SOURCES OF RUBBER
MEXICO-TOiCANADA NON-STOP AUTO
RUN IS BREAKING MOTOR RECORDS
Chandler Six Covers 1506 MiWFrom Tia Juana to Portland, Carrying Five Men, Without Engine or Wheels
nce Stopping Crossing of Three-mile Railroad Bridge to Vancouver Is Feat of Skill.
SUPPLY DESCRIBED
WINTON SIX
Embargo by England Lifted
Only Through Efforts of
Club in London.
PREPARATION MODES VARY
r rod act Gathered From Uncultivat
ed Trees, Found Mostly inNorth
ern South America. Mexico,
Central Africa and Borneo.
Crude rubber, its source of supply
and the conditions governing its prog
ress from the source to American tire
factories, have been subjects of espe
cial interest in this country of late.
England's embargo, prohibiting crude
rubber export from English colonies or
dependencies to the United States,
threatened for a time the whole auto
mobile industry, because it is well
known that without crude rubber' there
can be no rubber tires, and without
rubber tires .
Luckily through the energetic action
cf the Rubber Club of London, after
Americans had given it up, the em
bargo was lifted, conditionally, and a
plentiful supply of crude rubber now
seems assured, barring complications
always possible in a world war.
Industry Developed Rapidly.
"Now go on with the story," as the
penny-dreadfuls say.
Crude rubber is a vegetable product
gathered from certain species of trop
ical trees, shrubs, vines and roots It
was first introduced into Europe in
li35. It was first used for pencil eras
ers and in waterproof cloth, and fin
ally in solution in cement.
Vulcanizing, or curing rubber, was
discovered in 1844. and thereafter the
development of the industry was rapid
though the industry was but an in
fant in size, compared with now. up
Jo the development of the automobile
Industry.
There are many kinds and grades of
rubber, and these can today be divided
Into two chief classes wild and culti
vated. Wild rubber is collected from trees
that have grown wild and where there
lias been no cultivation process. Such
trees and shrubs are found mostly in
Northern South America. Central
America. Mexico, Central Africa and
Borneo.
The finest rubber in the world until
recently has been obtained from the
Amazon region of South America, and
Is known as fine para. For more than
a century this rubber has been gath
ered in Practically the same way.
The native goes into the forest se
lects a tree, cuts "V"-shaped grooves
In the bark with a knife made for tho
fuipose. me grooves being cut in her
ringbone fashion around the tree, with
one main groove down the center like
me main vein in a leaf. The latex of
the tree (not the sap) flows from the
smaller veins and down the center vein
into a little cup placed to receive it.
Smoke Coaenlatea l.atex.
"When the little cups are full they
are gathered and brought into the rub
tier camp and there the latex is
coagulated by means of smoke. This
is done by the use of a paddle which
is alternately dipped into a bowl of the
latex and then revolved in the smoke
from a wood or palm-nut fire.
This smoke seems to have a preser
vattive effect on the rubber, as well as
drying it out and causing it to harden
on the paddle, each successive layer of
the latex causing the size of the rub
ber ball or biscuit to increase. When
a biscuit of sufficient size has been
coagulated it is removed from the pad
dle and is ready for shipment to the
various countries where rubber prod
ucts are manufactured.
Another important grade of rubber
coming from South America is caucho.
This tree grows similar to the para
trees and the rubber is gathered in a
similar manner, but is cured by adding
to the latex some alkaline solution and
allowing the whole to dry out, in al
most any form, in the sun. The value
of this rubber can be improved greatly
by later methods of coagulation.
Mixture of Jnlees Used.
From Central America comes the
castilloa rubber. This rubber is gath
ered from trees in a similar maner to
para and is coagulated by being mixed
with juices which are obtained by
grinding up a certain plant which
grows in the castilloa districts.
