A SUCCESSFUL RUBBER TIRE
The Goodyear Endless Solid Rubber Tire has now been on the market for three years past, and has proved to be the only rubber tire ever constructed that would withstand the action of the brake on fire apparatus. No matter how hard the brake is applied, the tire will not slip, and neither can it open up, as it is made endless, without any joint. These have been in the past the weak points in all rubber tires, and the Goodyear company deserves great credit for having perfected the rubber tire for fire apparatus.
The question of economy in using Goodyear tires has long ago been solved, as instanced by their being used all over the world. The experience of the London cab owners is that there is a saving of upwards of thirty per cent, in the cost of keeping in repair the cahs when equipped with these rubber tires, and that the ultimate cost of the cabs is some thirty-four or five per cent, less on account of the decreased vibration. Lamps and such fixtures are not jarred loose from their fastenings; spokes do not loosen; varnish does not check so quickly; and the general condition of the vehicles is very much better. It can then be readily seen that if there is this economy with the cabs, there must be much greater economy where the weight is so much greater and the speeds so excessive. Fire apparatus is always driven at top speed over all kinds of roads, and something must take up this consequent excessive vibration. This is the field of the Goodyear tire. Again, where this vibration is taken up by the tires, there is not the danger of the men being jolted off the apparatus and being seriously injured. This point alone should cause the tire to he used extensively, leaving out of question entireiv the matter of economy. It often happens when an engine or truck is being driven fast that, in turning, one of the rubber tires is caugut in the railway frog or switch, and the tire has been twisted off the wheel. This cannot happen to the Goodyear tire, because it is held firmly in place by non-stretchablc bands, vulcanized to and a part of the rubber. The tire is prevented from creeping by bolts, which go through tne tire, and flanges at regular intervals. The largest aerial truck in the world has recently been equipped with tnese tires. This truck is in the San Francisco department.
