be added to this advantage the tremendous 

 saving to the machinery of the motor when the wheels 

 are equipped with tires in good condition rather than tires 

 in various stas:es of dissolution. 



REASONS FOR THE DROP IN RUBBER PRICES. 



Til 1{ fluctuations in the price of crude rubber are al- 

 ways interesting, and to people who are buying and 

 selling this commodity they are always important ; but the 

 phase of the matter which is of real significance is not so 

 much the fact of the rise or fall in prices as the reason for 

 it. If the reason for a noticeable drop proves to be one of 

 a permanent character, it is obviously a matter of con- 

 sideral)le concern to gatherers and producers of crude 

 rubber. If it proves to be simply of a temporary nature, 

 they need then feel no very great alarm. 



Rubber prices have given rather an interesting exhibi- 

 tion during the present year. Reviewing briefly the 

 course of Upriver Fine, we find that in January it ranged 

 from $1.02 to $1.09; in February from 96 cents to $1.03; 

 in March from 88 to 96 cents, and in .-Kpri! from 78 to 89 

 cents. In other words, there was a distinct downward 

 trend constantly in evidence, the lowest price of one 

 month being practically the highest price of the next. The 

 drop in average prices from January to April was about 

 22 cents a pound. Now the question is : — What was the 

 cause, or what were the causes, for this uniform decrease 

 in the price of crude rubber ? There are probably several 

 answers to this question. In the first place, there was the 

 natural apprehension of the rubber manufacturer over 

 the tariff situation. This would tend to make him ex- 

 tremely conservative in his purchases. And in the second 

 place might be cited the increased cost of living, which 

 made it necessary for the great body of consumers to give 

 more careful consideration to their expenditures. It needs 

 no proof to show that when beef costs 30 cents a pound a 

 great many people are likely to buy fewer tires than when 

 beef costs 20 cents a pound. When the necessaries of life 

 are ranging along the upper altitudes a very considerable 



proportion of the community has to cut off many luxur- 

 ies, and incidentally, a great many health-preserving 

 articles that should be classed as necessaries but which are 

 generally counted among the luxuries — rubber shoes and 

 rubber coats, for instance. 



But there was another cause for this drop in ruliher 

 jirices which has escaped general attention but which 

 probably had as much influence as all other causes put 

 together, and that was the great decrease in the con- 

 sumption of rubber by the Akron mills during a period 

 of six or eight weeks, beginning early in Fel)ruary and 

 extending into A]iril. It will be recalled that the .\kron 

 strike started about the lOtli of February. It affected the 

 mills in varying degrees, some of them being entirely 

 closed and others working on greatly reduced tickets. 

 Immediately following the termination of the strike there 

 were disastrous floods in Ohio, which further aft'ected the 

 operation of some of the Akron mills. 



Speaking in round numbers. Akron uses one-half of the 

 crude rubber consumed in the United States, her 

 share being about 25,000 tons a year. February and March 

 would normally be busy months, particularly in the pro- 

 duction of tires, and had it not been for the strike and the 

 floods, it is safe to say that the factories of Akron would 

 have consumed close to 6,000 tons of rubber from the 

 middle of February to the middle of April. But during 

 that time the Akron rubber industry was not operating at 

 more than 50 per cent, of its normal capacity. In other 

 words, about 3.000 tons of rubber which under nomial 

 conditions would have been consumed during that period 

 remained on the market. This amounts to 6 per cent, of 

 the annual consumption of the country and would be fully 

 25 per cent, of the rubber that would naturally be con- 

 verted into goods during that period. This great decrease 

 in demand for rubber would certainly account for the 20 

 per cent, lower prices in the early part of April as com- 

 pared with those of four months before. 



This contention that the .\kriin strike and flood had a 

 marked mlUience on rubber prices i-^ borne out by subse- 

 quent events, for immediately after the Akron factories 

 got fully under way rubber prices began to mount. In 

 May the range was from 81 to 92 cents; in June from 87 

 to 92 cents, and in August as high as 94 cents was paid for 

 Upriver Fine. That is, about one-half of the loss during 

 the four months from January to April inclusive was made 

 up during the four months from May to August. 



The causes for the low rubber prices of last spring ap- 

 pear, therefore, to be exceptional and temporary ; and 

 while, with the greater production of plantation rubber. 



