220 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April i, 1907. 



THE RISE IN PRICE OF SEA ISLAND COTTON. 



"nPHE price of Sea Inland cotton 

 ■*■ fabrics has been a matter of 

 uiuisual concern this season to the 

 manufacturers of pneumatic tires. 

 Raw Sea Island cotton has never be- 

 fore reached such figures. The table 

 herewith, compiled for The India 

 Rubber World by Messrs. John Mal- 

 loch & Co., of Savannah, Georgia — 

 where is the principal market for 

 Sea Island — gives the range of prices 

 (in cents per pound) at Savannah 

 during the "active" months of each 

 usually are i cent per pound higher. 



S.WAx.NAii Pkices (Cents per Poi:nd; During the Active Months of Seven Ye.\rs. 



19 

 18 

 iS 

 21 



u)oo-oi. 1901-02. 



September. 21 -22 



October. . . 22 -24 



November. 21 -23 



December.. 2IJ4-22 



January.. . . 22 -24^ 



February... 21 -22V; 



March 19 -21 



April l7'/2-20 



May i7;X-io 



-20 

 -20 

 -20 



-22 



-22 

 -22 



22 -22^ 

 22I/2-23 



23 -23J4 



1002-03. 



18 -18^ 

 18 -I8H 



i8'/2-i9 



iSi^-ipVj 



19K-20 



I9'/-20 



i9!-4-20 

 19^,-20 

 19^4-20 



1903-04. 

 -20 



1 9 '4-20 



20 -23 



-23 



2'! '-^-■50* 



-26'/, 

 26IX-28* 

 -28* 



2t -28* 



1904-05. 

 I914-2O 

 I9V2-I9M 

 19 -20 

 19 -20 

 181X-I9 

 -18 



17 -t8 

 17 -18 

 -17'X 



1905-06. 

 18 -19" 



i7h-i8'-4 

 18 1814 



\rA.-nVA, 



17 -18 



18 -20 

 20 -21 



-21 



1906-07. 

 -22 

 22 -25}/ 



25'/;-30 



30 -36 



35 -36 

 34 -35 

 34 -36 



*Xoiniiial quotations. Very little cotton sold at lht;se fisures. Prices declined to 2\-2z ctnts in .\iigust. 



year. New York prices 

 The basis for quotations 

 is the "fine" grade; there are lower priced grades, while "extra 

 fine" may 50 5 cents or more above the base price. 



The Sea Island cotton crop of 1906-07, not yet all marketed, 

 is reported much smaller than for some years past. Messrs. 

 Malloch & Co. estimate it at slightly less than 60.000 bales. The 

 crop for six preceding years was : 88,725 bales in 1900-01 ; 

 84.522 bales in 1901-02; 105,955 bales in 1902-03; 76,414 bales in 

 1903-04 ; 102,191 bales in 1904-05, and 123.789 bales in 1905-06, 

 the latter being the largest on record. 



The amount of Sea Island cotton taken by American mills in 

 the season of 1905-06 was 90,909 bales, the remainder being 

 exported. If the total crop this year should amount only to 

 60.000 bales, it will be seen that manufacturers must look to other 

 sources for long staple cotton. As is well known, there are 

 exceptionally good lots of ordinary cotton which bring fancy 

 prices. Recently a Fall River manufacturer was reported as 

 saying that the cotton used by the mills making the finest cloth 

 there cost in the neighborhood of 23 cents — nearly double the 

 New York quotation for middling. Egyptian cotton, on account 

 of its long staple, is miportcd to an important extent, the amount 

 taken by the United States in 1005-06 reaching 105.697 bales. The 

 relation of prices was indicated by a recent New York quotation 

 supplied to The Indi.^ Rubber World: 38 cents for Sea Island 

 and 25 cents for Egyptian. 



The Sea Island cotton growers have been organizing of late 

 years, with the idea of limiting production, in order to maintain 

 prices at what they consider a figure that will yield a profit. 

 How far the smaller crop of 1906 is due to such action it is not 

 possible as yet to say. At the annual meeting of the Sea Island 

 Cotton Association, at Valdosta, Georgia, in January, a resolu- 

 tion was adopted calling upon planters to reduce their acreage 

 this year below that of last year. 



* * « 



Fro.m Messrs. W. W. Gordon & Co., cotton factors at Savannah, 

 have been received the following quotations for Sea Island cotton 

 for the present and the past five seasons. The highest price 

 touched for the best grade during each season is given, and the 

 lowest price for the lowest grade. Also, the high and low price 

 for "Fancy Georgias," which is the standard grade of the crop: 

 Crop. Hightest Lowest Fancy Georgias. 



se..\son. (Bales). Price. Price. High. Low. 



1906-07 (760,000 40c. i6c. 37c. 21c. 



1905-06 123.364 23c. 15c. 23c. I7^c. 



1904-05 i02.«)8 23c. lie. 21C. 17c. 



1903-04 76,704 30c. i6c. 27c. 20C. 



1902-03 102,634 23c. I2C. 19c. i8c. 



1901-02 78,621 23c. I4J/,C. 22C. 27c. 



[g — Estimated.] 

 Our correspondents write: "We omit quotations of genuine 

 Island cotton. The Island crop is usually one-tenth of the total 

 production, and consists principally of so-called 'crop lots,' which 

 sell at very irregular prices, varying from 35 to 75 cents per 

 pound in the same season for different crops, according to 



quality." The production of Sea Island cotton on the mainland 

 is in the states of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. 



The impression prevails at Savannah that the present prices of 

 Sea Island cotton are abnormal, and that lower prices will prevail 

 next season. Since the above matter was put in type the govern- 

 ment reports the last Sea Island crop at 57,352 bales. 



A^ 



CLARK'S NEW SHOE MOLD. 



improved mold for the manufacture of rubber footwear, 

 to which the illustration relates, has for its objects a 

 product neater in appearance than the molded shoe as ordinarily 

 made, and the avoidance of one cause of damaged goods. With 

 the four-part mold used hitherto, the side molds being divided 

 on the center line of the bead of the shoe from heel to toe, there 

 is usually formed upon the shoe a seam or rib of rubber, extend- 

 ing from the opening at the top of the shoe down across the in- 

 step. This not only detracts from the appearance of the shoe, 

 but where these side molds join on the center line they are liable 

 to pinch or crimp the lining of the shoes between the parts, caus- 

 ing damage to the product. 



This invention provides for a five-part mold. In practice, a 

 last, with the shoe made up on it, is placed in the machine, the 



Cl.\rk's Rubber Foot\ve.\r Mold. 



last comprising one part of the mold. The second part is the in- 

 step mold, fixed stationary to the bed of the machine. The third 

 and fourth parts are the side molds, which extend from the side 

 of the shoe at a point to the rear of the instep back around the 

 heel of the shoe. The sole mold, at the top of the machine, 

 forms the fifth part. The beads or rims caused by the joining of 

 the mold parts, instead of appearing at the front or across the 

 instep portion of the shoe will be at the line of junction of the 

 instep mold and the side mold and at the heel of the shoe. 



The side molds are provided with heating chambers, so that 

 they may be heated by steam, or otherwise, making of this a vul- 

 canizing as well as a molding device. The inventor is Maurice 

 C. Clark, of Providence, Rhode Island, to whom has been issued 

 United States patent No. 842,859. 



