The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-14
RAGS. AND SAND
FILL AUTO TIRES
kAISERB ONLY CAR IN GERMANY
NOW RUNNING ON PNEC.
MATIC TIRES,


ming on pneumatic tires is Kaiser WI
helms. Even the crown prince is de
MED this luxury. With Won Hinden
l,urv I.udendorff. Won Mackensen and
the other diadems In the German crown
the crown prince bumps along to the
front ON tires filled with rags com
pressed cork and paper. these opser'
va,ions form but "a small part OF the
anthology of facts gathered by VICTOR
Van der Linde, special technical repre-
sentative Of the u. +. Goodrich huop',
company of Akron, who Just returne"
from Europe after long study OF ure
conditions abroad In some countries
tires are not to be- had at all. except at
n fabulous price and only after a dozen
nr two high government officials nave
had one ON the witness st'nu po'
weeks. literally speaking; gasoline rs
worth more than champagne ana III op-
tainable only with government consent
and nine.tenths of the automobiles are
not running.
German scientists have tried 10 i'm
proyise for the scarcity OF rubDer pN
compounding what they call synthetic
rubber" said Mr.. Van der Einde, put
I'm this they have been UNSUCCESSFUL
There is not an ounce Of crude rubber
in II and. therefore. II is devoid of fiber.
Then again II has cost about fifteen
times more a pound than the vegetable,
The situation of both Germany ana
Austria, as concerns tires. is truly de-
plorable. Countries bounding the Cen
tral empires. with the exception OK
those that are at war with them, are
in just as bad plight.
Really, the only car running with in
ner tubes I'm Germany today Is the kai-
ser's. Most castings are stuffed with
compressed champagne corks' paper,
rags and sausages made of ground
cork.
Sand and Dirt Filings.
Some have even been filled with
sand and dirt This only refers To those
cars that have ragged castings left. Most
automobiles have ground away their
shoes and move about on rims bound
with rope" Mr.. Van der Linde said. Il
was fortunate to find taxlcab in Ber-
iin-a taxicab Is rare there now--and
experienced the sensation Of riding In n
machine having nothing but rope
bound about the wheels. 1t was just
like riding on wagon. Every time the
car struck a cavity in the road YOU
were jolted through and through.
There isn't bicycle tire left in Ger
many, aside from those on military bi-
cycles. Raids by the wholesale were
conducted on shops and residences and
all bicycle tires seized. These have been
reduced to permit their remalling as
automobile tires. In fact. everything in
rubber has been reclaimed for tire con-
struction and submarine battery cells.
The cargo Of the Deutschland on its
last trip was almost exclusively rubber,
but so pressing was the demand for
the ues of the rubber in dirigibles that
none of it. with the possible exception
OF enough for the building Of tires for
the royal family, was allowed to go into
tires.
Germany had little crude rubber in
stock at the outbreak of the war. Since
then she has been depending ON wnat
she could smuggle through the mails
and what she could buy from Sweden.
Single sheets OF rubber were sent in
letters from the United States until
Great Britain opened these and confis-
Gated the contents Aftep this channel
had been closed she purchased large
numbers of automobiles in this coun-
try and had them shipped TO Sweden.
There she stripped the automobiles of
the tires and abandoned brand new ma
chimes to the Swedes. But now Great
Britain permits no cars shipped To Swe-
den with tire equipment"
Fabulous Tire Prices.
Mr.. Van der Linde gave the prevail
ing price Of tires in the following coun-
tries:
Germany-None to be had
Austria-None to be had.
Swcden-$550 for tire il you have "a
permit from Royal Automobile club.
Norway-$i60 with permit.
Dermark-s32O for tire il you can
find one and give written assurance TO
that il will not go to- Ger
many.
Holland-s35o for tires.with govern
ment guarantee.
Russia--$10O for one tire
Great Britain-s90 for one tire
FRANCISCO for one tire.
Italy-sl00 for one tire.
Spain-S125 for one tire.
In Sweden" continued Mr.. Van der
Linde. there are 10000 automobiles.
There are 1000 in operation and on
tires from which has disappeared all
of. the original casing. Tires
hold twenty and thirty patches. Swe-
den has been placed in this predicament
because of the number of tires that
have gone to Germany from its ports.
England has denied II rubber supplies.
Tires are scarcer there now than dia-
monds.
Gasoline. Mr.. Van der Linde said, is
as big a problem. as tires. In no coun-
try can you get it without government
permit, and in Germany the prices are
prohihtive. a pleasure trip
of 200 miles would cost the average
German $500 in gasoline alone.
Gas in Europe.
This is the European scale of prices
IN gas"
Per gallon.
Germany