THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



799 



THE DOLLAR IS BIGGEST IN BUYING TIRES.' 



/'^AREFLL ANALYSIS of thc rubbcr tire manufacturing business 

 ^^ does not indicate a downward trend of tire prices, according 

 to expert business analysts, whose opinion is based upon the 

 comparative increases in price of practically all commodities 

 - JM jmv jw jiw m M« jui joH jm juw within thc past six years, 

 and the fact that auto- 

 mobile tires are today 

 nearer their pre-war 

 level of prices than 

 nearly every other staple 

 article upon the Ameri- 

 can market. The basic 

 factor in drawing the 

 conclusion that tire 

 prices will remain staple 

 while prices of many 

 other articles may be ex- 

 pected to drop with fur- 

 ther deflation of cur- 

 rency, is the fact that 

 the consumer now is 

 paying only forty-one 

 per cent more for tires 

 than in 1914, whereas he 

 is paying 2S3 per cent 

 more for wearing apparel 

 than in 1914, over 113 

 wTwl,""i"'SIS'U'pl;iSr""'""°"'°"*'*"'"""' per cent more for fuel 

 and light, 267 per cent 

 C„.«T S„ow,Nc Whv Present T,re ^^^^ f^^ 3„d 231 



Prices Are Low. "^ / , 



per cent more for house- 

 hold furnishings, with commensurate percentages of increase in 

 the prices of practically all other commodities. 



The sudden curve back from the peak of high prices, pre- 

 cipitated by currency deflation and restriction of credit, unques- 

 tionably has led many motorists to anticipate a drop in tire prices, 

 and consequently has caused many to delay contemplated pur- 

 chases until the drop could come. But the comparatively low 

 price of tires at this time docs not indicate such a downward 

 trend. Hence it is argued that while the American public may 

 be justified in waiting for prices of certain commodities, which 

 now are selling at better than 100 per cent advance over 1914. 

 to decline, there is nothing to justify a similar decrease in prices 

 of tires. 



Another important factor is the added mileage and greater 

 durability of the highly perfected tire today. Six years ago a 

 four-thousand mile tire was unusual. Today, an 8,000-mile tire 

 performance is a very ordinary record. Figuring conservatively 

 upon this mileage basis alone, a 1920 tire will deliver at least 100 

 per cent more mileage than a 1914 tire, and yet costs but 37 per 

 cent more. The tire selling for $50 in 1914 cost one and one- 

 quarter cents per mile, based on 4,000 miles of service. The 

 same tire now gives at least twice the mileage and costs only 

 $70. making the cost per mile only seven-eighths of a cent. This 

 means that the same mileage actually is being purchased today 

 for 30 per cent less money. 



This improvement in the 1920 tire over the 1914 tire, it is 

 pointed out, even is more marked in a comparison of the 1910 

 tire with that of today, the average mileage today being fully 

 three times that of a 1910 tire. Motorists in 1910 paid $35.65 for a 

 30 by VA tire, and $11.90 for the same size of tube. Today they 

 pay only $23.50 for the same tire and $4.50 for the tube— getting 

 three times thc mileage for $19.55 less money. On the 34 by 4 

 tire, the 1910 price was $53.40 compared to $40.10 today, and 

 $14.90 for a tube as compared to $36.30 today — a saving to the 



' By Ralph C. Biisbey. Goodyear News Service. 



motorist of $21.90 per tire, or $87.60 for full tire equipment, with 

 throe times thc 1910 mileage. 



There are several elements directly responsible for this condi- 

 tion. Principal among them is the improved method of manu- 

 facturing automobile tires, of raising and curing rubber and of 

 making cotton tire fabric, all made possible through long ex- 

 perience, careful research work and the invention of more modern 

 machinery. Secondly, quantity production has permitted greater 

 manufacturing economy, overhead reduction and the marketing 

 of the finished tire at a lower cost to the consumer. Were con- 

 ditions normal and were the purchasing value of the dollar not 

 cut practically in two, prevalent tire prices might not be con- 

 sidered so unusual. But when it is taken into consideration 

 that wages, freight rates, food prices, the cost of cotton and the 

 various compounding ingredients used in the manufacture of 

 tires have soared, and in nearly all cases more than doubled, the 

 fact that automobile tires are of better quality and yet are selling 

 for less than they did ten years ago constitutes a refreshing 

 thought and a decided relief from the incessant reminder of the 

 high cost of living. 



Since August, 1914, the price of cotton has jumped from 20 

 cents a pound to $1.35 a pound — an increase of 575 per cent. The 

 manufacturing cost of cotton fabric for automobile tires has in- 

 creased 190 per cent, while the cost of compounding ingredients 

 has increased approximately 68 percent. The price of crude rub- 

 ber today is unusually low, compared to other materials ; but the 

 present low level in price does not affect tire prices, due to the 

 fact that vast quantities of rubber were contracted for before the 

 break in price. 



The present "hold back" attitude of thc motoring public is be- 

 lieved due to a misunderstanding of actual facts, and to a lack 



li"«- THE Purchasing Value 

 Shaded and Dark Are.\s Sho« 

 Dollar's Purchasing Power, wu 

 AS Compiled by the United Sta' 



F Our Dollar Has Shrunk! These 

 THE Percentage of Decrease in a 

 I Reference to Various Commodities, 

 ■s Department of Labor. 



of appreciation of the availability of automobile tires at prices 

 so near their pre-war level. In business circles it is felt con- 

 fidently that prices of practically all other commodities will have 

 to break and show an appreciable decline, before the situation 

 will justify any reduction in tire prices. 



A NEW FORM OF COMPOSITE BELTING IS THE INVENTION OF RoBF,RT 



Russell of Middleton, England. It affords a new use for waste 

 leather, and is said to comhine all the advantages of halata 

 and rubber belting, without the disadvantages of either. It does 

 not absorb oil and moisture, as a leather belt does ; nor is the 

 outside portion wrenched and stretched, as is so often the case 

 with rubiicr belting. 



