690 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



June 1, 1921 



warming mill for one of the large calenders previously men- 

 tioned. 



Safety appliances are not as much in evidence abroad as 

 they are in this country. However, the subject is being given 

 more attention with the machinery being installed today. The 

 method of stopping mill lines is mostly by dynamic braking of 

 the motor instead of the familiar clutch brake seen in this 

 country. This, of course, is due to the prevailing use of direct 

 electric current. 



EUROPEAN THREE-PART MOLD 



The wrapped tread method of curing tires is in considerable 

 use abroad, but where a mold is used it is often of the three- 

 part type that is shown in the accompanying illustration. The 

 mold consists of a top and bottom plate, an outer, or tread 



Three-Part Mold Two-Part Mold 



European Type American Type 



ring, made in three sections, and bolts for bolting the sections 

 together. In operation the three sections of the tread ring are 

 brought together around the uncured tire by screwing up the 

 nuts ^n the bolts which hold the rings together. Then the top 

 and bottom plates are positioned, and the mold placed in the 

 vertical hydraulic vulcanizing press and squeezed together, and 

 the tire cured. It requires three men from ten to fifteen minutes 

 to handle one of these molds— a waste of time, which in the 

 United States would be deemed deplorable. It must be remem- 

 bered, however, that some of the tread designs used in Europe 

 could not be made clean cut in any other way, so that the remedy 

 is really a redesign of the tread. A typical American tire mold 

 is also illustrated for comparison. The simplicity of its use is 

 readily seen. 



THE FLOOD OF AMERICAN TIRES 

 The writer was surprised to find that a great number of 

 American tires are used abroad, but does not wish to infer that 

 the European manufacturers are not awake to opportunity. This 

 is not so. It is due to being hindered by their obligations that 

 keeps them from expanding as we do in America. It must be 

 remembered that they have been hit harder than we have in 

 the course of events, and therefore do not seem to be overflowing 

 with optimism. 



The present flood of American tires in some of the European 

 countries may or may not continue, as it is possible that steps 

 may be taken in the near future to make it more difficult for 

 the American tire manufacturer to compete. This, of course, is 

 a matter of conjecture, but it is well to bear in mind that the 

 present favorable situation may not last. 



RADIUM— A SAFETY FIRST FACTOR 

 Time and again it has been shown that the scientific curiosity 

 of today becomes an industrial necessity tomorrow. For some 

 time after the discovery of radium in 1902 by M. and Mme. 

 Curie in Paris, the rare radioactive metallic element served little 

 other purpose than that of affording a subject for curious specu- 

 lations by physicists on matter and energy. Next, the discovery 

 was made that radium had a certain curative value in cancerous 

 and other affections. Finally came an exact and practical ap- 

 plication of the newly-found element as a luminous coating super- 

 ceding the old-time paints made of sulphide of barium or calcium, 

 which chemicals emitted a steadily failing glow after exposure 

 to strong light. The advantage of the radium paint is that it 

 needs no light to impart phosphorescence, it glows of its own 

 accord, and the luminosity it affords is practically perpetual. 



One of the first uses to which radium-luminous material was 

 put on an extensive scale was the marking of watch and clock 

 dials to make ihem easily visible without other light. Now, 

 managers of rubber mills, as well as heads of other factories 

 throughout the country, are closely studying its importance as 

 a "safety first" factor in lessening the chances of their employes 

 being injured. They are finding out that wherever danger lurks 

 in darkness radium-luminous material may be used to largely 

 eliminate life and limb hazards to their employes. 



Electric switches, for instance, are often put in nooks and 

 corners of mills where the least fumbling in the dark might 

 mean electrocution to the operator. The efficiency of a fire alarm 

 or a fire extinguisher is greatly increased by having it made 

 visible in the dark. Guards for gear wheels are often illumi- 

 nated thus, as well as perilous parts of many machines, as an 

 extra safeguard in case of the failure of electric lamps while 

 the machines are being used. It is often necessary to locate 

 telephones, emergency call bells, etc., before time can be taken 

 to reach the switches and turn on electric lights. Often high- 

 pressure gages, installed as an insurance against dangers, are 

 deprived of much of their safety value through inconstant light- 

 ing ; but their dependability can be greatly enhanced by applying 

 a preparation which makes them luminous 24 hours a day. 



NO SPRING FAIR AT DANZIG 

 Consul William Dawson reports that the Danzig city authorities 

 have decided not to hold a spring fair in 1921. but that a fall fair 

 is planned. 



AMERICAN ARMY TIRES IMPORTED FROM FRANCE 



The American tire trade has been somewhat exercised by re- 

 ports concerning the importation from France of a considerable 

 stock of standard American makes of pneumatic and solid tires. 

 These were a portion of the American army supplies sold to 

 the French Government as surplus material. The India Rubber 

 World has received the following information on this subject, 

 from its French correspondent. 



"The French Government is liquidating these purchases, and 

 about 200,000 tires from this source have been sold to speculators 

 at very low prices. A certain quantity remains in France, going 

 to buyers of American vehicles which were also derived from the 

 liquidation, but the greater part of those sold have been shipped 

 to the United States. 



"It seems that this stock was bought at 40 per cent of its 1914 

 price, and it is reported that the French buyers divided their profit 

 equally with the purchasers. The tires are not in very good con- 

 dition as the storage was very defective. The huts where they 

 were held being in poor condition, the tires were exposed to 

 light and inclement weather. 



"Other quantities are still for sale, as the stocks are said to 

 have amounted to almost a million pneumatic tires. It is possible 

 that they will be bought back by the same agents and shipped 

 to the United State's as rubber scrap." 



Serious consideration has been given to the possibility of pre- 

 venting the entrance of these tires into the United States but no 

 effective measures can be found. It is apparently a matter for 

 the individual makers to consider with respect to guaranties on 

 these tires. 