After being mixed with this plant
.1uice, the castilloa Is spread out in
sheets on bull hides, where it is al
lowed to dry in the sun. after which
the rubber -is rolled up and is readv
for shipment. Castilloa is gathered
mostly from wild trees, but in Mexico
it has recently been cultivated to some
extent.
From Central Africa and from
Tiorneo come the so-called African
gums, such as congo, soudan. massai,
lapori, manicoba, pontianac. etc. Some
of these rubbers are gathered from
trees, but most of them from vines and
roots, and the methods of coagulation
are varied. Practically all of them are
dried out in the sun. These rubbers
are all of lower grade than the para
rubbers of South America.
Second Class In Cultivated.
The second class, or cultivated rub
bers are obtained from East India. Cey
lon. Malayan Peninsula and Southern
Mexico.
The chief and best among these is
the Ceylon rubber, which has been
grown mostly from sprouts taken from
the wild Para rubber trees of South
America. These cultivated rubber trees
have been carefully reared and scien
tific methods used in tapping them, so
as not to in any way hurt the bearing
qualities of the tree.
Tho Ceylon product Is uniform, as
scientific methods are used in coagulat
ing, drying and otherwise treating the
rubber before it leaves the plantation,
so that there is a minimum deteriora
tion due to oxidation and other actions
during the time the rubber is en route
from the plantation to the rubber man
ufacturer. of late Far East rubber has been
taking the place of South American
product more and more, because planta
tion rubber is cleaner and contains
less foreign matter than the wild Para.
As the plantations in the Far East are
largely in British countries, and the
rubber conies to us by way of London,
this explains how the embargo was
possible. The cultivated rubbers grown
in East India and the Malayan Penin
sula are similar to the Ceylon product,
and all come under the general head
of Ceylon rubber.
From Southern Mexico, as heretofore
mentioned, comes the cultivated Castil
loa. The price of crude rubber is not only
of importance to the manufacturer, but
also to the consumer, as the prices of
the various rubber products are based
on the cost of tne crude article and the
two vary alike. As the crude rubber
market is controlled by foreign specu
lators, the price depends on the sup
ply and demand, and is always varia
ble. Recently para was down to nearly
SO cents per pound, and in 1910 the
price of the aama went up to 3.02 a
pound.
fA joij 41 1 I
I x" i uiMlsI ill
I . - - , j& v-i w t 7 ; . IkSSr - 4 MI I
1 f - -V -' '-A,ttAi c'-il
- " r s!p 2'-sa ' - -rimti --'h , ' ' -1
NIXE rahs for the five Los Angeles
men wio had the spunk to set
forth last Sunday on one of the
most daring automobile non-stop runs
ever attempted anywhere, a drive from
Tia Juana, Mexico, across the United
States to Canada without allowing
the car or the motor to stop.
Carried by a stock Chandler Six of
the 1916 model, a H. Hunter, driver,
Ben Knopf, mechanic and relief driver;
Al Waddell, automobile editor of the
Los Angeles Times; Joseph Waddell.
movie man; and Jack Griffin, observer!
arrived at the offices of the Dulmage
Manley Company. Portland, dealers in
the Chandler, shortly after nine
o'clock Thursday morning. At that
time every man of the party swore
on oath that the wheels of the big
Chandler had been kept rolling since
the departure from Mexico early Sun
day morning, and that the engine had
been working continuously during the
1506 miles of travel.
But how were they going to get
across the Columbia River into Wash
ington? If they took a ferry they
would be compelled to stop the move
ment of the car. There is even a
strict Government regulation that no
engine can be kept running while
being transported by ferry.
This had been anticipated by the
Callfornians. however, before they
started, and through the efforts of
L. D. Whitehurst, who had charge of
all arrangements for the' Dulmage
Manley Company, license to use the
Vancouver railroad bridge was given
by A. J. Davidson, superintendent of
the S. P. & S. Railroad Company
which owns a two-thirds interest in
the (3,750,000 bridge that connects
South St. Johns with Vancouver.
Bridge Crossing Difficult.
