February 1, 1917.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



285 



THE TIRE PRICE ADVANCE. 



A S anticipated in the previous issue of The India Rubber 

 **■ World, the prevailing prices of tires and tubes with few ex- 

 ceptions were advanced from 2 to 20 per cent on January 1. 

 As already explained in these columns, this was the inevitable 

 result of the ever-increasing cost of labor, of compounding in- 

 gredients, and latterly of crude rubber itself. The table below 

 gives the approximate percentages of the price advance of six 

 leading firms for the several types of tires : 



11-15 2-10 11-15 



Pneu- 

 matic. 



Cas- 

 ings Tubes 



15 10 

 15 



5-20 10 



i5 10 

 12-12J5 



Motor 

 Cycle. 



nicycle 

 Tires. 



Cas- 



Cas- 



ings Tubes ings Tubes 



15 



10 



15 



10 



10 

 10 







IS 





 10 



2-10 



Solid 



or 

 Truck. 



ib'iiyj 



10 

 10 

 10 



Firestone 



Fisk 



Goodrich 



Goodyear 



Kelly-S. 



U. S. 



THE MILEAGE OF THE 1917 TTRE PRODUCTION. 



Arithmeticians, whose chief delight is to play with figures, 

 may find a few minutes' enjoyment in checking up those that 

 follow, which emphasize anew the tremendous proportions at- 

 tained by the principal department of the rubber industry in the 

 United States. Assuming that the American tire production for 

 1917 will be 20,000,000 as predicted in The India Rubber Woru) 

 of December 1, 1916, and considering 5,000 as the average mileage 

 for each tire, the staggering total mileage necessary to wear out 

 the year's output would be 100,000,000,000. A car would have 

 to cover 25,000,000,000 miles in order to wear them out, a dis- 

 tance equivalent to 1,000,000 times the distance around the 

 world, or over 269 times the distance from the earth to the sun. 

 In other words, they would replace the tire wear of an auto- 

 mobile going at the rate of SO miles an hour day and night for 

 a period of 57,077 years. 



THE PEARCE TIRE & RUBBER CO. 



Favorable progress is being made at the plant of this firm 

 in Ashtabula, Ohio, and it is expected that the factory will be 

 finished and machinery installed by April 1. The location is at 

 the foot of Benefit street, wliere the company has purchased 

 454 acres, about 1,000 feet of which adjoins the New York Cen- 

 tral Railroad tracks. The two-story building will be of fire- 

 proof, reinforced concrete construction, faced with brick, and 

 v/ill have 24,000 square feet of floor space. Individual West- 

 inghouse motors will be used to generate power, and automobile 

 tires and tubes in all sizes will be manufactured. 



MAKING TIRES ON BROADWAY. 



In order to show the public exactly what is meant by the 

 term "cord tire," The B. F. Goodrich Co., during the New York 

 automobile show, brought on and set up in the display windows 

 of its building at 1780 Broadway two complete machines used 

 in the Akron, Ohio, factory for the construction of Silvertown 

 Cord tires. Perhaps the nearest thing to human dexterity 

 known to mechanics, they accomplish what no human hand could 

 in maintaining an absolutely equal tension on the cord as it 

 passes back and forth across the surface of the form, making 

 the tire of uniform strength at all points. Workmen, clad in 

 white, operated the machines slowly enough so that 

 the spectator could see how each layer of rubber- 

 impregnated cord is applied and follow the motions 

 of the human-like system of arms and hands which 

 complete their several functions with such mechani- 

 cal regularity and precision. As a convincing ad- 

 vertisement this instructive window display was a 

 complete success. 



#-^ 



I'L.^NT OF PEARCE IIKE i RUBBER CO. 



At a recent meeting of the board of directors A. E. Pearce 

 was elected president, J. L. Smith having resigned, and H. J. 

 Atwood was made secretary-treasurer, in place of P. C. Remick, 

 resigned. The present directors are A. E. Pearce, H. J. Atwood, 

 F. L. Kerr and J. L. Smith, one vacancy being left on the board 

 to be filled at a special stockholders' meeting on March 1 by an 

 experienced .^kron, Ohio, rubber man whose name will be 

 announced at that time. 



PREVENTING TIRE THEFTS. 



Year by year the "fully equipped" automobile in- 

 cludes more devices for the comfort, safety and as- 

 surance of motorists. Automobiling has become so 

 general that tires are almost as good as ready money; 

 tire thefts have therefore increased greatly and have 

 given accessory manufacturers another subject for the 

 application of their utmost ingenuity. But this year 

 marks the entrance of some form of protection against tire theft 

 ■■:s a frequent part of the regular motor car equipment. Perhaps 

 the cleverest of the several schemes seen at the New York auto- 

 mobile show is that by which an extra wire wheel with tire 

 attached is securely locked to the rear deck by means of a stud 

 through the wheel flange. No straps or chains are required in 

 connection with this locking device. 



ASHTON W. CANEY ORGANIZES NEW RUBBER COMPANY. 



Tlie Titan Tire & Rubber Co., Inc., Batavia, New York, notice 

 of whose incorporation appears elsewhere in this issue, was 

 formed through the efforts of Ashton W. Caney, whose prominent 

 connections with the Batavia Rubber Co. and the Sweet Tire & 

 Rubber Co., of Batavia, have been previously recorded in The 

 India Rubber World. The Titan company will make tires and 

 rubber goods and do a general mercantile and contracting busi- 

 ness. The present organization is temporary in character, and 

 mention of the definitely formulated plans of this new concern 

 will appear later. 



Of value for daily reference in every rubber office.- 

 Polyglot Rubber Trade Directory, 1916." 



■'Tlie 



GOODYEAR TO MAKE OWTf FABRIC. 



The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, which has 

 taken a large proportion of the output of the Killingly Manu- 

 facturing Co., of Killingly, Connecticut, has now secured con- 

 trol of that manufacturing plant. A new company has been 

 incorporated with $5,000,000 under the name of the Goodyear 

 Cotton Mills, the incorporators being Francis Sciberling, Fred 

 Miller and Harold Hutchins. The plant is a large one with 

 steam and water power, and its present equipment of 17,500 ring 

 and 1,200 twisting spindles, and 60 broad looms will be further 

 increased. It is reported that the new company has decided 

 to erect a large yarn mill and 100 tenement houses in Williams- 

 ville, Connecticut, in the immediate future, this mill to have 

 a capacity of 100,000 pounds of tire yarn per week. 



