Evening star., 1942-10-31
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

ny SAn LEN DhOOhL JONES.
It's not necessary to have special
equipment to inspect tires, said
Charles F. Phillips, director of auto
motive supply rationing for the
Office of Price Administration, in
reply to the assertion of the District
Commissioners Traffic Advisory
Council that the new regulations
we're unworkable, here and else
where, because there were not
enough of the machines that dag
nose tire troubles.
Mr.. Phillips explained to The
Star today, in response to questions,
that skilled inspectors-and none
others would be acceptable to OPA-
would be able to detect, usually, by
looking over the tires, whether they
had glaring defects.
Such inspections, he added, could
be carried out anywhere-at filling
station, in parking lot, even on
the street if necessary. This, Mr..
Phillips admitted, is not an ideal
arrangement 1t would be better, he
conceded, to have ramp or portable
machines for all the inspections,
but this is not practicable.
Sees Plenty of Inspectors.
And Mr.. Phillips, taking issue
with local traffic officials, contended
there would be plenty of inspectors
available who knew automobiles and
tires thoroughly.
Mr.. Phillips, youthful and ener-
getic, was professor of economics
at Colgate University until he came
to the rationing division of OPA in
December, 1941. He was graduated
from Colgate in 1881 and took a
Phi. D. at Harvard in 1888. He has
260 men in his division, many OF
them technical experts from the tire
gasoline or automotive industry
The tire inspection regulations, he
explained, represented a collabora-
ton of technical men, and he ap-
proved them and feels that they are
entirely workable.
District officials and local automo.
bile men disagreed. They contendee
that the original plan of OPA, as sci
forth clearly in the regulations, pro.
vided for inspection equipment, sucf
as ramps. They also maintained
that, at least in Washington, ane
they had no doubt it was true il
other cities, mechanics skilled
enough to inspect tires were ex
tremely scarce.
Most Go Into Armed Services.
One automobile dealer was report
ed not to have single such man II
his employ. A proprietor of larg'
filling station said he did not have .
mechanic left experienced enough II
tell whether tire was in alignment
Most of the mechanics, it was ex
planned, had gone into the armet
forces or into war industries.
! Edmund o. Carl, vice presiden
and general manager of Call Carl
Inc, which operates chain Of aut'
repair shops, pronounced the OPP
regulations utterly impossible Il
carry out in Washington and prob
ably anywhere else"
| Mr.. Carl said ne had one man Ou
of 191 employees skilled enough to tel
at a glance whether a tire had any
thing wrong with it, and even thi
man could not discern the trouble
the tires had been shifted to anothe
wheel, as motorists frequently do.
We're taking one out of thre
jobs we could handle" he added
because we haven't enough skille,
mechanics to do the work. Skille,
men are increasingly scarce. I dom
see how OPA possibly can enforc
such a provision. Looking at tires
not enough. You need precision in
struments really to tell what
wrong"
Inspections Begin December l.
| OPA recently ordered. beginning
December l, tire inspection 70
holders of A gas ration cards ever,
four months, for motorists entities
to supplementary rations every 8