MOTORISTS CONFUSED

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 13430, 18 April 1944, Page 3

MOTORISTS CONFUSED

CONFLICTING STATEMENTS ON

RUBBER. SITUATION

There is indeed reason for confusion in the minds of the motorist do ponders over recent pronouncements on the rubber and tyre situa- ![■„ He was told no great time ag'o that rubber constituted the great ° s is In the United Nations' supply programme—as he might well believe from the conclusions to be reached from obvious facts. The übber shortage has always been represented to him as being far more • mm ediately responsible for the stringency of petrol rationing- than the | iqU id fuel position. Within a comparatively short period of time this same motorist has now been assured by the British Minister of Production that rubber supplies are adequate "for essential purposes"; even that from Empire production of rubber it has been found possible to divert supplies from Britain; and additionally he learns that synthetic production has exceeded expectations. Our thinking and patriotic motorist receives this information with thankfulness. But he has cause to wonder just what is what a nd whether the things he has been told make sense retrospectively. And quite recently the British Ministry of Supply has seen fit to apply a check to any tendency towards that old enemy, "wishful thinking/- resulting from encouraging comments on the rubber position. Technical and production problems remain to be solved before the synthetic product becomes sufficiently durable to stand up to the work imposed on tyres by every type of vehicle. Synthetic rubber is not what we know as natural rubber, made artificially. It is a material of chemical composition', different from rubber, possessing some physical features similar to those of natural rubber. In U3e it has less resilience and develops greater heat than natural rubber, a serious point in the larger sizes of tyres and the main reason for the necessity of using higher proportions of natural rubber as the size increases. The synthetic's resistance to tread abrasion is good, however, and, given careful use and maintenance, satisfactory mileages can be expected from tyres made of it. Only now are allsynthetic covers beginning to come into service, comprising car, motor cycle and what are known as "small giant" sizes.