April i, 1903.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



223 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE failure of this firm of raw rubber merchants has been 

 a principal topic of conversation in the trade. Though 

 naturally a somewhat risky business, no failure of the 

 sort seems to have occurred before, at least not lor a 

 long time. A deficiency of £ 104,573 is a serious thing, and it 

 is not surprising that detailed in formation as to 

 the business procedure is being awaited with in- 



KRAMRISCH'S 

 FAILURE. 



terest. The facts of the case as explained in the 

 pipers so far are too lengthy and complicated to be dealt with 

 111 any short space, but I may say a word by way of comment 

 on a certain feature. It is stated that the greatest sufferers are 

 certain banking firms who have advanced money. In this re- 

 spect there is a feeling in commercial circles that our banks by 

 this money lending business, which has increased of late years, 

 are acting somewhat against the interests of sound trade by 

 enabling new firms with practically no capital to enter into 

 competition with old-established firms working on a sounder 

 financial system. Of course it is rarely that the banks get hit, 

 they see too closely to their securities. Nor can it be argued 

 that banks exist primarily for any other purpose than making 

 money for their shareholders. Overdrafts generally are of 

 course not to be condemned, as they are undoubtedly an assist- 

 ance to trade ; it is in the negotiation of doubtful paper that 

 an unsatisfactory feature is introduced, because it gives a false 

 idea of the strength of the firms from the quantity of their 

 turnover. But not to pursue this topic further, it is certainly 

 hard on Messrs, Kramrisch that they were involved in the 

 troubles which have alllicted one or two rubber firms in the 

 north of England in the last year or two. 



UNDER the heading of" The danger of inferior hotwater bot- 

 tles " the public have been made familiar with a case tried at the 

 last Liverpool assizes. Briefly stated, a claim for 



nfehior damages to the person was brought by the pur- 



HOTWATER ° r " ' ' 



bottles, chaser of a rubber hotwater bottle against the 

 chemist who sold it. The bottle burst when full of 

 hot water and scalded the patient. No doubt the jury were 

 largely influenced by the analysis given in by Mr. Heyl-Dia, 

 the expert for the plaintiff, which was as follows : 56.6 per cent, 

 of mineral ; 14.6 per cent, of oil substitutes, and 25.8 percent, of 

 rubber consisting almost entirely of reclaimed crumb rubber. 

 Such a bag, the witness said, was quite unfit to hold hot water, 

 and it would not have been manufactured by an English firm. 

 This bottle, it appears, was made in America and sold by a 

 Liverpool firm for 2 shillings 6 pence. An expert for the de- 

 fense said he considered the material was all right and quite 

 suitable for hotwater bottles, though cross examination elic- 

 ited from him the opinion that it was inadvisable to use re- 

 claimed rubber for hotwater bottles. The jury found that no 

 assurance was given that the bottle would carry boiling water ; 

 that the bottle was not fit for use as a hotwater bottle when 

 sold ; and that this was the cause of the bottle bursting. They 

 could not agree as to the question of negligence but assessed 

 the damages at /140 against the chemist who retailed the bot- 

 tle at 3 shillings 9 pence. The final judgment for the plaintiff 

 was /40 for expenses, the £100 for compensation not being 

 allowed by the judge. It seems to me that this case opens up 

 a very wide question and one which cannot be adequately dis- 

 cussed in a few lines. It has long been apparent to me that the 

 continual lowering of the quality of the rubber in surgical 



goods is a dangerous thing. In the particular, case under no- 

 tice, America and not Great Britain has had to bear the brunt 

 of exposure, but in many classes of surgical goods, British firms 

 of late years have been compelled to lower their quality in or- 

 der to compete with Continental competition, and it is quite 

 common to hear doctors say that surgical rubber goods are not 

 what they used to be. Of course if doctors were not so eager 

 to buy at a low figure the old quality and prices would have 

 been maintained, but all the same the buyer cannot be expected 

 in discriminate between rubber and substitute where the out- 

 ward appearance is the same. The Liverpool case makes it 

 clear that to sell a faulty rubber article is a very risky procedure 

 and it will probably lead to retailers requiring guarantees from 

 agents and manulacturers. The latter will naturally decline 

 to give a guarantee for inferior cheap articles and we shall 

 probably find that the result is a return to the use of pure rub- 

 ber, a consummation devoutly to be wished. 



Tiik. shareholders at the annual meeting of the Sanitas Co. of 



London were recently treated to a long discourse on the merits of 



the various golf balls now competing (or public 



disinfectants f avor it came as a surprise to outsiders that the 



AND QOLF BALLS . . , , . , . , , 



enterprising founder and chairman of the Sani- 

 tas Co. had enlarged the scope of his company's operations by 

 an entry into the golf b til manufacture, the connection between 

 the two industries being to the ordinary mind somewhat re- 

 mote. It has been deemed advisable to form a subsidiary com- 

 piny to work the golf ball business, and this is known as the 

 Improved Golf Bills Co., Limited. Mr. Kingzett stated that in 

 addition to the company's Gutta-percha balls, the " Klypool 

 and " Improved Remakes," he had patented the " ( )rtogo " ball, 

 which was in competition with the American cored balls. He 

 claimed that the Ortogo. which is rubbered but not rubber- 

 cored, was superior to these, its exterior being perfectly inpen- 

 etrable by the clubs ; moreover the price was 1 shilling 6 pence, 

 against 2 shillings. Possibly the makers of the American balls 

 could reduce their prices in the face of competition, but this is a 

 matter that need not detain me. Another new ball is the " Or- 

 togo-Singer," the joint product of Mr. Kingzett and Mr. II. M. 

 Singer, of St. Andrews. Finally, there was the "Skor," so con- 

 structed that whilst the whole of the case and exterior are made 

 of gutta, there is an intervening cushion or buffer of specially 

 prepared material of an elastic and resilient nature which pre- 

 vents backing. All these balls, it appears, are patented, and the 

 company will take steps against all infringers and imitators. It 

 would not surprise me if this determination was put to the test 

 before long, seeing the large number of claims made under the 

 several patents connected with the Haskell andKempshall balls, 

 but I have no wish to advance matters in this direction. 



The retirement of Mr. George E. Heyl-Dia from the St. 



Helens Cable Co., of Warrington. came to the trade somewhat 



as a surprise. Originally with Messrs. Glover, at 



electrical tne j r \f\ wor ks in Salford, he, on leaving their 



NOTES. . . . . . 



employ, was the moving spirit in the formation of 

 the Warrington works, and has acted as managing director. 

 Mr. I leyl-Dia has shown strains of inventive genius, the insulat- 

 ing compounds " Diatrine " and "Dialine" owing their origin 

 to him, while minor matters, such as gloves for electric wire- 

 men, have engaged his attention. I understand that his pres- 

 ent intention is to act as a consultant, though I do not think 