Thanks to the kindness of Mr. David
son, who spent many hours preparing
for the revolutionary events, and who
walked the entire three miles with the
car over the tracks, the feat was ac
complished by 2 o'clock Thursday af
ternoon, and the non-stop Chandler
was sent merrily on its way to Canada
still with a perfect record that betters
all previous performances of true non
stop runs, several times over.
It was no small trick to get across
the Vancouver bridge. The track had
to De traveled Dy the car for exactly
three miles, and two and four-tenths I
miles of the distance embraced bridge, I
trestle and viaduct. There were seri-1
ous obstructions in the tracks at;
lurn-uuis sua cross-overs, nand
ling switches, guard-rails, operating
levers, block signal and derailing pipe
lines, etc.
To make the trip without allowing
the car to stop even for an instant
Mr. Hunter had to Jump these ob
stacle 'at a' fairly- good pace and he
had to stay in tho exact groove out
lined by the "surveyors" of the line,
else the jig would have been up. Mr.
Davidson put a big crew of men to
rork with a couple of hand cars and
a pile of slabwood to fill up some of
the deep gaps. A few spectators who
had been invited to observe the fair
ness of the stunt, supplemented Mr.
Davidson as "straw bosses'' and the
heavy thinking was done by B, C.
Wegner, master mechanic of the road,
who accompanied Mr. Davidson to the
scene.
Driver Is Cool.
When he turned the car loose at
the bridge Mr. Hunter was as cool as
a cucumber. He took every jump ac
cording to schedule and finally, after
an hour's gruelling test, he faced the
moving picture camera on the Wash
ington side of the river after driving
the first passenger vehicle, other than
a train, that has ever passed over the
big Vancouver bridge.
But withal. the Vancouver span
wasn't the only tough nut to crack.
In Southern Oregon, near Roseburg. a
farm wagon wouldn't get out of the
way on a narrow grade, and Ben Knopf,
who was then at the wheel, had to
dive into a ditch some 10 feet below
the grade of the road and wallow
around in a scrap heap until the cat
could find its way back to earth.
Once, in Southern California, the
boys got off the ; road at night and
wound up in a farm yard without space
to turn around. It would break the
charm of the non-stop if they attempt
ed to back out of any hole like this,
for it is impossible to back a car
without stopping It at least for a flash
of a second. So the car was shoved
straight ahead with all speed on. Re-
KOS-STOP CAR ARRIVES AT
VANCOUVER, B. C- WITH
PERFECT SCORE.
As announced originally in The
Oregonian yesterday, the non
stop Chandler arrived in Van
couver. B. C, Friday afternoon,
after covering 1898 miles from
Tia Juana. Mexico, in six days
and five nights of continuous
driving. The two observers. Al
Waddell and Jack Griffin, attest
that the wheels did not once stop
forward movement, and assert
that the perfect score gives the
car and party a world's record
for endurance.
The car has been shipped back
to Los Angeles to be exhibited
at the San Diego Exposition and
at the coming Los Angeles auto
mobile show. Seeral members
of the Chandler party will stop
off in Portland en route home.
-Ci- 21
suit, a California farmer lost a hunk
off the edge of a perfectly good barn,
and had a few orange trees and fences
torn to shreds while the non-stop
Chandler was making its way back to
a public highway.
All the way up from Mexico two
men were busy in the front seat, one
at the wheel and the other to meet any
emergency that might present itself.
One in the tonneau was busy at night
with a strong searchlight examining
the signposts and roads a long dis
tance ahead so that no slips would be
committed. Another was appointed to
blow the loud Klaxon signal at all
turns and intersections of any sort.
The fifth man was given permission
to sleep on the pile of blankets and
eatables that were mixed together In
the tonneau and back seat.
Car Resembles Kitchen.
The floor of that tonneau was a
miniature kitchen with coffee cans,
thermos bottles, crackers, beans and
general what-not that had been
grabbed on the run while the car was
passing through towns. In some
places the car was run around in a
circle while provisions were gathered.
