September i, 1907.) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



363 



We notice that our ahle Hollandish contemporary, 

 Dc Iiuiisclie Mcrciiiir, is running an adniiral)ly compiled 

 department of rubber intelligence under the heading 

 ■■Rubber Scraps/' and on looking through the matter the 

 word '■rubber'^ appears as frequently as "caoutchouc" — 

 something which would not have been seen in a Euro- 

 pean journal a decade ago. It seems reasonable that the 

 Selangor Rubber Co., for example, is more apt to be 

 mentioned as growing "rubber" than "caoutchouc," even 

 in a Dutch paper, and like illustrations may be multiplied 

 indefinitely. 



\\ by wait to adopt the word rubber universally? 



A vou.N'G M.\N .MiVERTiSES ill a New York newspaper that, 

 having discovered the secret of perpetual motion, he is willing 

 to take as a partner some one who will supply capital to put 

 the sanve into effect. He ought to be able to find the man he 

 wants among the class who put up money for exploiting "artificial 

 rubber. '■ 



TiiEV MUST DE .^^• .\GREEAni.v SURPRISED LOT, the shareholders 

 of the Consolidated Malay Rubber Estates, Limited, who recently 

 received notice of a 10 per cent, dividend for their first year, 

 though no dividend at all had been promised in the company's 

 prospectus. The conservatism of that prospectus marks its 

 authors as typical Britishers of the old school. The favorable 

 result mentioned was due to the collection of about 3 pounds of 

 rubber each from some ir,ooo planted trees. 



The insul.\ted wire industry appears never to have de- 

 veloped so rapidly at any period as since the introduction of 

 wireless telegraphy. The wireless systems undoubtedly have 

 their uses, but we have failed to see them take advantage in any 

 way of the opportunity offered by the interruption of the 

 telegraphic service in the United States by the recent strike 

 among the operators. 



If there should be longer any doubt as to the civilizing in- 

 fluence of the Congo Free State, it should be set at rest by the 

 statement which reaches us through an official channel that the 

 chefs de paste are urging the natives to build themselves com- 

 fortable huts. We understand that under the old regime there 

 was no one to urge such progressive measures upon the natives. 

 It will be of interest to notice whether the use of rifles will be 

 necessary to make this urging effective. 



RUBBER IN THE "NOISELESS CITY." 



FROM "h.\RPEr's weekly" (nEW VORK). 



OCIENCE proposes to eliminate city noises by a number of 

 *^ improvements, some of which are peculiar. In the first 

 place, the rubber tire has proved the greatest single factor in 

 forwarding the movement. The automobile and bicycle have 

 revolutionized conditions in our cities and opened the way for 

 further important gains. Thousands of tons of rubber are an- 

 nually converted into tires, and their growing use for all sorts 

 of vehicles is slowly reducing the noise of city traffic. The pres- 

 ent crusade for the suppression of unnecessary noises proposes 

 to have laws passed requiring rubber tires on every class of 

 vehicles. Trucks equipped with flat, solid rubber tires make 

 comparatively no noise as they roll across asphalt, macadam and 

 wood-paved streets. Even when passing over rough cobblestone 

 pavements the noise is reduced to a minimum. 



The wear and tear of rubber tires on trucks and similar heavy 

 vehicles is not so costly as one would suppose. A good pair of 



rubber tires will last nearly as long as iron tires if the streets 

 arc properly paved. The change in the pavement of our streets 

 is thus an essential part of the movement. Asphalt makes the 

 smoothest and easiest pavement, but it is not suited to heavy 

 tratfic. A substitute for this has been found in recent years in 

 the wood block pavement. The lower part of Broadway and 

 many side streets in New York have been paved with wooden 

 blocks, and the elimination of the noise of traffic is one of the 

 most powerful factors in favor of this pavement. Wooden 

 blocks have been used in Paris for a number of years, and some 

 of the most important streets and boulevards arc thus paved. 

 The blocks are laid on a cement foundation, with the grain run 

 ning perpendicular to the trafiic overhead, and the blocks arc 

 wedged so close together that they cannot split or crumble. So 

 far the wearing qualities of the wooden blocks have proved 

 satisfactory to all concerned. 



With our busy streets and avenues paved with wooden blocks, 

 and residential streets with asphalt the roar of traffic can be re- 

 duced more than 50 per cent. The new street pavement is thus 

 the forerunner of the rubber tire for trucks and heavy vehicle?. 

 Rubber tires used on such pavements will last longer than steel 

 tires used on cobblestones, and, z'ice versa, the wood blocks or 

 asphalt pavements have their years of usefulness increased 20 

 per cent, by the universal adoption of rubber tires. The elimi- 

 nation of traffic noise thus works a double blessing, saving our 

 ears and nerves and prolonging the life of usefulness of vehicu- 

 lar tires and street pavements. 



But there is still one old offender left — one of the most hard- 

 ened criminals in this line. The surface car and elevated train 

 roar and scrape along like the rumbling of approaching artillery. 

 How can this noise be eliminated? "By forcing the companies 

 to live up to the law in not using flat wheels," some one says. 

 That only partly solves the diflSculty. Now science proposes to 

 do away with the scraping of iron against iron. There are two 

 methods proposed. One is to use rubber tires for the car 

 wheels and the other is to coat the top of the rails with a com- 

 position which will not give forth any metallic sound when 

 scraped by iron wheels. Rubber tires for car wheels are some- 

 what of novelties, but a long series of experiments has been 

 made with them which shows that they will in the end be 

 adopted. It is not natural rubber, bpt an artificial compound 

 which is fastened to the rim of the wheels by a process of weld- 

 ing. The coating cannot be torn off and wears only a little faster 

 than iron. If the top surface of the rails were coated with this 

 same composition friction would be reduced to a minimum. 



This means a complete change in the type of brake. Instead 

 of the present flat brake, which clamps the rim of the wheel, i 

 brake similar to that used in automobiles will be adopted. This 

 will clamp on the axle or in sprockets, so that the wear and 

 tear on the wheels will be reduced. Flat wheels will be avoided 

 by gradual slackening of speed, and the friction of the rubber- 

 coated rails and wheels will be of such a nature that the car can 

 be brought to a standstill much quicker and easier than at pres- 

 ent. There will be no skidding along the rails in wet weather 

 owing to the tractive force of the new inventions. The same 

 materials used for elevated trains would eliminate the noise 

 overhead of wheels pounding iron rails and the terrifying squeak- 

 ing caused by rounding curves. The modern brakes in surface 

 cars are noisy and crude affairs. Compared with the noiseless 

 brakes of the automobiles they are about a decade behind the 

 times. The "noiseless city" of the future will therefore have all 

 its vehicular traffic carried on rubber or rubber-like compositions. 



The new 5 per cent, gold loan of £650,000 [=$3,163,225], 

 floated in London and .Amsterdam, is for the purpose of com- 

 pleting the railway from Para to Bragan<;a. The length is 2SC 

 kilometers [=156 1-3 miles], of which 178 kilometers are already 

 open for traffic. The bonds are secured by the export duties on 

 ruDber. 



