February i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



151 



CRUDE AND RECLAIMED RUBBERS. 



A X MIAT measure of relief maybe afforded from the uii- 



* * ceasing strinsciicy of [)rices for crude rubber by the 

 conditions governing the market for reclaimed rubber is a 

 question of considerable concern to manufacturers in general, 

 whose resources have already been taxed, in the substitution 

 wherever possible of reclaimed for crude, during the last two 

 years or more that the soaring tendency of prices for the 

 latter has tended to restrict its consumption. While the 

 growth of both crude and reclaimed rubber has progressed 

 hand in hand with the steady extension of the mechanical 

 rubber goods production during recent years, the gain in 

 consumption of reclaimed has been decidedly more than pro- 

 portionate to that of crude. 



Manufacturers have realized that the possibilities of a wider 

 use for reclaimed rubber in their products offered the only 

 solution of the problem presented, not only by the increase 

 of the cost of crude, but also by the advance in duck, chemi- 

 cals, etc. The finished articles could not be marketed at an 

 advance commensurate with the increased cost of the raw 

 materials, and unless the process of manufacture could be 

 cheapened profits would be practically eliminated in many 

 lines of goods. Meanwhile the reclaimers have resorted to 

 every expedient to enhance the availability of their product, 

 and with the broader fields thus established for its use, the 

 improvement in quality has shown a consistent gain. Some 

 rubber factories make their own reclaimed, and were perhaps 

 in a position to realize more readily the practical application 

 of such improvement to their various requirements than 

 those factories dependent upon outside sources of supply. 



Among the manufacttired materials, certain molded goods 

 have been found most susceptible to the addition of more re- 

 covered rubber. In lower grades of hose, belting, packings, 

 and other supplies for mechanical needs there has been a 

 substantial increase in reclaimed in connection with crude 

 rubber. In the cheap grades of sheet packing the high price 

 of crude rubber and the low selling value of the finished 

 product have combined to render the use of an3-thing but re- 

 claimed partialh' out of the question. With the steady gain 

 in the consumption of reclaimed rubber, not only with the 

 growth of established industries but with the creation of new- 

 lines and wider applications for rubber in general, the effect 

 of this condition upon values for crude cannot be doubted. 

 But for the possibilities of reclaimed it has been stated that 

 prices for raw rubber might before now have touched a pro- 

 hibitive basis. 



Old boots and shoes in the past have furnished the great 

 proportion of scrap for reclaimed, the returns from this source 

 being estimated, at one time, at 90 per cent, of all scrap. 

 But nowadays many other forms of waste rubber are being 

 utilized to advantage by the reclaimers, including the various 

 grades of tire stock, the volume of which is becoming enor- 

 mous, and from which excellent results are being attained 

 under some processes of reclaiming. If any serious check 

 should be encountered in the supply of old shoes, manufac- 

 turers believe that the force of the situation would stimulate 

 other sources of supply to help make up for any deficiency in 

 reclaimed. The occasion is regarded as favorable for an in- 

 creasing application of reclaimed, and there can be no doubt 

 as to its continued influence in checking the advance in crude 

 rubber prices. 



To sum up, the continual rise in the price of raw rubber 

 has been an incentive to manufacturers to experiment more 

 fully with reclaimed, by reason of which it is now utilized 

 to advantage in places for which it was formerly thought 

 unfitted. At the same time, there has been a gradual im- 

 provement in reclaimed rubbers, which has further tended 

 to their introduction. As a result, the pressure of the de- 

 mand for raw rubber has been moderated, with the result of 

 keeping down the price somewhat. 



One prominent reclaimer, in view of these facts, predicts 

 that fine Para rubber will be selling at $1.10 within a 3-ear, 

 but he always was an optimist. He is convinced, by the 

 way, that even if crude prices should drop materially the 

 newer uses of reclaimed which have developed recently 

 would continue, on account of the satisfaction of manufac- 

 turers witli the results. It may be pointed out that the 

 present open winter in the United .States, indicating a re- 

 duced sale of rubber footwear, may be the cause of a lessened 

 collection of discarded boots and shoes next spring, after the 

 snow disappears. 



A FRENCH DOCTOR ON RUBBER FOOTWEAR. 



TN a report on " Pneumonia and Colds, " which the French 

 -*- Professor Dr. Bruet recently made before an audience 

 consistingof scientists and students in the Paris vSchool of 

 Medicine, he closed with a few words on the rubber shoe 

 question. A translation of the remarks by the famous 

 health specialist is derived from the Gtimmi-Zeitung : 



" And now, my honored listeners, I shall speak upon a 

 subject which absolutely demands investigation, however 

 trivial it may seem to many — I mean that the cause of so 

 much taking cold, especially in the case of debilitated and 

 nervous persons, and particularly in raw, unsettled weather, 

 is generally the result of wearing light, flinisj' footwear. 

 When one considers how easil}- a susceptible, delicate con- 

 stitution is affected by any change in temperature on the 

 feet, and how quickly the resulting uneasiness spreads 

 through the whole body, he can better appreciate why doc- 

 tors advise their patients, and delicate people generally, to 

 be ver}' prudent in the choice of their footwear. In wet 

 weather it is only too easy for persons so predisposed to 

 contract severe colds, with the consequences of which, gen- 

 tlemen, we physicians are thoroughlj- familiar. The public 

 generally should be very careful to keep their feet warm in 

 bad weather, and, when possible, to Vi'ear overshoes or rub- 

 ber shoes, of which there is far too little use, particularly in 

 the large cities, where one's health is most liable to attack, 

 with the accompanj-ing expense and loss of time. ' ' 



An interesting incident is reported to the Diamond Rub- 

 ber Co. (Akron, Ohio), by Dr. A. C. Helm, an automobilist 

 of Jlilwaukee. After one of his " Diamond " tires had been 

 used several months he noticed that it was showing signs 

 of a puncture from the inside, and that at a certain place the 

 surface was being pressed outwards. Looking inside he found 

 between the air tube and the cover a lever such as is used to 

 remove and put on tires. It was a piece of steel an inch 

 wide, }s inch thick and 12 inches long, and had been dropped 

 into the tire by Dr. Helm's chauffeur when he placed it on 

 the rim six months before. This certainl}- is a severe test 

 of the wearing qualities of a tire. 



