December 1. 1920 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



161 



Taiu-k \'I1 



Rubber Requirements in the Automobile Industry 



1 

 Pounds of 



Rubber 



Consumed 



in Tires 



1913 65,880.000 



191+ 89,830.000 



1915 128,400.000 



1916 135,650,000 



1917 233,387,000 



1918 248,000,01)0 



1919 325,000,000 



Number 

 of Cars 

 Registered 

 in II. S. A. 

 1.254.971 

 1,711.339 

 2,445,664 

 3,512,996 

 4,983,340 

 6,146,617 

 7,565,446 



Increased Rub- 

 ber Consumed 

 in Tires Over 

 Previous Years 



23,943,000 

 38,750.000 

 57,250,000 

 47,737.000 

 14,613.000 

 77,000,000 



Pounds of 



Rubber in 



Tires Per Car 



Registered 



52 

 S2 

 52 

 46 

 43 

 43 



From an inspection of this table it will be seen that there is 

 consumed in every car registered an average of about 43 pounds 

 of rubber in tires. Applying this rate to the 70 per cent of our 

 imports that go into tires, and to be distributed in the surplus, it 

 will appear by reference to Table \'III, column 5, that, in 1921, 

 there must be a registration of approximately 10,000,000 cars in 

 order to use up this amount of rubber; increasing as imports in- 

 crease up to 1924, when a registration of nearly 12,000,000 cars 

 (11,800,000) must be had in order to use up the accunnilated sur- 

 plus and current imports. 



T.XBLE VIII 



Forecast of Car Registration in Order to Abs(jrb Rubber 

 Shown in Table VI, Plus the Existing Surplus Distrie 

 Over the Years to and Including 1924. 

 (Reference to Graph F) 



need be no fear for the future of rub!)er surplus provided these 

 restrictive measures are observed. 



It does not seem to be apparent, as Zorn and Leigh-Hunt 

 would have us believe, that there is any danger of a rubber 

 shortage. The prediction of Mr. Rennie, of 1917, however, seems 

 to have been amply verified, at least so far as prices are con- 

 cerned. X'ow that steps have been taken to remedy the situation, 

 this prediction — though at the time it was made it was thought 

 to be entirely overdrawn, seems to have worked for good all 

 around. 



I do not think that any of the facts disclosed in this analysis 

 need disturb the general feeling of optimism that exists in the 

 trade, notwithstanding the fact of present depression. I have 

 proved the fact of the rubber surplus statistically, demonstrating 

 that, even with our lack of really reliable data of amounts of 

 individual holdings, the "estimates" made by the trade are ap- 

 pro.ximately correct. 



No one who has closely followed the development of the auto- 

 mobile tire industry in this country doubts that it will continue 

 to expand — perhaps not as rapidly as during the past few years, 

 but in a normal healthy way that will easily take care of its 

 share of the present rubber surplus and natural imports for the 

 next few years. 



Imports 

 uted 



1919 

 1920 

 1921 

 1922 

 1923 

 1924 



1 



.... 229 



242 



'..'.'. 258 



273 



Total increase, 1919-1920 

 Yearly increase, average 



513 

 542 

 578 

 612 



359 

 37') 

 404 

 428 



80 

 80 

 80 

 80 



439 

 459 

 484 

 508 



7. 600.000 

 8.800.00O 

 lO.OOO.OOO 

 1(1.700.000 

 11.200.000 

 11,800,000 

 4,200,000 



Note: 



Column 1. Forecast of imports in thousands of tons. 



Column 2 Same in millions of pounds. 



Column 3. .Seventy per cent of imports used in tires, millions of pounds. 



Column 4. Seventy per cent of world's surplus of 200,000 tons dis- 

 tributed over four years — 1921 to 1924, inclusive, in millions of pounds- 

 Column 5. Total rubber that must be absorbed, each year, in tires and 

 tire sundries to take care of ihe impcrts and present surplus as distributed, 

 in millions of pounds. 



Column 6. Cars that must be registered to use up imports and the 

 surplus 



Column 7. Per cent of increase in cars registered each year. 



CURVE OF CAR REGISTRATION WITH 1924 FORECAST 

 NECESSARY TO ABSORD FUTURE IMPORTS AND 

 PRESENT SURPLUS 

 15 



1 10 



£ 



c 



5? 



cr> 



The question arises, then, is the above too much of an increase 

 ill cars to expect under the conditions that now exist and that 

 are likely to prevail during the next four years? Let us see. 



From an inspection of Table VII it will be seen from column 2 

 that the average increase in car registration has been as follows : 



1913 to 1914 36% 



1914 to 1915 43% 



1915 to 1916 44% 



1916 to 1917 42% 



1917 to 1918 23% 



1918 to 1919 23% 



In order to use up the imports and the surplus I have shown 

 that a certain number of cars must be registered each year. See 

 Table VIII. The rate of increase indicated is but an average of 

 11 per cent a year. This, compared with increases of anywhere 

 from 23 to 44 per cent, should demonstrate that, with the curtail- 

 ment of rubber production and importation I have mentioned and 

 which sccrns likely to occur — indeed, it is now occurring, there 



A GROWING TIRE REPAIR SCHOOL 



The tire repair school operated Ijy The Miller Rubber Co., 

 Akron, has been increased fifty per cent in space and equipment 

 because of the growing demand for the course. An average of 

 fifty students for the past few months has taxed the school to 

 capacity, and the increased space will enable the company to 

 handle 75 to 100 students at a time. New sectional and retread 

 molds for heavy-duty tires have been added and a competent 

 instructor employed to handle this phase of the work. Students 

 of the Miller Tire Repair School are now divided into classes, 

 including beginners, intermediate, senior repair men and special 

 truck tire men. The course of four weeks' practical shop work 

 is supplemented by a series of 24 lectures. Students are graded 

 on each repair made, as a ticket is attached to each tire listing ma- 

 terials used, tiiue of repair and the name of the student making 

 repair. At the completion of the course both work and results 

 of e.xaminations are taken into consideration, and if a student 

 passes favorably he is given a diploma certifying him an expert 

 repair man. If his grade is only fair, he is advised to stay and 

 master the work, but if he fails or does not show good work he 

 is advised to stay out of the repair business. Main repairs are 

 taken up in the following order : inside section, inside patch, 

 quarter section and bead repair, half section, full section, tread 

 patch, rcliiicr and retread. 



THE STANDARD GOLF BALL 

 Because it affects both players of golf and makers of golf balls, 

 the most important of the several regulations adopted at the 

 Anglo-.^mcrican golf conference was that applying to the limita- 

 tion of golf balls and their standardization. The rules cominittee 

 and the American delegates decided to recommend that golf balls 

 for official tournament play .shall not measure less than 1.62 inches 

 in diameter, nor weigh more than 1.62 ounces avoirdupois. Al- 

 though this coniproiTiise decision is disappointing to many Ameri- 

 can players and discommoding to manufacturers, it is being ac- 

 cepted in a sporting spirit and is believed by leading Ameri- 

 can experts to have prevented the game from turning 

 backward The English wanted a standardized ball of the large 

 "floater" type that would clip yards off the stroke of the best 

 players. The .Americans made a stand for the "Thirty" ball, the 

 smallest and heaviest ball which comes within the new ruling and 

 will maintain the present standard of the game, although it means 

 the abandonment in international contests of the "Fifty" ball, 

 which has won the most important tournainents of the past year. 



