152 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1906. 



RUBBER CUVtRbD SIGNAL WIRE. 



^X/ITH a view to increasing efllciency, and decreasing 

 ^ ^ the high casualty rate and the enormous money loss- 

 es involved, the Railway Signal Association — ^an American or 

 ganization — is laboring earnestlj- to secure a higher degree 

 of quality in the rubber covered wires used in the various 

 railwaj- signal systems now in operation. At the annual 

 meeting of the association at Niagara Falls, on October 10-12, 

 1905, a special committee that had made an investigation of 

 the subject made a report that was of importance, its read- 

 ing being followed by an interesting discussion. Hj- the 

 way, there were 215 members present and 82 new members 

 were elected. Nearly every important railroad and battery, 

 signal manufacturing companj- in the United States was 

 represented. 



The committee, after remarking generalh- upon the forces 

 that affect the life and efficiency of signal wires, said that all 

 railroad signal systems are supposed to be so designed that the 

 failure of anj- part would cause the display of a stop indica- 

 tion, and so be a factor on the side of safet\- ; all signal fail- 

 ures are dangerous because they frequently lead to reckless 

 running, and reckless running often means disaster. For 

 these reasons it was unsafe and wasteful to use any but the 

 best signal apparatus and material available. The report 

 expresses regret that in the absence of rigid specifications 

 signal companies are often tempted to suppl}- cheaper grades 

 of material to enable them to underbid competitors, using 

 rubber covered wire the insulation of w-hich, while of good 

 quality, is so thin as to be unsuitable. The usefulness of 

 such wire is soon destro3-ed, but much mischief is apt to be 

 wrought before the deterioration is discovered and new wire 

 installed. 



There is no manufactured product in which the buyer puts 

 himself so thoroughly in the hands of the manufacturer as in 

 rubber covered wires and cables, says the committee ; the 

 manufacturers have shrouded the subject with much mys- 

 tery, yet it cannot be denied that the purchaser is en- 

 titled to know exactly what he has paid for. Speaking of 

 rubber insulation in detail, the committee believes the vul- 

 canized rubber compound must consist of not less than 30 

 per cent, of the best grade of fine Para, mixed with sulphur 

 and dry inorganic mineral matter only. Various methods 

 were given for testing rubber covered wires for the purpose 

 of determining just what the insulation is, and for showing 

 how to detect defective or inadequate insulation. The manu- 

 facturer should provide at his factory all apparatus and 

 other facilities for making the required physical, cheniicnl, 

 and electrical tests. 



President Morrison asked the wire manufacturers present 

 if they could comply with the specifications ba.sed on the 

 report. Mr. E. Morss, of the Simplex Electric Co., replied that 

 speaking for his own and^three other companies, he could not 

 conform exactly to the specifications. 



Mr. A. Ames, Jr., chairman of the special committee and 

 signal engineer of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern 

 railroad, said he was using wire manufactured by a number 

 of companies and all of it fully met the specifications called 

 for in the report of the committee. He believed the manu- 

 facturers present should sa\' what in detail was the matter 

 with the specifications suggested, and tell why the)- could 

 not meet them. 



Mr. Morss replied that bj- using more than 30 per cent, of 

 rubber he could meet the requirements ; when he first spoke 

 he had been thinking of a compound containing just 30 per 

 cent, rubber and 70 per cent, dry mineral, and sulphur only, 

 lie considered such a compound a poor one from an insulation 

 standpoint. Other manufacturers he knew regarded as un- 

 suited for the purpose and feared, on the question of life. 

 If the 70 per cent, dry mineral clause was dropped the whole 

 problem would be changed and become comparativelj' easy 

 of solution. He was willing to give a 30 per cent, rubber 

 compound if allowed to mix it as seemed to him best. Mr. 

 Morss objected to Mr. Ames's specification regarding physi- 

 cal requirements and suggested a number of tests that were 

 different from those suggested bj- ^Ir. Ames. 



The suggestions of the committee were generally favored, 

 the very few dissenters comprising those who, while they did 

 not object to the 30 per cent, pure Para clause, did want to 

 reserve the right to mix the remaining 70 per cent, of the 

 component parts of the insulating compound according to 

 their own ideas. 



Mr. J. E. Ham, of the Hazard Manufacturing Co., thought 

 the specifications called for in Mr. Ames's report were all 

 right in a general sense, but he would recommend that 

 they be amended so as to permit the introduction of a small 

 proportion of ingredients other than drj- mineral matter. 

 The report was finall}' adopted in its entirety as a "report 

 of progress. " 



BRITISH CABLE MAKERS' ASSOCIATION. 



' I ^HE following circular has been issued : 



-*- "As some considerable amount of misapprehension 

 seems to have been created in the minds of electric cable users 

 as to the objects and aims of the Cable Makers' Association as 

 now constituted, we desire to state exactl)' w'hat the present 

 position of the association is. Some seven years ago the 

 leading cable makers decided that, vmless steps were taken to 

 remedy the matter, the quality of the V. I. R. [vulcanized 

 India-rubber] cables sold must ultimateh* deteriorate owing 

 in great part to keen competition, and to prevent this they 

 agreed amongst themselves to adopt as a minimum the com- 

 petitive prices then prevailing, and to compete only in qiial- 

 ity. To facilitate trade, and to protect the user, the cables of 

 the three grades then most in use were standardized both as 

 regards the weights and resistances of the copper conductors, 

 the thickness of dielectric, and the protecting coverings over 

 all. It wasfurther decided that for these grades onl)- the best 

 rubber should be used, the quantity to be varied according to 

 the grade, and the necessary ingredients added according to 

 the e.xperience of each manufacturer. 



" Until recently only the.se association grades were made 

 bj' the members of the association. Lately, however, a low-er 

 class of cable has been adopted by some users, and they have 

 ])ointed out to members of the Cable Makers' Association 

 that there is a real and legitimate demand for such cables for 

 certain purposes, and that engineers and contractors would 

 be glad to purchase in certain cases this lower class of cable 

 from houses of good experience and repute who had hitherto 

 abstained from selling any goods other than those of the high 

 standard they had set up. As an outcomeof these represen- 

 tations some of the members of the Cable Makers' Association 

 placed on the market a lower class under the name of non- 