For instance, it was' necessary to kill
three hours in Salem early Thursday
morning while waiting for the gasoline
station to open for business.
During the four days and nights con
sumed from Mexico to Portland, Hunt
er, the star pilot, got only about four
or five hours' sleep all told, and the
night before he left there was so much
work to do in getting things ready
that he got only an hour's sleep. Yet
Jack Griffin admitted in Portland that
Hunter was the only man in the bunch
who hadn't been guilty of a cross
word on the whole trip. The other
fellows managed to get a little bit
more sleep than Hunter by stealing
cat naps here and there. At Marys
ville, Cal., Hunter dropped asleep from
exhaustion, and Griffin did the same
thing as the party crossed the line
Into Oregon.
When they got to Portland the men
had gone entirely without shaves or
baths, and they certainly looked the
part. "What if wifie and the little
ones could see me now?" remarked
the gritty little Al Waddell. "It isn't
the lack of sleep that gets me but
the strain on my eyes." remarked his
brother, of the Universal Film Com
pany. Tire Ckansea Avoided.
To make the run it was necessary,
of course, to get along without chang
ing tires, for a mere puncture or blow
out would naturally call a halt to the
car, unless they were close enough to
their destination to run in on a flat
rim. When the car reached Portland
all of the Goodyear cord tires were
filled with Mexican air, and they
looked good for the rest of the trip.
When gasoline. or oil was needed the
Quality Kfot Limited
Every maker who advertises his wonderful low price acknowl
edges that his car is in the class where price counts more than any
thing elsethat he is in competition on a price basis.
You know what that means. In all such cars, every dollar's worth
of value that can be put into them is figured out in-advance, and is
LIMITED by that low selling price. Hence, low price means low
quality.
How hopeless it is, then, to ex
pect in a low-priced car that
thorough and continuing satis
faction that the owner of the
high-grade Winton Six enjoys!
For the Winton Six is designed
.and built not to meet a low
price, but to satisfy high expec
tations, to possess every merit
that contributes to an owner's
delight. Its quality is not lim
Winton Building:.
car was run slowly while one or two
of the fellows - got busy with a big
funnel and poured the liquids into
their depositories.
Since leaving Mexico. Al Waddell
said the car has added only one pint
of water, four quarts of oil and 156
gallons of gasoline. This record seems
almost impossible so far as the water
and oil consumption is concerned.
Without giving the car credit for the
large percentage of waste involved
during the filling, an average of 10
miles of travel to the gallon of "gas"
was shown. Despite the lack of water
the "non-stoppers" declared that the
water In the radiator did not reach the
boiling point once on the trip.
In the way of repairs Jack Griffin
reported that the brake adjustments
had been tightened once and the gen
erator cleaned. Otherwise repairs
were nil, he said.
When the Chandler party left Mexi
co several of the newspapers printed
stories to the effect that the test
could not possibly .be carried out. So
far as known the only authentic long
non-stop wheel and motor run was
made on the new Chicago speedway
last June when Harry Grant kept his
Sunbeam racer going a distance of
604 miles without a stop of any kind.
Callfornlans Are Skeptical.
So the people of Southern California
told Earl V. Armstrong, president of the
Chandler Motor Car Company, of Cali
fornia, who sent the car forth, that
It could end only in disaster. They
laughed at the idea as a press agent
joke, and said they could trace the
party and catch them sleeping between
Immaculate sheets in swell hotels at
night. But the boys came through in
such a hurry and demonstrated their
honesty in such a way that the record
can hardly be denied.
Think of driving a car over a "road
of three nations" without allowing it
to stop. Mr. Davidson said last week
that great locomotives are usually
driven on 150 mile runs, and that a
run of 250 miles is the limit At the
end of the run they are sent to the
terminals and given running repairs
before going back to work. Locomo
tives carry a tremendous load, but
they have tremendous power and they
get somewhat of a rest once in a
while. The Chandler carried a full
load of five grown men with baggage,
and it hadn't stopped for 1506.3 miles
when it entered Portland.
