Life — January 7, 1909 — page 57: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

make ndmas. ainted Don’t Guess @Which Gire ts Best— Here is Proof In New York City there are 1,000 Taxicabs. On the tires, more than on any other oné thing, depends the profit of the Taxicab business. You may be sure that the owners of the 1,000 Taxicabs did not guess. They tried all the tires that were offered, and checked them up with the taximeter— which told them the mileage unerringly, indisputably. There was no personal preference. blooded business test. And the result: No friendship. No prejudice. It was a_cold- 800 out of the 1,000 Taxicabs in New York, operated by several competing owners, have contracted for Goodyear Tires to be used exclusively To understand why the Goodyear tire stood head and shoulders above its*competitors in this taxicab test, you must understand, first, the difference between a moulded tire and a wrapped tread tire. . ‘The moulded tire is built up, layer by layer, onan iron core. Over it is clamped an iron mould. And when the heat of the curing proc applied, that rubber expands—and in expanding, forces a perfect union between the various layers of rubber and of fabric. You will realize the pressure that is exerted on the tire when you know that a two-inch cube of rubber, enclos- ed in an iron mould, with walls two inches thick, will crack the iron under the heat of the curing process. With the moulded tire, so far so good. But consider this : in building up that tire on the iron core, a skilled workman lays fabric on fabric, rabber onrubber. It is a feat of dexterity well worth watching. Yet, skilled as he may be, he cannot wholly avoid wrinkles, irregularities, unevenness. Wrinkles, irregularities. and unevenness which, under the pressure of curing, multiply themselves into hidden weaknesses and defects. It is these hidden weaknesses, these con= cealed defects that make you wonder, some times, why one tire does 2,100 miles, while its mate stands up for 12,000 to 15,000. J of being cured on an iron core, are cured on an air bag. ‘The air bag is really only another name for an inner tube—an extra strong inner tube. When the air bag has been inserted in the built-up tire, strong tape is wound around and around it, and then it is cured in live steam The advantage of the wrapped tread p s is that the air bag, full of compressed ai smoothes out these wrinkles and irregularities and prevents those hidden weaknesses and defects. The advantage of the wrapped tread pro: cess is, for this reason immeasurable. THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, AKRON, OHIO Mevton. 2 Dartaouth St; Clcinnatl 317 E- Filth St: Los Angeles. 9128. Main St Denver: Pia Branches and Agencies je But there is one disadvantage which more than discounts the superiority The tire made by this process does not get the squeeze—the terrific squeeze that the moulded tire gets when the heat expands it between core and mould — the squeeze that forces the rubber into the fabric, making a per- fect unioa between fabric and rubber. In losing that squeeze, it loses durability, strength, unity—which more than offset the fact that the wrapped tread tire can have no hidden wrinkles or unevenness. Obviously, the tire you ought to have is one built up on an iron core—squeezed the same as a moulded tire—and finished on an air bag to smooth out the irregularities. There is just one tire. made in this way—only one. It is the Goodyear Quick Detachable. This one point of superiority is reason enough why the Goodyear Quick Detachable should have won the Taxicab test. But there are other reasons—other su- periorities, The Goodyear Quick Detachable is for ex- ample, an oversize tir That is, the 32 x 4 size is nearly a 32 x 4% tire—and other sizes are oversize, in proportion, The Goodyear tire is made larger than the specifications call for. It is simply larger, and better than any other tire marked the same size. There are countless other Goodyear su periorities. Ther for instance, the Goodyear rubber- rivet breaker-strip, which makes it impossible for the tread to split or peel from the carcass of the tire. This exclusive Goodyear device, protected by patent, deserves a full page of description here. But it is cited merely as one of the Good- year superiorities—superiorities which extend from the raw materials to the workmanship— from scores of exclusive Goodyear processes to the Goodyear piano-wire tape which would hold the tire on the rim, even if both the detachable flanges were off. When you think of tires, think of that Taxicab te: Those Soo Taxicabs in New York are doing 60,000,000 tire miles a year! More than 1,000,000 tire miles a week ! And what is true of the taxicabs of New York is equally trae of the taxicabs of Boston, of Washington — of practically every large stern city where taxi- cabs are used. Eight out of every ten of them are using Goodyear tires exclu sively. Think of that, you who have bought tires because you have heard of their use on some tour or some race! Think of that, you who have almost abandoned motoring because you have had the wrong tires ! Think of that, you who have blindly groped at the tire problem—you who have bought tires wholly by hearsay! Don't you see, now, that tire buying has been ‘reduced to a business basis ? Isn't the tire that the Taxi- cabs took—isn’t that the tire for you? A hundred times more about tires than can be explained in apage like this, you will find in our book, * How to Select an Auto. Tire.” Send for it now. It is free. comicbooks.com