The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-12-31
The RUBBER SITUATION
And how it affects tires
for your car
for your car

With the declaration of war between the
United States and the Axis powers, the
long threatened danger of our principal
sources of rubber supply has become an
unpleasant reality. From Malaga and the
Netherlands East Indies comes IS per cent
of the worlds rubber and these two coun-
tries are now under attack by our enemies.
Today, Japanese troops are attempting to
penetrate southwark through the jungles of
Malaga and to land by parachute on the is
land of Sumatra in desperate effort to
occupy these vital rubber producing areas
and thereby SLOW the wheels of American
industry.
RUBBER IN MODERN WARFARE
Rubber is indispensable in modern war
fare Airplanes and scout cars, tanks and
trucks, barrage balloons and gas masks
are only few of the many essential war
materials that require rubber.
THE RESERVE SUPPLY OF RUBBER
Keenly aware of this strategic import
ance of rubber and an.ici rating the day
when the United States might be cut off
from the Far East, our government in CO.
operation with the rubber induet-y, began
more than two years ago to build up re-
serve supply. After Pearl Harbor, it be-
came necessary to take drastic steps to pro-
tect this precious store of rubber and on
December IL our government issued an
order prohibiting the sale of tires and tubes
to anyone not having prio- ity rating of
AS or tetter. These temporary restric-
tions will end on January S, and they will
be superseded by new regulations which
are now being formulated. As how long
such restrictions will remain in force will
depend upon the course of future events.
Naturally, when our allied forces are VIC
torious in the Far East, shipments of rub
Der to the United States will be resumed.
But in the meantime, steps are being taken
to relieve the present situation.
FACTS ABOUT SYNTHETIC RUBBER
The first of these is the expansion of ia
cilities for the manufacture of synthetic
rubber. There are a number of large
plants now under construction, and the
one for which we are responsible will be
ready for production in the first part of
1912. Nearly ten years ago.. our organi-
cation began experimenting with va ious
types of synthetic rubber, and in May 1888,
we produced the first synthetic rubber tires
ever manufactured for Uncle Sans armed
forces. As more synthetic rubber became
available, we consistently increased our
production of synthetic rubber tires. The
most important elements needed for the
manufacture of synthetic rubber are but
adiene and styrene, both by-products Of
petroleum, which commodity the United
States is fortunate in having available
within its borders in unlimited quantities.
BRAZILIAN RUBBER AVAILABLE
Another possible emergency source of
rubber is the valley of the Amazon River
in South America. From that area, $4,000
tons were shipped in 1912 and it has been
estimated that perhaps as many as $780,
00O, 900 wild rubber trees exist in this
region. These are not being tapped at the
present time because the price of rubber
is lower than the price which would provide
the incentive for the natives to blaze the
Jungle trails, tap the trees and bring the
rubber to market. In addition there is a
possibility that some rubber can be OBJ
tanned from Guayule shrubs, which can be
raised in this country and Mexico.
AMERICANS SHOULD PRODUCE
THEIR OWN RUBBER
In this critical hour, when rubber as
sumes a position of prime Importance to