THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



295 



lie has to be an accomplished salesman at times to hold a 

 customer's business. As a rule, too little attention is given 

 the Service Department by branch managers, and j'et the Serv- 

 ice Department can wreck a branch. It is as indispensable to 

 the success of a branch as the product to be sold is. It is easy 

 enough to sell a line of goods that as a general rule enjoys a 

 iood reputation; it is a different matter to deal with custom- 

 ers whose business in the Service Department is 100 per cent 

 "condition to correct." 



It is therefore indispensable that care be exercised in select- 

 in,? the service man. He should be of good appearance, intelli- 

 gent, quick to size up a situation, possess a knowledge of his 



r.iduct, be a diplomat and a salesman. He should be of the 



ilibcr that branch managers are made of. 



A WORD OF CAUTION CONCERNING PNEUMATIC 

 TRUCK TIRES. 



By J. .W-u-ton Gunn. 



THE PRESENT TENDENCY' of tire manufacturers to recommend to 

 truck operators promiscuous change-overs from solid t" 

 pneumatic truck tires leads me to offer a word of caution. 



In my opinion the time has come when intelligent advice should 

 be given to the truck owners of the country on this subject. 

 There is reason to doubt whether truck owners in changing over 

 indiscriminately from solids to pneumatics understand that such 

 a change-over is not always satisfactory and may even be harmful 

 to their trucks. The truth of the matter is that there are cer- 

 tain circumstances under which it is wise for a truck owner 

 to use pneumatic tires and other conditions under which it is 

 uise to continue to use solids. 



The chief purpose in making this statement at this time is 

 to prevent dissatisfaction to truck owners who. attracted by the 

 success of the big pneumatics, may be contemplating discon- 

 tinuing the use of solid tires and using pneumatic in their stead 

 without inquiring into the suitability of the pneumatics for their 

 trucks or their particular needs. It would be well for an owner 

 to consult with a tire expert before making such a change. 



.\ fact realized by few is that motor vehicles are built as a 

 rule to meet the conditions imposed by the tires they are to carry. 

 Most people regard tires as an accessory which have little in- 

 fluence on the structural design of the vehicle, but automotive 

 engineers know that it is the tires which determine the general 

 characteristics of the vehicle they are to carry. The development 

 of the pneumatic tire was the chief factor in making possible 

 the passenger car of to-day. 



All e.xcept a few of the motor trucks in operation to-day were 

 ■built from engine to rear axle along lines which would make 

 them adaptable for use on solid tires. In designing these trucks, 

 the sole object of the engineers was to secure the highest effi- 

 ciency of operation possible under the limitations imposed by 

 the natural characteristics of solid tires. 



.\ small number of firms build trucks especially for pneumatics, 

 but the number of makes of this sort is very limited. The num- 

 ber will undoubtedly grow rapidly, for the advantages of having 

 a truck ride on air are so apparent that the demand for trucks 

 designed for pneumatics cannot help but become great in the 

 immediate future. 



.■K truck designed for pneumatic differs radically from one 

 built for solid tires. Truck and tire engineers are now working 

 together to solve the problem of faster highway transportation 

 and the solution is found in a truck specially designed to op- 

 erate on pneumatic tires, having a chassis corresponding to that 

 of a passenger car, an engine which will drive the vehicle at high 

 speeds and still show the necessary economy in gasoline and oil. 

 a rear axle and differential gears which will compensate for the 

 larger outside diameter of the tires, and a braking system that 

 is powerful enough to give the driver complete control of the 

 heaviest truck under all conditions. 



It is because most trucks are designed for operation on solids 

 that truck users may find pneumatics unsuited to their require- 

 ments. If a truck designed for solids is changed over to pneu- 

 matic tires, the increased cost of this equipment can be most 

 easily offset by increasing the radius of action ; that is, increas- 

 ing the speed. While the tires are designed for this, the engine, 

 transmission, differential gears and brakes are not. 



.Another limiting factor that should be clearly borne in mind 

 is that pneumatic truck tires have been satisfactorily perfected 

 only in sizes up to 8 and 9 inches. Larger tires than this are 

 still in the experimental stage. 



There are some conditions under which it is wise to change 

 over from solids to pneumatics, even though the truck construc- 

 tion contemplates the use of solids. There may be certain dis- 

 advantages as a consequence of the change, but these will be 

 more than offset by certain advantages to be gained through 

 use of the pneumatics. Because of the multiplicity of uses to 

 which motor trucks are put, it is almost impossible to lay down 

 any hard and fast general rule showing the conditions under 

 which pneumatic tires should be used, or under which solid tires 

 would be proper equipment. 



Pneumatic tires, have certain very definite advantages over 

 solids. It is just as desirable to have all trucks operate on pneu- 

 matic tires as it is to have all passenger cars operate on pneu- 

 matic. The invention of the pneumatic tire was one of the great- 

 est steps forward in the development of the passenger car, and 

 the pneumatic lire for trucks is as great a step forward in the 

 evolution of motor trucks. There is no doubt that ultimately 

 pneumatics will be the standard equipment tor practically all ve- 

 hicles of this character. 



TALC AND SOAPSTONE INDUSTRY. 



America leads the world in the manufacture, use and produc- 

 tion of talc and soapstone. .According to the United States 

 Geographical Survey the output sold in 1918 was 191,477 short 

 tons, having an average value of $10.91 a ton. This was a de- 

 crease of 7.000 tons in quantity over 1917, but an increase of 

 more than $200,000. Vermont produces the largest amount of 

 talc, but Xew York's output, which comes second, is of greater 

 value: California ranks third in quantity and in 1918 more than 

 doubled the output of 1917. The United States produced about 

 58 per cent of the world's output in 1918 and imported, besides, 

 11 per cent of all the talc produced by the rest of the world. 

 .About 12,000 tons, 96 per cent of the importations, came from 

 Canada and very little was exported. While there is plenty of 

 low and middle-grade talc in the United States, the high-grade 

 talc used for toilet powder, electric insulators and gas burners, 

 comes from Italy, France, and India. 



.A new source of talc has been found recently in a dike of 

 serpentine in Hartford County, Maryland. The California pro- 

 duction is ground talc, found in Inyo and San Bernardino. 

 There it is associated with limestone, and in part has a fibrous 

 structure like that from the Gouverneur district of New York. 



Virginia is the greatest producer of soapstone in the world : 

 she shipped more than 15,000 tons in 1918. California also pro- 

 duces some soapstone. 



BUSINE-SS ME.V OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, WHERE THE FOR- 



eign element is very much in evidence, have formed the Amer- 

 ican Constitutional League, with Frank R. Bacon, president of 

 The Cutler-Hammer Manufacturing Co., as chairman. The 

 League proposes to be non-sectarian and non-racial in member- 

 ship and objects: it will devote itself to the work of .Americani- 

 zation in education and in publicity and to opposing all radical 

 doctrines which threaten existing order. 



Bolivia has imposed an export tax of from 2 to 6 per cent 

 1 all rubber that leaves its territory. 



