European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes monday August 29,1988 Auto safety group lists mileage data on brands of tires Washington a a private Auto safety group using tread Wear data the transportation department does t publicize said sunday that a 15-inchgeneral radial tire was the longest lasting in government mileage tests. Topping a list prepared by the Cente for Auto safety was the general 15-Inch Ameri classic with a tread Wear rating of 350 meaning it should get 70,000 Miles of use under average driving conditions. The worst mileage performers among the 111 radial tire models tested were the general up 2000z a the Goodrich to a r and re and Yokohama s 60 and 70a001r-a008r. All had ratings of 50 or 10,000 Miles of use. As it released its own list the Cente renewed its demand for the department s National Highway traffic safety administration to publish a buying guide publicizing tire Wear ratings for the Benefit of Consumers. The draft of  a guide similar tothe environmental Protection Agency s annual gasoline mileage ratings for new car models was prepared under the car Ter administration but was never published. When president Reagan took office in 1981, the department and the tire Indus try tried to abolish the tread Wear Grad ing program but were thwarted in 1984 by the . Court of appeals. They did reinstate the program Butalla they have done is comply with the minimum requirements of the Law said Clarence Ditlow safety director of the non profit Center. The difference is that Epa publicizes its results so that Consumers know what their tax dollars Are paying for and the transportation department hides its re  Jeff Miller the Nysta s Deputy administrator said his Agency has no obligation to publish what he called consumer information. We have a very Good brochure tellin Consumers what they should look for in tires Miller said. What this group wants in t safety information but More consumer  Donald g. Brotzman chairman of the tire Industry safety Council which has opposed publication of the tread Wear ratings said the Federal uniform tire Quality grading system was never in tended to provide Consumers a play the numbers guide. The tread Wear Grade is not a Guaran tee that a tire will last a prescribed num Ber of Miles Brotzman said. It is comparative rating of a tire s Wear rate when tested under controlled condition son a specified government test  the Center said the mileage Dat showed All 17 tire companies involved in the tests had Good and bad performers. For example it said the Goodyear double Eagle had a 260 rating 52,000 Miles of Wear while the Goodyear Eagle its had Only a 100 rating or 20,000 Miles. Michelin s xa4 Model at $47.90 Outwith a tread Wear rating of 310, costs 80 cents per 1,000 Miles the Center said. The government requires tire makers to Mold into sidewalls the tread Wear ratings along with letter grades a b or c on the traction and temperature Resis Tance of each tire Model. A tire graded a on traction will Stop on a wet Road in the shortest distance while one graded c will have the poorest traction. For temperature resistance a Grade of a Means the tire will run cooler than one graded b or c and is less Likely to blow out or show tread separation. Quayle on the stump sen. Dan Quayle addresses a rally at Lei publican vice presidential nominee said he sure world a retirement Community in is pleased with the response from crowds Laguna Hills Calif. Saturday. The re during his first week on the stump. Jet carrying 68 skids to Landing Chicago a a Twa Jet carrying 68people made a belly Landing saturday at o Hare International Airport after its Landing gear failed and at least seven people were injured while sliding from the plane on chutes authorities said. The injured people were taken by ambulance to four nearby hospitals said a fire department communications officer who refused to identify himself. Twa flight 524, in route from St. Louis to Chicago was approaching Midway Airport shortly before 4 . When the Pilot notice Landing gear problems said Donald Morrison a Twa spokesman in St. Louis. The Captain was unable to lower the Mai Landing gear Morrison said. After following Normal cockpit procedures trying to lower it manually he proceeded to the o Hare Field which has longer runways and More emergency facilities than Midway. Fire engines ambulances and other emergency vehicles converged on the runway which was sprayed with foam to ease the Landing at 4 43p.m. In foggy Rainy conditions. It came in beautifully. It did t skid very Farat All said patrolman Jeff Nagle who witnessed the Landing. It was a perfect Landing units belly. There was no   passenger Cassandra Walker 22, of Hazel Crest 111., said that when the Crew announced that the Landing gear was not working som people aboard started crying. Coastal area prepares for storm from Georgia to North Carona Miami a a tropical depression strengthened sunday into tropical storm Chris which lashed out with heavy rain and maximum sustained wind blowing at 50 Mph and coastal residents battened Down from Georgia to North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning from Savannah a. To Cape Hatteras n.c., where tides two to three feet above already abnormally High tides could cause coastal flooding or Beach erosion. Operators of Small Craft were advised to stay in port from Brunswick to Savannah ga., and from Cape Hatteras to Virginia Beach a. At noon the storm was close to the South Carolina coast Between Savannah and Charleston s.c., its Broad Center near latitude 32.3 North and Longitude 80.6 West. It was moving North at about 20 Mph. The movement is toward the North so it looks like it will be close to the coastline. It looks like it will affect the coasts in 6 to 12 hours said Hurricane fore Caster Jere Gallup. Chris could dump 2 to 4 inches of rain in affected areas. While much of the storm s bad weather remained on its northeastern Side out to sea Gallup said Chris was becoming better organized or was spinning More evenly around its Core of Low Atmos Henc pressure. Last week the weather system was blamed for three deaths in puerto Rico. All of our coastal counties have been alerted said will Brothers of the North Carolina emergency management office in Raleigh. Everyone in this business on the coast and All the officials we do business with Are All alerted so we re just waiting for the next forecast. Because there is a full Moon tides Are higher than Normal now so Beach erosion is a concern. Our concern now is that it does t get any stronger than what it is right  if Chris continued to hug the coast it could lose some steam because  storms Are fuelled by the warm moist air rising from the open sea Gallup said. During saturday and into Early sunday Chris strengthened into a tropical storm from a lopsided fickle tropical depression that threatened Florida s Eastern coast. Depressions Are upgraded to tropical storms when their maximum sustained wind hits 39 Mph and to hurricanes when sustained wind blows at least at 74 Mph. On saturday the system drenched the Bahamas with about 5 inches of rain but Florida s coast was on its weaker Side and received Only scattered rain. Earlier the depression which began forming one week ago sunday dumped 6.6 inches of rain on puerto Rico causing mudslides and flooding that killed at least three people and damaged More than 100 Homes civil defense officials said. Producer publicist Dies new York a Irving Mansfield a Public stand television producer who was Best known As the husband of the late novelist Jacqueline Susann has died at age 80. Mansfield died thursday at his Manhattan Home after suffering a heart attack according to his family