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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1917. 



India Rubber in War. 



By Robert G. Skerreti. 



MLCH is heard of the part steel is playing in modern war- 

 fare, but has the world, or indeed the rubber trade 

 itself, half grasped the extent of india rubber's vital 

 contribution to this monster world-wide conflict? Hundreds 

 upon hundreds of our factories are working to capacity in order 

 to produce rubber products of one sort or another, and now that 

 we have joined hands with the Entente Allies these establish- 

 ments must expand and run well-nigh continuously to turn out 

 a still greater volume of these myriad commodities. Our rubber 

 industries may well look up and feel a sense of pride in the part 

 they have played and the greater part they are bound to play in 

 this Titanic struggle. 



The past three years of war in Europe have brought to a focus 

 the inestimable value of rubber and, what is more, have clearly 

 emphasized the fact that chemistry's cunning has not yet evolved 

 a really all-round substitute. Germany's initial use of motor- 

 truck service gave a new complexion to the problem of shifting 

 quickly great bodies of fighting men, and probably Paris would 

 have fallen to the Teuton troops if General Maunoury had not 

 rushed to the battle-front a whole army by means of Parisian 

 taxicabs. All of the belligerents then suddenly awakened to 

 the need of self-propelled vehicles, and it was not long before 

 they grasped, as well, the 

 fundamental requirement of 

 an abundance of rubber tires. 



THE IMPORTAN'CE OF TIRES. 



In the earlier stages of the 

 war wastage in tires was 

 little short of appalling. This 

 was due to lack of organiza- 

 tion, the casting away of 

 damaged tires upon the 

 roadside, and the frequent 

 employment of misfit tires in 

 a service that covered rough 

 roads with the heaviest of 

 burdens. Among the Allies 

 a goodly measure of order 

 has been instituted in this 

 extremely important depart- 

 ment of supply and trans- 

 portation, and there are now 

 operating centers to which 

 all injured tires must be 

 sent. New ones are no 

 longer issued to a driver 

 without question as to his 

 disposition of the worn ones. 

 Even so, the wear and tear 

 are tremendous, and it is 

 said by those in a position to 

 know, that solid rubber tires in military service seldom average 

 more than 1.500 to 2,000 miles. This is less than one-tenth of the 

 mileage commonly expected in commercial use. Over-loading, 

 over-speeding, hard service in all sorts of weather upon all kinds 

 of roads exact their toll when necessarily combined with in- 

 different attention, while the exigencies of the moment preclude 

 careful driving, and hasten destruction. 



TIRES FOR 150.000 MOTOR \-EHICLES. 



It is safe to say that the Allies, in their various fields of 

 military activity, have in service for transport and staff work 

 rubber-tired automobiles and motor trucks to the number of 



.\ .Soldier's Field Kit 



300,000 or more. These machines are using up, at a conserva- 

 tive estimate, certainly five times as many pneumatic and solid 

 tires as would ordinarily be expected under normal conditions. 

 •And let it be remembered that this durability is secured in a 

 large degree by reason of rubber fillers of one sort or another 

 that make it possible to drive the pneumatic tire until it is 

 almost completely worn out. No wonder, then, that Germany 

 has made desperate efforts to obtain rubber, for, despite her net- 

 work of railroads, the ultimate mobility of her forces and the 

 maintenance of their supplies of all sorts depends basically upon 

 motor vehicles. 



According to the estimates of the Council of National De- 

 fense and our military authorities, an army of a million men 

 will require anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 motor trucks, and 

 bids for these have already been asked. Inasmuch as it is said 

 that we are to raise an available and thoroughly equipped force 

 of 2,000,000 to 2,500,000 men, we shall need at least 100.000 

 motor trucks for transport and supply service alone. This does 

 not take into account the ambulances for hospital service and 

 the thousands of automobiles that would be required for various 

 staff duties. It is probably safe to say that we shall have to 

 have a maintained organization of substantially 150,000 motor 



vehicles of one kind or an- 

 other in order to keep the 

 service up to wartime de- 

 mands. With our knowledge 

 of tire consumption abroad, 

 and with the figures al- 

 ready cited, our manufac- 

 turers are clearly face to 

 face with a giant task in this 

 one department of the rubber 

 industry. 



MOTORCYCLE TIRES. 

 Very recently our govern- 

 ment asked for bids for 

 10,000 motor-cycles. This 

 number will unquestionably 

 be greatly increased, because 

 it is a matter of record that 

 the British army alone has 

 in the neighborhood of 100,- 

 000 of these machines in 

 service to-day. So far as 

 carrying dispatch bearers 

 and mounted scouts is con- 

 cerned, the wear and tear 

 upon tires would be hard, 

 but not as disastrous as the 

 stresses of motor-truck serv- 

 ice. However, it is evident 

 that a large number of our 

 ultimate array of military motorcycles will be equipped with 

 side-cars and also provided with machine-guns. For work of this 

 sort the motor-cycle must be both powerful and rugged, and 

 the ultimate burden will rest upon the rubber tires. Here the 

 tax will be excessive and it is quite likely that tire deterioration 

 will equal that of the motor truck, because the machine-gun 

 squads must reach their destinations whenever it is humanly, 

 physically and mechanically possible to do so. 



In connection with automobiles, motor trucks, tractors, am- 

 bulances and motor-cycles, it must be remembered that rubber 

 IS also used m a variety of subordinate ways. For instance 

 there is rubber in the construction of the batteries of self-' 



