The Coconino sun., 1919-08-15
MANY IDEAS VIE
 FOR RECOGNITION

serve the car owner of today. Onl, subconsciously aware of their pres ence, he conluxuriate in the comfor of his machine, confident that all i well, as the engine purrs and the tire. grip the road to speed him on hi way, business or pleasure bent.
 There are some interesting storie, associated with the ideas that hay, survived the tests and the competition of the automobile construction world Such tales are part of the romano, of modern business and contain scere. of human interest features.
 The automobile tire alone has be hind it's perfection the thoughts o1 thousands of men, through score ot years, in tropical rubber growing plantation and American manufactur ing center.
 When tire is brought to the fore it's tread design perhaps catches the eye of the observer first. What biz thoughts lie behind the making oi that design? 1t is merely a patterr by which the automobile "fan" may know the name of the tire maker? The story of the making of one tread design will answer both ques. tions and give an idea of the vas, amount of time and thought devoted to the development of each of tn. thousands of ideas which are behind the comfort and safety of the auto. mobile driver of today.
 The Firestone company short time ago began placing the alternate cross and square design on it's cord tires The New White Garage, which firm represents the company in this city learned the why's and wherefores oi the design when at the big factory of the company at Akron recently.
 q found that it takes a great deal of time and thought to originate a real non-skid tread for an autombile tire," said MT. Tillman yesterday "The design of alternate crosses and squares was adopted by our company only after months of careful inves. tigation, comparison and tests.
 "In designing a tread the first aim is to produce a maximum flowing of rubber. Success in this means a cor. responding success in the amount of traction obtained. This traction, with due consideration to gasoline conser. vation, should hold the car to the road. Other things being equal, the more angles and the more lines ot contact there are, the greater is the gripping power. Figures show the cross and square design has more an. gles than any other tread design or the market today.
 "Wear is also an important consid, eration. The higher the edge, the stronger the bulwark raised against the attacks of wear and stress from without. Because of its three proiec. tions in every row, from side to side the cross and square design offers a maximum of wearing surface.
 Everywhere the corner of the square fits into the crotch of the cross. A completely interlocking sur face scheme is thus formed. As the two figures are set turn and turn about longitudinally-around the cir conference of the tire, and also from side to side across the tread, there can not be such a thing as an unsup. ported line where the tire comes in contract with the road.
 Straight lines and points, as we'll as concave and convex curves are rep resented. This is another character istic that reduces slipping and facili- tates the handling of pleasure car or truck.
 "The value of the cross and square design is seen particularly along the edges of the tire. The margin is ir- regular, because the point of the square and the two claws of the cross are set alternately along the sides. This is great help in break ing up strains and absorbing them. obviating a fault in the majority of tread designs.
 Not only along the edges. but also all over, through and around the tire the cross and square design distrib- utes vibrations. A balanced series of alternate crosses and squares has been attained. resulting in uniform &C., tion of the tread rubber and a bet ter distribution of the strains to the carcass of the tire. These things then mean better adhesion, longer wear from tread, and extra mileage from the carcass.
 "The interlocking of the two figures all over the surface also reduces the wear. The corner of the square is set in such relation to the cross as to prevent the forming of pockets The height of the edge also helps the tread to resist the effects of wear. Along the sides the cross and square (there are three rows everywhere) stand up to the last, doing their ut most to preserve the tire as the crown is worn down.
 "The gum used in the tread has been increased in quantity in keeping with the increased size of the tire. In some of the sizes the amount used is increased by as much as 20 per cent. The gum is selected and treat ed for those qualities which will as- sure the maximum of wearing and cushioning power"
 The Firestone company reports an enormous demand for pneumatics this summer, both cord and fabric.