Show Business Today Toda U. U US U.S. s. s Will Walk If Rubber Supply Is Cut By PAUL GESNER and JOHN BECKLEY S NEW YORK May 5 5 Telegrams Telegram's I Special News Service Service Rubber Rubber on I which war machines as as' as aswell well as Americas America's Americas America's millions of pleasure gars cars arsi i roll lI is receiving In increasing attention attention attention atten atten- tion in Washington and Wall WallStreet WallStreet Street as a vital commodity in the thed d defense effort Plodding merchant ships bring this important staple from the E East st Indies half way around the world tb to the United States which takes well over half of the worlds world's pro pro- Stocks of crude rubber on hand are comparatively scanty All NI the rubber within our borders and alIthe all alI the rubber loaded on ships bound for the United States would last only about eight months at the the record rate we are now using it Might Alight Be Stretched In a pinch experts figure these supplies might be stretched over overa a period of long Iong long enough to build synthetic plants which would care for our most vital needs It would mean however a tight shutdown on all uses except the most essential A drive to salvage and reclaim used rubber of all alI kinds would have to be launched A drag net would be thrown out for old tires tubes boots and rubbers White Whitewall w wall v ll lI tires which require more pure crude rubber than black ones would disappear The average citizen citizen citizen citi citi- zen would revert to more use of legs for locomotion Production of synthetic rubber In the United States is very small While Hitler was building synthetic plants regardless of cost Uncle Sam the peaceful foreign trader was bringing his cheaper supplies of natural rubber half way jay around the globe Nazis azis Produce Plenty Today the nazis produce enough ersatz rubber to J jeep their war machine rolling at top speed in spite of the British blockade Uncle Sam on the other hand Is regarding with concern his supply supply sup sup- ply lines stretching far out across the Pacific Synthetic production here is hardly large enough to be bean bean bean an immediate factor in case of trouble Capacity would have to tobe tobe be expanded 50 times some say to prevent real shortages here Reduction of consumption consumption con con- of crude rubber might serve several important purposes observers say 1 It would free more r rubber rubber- supplies for defense needs 2 It would enable government ent reserve stocks to be built up faster 3 It would release more more boats boats' to carry aid to Britain Sixth Months Months' Supply A recent estimate of the amount of crude rubber needed for the defense defense defense de de- de- de program programS puts total r requirements requirements require require- quire quire- ments at more than tons That's nearly six months' months supply at our present rate of tion It is needed for truck tires plane tires tank tracks self sealing gasoline gasoline gaso gaso- line tanks barrage balloons and a thousand other ther uses It is reported that about tons are required immediately Rubber companies and chemical companies have been conferring with government officials for some sometime sometime sometime time on ona A a proposal to erect a number number number num num- ber of owned government plants for synthetic making rubber They would be stan stand stand-by by plants for use Iri mAn Inan an emergency No action has been taken but it may come shortly Cost Prohibitive Slowing up the proposal was the fact that the plants might be largely useless after the war var and andl andI l I if relations with Japan should clear up they might not be needed Many doubt whether the cost of synthetic rubber could be cut below 20 cents a pound even in mass pro pro- In peacetime natural rubber can be delivered here at a profit for less than 10 cents a pound The growing shortage of shipping shipping shipping ship ship- ping and darkening clouds in the far east however have given the proposal new life Something may come of it shortly |