A CHILD'S TOY PRODUCES £13,000,000 A YEAR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 227, 17 November 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

A CHILD'S TOY PRODUCES £13,000,000 A YEAR.

HOW A GREAT INDUSTRY WAS FOUNDED.

By E. J. O'REILLY

The appearance of the name of Arthur du Cros, M.P., in the Birthday Honours List, calls to mind the romantic rise and development of what is now • one of the biggest industries of the world —the. manufacture of pneumatic tyres —which, arising out of a small •domestic incident that happened in the •.city of Belfast in 1888, has by the business genius of a family reached to huge proportions, not only at home and in •our Dominions, but in almost evert ■-civilised country on the globe. In that year, Mr. J. B. Duniop, a veterinary surgeon of Belfast, whose interest in "the matter was due to the fact that his 'little son was a cyclist and that Belfast svas roughly paved, le-invented Thomson's pneumatic tyre of 1846, which iiad been allowed to sinn into oblivion ~nnd within a short time cycling, a pastime that had been almost wholly • confined to young people and athlete-*, became the most convenient, and the --cheapest means of locomotion, and ■ssucli it remains to-day. It si almost incredible that so revj •Jutionary and so valuable an mnovatoin as the Duniop tyre should have mot with the fiercest opposition from -the very quarters fom which its most .enthusiastic reception might reasott.•nblzy have been expected—the cyc.e manufacturers and the leaders of th:» -cycling world in England. In the 'eighties, cycling was highly popular in Ireland, and amongst its keenset followers in Dublin had been 'for years conspicuously identified with .tnanlv sports. As cyclists, amateu.boxers, fencers, gymnasts, and all--round athletes they had had a most reMWirkable career. Cyc'e racing became the favourite "liobby of the du Cros boys, and it followed, naturally, that they were greatly interested in every new thing connected with cycling that made its appearance, and, needless to say, they amongst the first to see and cx--iimine the Duniop tyre. It did not take 'long to convince them that the invention was likely to change the aspect of cycling completely, and Mr. du Cros, .sen., immediately took a financial and -activa business in it. He formed a little cmpany in Dub'in in the latter end •of 1889, appealing to the public for the niodest capital of £25,000. It has been said recently that no practical cyclist would have put his money or his taith into the original Duniop tyre, so crude, was it in design and its methods of attachment. As a matter of fact the £15,010 which the public subscribed, -came entirely from the pockets of practical cvlists like the due Cros and their ■personal friends. The general public took no interest in a venture of which it probably knew little or nothing. : Such was" the original Duniop tyre company. Such was the. concern, with its absurdly small capital of £lo,olo, which was the foundation of the mightv pneumatic tyre, industry that is now spread all over the earth. In the autumn of 1889, Mr. Arthiu du Cros had made a sporting attempt to convince the cycling public of England that the pneumatic tyre had really something in it. He had entered for the Surrey Cup race, a great event, decided twice annually at Kenmngton ■Oval under the auspices of the Surrey Bicvcle Club. But the committee refused to allow him to start. The reason they gave was that lis was using a safety, and safeties had been barred from competing against the high machine after his entry had been acceptthe spring of 1890, however, Arthur du Cros had his revenge, when lie carried all before him, defeating tna -cracks of England at Birmingham and •oter Midland towns. Again, in thi ■ summer of 1890, a party of Irish racing amateurs, headed by Arthur du Cros .using Dunlop-tyred bicycles, invaded .London and simply swept the boards, and it was then that English racing men determined to throw over then mentors and to have pneumatic tyres at any price. They realised at last that their greatest cracks had not an ■earthly chance against those Irismen -and their "sausage" tyres. When the Irishmen first appeared they were re- ■ carded—as Arthur du Cros was at the Oval—as amiable cranks of sporting tendencies, such as the emerald isle would be likely to produce, but the .first events in which they competed sounded the death knell of solid tyres in the most unmistakable fashion. Meanwhile, Mr. Harvey du Cros and Si is sons had started out to..conquer the world, armed only with sample tyres, indomitable faith and courage, the in--fsignificant capital already noted, and a )>erfeet genius for impressing people with the soundness of their views. The United States was first attacked, and -perhaps tTio Quickest way to indicate th© success achieved in that great country is to point to the colossal trade in pneumatic tyres which is now being done there. Some idea of this ma> 'be gleaned 1 from tine fact that at the present moment the United Stat2s .manufacturers are producing annua.Iv pneumatic tyres at the rate of over .£70,000,000 yearly. When one bears .m mind the enormous business that is done by manufacturers in the" United Kingdom and Europe in addition, one begins to get a faint ide'v -<nf what the trade of the world in pneumatic tyres must be, amounting as it probably does to £130,000,000 a year. In a short time Mr. du Cros and h'S sons decided to throw their whole energies into the business, putting aside sill their other commercial responsibilities. They went into ovory country Europe, mooting with general for although the superiority of the pneumatic tyre over the solid tyre was now widely accepted, there still lingered some prejudice. Everything looked promising for the undei taking when suddenly, in 1890, an explosive bomb of the most violent character fe j from the clouds. It' was discovered that the principle of the pneumatic ■ j.y ro —which consisted of a rubber tube of compressed air protected by a co\er of canvas and rubber —had been embodied in a patent taken out as far liack as 1846 by a Mr. Thomson. That •patent may be said to halveen still born. Carriage builders would not loo'i at it, and the bicycle had not yet come into'its own. Mr. Thomson was not fortunate, as Mr. Duniop was, to hav«the initiative driving power and bus.noss genius of a du Cros. Consequently his tyre died of inanition, and was forgotten till sonr? chance searcher found it on the files of the Patent Office.. The discovery meant that the Duniop patont was not worth a row of pins, and the directors of the little company were confronted with the position that they had the business and no patent, while Thomson lnd had a patent and no business. Tt was a stngrering blow, but. nothing daunted, "Mr. d'u Cros decided to persevere in their venture.