The party entered Portland Thurs
day via a roundabout way so as not
to get tangled up in traffic
They arrived at the agency about
9 o'clock, but it was nearly noon be
fore they started for Vancouver, and
it took quite a while to get the bridge
ready. Meanwhile the machine was
killing time on the quiet streets. Van
couver was reached 10 minutes be
fore 2. and then, armed with a
big lunch put up for them In advance,
the Californians aimed at Canada, with
Roy Wilson, of Portland, as the guide
for the first few miles out of Van
couver. GKEiT ADVANCE IS XOTED
Head of Willys-Overland Concern
Contrasts Early and Modern Cars.
The rapid development of the auto
mobile has been the wonder of the
commercial world. In a comparatively
short number of years it has attained
a point of perfection never before
equalled by any other big invention in
the same period of time.
According to John X. Willys, presi
dent of the Willys-Overland Company,
the evolution of the automobile has
been hastened by the almost universal
demand for motor transportation and
the fact that the motor car has be
come a practical necessity aa well as a
vehicle of pleasure.
"In the early days of the industry,"
said Mr. Willys, "motor cars were
nothing more or less than big me
chanical toys. They would break down
for no apparent reason and the few
people who could afford to own them
soon tired of the sport. The greatest
problem of the pioneer manufacturers
was to keep the cars in service. Little
thought was given to the comfort of
passengers or the ease of operating
the machine. If the car could be kept
going both parties were satisfied and
the owner never questioned the depth
of the upholstery or the inconvenience
of handling the numerous levers and
other paraphernalia that took up tbe
greater part of the front seat.
"However, it was not long before the
manufacturers realized that the public
would soon demand more than the ac
tual running of the machine. They
began to figure out a means of im
proving the riding and driving quali
ties of tbe car. The result has been
that each year has seen many new ana
wonderful improvements in motor car
construction."
Same Firm Sells Autos and Horses.
One of the biggest automobile dealers
in Texas is the firm of Hart Bros.,
which demonstrates its versatility by
selling Maxwells to citizens of Dallas
and vicinity, while maintaining a busi
ness in exporting horses that has re
sulted in the shipment of 35.000 head to
the warring nations of Europe.
ited by price restrictions, nor by
other makers' standards. Yet
the Winton Six costs very little
more than cars of ordinary
worth. And when you buy a
Winton Six, you enjoy the addi
tional advantage of having it
finished to meet your own taste,
thereby giving your personal car
a touch of distinction. Winton
Sixes are never mistaken on the
street for commonplace cars.
The Winton Company
23d and Washington Sts.
ACCESSIBILITY IS POINT
STRESS LAID OJJ KEXV FEATURES
OF MITCHELL 191 MODEL,
Effort Made to Please Mu Who
Takes Pleasure la Cartas for
Hla On Maeklae.
"Progress in automobile construc
tion for the past few years has been
accelerated by the demands of the
supercritical buying public by those
who own and drive their own cars, and
by those owners who derive as much
pleasure and recreation from caring
for their cars as they do from driving
them." says H. W. Mitchell, of the
Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Company,
Mitchell dealers for this territory.
"Pirst came the cry, and a just one
it was, for a lighter and more eco
nomical car. This demand was prompt
ly met by the manufacturers who have
striven diligently and with untiring
effort to reduce tbe weight without
sacrificing safety.
"This was only a matter of careful
study of construction -and metallurgy.
The substitution or lighter but tougher
metals where stress and strain were
most. The replacing of heavy iron
castings with lighter but tougher steel
stampings and drop forgings.
"The reducing of the weight brought
about a marked economy in fuel con
sumption and tire expense.
