318 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1907. 



THE SINGAPORE RUBBER WORKS. 



""P HE rubber factory recently establislicd at Singapore, and 

 •*• the first in the Far East [see The Lnmiia Rubber Wohi.u, 

 June I, 1907 — page 284I, it appears from The Times of Ceylon, 

 is an outgrowth from the Xederlandsclie Guttapercha Maats- 

 chappij (Netherlands Gutta-Percha Co.) The latter company 

 has already been mentioned in The India Rubber World as 

 having inaugurated a factory in October, 1899, at 19 Passir Pan- 

 jang, Singapore, for extracting gutta-percha from leaves, under 

 the process of Dr. P. H. Ledeboer. This industry not proving 

 profitable, the works have been converted into a factory for 

 making solid rubber tires, valves, and the like. Locally pro- 

 duced rubber is used and the goods made arc intended chiefly 

 for local consumption. 



Mr. L. A. van Rijn, who was the manager of the gutta- 

 percha company, is in charge of the rubber factory. Mr. H. N. 

 Ridley, director of the Singapore botanic garden, is quoted by 

 The Times of Ceylon as saying: "They have found such a 

 demand that they are increasing their works as fast as they 

 can. I have a pair of tires on my trap made at these works 

 from clot and scrap rubber obtained in the Straits, and they are 

 the best rubber tires in Singapore. The best known carriage 

 builder in Singapore is getting tires made in the place. The 

 tires we are getting from home [England] are very poor ones, 

 made of inferior rubber. There are good markets in India and 

 China for the numerous articles such as tires, valves, plSes, 

 and so on that are in constant use and which could be supplied 

 cheaper than from home." 



-A.. C. Harper & Co., of Kuala Lumpur, have been appointcil 

 agents in the Federated Malay States. 



GERMAN-AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 



THE secretary of the treasury at Washington has notified 

 the customs service, and the consular service has likewise 

 been informed, of a reciprocal commercial agreement between 

 the United States and Germany, announced in a proclamation by 

 the President, accompanied by a copy of the agreement. The 

 agreement becomes effective from July i, 1907, and is temporary, 

 pending a comprehensive commercial treaty between the two 

 nations. Reduced rates are conceded to Germany on a limited 

 number of articles imported from that country ; w'hat was more 

 desired by the Germans is the modification granted in the admin- 

 istration of the customs law, particularly in respect of the valua- 

 tion of imports. On the other hand, Germany admits a large 

 number of .American imports at the rates conceded to "the most 

 favored nation," which in most cases are lower than American 

 products have paid in the past. The official announcement men- 

 tions the rates to be charged by Germany on various imports 

 from America, including rubber goods, but an opportunity is 

 not now afforded for presenting a comparison between these 

 and the rates paid hitherto. In general, however, lower rates 

 are accorded to rubber goods. An authority in the American 

 trade estimates that the rate paid on imports of American rubber 

 footwear has worked put at about 25 per cent, ad valorem, and 

 that under the new agreement it will amount to 14 per cent. 



OBITUARY. 



manager, until 1891, when he was elected to the dual office of 

 vice president and treasurer. Mr. Walker was during all these 

 years a forceful part of the management of the company, con- 

 tributing in a vital way to its steady development, and his whole 

 career was a continual story of success. In connection with their 

 large production of lead pencils the Di.\on company have been 

 extensive users of india-rubber, and for a number of years have 

 operated a rubber factory of their own. Mr. Walker was a 

 director in several important financial institutions, a member of 

 the New York Chamber of Commerce and the Jersey City Board 

 of Trade, and had served as a member of the Jersey City Board 

 of Education and a trustee of the Jersey City Public Library. 



JOHN A. W.\LKER, vice president and treasurer of the 

 Joseph Dixon Crucible Co., died at his home in Jersey City, 

 New Jersey, on May 23, in his seventieth year. He was born in 

 New York city, was prepared for college in a private school, 

 chose a commercial career, served his country in the civil war, 

 and in 1867 became connected with Joseph Dixon & Co. A year 

 later the present Dixon corporation was formed, with Mr. Walker 

 as secretary, to which position was gradually added the work of 



PNEUMATIC CUSHION HEEL. 



A X ingenious and valuable development in the line of rubber 

 ^*- heels is the Anderson Improved Pneumatic Cushion Heel, 

 covered by patents granted to W. G. .Anderson. This heel is 

 not only resilient, but of great comfort to the w'earer, since it 



will not slip or carry 

 mud or pick it up. 

 Another claim made 

 for this heel is that 

 it is arch supporting. 

 It is particularly 

 comfortable to feel a 

 soft elastic cushion be- 

 neath the arch of the 

 foot. The larger of 

 the illustrations 

 shows the double suc- 

 tion chamber with the 

 cross bar reinforcing 

 the diaphragm. The 

 back of the heel is 

 formed so as to con- 

 lain an air chamber. 

 The smaller cut more 

 fully illustrates the 

 formation of the 



cross section of the 

 Pneumatic Cushion Heel. u 1 .1 * j 



heel — the tread sur- 

 face and the inner chamber as well. When applying the rubber 

 heel to a shoe, the leather must be smoothed off and the contact 

 surface covered with cement. The heel is then nailed to the 

 shoe in the usual manner and as soon as the cement hardens it 

 will be found by pressing on the diaphragm or the cross bar 

 that there is an air-tight chamber underneath which forms a 

 springy soft supporting cushion. Mr. Anderson, when asked 

 where he got his idea of the construction of the suction cham- 

 ber, replied that it was from seeing a fly walking up a window 

 pane, and realizing that it was wearing a cushion heel. He 

 started to study the fly's foot under a misroscope and the An- 

 derson Improved Pneumatic Cushion Heel was the result. 



WANTS AND INQUIRIES. 



(412) Vy/HERE can sheet aluminum for making brands 



W be secured? 



(413) Wanted addresses of firms handling supplies for rubber 

 stamp manufacturers. 



(414) Names of manufacturers of insulating and general 

 rubber machinery who can furnish information regarding the 

 same are wanted by a foreign house. 



(415) Who manufactures or imports pure tar? 



(416) Can seed of "Manitoba" or Ceara rubber be obtained 

 in this country?. 



(417) New or second-hand gutta-percha masticator wanted, 

 if in good condition. 



UiS) Wanted the address of W. H. Bennett, rubber techni- 

 cologist. 



