The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-16
The Pneumatic Tire.

the attention of our manufacturers the
need of some marked and effective
change in the construction of pneumatic
tires. The use of tires of this sort has
extended during the past few years to
vehicles of practically all kinds, and yet
the advance toward perfection in the
design and manufacture of these impor-
tant adjuncts has been slow.
Not day passes without experiences
that serve to emphasize this fact. For
example, at Detroit, on Wednesday last,
one man was killed outright and another
severely injured, while score Of persons
barely escaped harm, through the burst
ing of tire on an automobile which was
running at high rate of speed. The
machine itself was completely wrecked.
On the same day the tires of two other
vehicles exploded, causing more or less
damage, but no loss of life. In the
course of a motor cycle race on Sept.
S, at Manhattan Beach, one rider re-
ceived bad fall and half dozen ma
chimes were disabled because of the
bursting of tires,
Necessarily such mishaps endanger
the safety of the spectators as well as
that Of the riders themselves. Accidents
of a similar nature may occur constantly
on the highways. The immediate cause
assigned for the trouble in the cases re-
ferred to was the wearing through Of the
rubber, or the overheating of it due to
excessive friction. 1t has been shown
that the overheating of tire often re-
suhs in melting the cement and so loosen
ing patches which may have been previ
ously applied, or in rendering the tire
insecure upon the rim of the wheel.
Proof is not wanting that inventors
and manufacturers see the necessity Of
providing tires which shall be safe and
durable and it would be unfair to
say that no progress in this direction
has been made. 1t should not be sup
posed, moreover, that the present diff
culties exist solely on this side of the
Atlantic. Many OF the European tire
makers admit that they have exhausted
well-nigh all their resources in the effort
to solve the problem in hand. Together
with the American manufacturers, they
have experimental extensively with
single-tube and double-tube tires. They
have introduced new fabrics intended
to tougher their product, and have COM
pounded rubber and other substances,
with this object in view. They have
tried making the sides of tires thinner,
with the idea of relieving them of great
pressure when highly inflated. They
have varied the tires diameter in, the
hope of helping matters, and have al
lowed solid tires to take the place Of the
pneumatic on some vehicles where the
vibration was not likely to be greatly
increased by the change.
These experiments and many others,
while tending somewhat to simplify the
task undertaken, seem to have fallen far
short of producing substantial results.
During the reliability run of the Au-
tomobile Club to Boston and return last
December, tire troubles were said to be
responsible for more delays than all
other shortcomings combined on the
part of the vehicles. While at the wait
ing stations along the route nine inner
tubes were replaced and nine new tires
fitted, and repairs were made on six
others. In addition, eight inner tubes
we're inserted here and there on the road
and three new tires were substituted.
The imperiections were not confined to
tires of any one make or price: weakness
characterized nearly all of them.
When it is considered that the average
retail price of an automobile tire is about
$o5, or 500 for a set of four the subject
becomes the more important. The cost of
tire depends largely upon its weight
and this in turn is determined by the
weight of the vehicle for which it is in
tended. With thousands of pneumatic
tired vehicles in use in this country, it
is easy to see that the tire trade has
assumed enormous proportions.
How is this now virtually indispensable
product to be made durable-that is,
strong and puncture-pro without ma
terially affecting its resiliency? Must
it's residence, or elasticity, be sacrificed
for strength, in order to attain the de-
sired result? Obviously, the difficulties
confronting the manufacturers are per-
picking Let us hope, however, that
they will not prove invincible.