Evening star., 1917-10-07
1917, by Frank G. carpenter3

Copyright. 1917. by Frank C. Carpenter)
AKRON, Ohio.
s ~INCE the outbreak of the great
~ war in Europe, the little city of
w Akron has become one of the
~ important manufacturing centers
~ the world. 1t is the chief rubber city
Of the United States. 1t manufactures
nS1fS than half of all the rubber goods
H91S1e in this country and more than
oas.third of all the rubber made by the
WA<ld Just now it is engaged in MAX
1nf rubber supplies for the Army and
Navy. and its twenty-five factories have
bosn,speeded up by the demands of the
Hzflon. Rubber is estimated by the
0nacfals here as the third great neces-
aitys to our armies in Europe. The first
neeessity is food for the soldiers. the
second is guns and ammunition to fight
|the-hattles and the third is rubber which
In TO do not only with transportation,
but syith nearly every other branch of
modern warfare.
Take the matter of tires. During my
ex1R.through the great plants here I
bAve- found nearly every one of them
H1Al1ng more or less tires for the
Amy and the total output for this year
WfA&be about J20.000.000. There is one
company which makes nothing but
tires. 1t is now turning out $4,000 a
dAyS- and is building additions to its
plant which will make its production
$4,000 tires daily. This company man
ufAckures tires of all kinds. from those
% sfhs great trucks which require tires
F1o1rteen inches wide and strong
eesssh to carry the heaviest loads.
The demand for tires is far beyond the
I0upnfy. They are among the greatest of
|Df11tary necessities and they are eaten
~ with the hardest of usage. Even the
aaljd tires seldom average more than
$3.50 miles and this is less than one
tQ6@' Of what is expected of them for
0edtnary commercial purposes. 1t is es-
ffWated that the allies now have in the
|ne5thborhood of $4,000 motor vehicles
81 one kind or another and that these
mocA1nes use several times as many
tires as would be consumed under peace
condftfons- At four tires to the ma
ehtne. this means that something like
1;eeos000 tires are now being used and
this does not include the increased de-
mands now that we are to put an enor-
R2Us army in Europe. We shall have to
IN keeping the vehicles used by our
allies In good condition.
AZ to the demands of the United
states troops in Europe. it is estimated
thAt we shall need at least 100000
m6tDf trucks for the Transportation Of
our guns and supplies. and that the
ar4t army of a million men will re-
qYtrX 10000 trucks. which means 16O, 900
tfe9N Tnese tires are now being made
hefe. and at the many other rubber
ceAters of the United States. They
YpU sbe shipped to the establishments
Making the trucks, and as soon as
1oee1Oie the business will be stand
Al4i4ed and the tires shipped directly
ID Europe. to be used there as the
war and tear of the service demand.
MsAdditfon to the trucks. we shall
n4Y4 TO Keep up in the neighborhood
ok 100000 other motor vehicles. in
efuding cars of various kinds. hospital
aDAulances and motor cycles. The
xttteh army is now using about
200, 600 motor cycles. and some of them
e14 equipped with side cars after the
|4oG9Jon OF the little boatlike car used
Wt4h our motor cycles. which has face
ttQpsly been dubbed the wife
4neSe side cars are mounted with ma
chtno guns. and the weight of the guns
Feets upon the rubber tires.
sQHe OF the plants visited was max
~ Hres for airplanes. These will be
nhlpped to the various aviation fac
eoffeg and will be used for our flying
mackines abroad. One of the largest
Victories here has been making such
ktres for the French aerial fleets,
u414 are using annually something
1ka 80. 900 machines. 1t is estimated
klak we shall need more than 100. 900
D<chtnes every year in order to main
Nh our force Of 10000 aviators, and
- work In now going on in making
1{9 tires for the airplanes under con-
<6kcfion. Each airplane has two little
BIR66ls upon which it alights when 1t
oepes down from the skies. These
Hn4Y1s have to be of the strongest
rdbB6r in order to absorb the shock
hid soften the landing. The very best
- Para rubber. is used for the pur-
Do16s and that Of nature 80 springy
hat an afrplane will bounce from
hirtg to sixty feet into the air on
GHzktug the earth.
sGpeakfng of rubber for use In the air
1aQf the biggest factories here are