Page 1 Advertisements Column 2

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XI, Issue 243, 18 October 1921, Page 1 (Supplement)

Your Opportunity IS HERE! NEW CARS AT NEW PRICES We have the finest selection of High-Grade Cars in New Zealand to-day to choose from, and you will see them AT TME SMOW THE SILENT-KNIGHT MINERVA—“The Aristocrat of High-Grade Cars.” HIIJWfIFD - - - - —“Englane’s Best Finished Car.” ROVER - - - - —“The Car of Good Repute.” HILLMAN - —“The Sturdy Light Car-” p —“ The Car that will last for ever.” HC S. „ - - - “ A Thoroughbred. Born on the Race Track.” * STUDEBAKER - - —“ A Great Car with a Great Reputation.” WE WILL BE HAPPY TO MEET YOU OUR EXHIBIT IS SURE TO INTEREST YOU The TOURIST MOTOR Go. ltd. HASTINGS AND NAPIER

The History of the Pneumatic Tyre f \ News Cable (London). —"J. B. Dunlop, the inventor of the Pneumatic Tyre, \ « see^n " an injunction to restrain the English Dunlop Tyre Company from — j publishing a well-known portrait of himself. 7 he grounds upon which the Capplication is based are that the portrait is too foppish and that it annoys himself and his family.” R3' 'X What a remarkable influence this man has had on the progress of the whole \ civilised world -for it was the Dunlop Tyre that made cycling and motoring possible. Mr Dunlop was a veterinary surgeon in Dublin when the Dunlop Tyre was s. conceived in 1883, and is now over 75 years of age. The story of the tyre has been YA described as a romance. It first gained recognition in Dublin in May, 1889, when a Wr cyclist with a machine equipped with pneumatics, easily beat the pick of racing Yr- * B ' rVrF# A cracks, romping away from his competitors with the aid of pneumatic tyres. It was primarily through the 10 year old son of Dunlop that the pneumatic tyre , W as invented. The lad did not mind a few jolts on the road but he wanted more speed to beat the older boys, and it was solely to give it to him that the tyre was SY— ' WlSgSgffl finally perfected. When considering ways and means, Dunlop did not immediately fe'S '7'V think of the pneumatic tyre, but first constructed a resilient wheel of sted. This was w not durable, so he then endeavoured to devise means to confine air within a tyre. Dunlop sucured the rubber with which he made his first tube in sheets from a firm in Edinburgh. It was one thirty-second of an inch in thickness. The sheet of rubber lB he cut into long strips and lapped it over to form a tube. He had to shave the edges with a pocket knife, after which he spread on rubber solution with his finger. After /pZ l/Y Mill feO completing the tube, the inventor doubled it round, and, before joining the ends, he Ilf 111 made a tiny hole and inserted a length of rubber tubing from a baby’s feeding bottle. I’JI II r Cnl I\l \ He then solutioned the whole securely together and left it for several days, as he QI HI I I \hl VII was compelled to attend to his business. Later he stretched the tube over a disc of UI H I *U I VIIVVw wood 15 inches in diameter, and covered the whole with a piece of linen from a Mr j b dunt op woman's dress. This was tacked all round with small tacks, and the tyre was then (iih;r,tration objected to) inflated with his son s football pump. After testing the “ wheel ” Dunlop decided to make a set of tyres fqr his son's bicycle, and secured fresh supplies of rubber. The work occupie i three months, and it was not until February 20, 1888, that they were ready to be tested. His son rode the bicycle tirouph the iron' door of ’the veterinary establishment at midnight on that date. After much difficulty he fitted a set of tubes, covered with an outer casing of cotton, to steel whegls, and the tests were in every way successtul. The first Company floated to handle this tyre, was the Pneumatic Tyre and Booth Cycle Agency of Dublin towards the end of 1889 and it is interesting to record the fact that Mr. W. J. Proctor, the General Manager of the Dunlop Rubber Co of Australasia was employed by this Company, when a lad. In 1889 only a few racing tyres were constructed, and practrYv little headway made with the English Bicycle Trade which could not see that the pneumatic would stand up against'the wear of the cushion and solid rubber tyres then in vogue. In 1890 Mr. Dunlop, who was a director of the Pneumafi- Booth Co and ha I received a few thousand pounds for his tyre interests, plus a royalty on tyres constructed, found that the pneumatic tvres were not making the headway anticipated. It was then that Mr. IL DuCros decided on controlling bi s interests in the Cycle Trade with a view of forcing the pneumatic tyre on the market. This move was successful and soon demonstrated the efficiency of the pneumatic, after which the Cycle business was separated from the tyre interests and th" Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. was formed, the capital being £IO,GOO. In five years time from then, the pneumat c tyre Ind sunplanted all others tor cycling right throughout the world. The capital of that Company to-day is £7 503 000 audit has b*en computed that the world’s annual output of pneumatic tyres exceeds the enormous amount of £l3O 003 030 Mr Dunlop estimates that he received something like £50,000 through his invention. Needless to say the tyre in its original form was not the tyre known to the present generation of Cyclists and Motorists. When first marketed, the “Dunlop” consisted of an air-tube, 2 inches in diameter, which was wrapped on a crescent shaped rim by layers of thin canvas, over this was fixed a rubber wearing strip, io protect the canvas from friction and road contact The detachable principle came later when Welch’s patent covering the "Wired-on” system of attachment by internal air pressure (as used in cycle tyres to-day) was bought in 1890 bv th ? Dunlop people. Later oh the Bartlett patent, covering the “Beaded Edge” system of attaching to rim, was secured by the same firm, and it is this clincher type of cover that i; now so largely used by Motorists throughout the world to-day. It will thus be realised by Cyclists and Motorists what a debt civilization owes to the inventor of DUNLOP TYRES The number of these tyres sold and the mileage travelled in various parts of the world since their inception would be something stupendous. One thing is certain, no civilised country would have developed to its present stage without their aid. Second only in importance to the value of the Dunlop Tyre as a means of travel, is the remarkable fact that 32 years after its inception it still remains the same in principle. Today it holds premier place in the estimation of Cyclist and Motorists in this country, giving economical and dependable service. Never mind how severe the conditions be. the old “Dunlop” slogan “First in 1888, foremost ever since,’’ is still to-day unassailable, and users of these tyres, judging by the ever increasing demand, appreciate the fact. When you desire tyre reliability with low running cost, always specify “Dunlops.” It’s your guarantee of satisfaction. J// DUNLOP RUBBER CO. WELLINGTON, CHRISTCHURCH, AUCKLAND