April i, 1903] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



229 



GERMAN ELECTRICAL CONSOLIDATION. 



THE ONLY RUBBER BOOK. 



THERE have been, first and last, a great many books printed 

 about India-rubber, but as far as we know only one on 

 India-rubber, and that was Charles Goodyear's work on "Gum 

 Elastic." one copy of which was printed upon leaves of a sort of 

 parchment made of India-rubber mixed with fiber, the covers 

 being plates of hard rubber, beauti- 

 fully carved. In writing of Good 

 year's book in the North American 

 Rtview (July, 1865) James Parton 

 said : 



The work presents at least something 

 unique in the art of book making. It is 

 self illustrating ; inasmuch as, treating of 

 India rubber, it is made of India rubber. 

 An unobservant reader, however, would 

 not suspect the fact before reading the 

 preface, for the India-rubber covers re- 

 semble highly polished ebony, and the 

 leaves have the appearance of ancient pa- 

 per worn soft, thin, and d'ngy by numer- 

 ous perusals. The volume contains 620 

 pages ; but it is not as thick as copies of 

 the same work printed on paper, though 

 it is a little heavier. It is evident that 

 the substance of which this book is com- 

 posed cannot be India-rubber in its na- 

 tural state. Those leaves, thinner than paper, can be stretched only 

 by a strong pull, and resume their shape perfectly when they are let 

 go. - - - The book itself tells us that it can be subjected, without 

 injury, to tests more severe than summer's sun and winter's cold. It 

 can be soaked six months in a pail of water, and still be as good a book 

 as ever. It can be boiled ; it can be baked in an oven hot enough to cook 

 a turkey ; it can be soaked in brine, lye, camphene, turpentine, or oil ; it 

 can be dipped into oil of vitriol, and still no harm done. To crown its 

 merits, no rat, mouse, worm, or moth has ever shown the slightest in- 

 clination to make acquaintance with it. 



It is quite possible that the distinguished reviewer here quot- 

 ed did not expect to be taken seriously, but as a matter of fact, 

 and quite unfortunately, this priceless volume has been injured 

 both by fire and flood. Its repository was a safe in the New 

 York office of a prominent member of the Goodyear family. 

 This safe passed through a serious conflagration, and. before it 

 was rescued, lay for some time in a cellar, flooded with water. 

 The result was that many of the leaves were fused together by 

 the heat, and stained by the infiltration of water, and that the 

 cover, instead of being a jet black, is now a chocolate brown. 

 Whether the book can be completely restored is a question, 

 and before it is attempted, the advice of experts in the trade will 

 be taken that the remedies applied may in no way deface it. 

 The accompanying illustrations show the volume as it now ap- 

 pears. 



THE BOOK OPENED AT THE TITLE PAGE 



THE consolidation of electrical interests in Germany, referred 

 to in the last India Rubber World, still continues. At 

 meetings held on February 17 of the shareholders of the respec- 

 tive companies, a plan was ratified for the merger of two import- 

 ant enterprises at Frankfort o/Main. The Gesellschaft fur Elek- 

 trische- Unternehmungen [Company for electrical undertak- 

 . operating various central stations, tramways, etc., is tiius 

 absorbed by the Electricitiits-Actiengesellschaft vormals W. 

 I.ihmeyer & Co., an electrical manufacturing concern. Two 

 new shares of the latter company's stock'are issued for three 

 shares of the company taken over, which ceases to exist as a 

 separate concern. This company, by the way, though able to 

 e.irn a dividend of 7 per cent, in 1898-99, showed a deficit last 

 year of over 720,000 marks, but the undertakings under its con- 

 trol are said to give promise of good development. By the 

 way, the failure of so many ne* public utilities in Germany to 

 yield profits as soon as was expected is responsible in large 

 part for the recent commercial and industrial depression there. 



The manufacturing companies, how- 

 ever, continue to promote new un- 

 dertakings, at home and abroad, as 

 a means to securing new orders for 

 their products. For example, the 

 two great electrical combinations 

 mentioned in the last India Rub- 

 ber World are now credited with 

 negotiations for raising a capital of 

 10,000,000 marks for the conversion 

 of the horse tramways at Valpa- 

 raiso (Chile) to electric traction. 

 As for the merger at Frankfort 

 o/M., mentioned above, it was 

 financed by the Bank liir Handel 

 und Industrie in Darmstadt — with 

 132.000,000 marks capital — one of 

 the group of banks in close rela- 

 tion with the Allgemeine Electri- 

 citiits- Gesellschaft, so that a con- 

 nection between the Lahmeyer concern and that company 

 may be inferred. The consolidation above referred to was 

 thoroughly considered early in 1902, when it was all but con- 

 summated, the only obstacle being the heavy bond issue of the 

 company to be absorbed — 10.000,000 marks, due in 1939 — which 

 now has been satisfactorily provided for. 



THE BOOK OPENED AT THE MIDDLE. 



