A i GUST I, 1903.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



401 



INDIA-RUBBER INTERESTS IN EUROPE. 



THE SUBMARINE CABLE INDUSTRY IN GERMANY. 



THE business report of the Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke, 

 Aktie g r sellschaft, (or 1902, presented at the recent an- 

 nual meeting at Cologne, indicates that the new in- 

 dustry in Germany which this company was formed to 

 inaugurate, already is attaining important proportions. The 

 first cable of the Deutsch-Atlantische Telegraphen Gesellschaft 

 — laid in 1900 from Borkum, Germany, to New York— it will be 

 remembeied, was made in England, no facilities then existing 

 for cable manufacture in Germany. On May 31, 1902, a contract 

 was signed for a duplicate cable to New York, to be made by the 

 Norddeutsche company, at the factory it had established at Nor- 

 denham, and the manufacture was begun in July. Before the 

 end of 1902 more than 1S00 kilometers had been completed and 

 accepted, and up to April of this year 3000 kilometers had been 

 completed, the laying of which was commenced on May 16- 

 For the laying of this cable, and the section yet to be made, an 

 order was given in March 1902, to the " Vulkan " shipyards, at 

 Stettin, for the first vessel to be built in Germany expressly for 

 cable laying. This vessel, designed for carrying 5000 tons of 

 deep sea cable, and named the Stephan, was delivered to the 

 Norddeutsche company in March of this year. During the 

 early months of 1902 several small orders were taken by the 

 company, including a three-conductor light cable between 

 Wanderoog and Rothe Sand lighthouse, and the company's 

 first cable ship, von Podbiehki was occupied 184 days during 

 the year in laying these cables and completing the survey for 

 the duplicate cable to New York. Other important orders are 

 now in hand. In June, 1902, the share capital was increased 

 from 4.000,000 to 6,000,000 marks, fully paid. The profit and 

 loss account for the year shows a surplus of 94,241.55 marks ; 

 no dividend was distributed. The assets of the company are 

 reported at 15,695.209 marks. The board includes Max Guil- 

 leaume and Emil Guilleaume, of the firm of Felten & Guil- 

 leaume, and Franz Clouth, of the Rheinische Gummiwaaren- 

 Fabrik (Cologne). 



The German Atlantic cable now in operation, and owned by 

 practically the same interests, has had two years of profitable 

 business, and satisfactory dividends have been paid. 



A RUBBER TRUST IN AUSTRIA ? 



The Prague Tagcblatt contains the following singular news, 

 which should be considered cautiously : " It has been reported 

 for some time that the Austrian rubber manufacturers had de- 

 cided on a 10 per cent, advance on rubber eoods. This advance 

 has not gone into effect because one factory did not abide by 

 the decision. Prices therefore have remained unchanged. The 

 efforts of the rubber manufacturers to organize proceed unin- 

 terruptedly, but in a dragging manner. According to the pres- 

 ent status a combination is not thought of, but it is intended to 

 form the factories into a trust, as has been done in the fez and 

 glue industries. A short time ago a meeting was held at which 

 the formal proceedings were considered. The factories are 

 called upon to furnish statistics giving the average production 

 and sales of the past years, net profits, etc., in order to strike a 

 basis as to how much capital would be required and what fac- 

 tories are to be operated. The financial end is likely to be 

 looked after by the Vienna Bankverein, several German bank- 

 ing houses being also interested." We very much doubt 

 whether the Austrian rubber industry, which is suffering severe- 

 ly from enormous overproduction, could be benefited by being 



formed into a trust, or that the principal factories are unable to 

 see the danger lying in such action — strengthening the weak 

 at the expense of the stronger. Most likely it is only a probing 

 instigated by certain interested banking houses. — Guntmi- 

 Zeitung. 



RUBBER THREAD IN GERMANY. 

 At the yearly general meeting of the Central Society of Ger- 

 man Rubber Goods Factories, on June 4, the business report 

 submitted stated that the imperial statistical bureau had been 

 petitioned to report specifically on the imports and exports of 

 rubber threads. The existing classification of rubber threads 

 with rubber sheets and solutions (including Guttapercha) has 

 proved unsatisfactory, particularly as it has tended to prevent 

 the placing of an adequate import duty upon threads. The 

 president of the statistical bureau had replied, under date of 

 May 13, that in future rubber threads would receive special 

 mention, a classification of them having been made under No. 

 573 in the new customs tariff. 



ENGLISH HOT WATER BOTTLES. 

 AT the recent annual chemists' exhibition, in London, 

 Messrs. Currie, Thompson & Co. (36, Ludgate Hill, London) 

 showed hot water bottles, guaranteed for two years against 

 bursting or leaking. = = In the April issue of The India Rub- 

 ber World was reported the trial, in Liverpool, of an action 

 at law for damages brought against a chemist in that city by a 

 customer who had suffered from the bursting of a hot water 

 bottle sold by him. The case was decided in favor of the plain- 

 tiff, after which the chemist brought an appeal, which now 

 also has been decided against him. 



RAILWAY ENTERPRISE IN AFRICA. 



The Benguela Railway Co. has been registered in Lisbon, 

 to give effect to the concession granted by Portugal for a rail- 

 way through Portuguese West Africa to Lake Tanganyika, to 

 Robert Williams, a British subject [see The India Rubber 

 World, February i, 1903 — page 153]. The requisite capital, 

 ,£2,000.000, has been underwritten in London. Meanwhile the 

 inauguration of work on the road has occurred, the first spike 

 having been driven by the governor general of Angola. While 

 the primary object of the projected road is the opening up of 

 mines in the Tanganyika region, it will also promote the ex- 

 ploitation of rubber in districts — both in Angola and the Congo 

 Free State — now accessible only by porterage. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



Goodrich solid motor cars are now offered by J. W. & T. 

 Connolly, Limited, King's Cross, N., London who have made a 

 specialty for several years past of solid rubber tires for vehi- 

 cles. 



= A company under the style P. Frankenstein & Sons. Lim- 

 ited, with ,£50,000 capital, has been registered to acquire the 

 business of P. Frankenstein & Sons, manufacturers of India- 

 rubber and waterproof goods and leather goods, at the Victo- 

 ria Rubber Works, Newton Heath, Lancashire, and the Ark- 

 wright Mills, Manchester. No public issue. 



= W. T. Henley's Telegraph Works Co., Limited, on account 

 of having become cramped for space by reason of the growth of 

 their cables and mechanical rubber business at their works in 

 Woolwich, where 1500 hands are employed, have purchased 12 

 acres of ground at Rosherville, Gravesend, down the Thames, 

 on which it is proposed to erect additional works, to which 



