Evening star., 1942-01-15
Family Of 19 Refused
Auto Tires on Bus
And Wholesale |e' Plea
Minister UnobIe to Swap
Casing Of Wrong Size
Obtoined Through Error

A man with wife and II chill.
dren filed application at District.
tire rationing headquarters for new
tires for his 2l-year-old jalopy
wi sch, he thought, vas eligible un-
der two sections OF rationing regu.
lations. in that it Is used as a
bus" and for distribution of food
stuffs Wholesale"
The application, Of course, was re-
jected. The mans name was not
made public, . policy the rationers
have established for reflections.
The car in the case Is . 1921
model T. The man filed application.
under the classification which states
that buses used in transportation:
of students and teachers to and
from school are eligible for new .
tires. He pointed out his old car
is used to haul 8 Of the II children
to school. He also cited the section
which provides for tires for trucks
used in hauling food He intimated
great many groceries are trans
ported in the family vehicle. The
regulation. however, states that We
hicles used in carrying foods to
'the ultimate consumer" are not
eligible.
Swap Also Turned Down.
A minister approached rationing
headquarters with an unusual
problem. but his plea also was re-
jected under the rigid regulations
handed down by the Once Of Price
Administration. Before rationing
went into effect he bought four tires
for his car. When he got them
out the other day to have them
mounted he discovered that one was
the wrong size. There was nothing
which could be done since the
rationers are not permitted to ap-
prove swapping. The minister said
he would appeal to o. P. A. for per.
mission to sell the tire back to the
dealer.
A large number of applicants, OBJ
viously misinformed about the ra.
tloning plan, are turned down early.
1t Is not necessary to submit such
obvious cases to the men of the
rationing board. For example. q
man drove up to District inspec-
ton station yesterday in a truck
loaded with worn-out tires. He
wanted to swap them for new ones.
The men of the board rejected
the application of a naval ofIicer.
He uses his car to report each day
for duty at the Navy Yard. He said
1t Is also to be used for civilian de.
fense in blackout patrol duty.
Another application rejected was
that Of retired physician who does
not use his car principally for pro-
fessjonal calls"
Battery Sales Brisk.
A large number of persons who
had actually purchased tires and
left them with dealers until needed
were caught in the tire "freezing"
regulation. The dealers, of course.
are not permitted to give them to
the purchasers. even though they
are paid for. These dealers are now
busy refunding the money to the
customers. One small store op-
orator alone had refunded $500. He
said one customer bought tires as
early as last April.
Another point worrying dealers
is that they can't make adjustments
in the usual way where guaranteed
tires prove bad. II the imperfect
tire is in fairly good shape they try
to patch or perhaps retread it.
Where the tire is beyond repair.
the only thing they can do is refund
the purchase money, which, of
course. is not much help to the
customer with the bad tire
Shops report that automobile own
ers are buying up large quantities
Of accessories of which they think
there will be q shortage Sales Of
batteries have increased greatly.
Dealers warn that batteries will de-.
teriorate much more rapidly in stor-
age than in actual use. One store
operator reported that customers
who buy new batteries are keeping
the old ones. Formerly, he ex-
planned, out of Is new batteries sold
nearly as large a number OF old
batteries would be left. Now hardly
more than half the customers trade
in old batteries.