December i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER W^ORLO 



87 



TENDERS FOR AIR BRAKE HOSE IN GERMANY.* 



THE saying that small things often produce great results 

 has long since proved true, and small things should 

 therefore always have our careful attention. But in 

 cases where, for instance, the safety of the traveling 

 public is concerned, we undoubtedly have the right to demand 

 that the most minute attention be given even the smallest ob- 

 ject capable of preventing danger. A brake hose may be said 

 to be a rather unimportant article in itself, yet much may de- 

 pend on it at critical moments. Should some critic, however, 

 conceive the idea of testing some of the air hose in use at the 

 present time, in respect to its component parts, and especially 

 as to the percentage of good rubber found therein, he might 

 easily make the sensational discovery that he had been testing 

 a piece of rubber hose in the composition of which the most 

 important part, viz. : the India-rubber, had been almost entirely 

 omitted. This assertion may appear somewhat bold, in (act, 

 almost unworthy of belief, and yet it is justified. It is an actual 

 fact that railway brake hose can be found that can scarcely be 

 called rubber hose. 



The manufacturers, however, are not at fault, nor can the 

 railway officials be made responsible, these deplorable results 

 being due to the justly criticized system of calling for bids or 

 tenders. A study of the results of this system establishes the 

 surprising fact that the prices quoted show a continuous de- 

 cline rather than increase, in spite of the repeated advances in 

 the price of crude rubber. Those who desire to be successful 

 in submitting tenders for brake hose must at the present time 

 make their ofler as low as 3.50 to 400 marks per cubic deci- 

 meter. These are exceedingly low quotations, at which sellers 

 do not like to furnish even the cheapest grade of garden hose. 

 Figuring the average specific gravity at 1.6 to 1.7, which cor- 

 responds to that of most of the brake hose in the market, the 

 price per kilogram would be 2 to 2 50 marks [=215 to 27 cents 

 per pound], while a medium grade of crude rubber, but by no 

 means the highest grade, must be paid for by the manufacturer 

 himself at the rate of 12 marks per kilogram [=$1.30 per 

 pound]. Even those not connected with the rubber industry 

 may therefore readily judge of the quantity of such rubber that 

 it is possible to use in brake hose to be sold at 2 to 2.50 marks. 

 Such hose really deserves the name of rubber only because parts 

 of old rubber shoes or similar substances are largely used in its 

 manufacture. 



The advance in the price of crude rubber has kept pace with 

 the methods of utilization of waste material, which allows of a 

 saving in crude rubber in the manufacture of certain classes of 

 goods, or even of replacing it almost entirely. Under certain 

 conditions this is not in the least detrimental to the interests 

 of the consumer, for a material of this kind, provided it be of 

 fair quality, is well adapted to take the place of new crude rub- 

 ber, within certain limits. The manufacturers will always try, 

 and are in fact, compelled to try to utilize advantageously waste 

 material. Those who commence adding small quantities, will 

 gradually increase the percentage, as long as they find that good 

 results are obtained, until they at last reach a limit which com- 

 pels them to halt. 



Such a proceeding is entirely correct, but it requires a thor- 

 ough knowledge of manufacturing as well as extensive experi- 

 ence, and above all great circumspection and discretion. All 

 those products that may appear quite satisfactory at first, and 



* Translated from Qwiimi Zeitung, Dresd'n, Jahrg. XX (1905) Pp. 73-74. 



seem to answer practical requirements, may not prove success- 

 ful afterwards. They will often, after a short time, become like 

 putty, losing their elasticity and no longer possessing any of 

 the essential qualities of rubber. Such goods will soon become 

 useless. In such cases it is necessary to make practical exper- 

 iments and to await results, before offering novelties of this 

 kind to the trade. 



The question is, whether all manufacturers use such cir- 

 cumspection, though it appears self evident that they should 

 do so, or whether there are some among them who impetu- 

 ously and thoughtlessly refrain from making tests of any kind. 

 No one will assert that none of the latter class are to be found 

 in the rubber industry, and there are, perhaps, more of them 

 than appears desirable for the interest of the trade. We have 

 often enough had occasion to wonder at fabulously low quota- 

 tions, but they quite often find their explanation in the serious 

 disappointments following the use of such low priced products. 

 The practical man in the trade asks himself in astonishment 

 how it was possible to even offer such goods, when even the 

 most superficial practical tests would have shown the deficiency 

 of the material. Investigation usually shows that such tests 

 have undoubtedly not been made at all, but that the goods have 

 been cheaply manufactured in a haphazard way, leaving it to 

 the customer to dispose of them as well as he can. We do not, 

 however, wish to assert that such cases, in which the goods 

 have been made in a careless way, always end in disappoint- 

 ment. They quite often turn out comparatively well, and this 

 is, in fact, the most serious side of the question, as it encour- 

 ages this class of manufacturers. What do they care, whether 

 they sustain a loss once in a while? There are always oppor- 

 tunities enough for making up for them. 



As long as such disappointments, carelessly invited by the 

 manufacturers, lead merely to the loss of custom and to such 

 considerable or slight sacrifices by the consumer as may be 

 measured in money, the matter is not so very serious. In such 

 cases all parties concerned would have to stand the loss, which 

 is usually not entirely undeserved. But when such experiments 

 with carelessly manufactured, cheap goods are extended to sup- 

 plies furnished the railways, the matter becomes very serious 

 indeed. It is a fact that the system of tenders makes it very 

 easily possible for railways to be supplied with unsufficiently 

 tested manufactured goods, and this should be prevented, at 

 least where such articles are involved as may afltect the safety 

 of the service. In such cases the railway should never be made 

 a subject for experiments, and least of all in the matter of such 

 supplies as brake hose, for which there is certainly no necessity 

 of continually inviting new competition, on account of the ques- 

 tion of price, and thereby to lower the quality of the goods. 



The operation of railways offers exceptionally serious difficul- 

 ties for establishing such reliable testing methods as will admit 

 of forming a judgment of the qualities of the supplies when in 

 practical use. Manufacturers are therefore usually satisfied with 

 making such goods as appear to be about suitable for the pur- 

 pose. The railways are consequently used from year to year as 

 testing stations, and this is quite a serious matter. For a well 

 appointed, well patronized D train [fast express], the price of 

 the brake hose is such a small matter that its greater or lesser 

 cost may be left out of consideration. All will agree that the 

 highest possible quality of hose should be selected, as it is one 

 of the factors on which the safety of the entire train depends. 