"The insistent call for comfortable
riding qualities and appearance worthy
the investment has served further to
keep the automobile manufacturer
alive to these important features and
their prompt response is evidenced by
the trend of design for the 1916 sea
sonclean unbroken lines, yacht line
design, long wheel base, large tires
and a noticeably better quality of up
holstering and finish.
"But accessibility, the one thing
that appeals most strongly the one
subject which interests the prospective
automobile buyer the most has, to a
great extent, been entirely ignored by
most manufacturers. Accessibility is
the subject that appeals to the man
who is going to drive and care for his
own car.
"He wants to know how he is going
to reach the grease cups how he Is
going to make his adjustments how
easily and quickly he can get to the
running gear if something goes wrong
when he is out on the road. He wants
to know how much time the garage
man is going to spend looking for
trouble if it ever becomes necessary
to run. the car in the garage.
"There is plenty of room for im
provement by the manufacturers in
respect to accessibility as will be noted
by the accessibility features of the
Pyrene Fire Extinguishers
rUKMSU ABSOLUTE FIRE PROTECTION FOR AUTOS
DOST WAIT UNTIL 1' OCR. CAR BURNS
Put on your car $7.50 and $8.50
ARCHER AND WICGINS
Oak Street, Corner. Sixth
EVERYTHING FOR THE AUTOMOBILE
Weed and
CHAINS
Prepare for Wet Weather Now
BALLU U 5c WKIUH 1 f
Broadway at Oak I
t.
BOWSER S
UA(. K
kalca. 13
DIAMOND TIRES
YulcanMng and Retreading R. L BLODGEIT, "XaVift. SZS
Phone Main 4244
new Mitchell model. The Six of 'IS'
wherein a tremendous stride towards
affording accessibility for the owner
has already been made."
HIGHWAY WTIiL BE GRT7BBEI
Washington Commission to Expend
$45,175 on Olympic Route.
OLTMPIA, Wash.. Oct. 2. (Special.)
Clearing and grubbing will be done
along the route of the west wing of the
Olympic highway from Lake Quiniault
the entire distance to the north end of
tho peninsula, instead of using the JtS.
175 available to build a completed road
of a few miles which would lead no
where. Is the decision of the State
Highway Commission. This work will
put the route in condition to be used
by settlers, who will do some work on
their own account during the next 13
months. It is hoped that sufficient
money then can be obtained from the
Legislature to complete at least the
grading and draining.
The commission also has decided to
spend two-thirds of the special S50.000
maintenance fund on tho Olympic
highway, believing that the peninsula,
lacking railroad connection with the
mainland, needs state roads more than
any other portion of Western Washing
ton. The Eastern Washington third of
this sum has been allotted for the sur
facing of the section of the Inland Em
pire highway between Rosalia and Col
fax, Whitman County.
FORD PLANT ISSCKS BOOK
All Tepartments Are Explained in
Descriptive Factory Guide.
In August the Ford plant at Detroit
entertained precisely 17.2T1 visitors and
that breaks even the Ford record for
any single month.
For the benefit of the visitors and
for those, also, who are unable to visit
the plant, the company has issued a 64
page illustrated book called "Ford
Factory Facts." This little book gives
a complete description of the great
factory, the reader following about tho
same route that the guides use in con
ducting visitors through the factory. It
contains some marvelous facts and.
while filled with statistics, it is in
teresting as a piece of fiction.
The latest edition of "Ford Factory
Facts," just oft the press, includes ac
counts of the mammoth new pow
plant, the newest devices used to in
crease efficiency and promote safety,
the profit sharing plan and the "Making
of Americans' by the sociological de
partment, the work of the motion
picture department and many other
features. The pictures are profuse and
form one of the most interesting parts
of the book.
In making up the numbers for their lot
teries, the Italians always leave out 13.
Rid-o-Skid
e
GASOLINE and OIL TANKS
atlTKHS rOJI PUBLIC AND I'M 1-
iTIC GUUGE1L SV. IX Maldard. Ulmxriet n.t.
Cwrfcatt Ulda. alala l7.