118 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1906. 



INDIA-RUBBER GOODS IN COMMERCE. 



EXPORTS FRO.M THE UNITED STATES. 



OFFICIAL Statement of values of exports of manufactures 

 of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, for the month of Oc- 

 tober, 1905, and for the first ten months of five calendar 

 years: 



Months. 



Belting. 

 Packing, 

 and Hose. 



October, 1905 1 $102,167 



January-September. I 856,493 



Total $958,660 



Total, iyo4 , . 724.916 



Total, 1903 1 710,825 



Total, 1902 1 596272 



Total, iqoi I 502.264 



and 

 Shoes. 



$114,600 

 944. 4«4 



$1,059,094 



988,025 



790,903 

 865,711 

 713.320 



All 

 other 

 RubDer. 



Total. 



$ 243,905 $ 460,672 

 2,127,30c , 3,928,287 



$2,371,205 



1,976,519 

 2.o9o,t63 

 1,659,205 

 I 4"o,i76 



$4,388,959 

 3,68() 460 



3.!-9=-59i 

 3 121,188 

 2 7<-5 769 



MEXICAN IMPORTS OF RUBBER GOODS. 



The latest report of the British consul for the disti ict of Vera 

 Cruz, Mexico, gives the following figures as representing the 

 value of manufacturesof Caoutchouc into Mexico for four years, 

 the bracketed figures, showing the equivalents in United States 

 currency, being supplied by Tnii India Rubber World : 



Fiscal year 1900-01 ;,f 25,640 L$i24,866.So] 



Fiscal year 1 901 02 22,373 [ 108,956.51] 



Fiscal year 1902-03 27,532 [ 134,080.84] 



Fiscal year 1903-04 32,224 [ 156930.88] 



In this connection may be mentioned the official statement 

 of values of exports of India-rubber goods from the United 

 States to Mexico for five fiscal years : 



German official statistics do not indicate the value of exports 

 of rubber goods to Mexico, and mention the quantities (by 

 weight) of only the principal classes. From a statement for the 

 first nine months of three years the following figures have been 

 compiled, showing weights in pounds avoirdupois of exports to 

 Mexico: 



1903. 1904. Iy05. 



Hard rubber goods 18.260 26,180 17,160 



Principal classes soft rubber 44,440 41,580 79,640 



Austria also exports rubber goods to Mexico, though to what 

 extent cannot be determined from official sources. During 

 January-September. 1905, however, Austrian exports to Mex- 

 ico are stated to have included 88,S8o pounds (in weight) of 

 elastic shoe insertions. 



RUBBER ON THE STEAMER "AMERIKA." 



THE great new steamship, the Amnika, of the Hamburg- 

 American line, as might be expected, is exceedingly 

 well equipped with rubber goods. The largest single use of 

 rubber is in the shape of matting and tiling, the five dec^s, 

 " Kaiser," " Roosevelt," " Cleveland," " Washington," and 

 " Franklin " all receiving their quota, although not so much 

 was given to the author of " Poor Richard " as to some of the 

 others. The treads are of various textures and colors, the best 

 being the deeply corrugated treads used on the stairs leading 

 from the " Kaiser" deck, and the square pyramidal treads on 



the stairs that lead from the main to the upper smoking room. 

 The worst exhibition of the rubber art was the tiled floor of 

 the smoking room, which was done in three colors, light red, 

 dirty white, and chocolate. The colors were very uneven, and 

 the alleged white was not nearly cured and was scarred very 

 badly. The extensive corridors on the various decks were cov- 

 ered with rubber in black and white squares, which was very 

 pretty, but a trifle too smooth. The main staircases were cov- 

 ered with white rubber, which 

 was perfectly smooth, and as it 

 was constantly being washed, 

 made walking perilous, particu- 

 larly if the boat rolled or pitched. 

 In addition to these were a great 

 variety of lesser rubber appli- 

 ances, such as big rubber cush- 

 ioned door stops, square white 

 mats in each cabin to protect the 

 carpet from slopping, supposing 

 BOTTLE OR MUQ MAT. anybody cared to bathe ; and very 



pretty red mats on the smoking room tables on which to set 

 apollinaris bottles and the like. This covers, of course, rubber 

 that is in sight, and takes no account of the valves, packings, 

 hose, and engineering supplies of that sort. 



RUBBER COIN MAT NOVELTIES. 



THE average American is pretty sure that he knows all 

 about cash mats, but a very casual analysis of his knowl- 

 edge would easily prove that it was confined almost wholly, 

 as far as markets go, to the United States. The German man- 

 ufacturers, however, are making mats in many styles, not only 

 for Germany, but for the whole world ; that is, where they are 

 applicable. The Vereinigte Berlin-Frankfurter Gummiwaren- 

 Fabriken, for example, make half a dozen different types — 

 square, round, and octagonal — with surfaces that are either fin- 

 ished in rubber spikes, pyramids, or rings, and that are often 

 furnished with very pretty nickel borders, and sometimes with 

 tin borders on which are printed gorgeous and even attractive 

 advertisements. 



A carious bit of information concerning the market for cash 

 mats was developed soon after the company began to seek the 

 world's trade. It was found that in Italy and Spain, and in 

 some Latin American countries, where there is often a ques- 

 tion as to the integrity of the silver or gold coins that the cus- 

 tomer pays, the cash mat is not welcomed, both buyer and seller 

 preferring to have a resonant counter on which they can ring 

 the coin to prove its genuineness. 



BALLOONS IN THE WEATHER SERVICE. 



IT is well known that the weather bureaus the world over — 

 French, German, Russian, English, and American — have 

 certain experiment stations which work in conjunction and try 

 experiments at the same time. One very interesting experi- 

 ment is the sending up of rubber balloons about 5 feet in diam- 

 eter, to which are attached thermometers and other instruments 

 which are self registering, the balloons being allowed to go as 

 high as they will until they finally burst. It is an interesting 

 fact that all of these balloonsare made in Germany, by the Con- 

 tinental-Caoutchouc- und Guttapercha Compagnie (Hannover) 

 While the writer was at the factory of this company recently 

 a shipment of 50 of these balloons went to a German steam- 

 ship that was starting oflf for a voyage around the world to get 

 hydrographic data. 



