340 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 



1903. 



ligiously abstain from ventilating their ideas in the columns of 

 their trade journal. Of course one can understand that the 

 remuneration in this case would not prove the bait that it does 

 to the journalist in his garret, but still this complete absten- 

 tion is to be regretted from more than one point of view. 



From what a prominent firm in this line of business tells 



me, the rise in the price of Pard rubber hardly affects them at 



all. And this not because they can raise their 



THE prices in proportion, because quite the con- 



CAHO CLOTHING — , , . , 



T „.r,.- trary is the case. The (act, however, seems to 



TRADE. ' 



be that the rubber-faced card has practically 

 ceased to be a source of profit. It is still manufactured but in 

 much smaller proportion than the composition card into which 

 rubber does not enter. As both classes of goods are made by 

 the same firms the change has meant an alteration of proced- 

 ure rather than a loss of business, though the capital expendi- 

 ture in the requisite plant for rubber cards being much greater 

 than in the case of the composition ones, it is of course, a mat- 

 ter for regret that it should fall into desuetude. Although 

 price is to some extent responsible for the increase in favor of 

 the composition card, yet certainly as far as woolen mills are 

 concerned, merit has largely brought it to the front, and this 

 because of the liability of the rubber card to suffer decompo- 

 sition by the action of the greasy matters in the wool. The 

 ingredients, that are employed in the manufacture of the com- 

 position card are somewhat jealously guarded as a trade secret 

 and probity compels me not to enlarge upon the subject. 

 Messrs. Horsfall & Bickham, prominent card manufacturers, 

 have taken to the motor car manufacture successfully and are 

 therefore interested in vulcanized rubber as well as the raw 

 Para, which was formerly their sole purchase. 



At the June sale of condemned stores by the general post- 

 office about 44 tons of Gutta-percha was offered, the ptice 

 charged to prospective purchasers for sam- 

 ples being 4 shillings per pound, showing 

 a continued rise. The amount offered has 

 shown very little variation for some time past, and has certain- 

 ly not decreased as might have been expected with the greatly 

 increased application of the " dry core " telephone cables. It 

 is notioeable that the rubber covered cable on offer is marked at 

 6J. per pound for samples instead of the is. 6d. at which it stood 

 in earlier lists. I should imagine that the department used to 

 experience a difficulty in finding buyers at their former esti- 

 mate of value. The waste rubber is now largely augmented by 

 inner tubes and covers of cycle tires, cycles now being in regu 

 lar use by subordinate officers of the department. 



In the volume entitled " Conductors for Electrical Distribu 

 tion," by Dr. F. A. C. Perrine, published recently in New York, 

 there are not unnaturally several references to 

 India rubber and Gutta-percha. I quote the 

 following paragraph, as it seems to invite a little comment ■ 

 " The decay of cut sheet lapped on copper wire was found to 

 be due to the medium used for preventing the sheets of rubber 

 from adhering, for which purpose use was made of soap and 

 potash substances which subsequently liberated oxygen and 

 grease, one attacking the wire and the other the India rubber." 

 Now it strikes me that there are chemical discrepancies in this 

 seemingly clear categorical statement of the cause of a com- 

 plaint which is of old standing. I do not however propose to 

 discuss the matter at length as far as the decomposition of the 

 soap is concerned, but in the case of untinned copper the more 

 probable explanation is the direct oxidation of the rubber. 

 Nowadays when the cut sheet is used in a vulcanized cable its 

 decay seems directly attributable to the sulphur penetrating 

 from the vulcanized layer to the wire, the usual tinning of the 



CONDEMNED 

 TELEGRAPH STORES. 



A NEW BOOK. 



latter being inadequate to prevent the formation of copper sul- 

 phide or sulphate when the wires get heated. Whatever may 

 have been formerly the case, nowadays it is difficult to get an 

 alkaline reaction from the cut sheet made in England, the caus- 

 tic soda or other body used in the water being present in very 

 small amounts. With regard to the use of the white separator 

 Mr. Perrine remarks that it presents no distinct advantage 

 while adding considerably to the cost of insulation. I don't 

 know whether the makers of Hooper's core endorse this opin- 

 ion ; certainly the idea of keeping the sulphur away from the 

 wire is sound enough, but it does not always seem to have done 

 this effectively. 



A CONSiDEKAiii.E difference of opinion is noticeable among 

 British rubber manufacturers as to the actual advantages to be 

 gained by advertising. Some firms have gone 

 in for it for years with regularity, while others 



THE USE OF 

 ADVERTISING. 



have persistently declined to make use of the 

 space offered to them by the advertisement canvasser — on the 

 usual terms. Presumably the former class are satisfied with 

 the result of their investment or else in all probability they 

 would have lapsed into the ranks of the latter. Of course it is 

 always a difficult matter to ascertain how much new business is 

 directly traceable to the advertisement, because in Great Brit- 

 ain, at all events, it is not usual to insert or to comply with 

 " Please mention this paper when you write." I may say that 

 my thoughts have turned on this subject from noticing how 

 great an increase there has been of late in the number of Con- 

 tinental and American firms advertising in British journals. 

 The fact that these find it advisable if not imperative to ad- 

 vertise, while old established home firms hold aloof, is no doubt 

 because the former have to break new ground and get their 

 unknown names familiar to the public, while the latter, who 

 are already as a result of many years trading well known, re- 

 quire no such introduction. A name which has become a 

 household word, so to speak, is a valuable asset of good will 

 which can hardly be augmented by advertisement — that is, 

 where only a limited number of buyers exist and the million is 

 not being appealed to. Some firms assert that by means of 

 their travelers they can tap new sources of revenue to better 

 effect than by an advertisement. This may or may not have 

 proved to be the general experience, and I only repeat the 

 statement (or what it is worth. With regard to the question as 

 to how far British rubber manufacturers have been affected by 

 the existing foreign competition, it would be difficult to speak 

 definitely without a good deal of poking into private business 

 affairs, but from what I have gathered our manufacturers do 

 not seem to view the situation with alarm. In the mechanical 

 trade, at any rate, the demands are more often than not for 

 goods to some special pattern which car.not be supplied from 

 stuck. Further, if the regular orders are not of a special na- 

 ture, specialties are often wanted, and the British manufacturer 

 shows himself somewhat indisposed to take the necessary 

 trouble about these if he finds that the bulk of the orders for 

 stock patterns go to some other country. He is ready enough 

 to go out of his way to oblige a good customer or where there 

 is a quid pro quo, but it is not at all surprising that he jibs at 

 being expected to pick up with avidity the crumbs from a for- 

 eign competitor's table. But to return more particularly to 

 the subject of advertising, for a final word, if it is acknowledged 

 as necessary for the foreigner to advertise in British jour- 

 nals in order to get known it would seem that the British 

 might retaliate by making known the superiority of their wares 

 in American journals. This suggestion emanates entirely from 

 myself and is not due to any inspiration from New York, as the 

 uncharitably disposed might possibly imagine. 