At the t'mo. tvro patent* of n'l sorts ttor*" heir?" rushed out in hewi!(lerin<i

profusion. The crying need was for :i pneumatic tyro which could 03 easily attached to tlie rim, and as easily detached when necessary, two points in regard to which the original Duniop tyre left everything to be desired. At last what looked like the real tiling was discovered, and after preliminary difficulties had been overcome, th 3 famous Welch and Bartlett patents, which provided simple and efficient means of attachment and detachment of the tyre mechanically, in place of the earlier crude method of fixing by means of canvas and rubber cement, became the property of the company. This, with some other patents, made the Duniop concern entirely independent of the. original Duniop discovery

and it was able to relv upon the patents of Welch and Bartlett, although much time and. it is sdid, £150,000 had to be spent by the company in the Law Courts in defending its rights under those patents. The patent litigation was handled throughout in a mas-

toriy manner by Mi*. Harvey du Cios, wlio had the inestimable advantage of thy advice and assistance of Mr. «T. Fletcher Moulton, K.C'.j na'.v Lo-d Moulton.

With the advent of the detachable tyre, and with the great improvements introduced in the materials employed in its manufacture, the fi;:ht against prejudice was finished.

The astounding development of tlio business, started on a capital of £15,010, soon caJled for (revision of the finances. In 1896, i.e., in six years.

the world was startled by tha bewildering news that no less ia sum than £3,000,000 in cash had been offered for the business, and that the old shareholders had decided to accept the

■aer. With the new company there was n new Board, and Mr. Arthur du Cros became managing director, his father becoming chairman. The directors,

with great foresight, diverted a proportion of the annual profits to reserve funds, out of which sprang the powerful l)un!op Rubber Mills in Birmingham, Cotton Mills in Lancashire, Rubber Estates in the East, and factories and brandies all over the world. One result of this policy was that when tin* main patents expired in 1904 the company was prepared for the fierce competition which it encountered ct home nnd abroad, and which continues ro this day.

