1907. J 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



145 



The India-Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



IT is matter for satisfaction that a greatly improved tone is 

 apparent in this branch. The demand for heavy coats for 

 motorists has a good deal to do with this. There is also, 

 it appears, a reaction among men in favor of the macintosh as 

 being more satisfactory than the rainproof coats, especially the 

 tttf; low class qualities. Although the various 



WATERPEOOFING means which have been put forward for 

 TBADE, ventilating rubber clothing have resulted in 



the failure to which they were foredoomed, the alternative of 

 reducing the weight has been largely adopted, and has resulted 

 in a gratifying increase of business. Where complaints are rife 

 is in the ladies' waterproofs ; though I don't profess any knowl- 

 edge of the matter myself, I am informed by a manufacturer that 

 rubber waterproofs are not now being worn, and that this state 

 of things ought to be altered as a distinct menace to the well- 

 being of the trade. 



With regard to machinery the Rowley and Walmsley double 

 deck spreading machine seems to have borne out what was por- 

 tended of it in the way of economical working, and another one 

 has recently been built embodying one or two further improve- 

 ments. Similar success has attended the Frankenstein and Lyst 

 patent spreading machine, which has fully substantiated the 

 patentees' claims during the years it has been working. Owing 

 to the vagaries of feminine fashions, the production of color 

 printed single textures has shrunk a good deal during the last 

 two years. As practically all of the double proof textures are 

 valcanized by dry hc:.t, this means Uiat the sincaloring process 

 has very little application at the present time. Considering the 

 litigation which once occurred as to patents rights for this or that 

 medium for facing the single texture before printing, it is inter- 

 esting to note that more of the printing is nowadays done with- 

 out the use of any powder; that is, the colors are printed direct 

 on the rubber surface. 



A point about proofing trade of somber interest to the rubber 

 expert is that since the use of the dry heat vulcanization process 

 became general there has been a cessation of the lawsuits which 

 at one time were such a feature of the trade. At the present 

 time the manufacturers have the experience of the past as a 

 guide to their actions, and this, coupled with the practical aban- 

 donment of the cold cure process, has very greatly minimized 

 the amount of defective work. 



The patent rights for this process, which has been previously 



referred to in these notes, have now passed into the hands of 



PENTHEE'S ^^^- J- ^- Baxter, of the Leyland and Bir- 



EUBBEE SCRAP mingham Rubber Co., Limited. This ap- 

 PEOCESs. plies not only to the British rights, but in 



all countries where patents have been taken out. A new factory 

 is now in course of erection at Leyland. where the system will 

 be worked on a large scale by J. E. Baxter, Limited, the com- 

 pany previously known as the Dialene Co., manufacturers of a 

 specially reclaimed rubber. The original Pcnfher machine is now 

 being brought over from Germany and will be erected in the 

 Leyland factory. As regards foreign countries, I understand it 

 is the intention of the Leyland firm to grant licenses on terms 

 which consist of the company supplying the machine (which 

 costs about £2000) and taking a certain share of the profits 

 resulting from its operation. Without going again into the de- 

 tails of the process, it may be repeated that fiber is completely 

 separated from the ground rubber by air current, and is recov- 

 ered in the form of fluflf which finds a ready sale to felt manu- 

 facturers and upholsterers at a remunerative price. It is hardly 

 necessary to say that in all other processes as now worked the 

 textile material is destroyed by means of either acid or alkaline 



•'RED 

 RUBBEH." 



solutions. In the Penther process this expense and that of the 

 subsequent washing and drying is done away with, and in addi- 

 tion there is a saving in time. The capabilities of the Penther 

 process do not, I understand, admit of armored hose being treated 

 direct, and presumably the iron wire, both external and internal, 

 will have to be removed before the scrap goes into the machine. 

 With regard to this class of waste rubber it seems to be about 

 the only sort which has not shown a rise in price during the 

 last two years, whereas most scrap has gone up considerably. 



The author of the book recently brought out under this title 

 is Mr. E. D. Morel, the honorary secretary of the Congo Re- 

 form Association, in England. The Congo 

 situation is attracting great attention in this 

 country, where Mr. Morel has addressed 

 large meetings in many of the principal towns. I heard him re- 

 cently address a meeting on the subject, and the fervor of his 

 denunciation of the King of the Belgians was something to be 

 remembered, not only for the zeal displayed in championing the 

 cause of the rubber gatherers, but also for the scholarly elocu- 

 tion in which the philippic was rendered. From what Mr. Morel 

 says in his speeches it is evident that he looks upon the recent 

 grant of Congo land to an influential American syndicate as an 

 astute move calculated to stem the tide of indignation in the 

 United States and to prevent the harmonious working together 

 of Great Britain and America in the forthcoming political pro- 

 ceedings. In Gustave Van der Keickhove's interesting com- 

 munication to this journal in 1904 on the coagulation methods 

 in operation in the Congo Free State he states that practically 

 the only advantage acccruing from European supervision has 

 been the cessation of adulteration. According to Mr. Morel's 

 book, this has been brought about by the somewhat drastic pun- 

 ishment of making offending collectors drink the late.x which 

 they have adulterated. 



The name of Reddaway in connection with belting is so well 

 known that any new departure from established procedure in 

 the manufacture is sure to be of interest. 

 It is well known that in some climates, in 

 India especially, the very heavy dews satu- 

 rate cotton belting to such an extent that it is some time before 

 work can be proceeded with in the morning. Though the camel 

 hair belting shows this disadvantage less than many brands of 

 belting, Messrs. F. Reddaway & Co., of Manchester, have re- 

 cently patented a belting which does away with the trouble alto- 

 gether. To this the not very euphonious name of "choucamel" 

 has been given, the improvement consisting of a layer of vul- 

 canized rubber on both sides of the ordinary camel hair belt. 

 By this means it is contended that, while the ordinary advantages 

 of camel hair belting are maintained, it is now' rendered quite 

 proof against the troubles incidental to textile belts working in 

 moist climates. 



A coon deal has been written about this new form of motor 



'bus tire in the automobile journals recently, though I have not 



j^j. so far come across the name of Messrs. 



HAETRIDGE Iddon Brothers, of Leyland, the rubber ma- 



TiKE. chinists, as having been concerned in its 



development, the design of the steel wheels having been worked 



out by them after a considerable amount of experimenting. The 



main feature of this tire is, of course, that the rubber is made 



in segments which can easily and expeditiously be moved about 



according as they get worn in any particular place. This work 



can be carried out at the garage without sending the tire back to 



the makers. The arrangement of the rubber segments may be 



carried out in various ways. In fact, I believe I am right in 



CHOtrCAMEL 

 BELTING. 



