THE AUTOMOBILE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18817, 4 March 1931, Page 13

THE AUTOMOBILE.

PRODUCT OF EVERY COUNTRY. The automobile is a product of the world’s finest manufacturing craftsmanship, and incorporated into it, are materials gathered literally from every part of the world. The procuring of materials necessary for its manufacture gives employment to thousands of people in all parts of the world. The forests, the mines, the fields and the factories of Africa, Asia, Europe, America, Oceania and the Far East have been combed for the materials and products that are best, and most satisfactorily, fashioned into the motor car. Iron and steel from North America, aluminium from Canada or the north coast of South America, copper from Chile, Africa and the States, tin from Malaya or Bolivia, and nickel from Canada, are a few of the basic products that go into it. Wood from the forests of many countries are built into the bodies and trimmings, with many of the hard woods from Central America. Rubber for the tires and the electrical wiring, as well as in other parts, comes from the Orient. Wool, of which many thousands of pounds are used by the Industry, may come from Australia, Argentina or Uruguay. The silk is from Japan. Leather is from the cattle-raising territories, Australia, Argentina or others. Canada supplies the asbestos. The long tough cotton of the finest- tyres is grown in Egypt. The cork is from Spain. The alloys and metals, of which the automotive industry is one of the greatest users, are the special products of many lands. Manganese is from Brazil, Russia or India. Antimony, used in storage batteries, is from China and Mexica. Peru supplies the vanadium. Tungsten is a product of China. Molybdenum is from North j America, and mercury, of which large i quantities are required, is from Spain, | Italy, Turkey and Mexico. Special ! tooi'steels, for intricate manufacturing processes and delicate gauges for the the factory inspectors, are a product of Sweden. Chromium has lately become of great use in plating and in alloys and the world’s only supply of that important metal is Rhodesia, in South Central Africa. Then, too, there are paints and varnish. The gums of varnish come from the Far East, New Zealand and various parts of the tropics. The linseed for oil is furnished by Argentina and, while many of the colours are manufactured processes, Italy, Spain and other countries : furnish the earth colours so necessary i for certain shades and tints. These are I things that go directly into the manufacture of a motor car. The products that indirectly affect its manufacture and its operation, are too numerous to mention. The gasoline and oil that the automobile consumes axe products of many countries. The motor car is a product of intricate skill and design. No manufacture, in the history of the world, has required 4tiore complicated, or finer, or more economical methods of production. This industry may well be proud of the degree of perfection that it already has attained, a degree, however, that is yet far from the ultimate and which is subject to ceaseless change and betterment. And in the use of the automobile there is romance, too great to be painted on the canvas of these pages. Not only is it a supplier of transportation but the automobile requires transport of itself, by ships and trains through all the world, carrying the raw materials to the factories and then the finished automobiles to the ' users. It gives work to many millions, directly or indirectly, in the mines, the forests, the fields and the factories, in sales and service works, in the building of rural roads, city highways and bridges, and in many other directions. Skilled and unskilled workers on every continent, owe their employment to the automobile, even though they may be unaware of it and the labour bill that proceeds from the world demand .•for motor transport is a huge one.