The original Duniop Company starred with six workpeople. It now employs nearly 30,000 engaged in the manufacture of the tyre, the weaving of the cotton cloth, the cultivation of thi rubber, and the production of wheels, vjrilves, rims and a multitude of other accessories.

If ever there was a romance of commerce it is to be found in the history of this business, a curious feature 'if which is that it has been carried on from the start chiefly by very young men. Mr. Harvev du Cros was still a comparatively young man when he relinquished his own business affairs so that he might devote his whole time to the founding, as it turned out, of a great worldwide industry. As has been noted, his sons went into the venture as pioneers, and although they were but boys at the time, they did not hesitate to spread themselves over the world, undertaking immense esponsibilities such as rarely fall to a business man until hv has reached middle age, and remaining away from home for years at a time. Mr. Art:: ." du Cros, M.P., for Hastings tr.* ■

member of this most rennvi. family, has travelled in mo-. ...utrits. On the race track ho v. a., a champion many times over and the most notable of the brothers, scoring brilliant successes both at home and abroad. In business, too, he has taken a foremost position. While still a youngster he became managing director, and for the last few years he has acted as chairman of the Duniop Company in consequence of the ill-health of Mr. Harvey du Cros. As M.P. for Hastings he has been the victor in three strenuous elections, and iu.c proved a very useful representative, especially on matters pertaining to national defence. He has done a great deal of export work n connection with munition factories, and to his initiative and energy and the generosity of his friends is due the presence in the field of three complete convoys of motor ambulances, fuf'y manned and equipped, one of them on the Western front, under the care of Captains George and Willie du Cros, the former of whom has been mentioned in despatches, and both of whom are, characteristically enough, serving their country "eon amore." It should be noted that this wonderful business did not succeed by displacing other industries. On the contrary, new industries have sprung up in its train, and it gave new life to some that were languishing. The wonderful development of the motor and cycle industries was made possible by the pneumatic tyre. Motoring provides millions of people with employment, not only in motor factories and salerooms, but in the metal and other industries. The astonishing advances m the production..of raw rubber and cotton, in Egypt, Ceylon, the Federated Malay States, and other countries are due to this great industry, and taken together represent truly n vast new field of industry and employment Such is the story of one of the most amazing examples of success that the whole history of the world's commerce can furnish —a success achieved despite incredibly bitter hostility and tremendous obstacles that might well have disheartened the most determined and tremendous obstacles that might well have disheartened the most determined and sanguine of men. It is a record of which those who accomplished it may well be proud, not merely as a commercial triumph, but because of the l>enefieent influence which the pneumatic tyre and its kindred industries have exercised in the great cause of humanity.

MADE SURE OF IT.

It is a wevi-known fact that most soldiers are fond of preserving as mementoes bullets or fragments of shell with which thev have been .wounded.

In this connection Surgeon-General Sir Arthur Slogsett, Chief of tho R.A. M.C. on the Western Front, has a good story to tell. A soldier shot in the fleshy part of the leg was brought in, and the operating surgeon started probing for tho bullet. He could not lind it; yet, as there was no (joint of exit, he assumed, quite naturally that it must still be in the wound, and he probed yet more vigorous'} - . " 'Ere, 'old 'ardl" cried Tommy, at last. "Wot yer doin' wiv my leg' - '" "Searching for the bullet," answered the surir.'on, laconically.

"Well, doctor," replied the wounded man in a quiet, confidential tone of voice, "you won't, never fine! it. 'Cos why? I've got- it in me pocke>t. T wasn't goinji tr> run the e-hane-e of losing it, so I pieked it, out wiv ni« penknife afore I was brought 'ere."

Doranrlo. hero of t1;o 01 vmpio Marathon nf 100S, is now driving !i nio*orlorry in thf Italian transport service,