December i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



79 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE beginning of November sees rubber manufacturers 

 busy preparing their samples and quotations in response 

 to the tenders sent out by the Admiralty. This year 

 things are on a somewhat different footing from the 

 past. Not only is there a new chief chemist at the head of the 

 Admiralty laboratory, but the strong represen- 

 ADMiRALTY t^tion made a year or so ago by manufacturers 



CONTRACTS. o y 



as to the nature of the tests employed has led to 

 a decided alteration. The new specification for A quality is, I 

 think, of sullicient interest to give in full : 



The India rubber is to be made of pure Caoutchouc of the quality speci- 

 fied below, with no other ingredients than sulphur and white oxide of 

 zinc. The sulphur is not to exceed 3 per cent, and the oxide of zinc is 

 not to exceed 40 per cent., reckoned on the manufactured rubber. It is 

 to be of a homogeneous character throughout and is to be thoroughly 

 compressed free from air holes, pores, and all other imperfections ; it 

 must contain no crumb rubber, recovered rubber, or other treated or 

 waste rubber, or rubber substitute of any kind. It must endure a dry 

 heat of 270°. F. for 2 hours without impairing its quality. The quality 

 of the Caoutchouc used must be of such a character that after it has been 

 made up into the vulcanized and tinisbed article, as defined above, not 

 more than 10 parts per cent, of organic matter and sulphur calculated on 

 the non-mineral matter present can be extracted from the rubber by boil- 

 ing it for 6 hours in a finely ground condition with a 6 per cent, solu- 

 tion of alcoholic caustic potash. 



The alteration from the old specification consists in the sub- 

 stitution of the moist heat test 4 hours at 320° F. by the alco- 

 holic potash test as a means of detecting the presence of substi- 

 tute or highly resinous rubbers. In addition the words " Para 

 rubber" vanishes and "pure Caoutchouc" appears instead. 

 The new test requires careful reading: I don't say that it is am- 

 biguous, but that its tenor is not at once apparent to the busi- 

 ness man in a hurry is a matter of fact which has come promi- 

 nently under my own observation. 



Now that the question of honesty does not arise in sending 

 rubber which is not fine Pari, there is plenty of scope for man- 

 ufacturers to exercise their skill in producing a compound 

 which will stand the tests and not be prohibitive in price. It is 

 an open secret that the bulk of the contracts placed in the past 

 have been for rubber which did not consist entirely of pure 

 Para and rejections were assignable more to excess of sulphur 

 than to failure in other respects. The new test may be taken 

 as an indication that the chemical examination throughout will 

 be of a more severe character than under the old regime, though 

 as long as it does not go beyond what is laid down in the speci- 

 ification the manufactuters have no legitimate cause for grum- 

 bling. There is a point which has arisen, however, under the 

 new regime which certainly discloses an unsatisfactory state of 

 affairs. In a certain class of g,ods the manufacturers have 

 largely ignored the old specification and supplied a rubber mix- 

 ing which their own experience has shown to be much more 

 suitable. This has been done for years and as the price quoted 

 has been much lower than if the specification had been adhered 

 to the country has been a gainer. Now, however, the manu- 

 facturers are to supply a rubber, under pain of rejection, which 

 is quite unsuitable for the purpose and which must necessarily 

 be more costly. Evidently we have here another case where a 

 conference of manufacturers with the non-technical authorities 

 seems not only desirable but absolutely necessary if this partic- 

 ular portion of the country's business is to be carried on on sen- 



sible lines. As the case stands at present a manufacturer who 

 sends a sample of what he has been supplying for years will 

 have it rejected on analysis and if he sends what the Admiralty 

 specify for he knows that the goods will not prove satisfactory 

 under the conditions of use, and this of course may easily cause 

 him discredit in trade circles as a maker of unsatisfactory 

 goods. There has been I may say some considerable rejection 

 of admiralty rubber since the new chemist took office but I do 

 not propose to go into details. It ought to be pointed out that 

 the present dry heat test of two hours is an alteration of the 

 old one which was only one hour at 27o°F. With regard to 

 this test it is important that buyer and seller should use pre- 

 cisely the same method of testing, otherwise discrepancies in 

 results are certain. 



I AM informed that Mr. Samuel Whitehead, who has been 



for some years works manager at the Leyland and Birmingham 



Rubber Co., Limited, at Leyland, has entered into an 



"^^ arrangement with the Wood-Milne Co. to manufacture 



WORKS. " 



their heel pads, for which a factory is now in course 

 of erection at Leyland. So far from showing any diminution 

 in popular favor, I have it on good authority that the turnover 

 of the Wood Milne Co. the last twelve months shows an in- 

 crease of 40 per cent, over the previous period. Up to now the 

 company has had its goods manufactured by some of the prin- 

 cipal rubber works, and the effect of the new departure will of 

 course mean a loss of a large amount of business to certain 

 rubber firms. 



On October 30 the rubber machinery at Messrs. Gotliffe's 



proofing works at Hyde, near Manchester, was sold piecemeal 



by auction as a sufficient bid had not been received 



AUCTION jjjj. jj ^g 2 whole. The firm are continuing in the 



SALES. <- u ■ . ■ -A 



waterproofing business at their premises in Ancoats, 

 Manchester, but will in future buy their proofed cloth from the 

 large rubber manufacturers and save themselves from the wor- 

 ries incidental to the manufacture ab initio. The trade gener- 

 ally is looking up, orders and enquiries in this branch being 

 quite numerous compared with a year ago.= ==-On October 31 

 and succeeding days a sale was held at the works of the Hyde 

 Rubber Works, Limited, of the stock-in-trade, comprising raw 

 and batched rubber, reclaimed rubber, chemicals, and fittings. 

 The premises, as already mentioned, have been acquired by 

 Messrs. Mandleberg & Co., for the habitat of the new Unity 

 Rubber Co. Discord rather than unity has been associated 

 with the works during past years, but the new company has all 

 the elements of success about it. In addition to the above 

 mentioned goods, there was a quantity of manufactured rubber 

 including cycle and motor tires, matting, and heel pads. The 

 conditions of sale had a clause referring to manufactured 

 patent registered or proprietary articles which, it was stated, 

 were sold on the condition that they were only used as scrap 

 rubber. With regard to heel pads, for which there was ani- 

 mated bidding, the auctioneer was closely questioned as to this 

 condition of sale and was evidently in doubt as to whether 

 "this country "as a place of sale included Ireland and Scot- 

 land. Judging by the prices paid I should hardly imagine 

 the heel pads sold will be used only as scrap. There was no 

 machinery on sale, this having evidently been taken over by 

 the new company. Those who were of an inquisitive tnind 

 with regard to this found the workroom doors with notices 



