Connecticut western news., 1910-06-02
RUBBER TIRES vS. SPRINGS
A Local Autoist's Opinion of George
 Westinghouse Invention


 EDITOR NEws:-
 Your editorial in last weeks issue on "Air Spring vs. Rubber Tlre," was in- teresting to me and presume to most motorists of this vicinity, wherefore the spirit moves me to make few comments on the above subject.
 Most people seem to think that steel tire will work successfully on an auto mobile, providing some sort of spring apparatus could be devised to relieve passengers and machinery from the shock of travelling over rough surfaces. This is not true. There are several spring wheels, air cushions, shock ab- sorbers, etc, on the market now, which will cause vehicle to ride comfortably, even if shod with steel tires. The inn possibility of obtaining sufficient trac- tion betw zen the wheels and the road, with smooth steel tires is the principle difficulty. An auto with smooth steel tires would be helpless in mud or on ice or snow, owing to slippage of the wheels. Of course tire with corrugated tread somewhat like a moving machine wheel could be used but no highway could withstand their use, as such a tire would destroy the best road surface in short order. A minor objection to steel tires would be the noise caused by their use. Suppose for instance all the autos moving on Broadway to be equipped with steel tires. The racket arising from their contact with the pavement would be tremendous and would speed fly cause the authorities to forbid the use of steel tires on autos in the streets of the city. Someone may say horse drawn vehicles use steel tires, why not autos? For the reason that horse drawn vehicle rarely exceeds 10 miles per hour i'll speed, while automobiles travel at all rates of speed from to 70 miles per hour. We ail know that a horse travelling at stiff trot makes con- siderable noise, what would be the result with steel shod auto weighing perhaps 5000 pounds and going at 40 miles an hour? ...
 No, this air cushion steel tire scheme is ridiculous whether invented by George Westinghouse or Thomas Edison.
 The only tire for all automobile is one built of RUBBER or some other resilient material eff such is eyer discovered) winch will run silently and get a good grip on the road without recourse to corrugations, rough treads or other road destroying devices. | As to the present high price of rubber, it was of course foreseen when the first pneumatic tire proved successful that rubber would become a very expensive commodity. Rubber that used 70 sell for 35 cents per pound now sells in open market for $3 % per pound, and the end is not yet.
 The only remedy in sight would seem to be the thousands of rubber trees that have been set out on many plantations. in the tropics in the endeavor to produce rubber by cultivation. A multitude of companies have sprung up lately offer ing for sale stock in rubber plantation schemes and most of them have found ready purchasers. If these plantations amount to anything they will produce an immense quantity of crude rubber in the next few years, which will relieve conditions somewhat
 Possibly some chemical genius may discover some substance that will possess the resiiency of rubber without its excessive cost. An army of chemists and inventors are now working on this problem, and the man who solves it will become more famous than Roosevelt and richer than Rockefeller.
 Respectfully
 DEWEY O. CANFIELD