December i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



91 



RUBBER NOTES FROM EUROPE. 



THE EDITOR'S BOOK TABLE. 



A RECENT patent relating to a waterproofing material, 

 granted to Edward Frankenberg, of Hanover, Ger- 

 many, mentions numerous advantages claimed from the 

 combination in it of India-rubber and Gutta-percha — resis- 

 tance to changes of temperature, capacity of being sterili/cd, 

 durability, odorlessness, and so on. The surfaces of fabrics 

 prepared by this process can be washed and ironed and re- 

 gain their fresh appearance ; the tissue, on the application 

 of the iron, closing up any scratches or tears. This fabric is 

 stated to have been used with success for undersheeting in a 

 German government hospital. 



=Vacuuiu (hying stoves for many purposes have been 

 made for some years by George Scott & Son (London), IJm- 

 ited, and they are now turning their attention to suppljing 

 a vacuum drying device suitable for drying new rubber on 

 plantations. These stoves are made in different sizes, from 

 54 X 54 X 45 inches up. They are made of cast iron, heavily 

 ribbed, and are ver}' strong. 



= At the ."Vntwerp auction of October 23 the offerings 

 included 4860 kilograms of Guayule, with a brokers' esti- 

 mation of 5 francs, equal to 4334 cents per pound. One ton 

 realized 4.S5 francs [=42;^ cents] and the remainder 4.72 >. 

 francs. 



=The Berlin-Frankfort Imlia-Kubber Co., for many jears 

 established in the heart of the city of Berlin, are building a 

 great factory some five miles out of the citj', and are making 

 it up to date in every respect. 



= Messrs. Typke & King, the India-rubber chemists and 

 dealers in substitutes, at 16, Mincing lane, London, have 

 become a public companj-, under the style Typke & King, 

 Limited. 



= .A.t a meeting in London of the leading makers of rub- 

 ber balls in Europe it was agreed to continue existing prices 

 for a jear. It appears that the German makers were in fa- 

 vor of an advance, but this was opposed by the British firms 

 on the ground that prices are alread3' so high as to restrict 

 trade. They felt that it would be better to sustain a present 

 loss and await a fall in the cost of raw material. 



=The Franco-American India-Rubber Co. (" Prowodnik"), 

 of Riga, Russia, have taken on the manufacture of motor 

 tires, of which they were exhibitors at the late Olynipia 

 show, in London. 



=J. E. Hopkinson & Co., Limited, of West Drayton, Mid- 

 dlesex, England, were awarded the grand prix and a gold 

 medal at the Milan exposition for their solid rubber motor 

 tires. 



= Tlie Kenipsliall T^'re Co. of Europe, Limited, has been 

 registered in London, with ^45,000 capital, to adopt an 

 agreement with Eleazar Kempshall (of golf ball fame) to ac- 

 quire certain patent rights relating to automobile tires and 

 to carry on the manufacture of tires. Mr. Kempshall is to 

 be a director so long as he holds ^20,000 in shares. 



r.\R.v newspapers now contain advertisements regarding 

 the employment of Caucheiros — the workers in gathering 

 Caucho, indicating that production of this grade of rubber is 

 approaching nearer Para. The gatherers of the regular Para 

 rubber are termed Scringueiros, from a native name of the 

 rubber tree, seringa. Hence, also, the term seringal, for a 

 rubber camp. 



LE CAOUTCHOUC EN INDO-CHINE )£tUDE BOTANIQUE, INDUSTKI- 

 ellc, el Commcrciale Par Caniille Spire [el] Aiidrt^ Spire Paris: Augustiii 

 Clialianicl. 1906. [Larjie 8vo. Pp. \'I I + 262-f 35 plaies.] 



A LTHOUGH latest on the list of rubber producing coun- 

 ■^-^ tries, French Indo- China is not the least important. 

 It is only a few years since the first rubtier from th:s source 

 reached any market, but exports from there already have 

 reached 400 tons in a single year, and this without thorough 

 exploitation of native resources or the development of plan- 

 tations. It appears that a number of rubber species of value 

 occur in the forests of the colony — liancs, or creepers, which 

 attain a large size and yield liberally a rubber of good me- 

 dium quality. 



The botanical part of this work, contributed b}- Dr. C. 

 Spire, of the French colonial army medical service, forms a 

 monograph of no little interest and value, especially since 

 several of the rubber vines he mentions are not described in 

 any other single work, and few of them in any form readily 

 accessible to the rubber trade. We may suggest, in passing, 

 that the f.act of the Indo-Chinese rubber plants being vines 

 should not lessen interest in this new rubber district ; vines 

 as producers of Caoutchouc have been known for more than 

 a century, and the commercial j'ield from them long has 

 formed a large percentage of the world's consumption of this 

 material. 



Dr. Spire's collaborator is his brother, the secretary of an 

 association with headquarters in Bordeaux and having for 

 its object the exploitation of the rubber resources of West 

 Africa. His share is the matter relating to the chemical 

 properties of the Indo-Chinese rubber and its industrial ap- 

 plications. The joint authors have had in their work the 

 cooperation and encouragement of some important members 

 of the rubber trade in their home country, so that thej' have 

 been able to make it in everj- respect a thorough and com- 

 plete work, while the publisher has brought out the book in 

 a fittingly handsome style. 



It may be that one result of the ])ublication of this book 

 may be to stimulate an interest in the search for rubber in 

 regions in the neighborhood of Indo-China, which may prove 

 to have similar resources. By the way, the present issue of 

 The Indi.\ RuiiiiER World contains a report on rubber on 

 the island of Formosa, obtained from lianes similar to a spe- 

 cies which is regarded in Indo-China as important. 



VACUUM DRYING IN RUBBER MAKING. 



^ I ^HIS suggestion is made bj- INIessrs. J. P. Devine Co. 

 -*- (Buffalo, New York), who are interested in the sale ot 

 the Passburg vacuum drjing apparatus, which has been sup- 

 plied to a number of rubber plantations in the Far East : 

 "It is considered a most advantageous reform to wash and 

 dry the rubber where it is grown, and not to ship it with all 

 its vegetable and mineral impurities. Particularly the vege- 

 table impurities are apt to lead to fermentation, and fer- 

 mented rubber means perished rubber. We believe that the 

 complaint of the rubber manufacturers, who buy the crude 

 rubber and have it washed, as regards loss of weight in re- 

 moving the dirt contained in the ruliber, does not sufficient- 

 ly take into consideration the damage done by such dirt dur- 

 ing the time it was encased in the rubber." The " block " 

 rubber, which has been bringing "record " prices in I,on- 

 don, has been dried bj- the method above described. 



