Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-31
BUILDER OF SPEED CAR SEEKS
SUPERTIRES FOR HIS PRODUCTS
Designer Of Golden Arrow. Of 231-Mile-
an-Hour Record, Hopes to Reach
30O-Mils Mark.

With the necessity arising for SUPER
tires to 60 with his next silper-caf
which he expects to attain the speed OF
800 miles an hour, Capt. j. s. Irving
designer and builder of the Golden
Arrow, which was piloted to the un-
| precedented earth-surface speed of 231
miles an hour over the sands Of Day
tona Beach, Fla, early in March b.
Maj. II. o. d. Segrave, has been In con-
| ference with Bureau of Standards en-.
gineers and the best motor engineers Of
| the Capital this week In an effort tc
| find some substance to take the place
OF the conventional pneumatic rubber
tires.
with an idea for q rubber substitute
which would stand the grueling pun
ishment inflicted by -miles-an-houl
speed over sand. forming In his mind
the British motor engineer made 9
complete study of the test methods and
materials at the Bureau of Standards
before he arranged to leave with Maj
Segrave for England to await the COM
ing of new challenger for the world
automobile speed title.
!. High Future Speed Foreseen.
"It will take 3O0-mile- an-nour car
to break the next speed record" Capt.
Irving said. And Capt. Irving let 1t be
known with emphasis that he and Maj
Segraye, with the hackers Of the Col
den Arrow, two of whom are anony-
field, intend to keep the automobile
speed record for the British Empire.
Mai. Segrave during his stay In
Washington reiterated that he was
through with automobile speed tests,
but admitted on further questioning
that If another car Of another nation
came along and lifted his mark he
probably would be back If his record Is
surpassed Capt. Irving Is more en-
phatic about Maj. Segrave's re-entering
the lists when he says: "Oh, Segrave
always says he's through. But let son1e-
one come along and send his record up
to about 238 miles an hour and he'll
be right back in the fight"
But that tire question Is the great
problem to Capt. Irving When the
builder of the Golden Arrow went to
the tire makers Of Great Britain for
rubber for the Golden Arrow, they set
245 miles an hour as the absolute limit
thew could guarantee any measure OF
safety from tires. As it was, the manu-
facturer of the tires on which the
Golden Arrow rode to the record, and
the spares that were carried, cost more
than $4,000.
Skill Invoked in Manufacture.
Into them was put every bit of the
tire -making skill that could be found
in Great Britain. Every inch Of the
cotton fabric that went into them was
triple-tested, and many Of the 7-mile-
long skeins were thrown out before
the building of the tires was started.
The fact that the Golden Arrows
tires were in perfect shape, not even
greatly heated, after Mai. Segrave SET
his record, is great compliment to
the builders of those tires. II one OF
those tires had blown out. Maj. Sc
grave says, he could never have known
anything about 1t. His body would
have been a mangled mass and the
Golden Arrow twisted wreckage ready
for the junk-heap.
With the manufacture of the tires
used by the Golden Arrow, tire men OF
England and this country believe the
peak of tire-making, as it Is known to-
day. was reached. -