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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[Sepi ember i, 1903. 



NEW GOODS AND SPECIALTIES IN RUBBER. 



AN AMERICAN TENNIS BALL. 



THE B. F. Goodrich Co. (Akron, Ohio), having revolu- 

 tionized the goll ball industry by the manufacture and 

 sale of the " Haskell," are now turning their attention 

 to an improvement in tennis balls. Some few of these 

 balls were made last season but it was not ui.til this spring that 

 they reached the state of perfection to command the praise 

 of the most expert players throughout the country. It is gen- 

 erally conceded that the manufacture of tennis balls is one 

 of the " trickiest jobs" in the trade. The Goodrich company 

 went about it in their usual systematic manner, and, to begin 

 with, employed an expert at the game, in order to check up re- 

 sults as the work progressed. Heretofore, American tennis balls 

 have been at a great disadvantage, because the rubber balls, or 

 " centers," as they are technically called, were imported from 

 Germany. The Goodrich company do all of the work at their 

 factory in Akron, turning out finished balls of the highest qual- 

 ity from the crude materials. In fact, the Goodrich tennis ball 

 is the first truly American made one to be produced in this coun- 

 try. It was used exclusively for the Southern Championship 

 tournament at Washington this spring, held under the rules of 

 the United States National Lawn Tennis Association, and in a 

 number of smaller tournaments. On account of the enthusiastic 

 reception accorded the new ball by the players, a special meeting 

 of the United States association was called to be held during the 

 latter part of August, at Newport, during the National Cham- 

 pionship tournament, when the question of adopting an official 

 ball for next season's tournament was to come up. The tennis 

 ball itself, on analysis, shows excellent workmanship, the body 

 of the ball being made of white rubber, lined with pure unvul- 

 canized solution with a pure lozenge through which the air for 

 inflation is forced. The outside of the ball is covered in the 

 usual manner and marked " Goodrich 1903." 



THE "REPUBLIC" CROSS- WIRE TIRE. 

 The illustration relates to an arrangement of cross wires, be- 

 neath longitudinal retaining wires, in a solid rubber tire for 



sphere from the surface of which are a great number of pro- 

 tuberances. These are in reality pyramidal spines of rubber so 

 vulcanized that they are of a different texture from the body of 



"N5»- 



vehicles. The effect claimed is that the tire cannot come off, 

 there being no cutting through the base, and the manufactur- 

 ers refer to the use of materials of a quality which enables 

 them to guarantee the tire. [The Republic Rubber Co., 

 Youngstown, Ohio. Selling manager of these tires in New 

 York, Frederick E. McEwen, No. 808 Seventh avenue.] 



THE CRANDALL GOLF BAI L. 



A golf ball that already in an experimental way has shown 

 many points of excellence is that illustrated by the accompany- 

 ing cuts. It is quite simple in design, the core being a rubber 



the sphere. The rubber core, in making the finished ball, is 

 wound with fine thread and over that is put the Gutta-percha 

 cover. The theory is that this combination and arrangement 

 gives peculiar resilience that equals the best flyers among golf 

 balls and yet produces a ball that is much cheaper to make and 

 easier to repair. Another claim is that the cover very rarely 

 splits in a ball of this type. [Stoughton Rubber Co., Boston.] 



TENNANT'S PUNCTURE PROOF TIRE. 

 The object in the construction of this tire is to prevent col- 

 lapsing when in use by reason of being punctured or cut. The 



body of the tire is composed of 

 an outer tubular portion, thin- 

 nest at the rim and thickest at 

 the tread, and strengthened in- 

 side by a tubular body of fabric, 

 also of increased thickness at 

 the tread. Within the tire, en- 

 closed in walls of fabric, are two 

 spaces (B B) having a filling of 

 ■*8tHiS§ sponge rubber. The remaining 



space is filled by the air tube (C C). In addition, the tread 

 portion of the tire has embedded in it an annular flat metallic 

 strip (A), lying between the two layers of fabric above men- 

 tioned. The use of the metallic plate is to prevent punctures 

 through the tread, and that of the sponge rubber bodies is to 

 protect the air tube from side punctures. In the manufacture 

 of the tire, it is built up and vulcanized so as to form, in effect, 

 a single body, the several layers of fabric and rubber being 

 united to each other and enclosing the metallic strip during 

 the process of vulcanization. The fillings of sponge rubber, 

 however, are inserted in a half cured condition, as otherwise 

 such rubber might not become sufficiently vulcanized during 

 the operation of vulcanizing the remainder of the tire. This 

 tire is patented [No. 709,280] and is marketed in sizes for auto- 

 mobiles by the Tennant Auto-Tire Co., Springfield, Ohio. 



THE "OLD SALT" BOOT. 



It is a well known fact that the salt water fisherman is a 

 constant user of rubber boots, and is somewhat of a crank 

 withal in his requirements. For example, he wants a boot 

 made on a straight last ; that is, he has no use for rights and 

 lefts, and in this he is correct, for he can make a pair last longer 

 by changing one for the other. He also wants an exceedingly 

 durable boot and one compounded to resist the action of salt 

 water. The " Old Salt " boot has been made to fit exactly these 

 wants. Instead of having a heavy felt lining which gets sod- 

 den with perspiration and is almost impossible to dry, this boot 

 has a lining of knit wool, which is dryer, warmer, and lighter in 



