226 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April i, 1906. 



material was injurious in itself, or at any rate no better than 

 oil substitute — that is if he has ever heard of the latter. 

 But really when one hears of goods such as cycle tires being 

 made wholly from reclaimed rubber — and what is more, 

 showing great lasting power — it suggests itself as highly de- 

 desirable that in the light of recent technical progress fresh 

 stock should be taken of the situation. Perhaps if the mer- 

 its of modern reclaimed rubber were carefully inquired into, 

 an intelligent jury would return a verdict to the effect that 

 the stigma supposed in certain high quarters to attach to 

 this product was the outcome of fancy or prejudice and that 

 it was not based on any solid foundation of fact. Of course 

 I am not suggesting for one moment that reclaimed rubber 

 can be equal to new rubber, but judging by American prac- 

 tice and its results there seems little reason wh}- the British 

 rubber manufacturer should continue to maintain the atti- 

 tude of reserve which has so long characterized him with re- 

 gard to reclaimed rubber. 



It may be mentioned that the arrangement which existed 

 for some time between the Seddon Tyre Co. and Messrs. 



David Mosele5- & Sons, Limited, whereby the 

 THE SEDDON tj^es Were manufactured solely -by the latter 



firm, has been terminated, Messrs. Moseley 

 having now nothing to do with the manufacture of the tire. 

 The Seddon company now have their own works in Elles- 

 mere street, Hulme, Manchester. Their red rubber single 

 tube motor tire is prettj- well known and they are now push- 

 ing their non-skidding tread, which, though of the usual 

 leather and metal stud t3pe, is stated to be attached to the 

 rubber tire by an entirely new process in which vulcaniza- 

 tion plays no part. Patents have been applied for. 



The Iiidia-Rubber Journal recently made some strictures 



upon the low quality rubber that has come to be used in 



these goods, owing presumably to the stress of 



RUBBER competition. The facts of course are indisput- 



HEELS. 



able when one can see them in shop windows 

 marked at 3 pence per pair. It is a question, however, 

 whether the actual manufacturer is so much to blame. A 

 great bulk of these heels are made under registered names 

 for middlemen who put them on the market and it is a safe 

 surmise that the middlemen strike a hard bargain with the 

 manufacturer as to the cost. Some manufacturers no doubt 

 will refuse to supply rubbish at rubbish prices, but we have 

 it clearly indicated in the annals of the rise and fall of other 

 rubber goods that there will always be some who will work 

 to the customers' ideas of price. Decline in quality has its 

 inevitable consequent in a decline in popularity, and the note 

 of warning issued hy our contemporary is by no means un- 

 justifiable. Of course it must not be overlooked that while 

 many people pay £z for a pair of boots, a larger number don't 

 give more than a quarter of this sum, and so perhaps it is 

 onl}- in the fitness of things that rubber heels should be on 

 sale at widely different prices. I don't say that the cases are 

 parallel because I dare not suggest that cheap boots are made 

 of brown paper, in view of the result of a recent libel action. 

 It is safe, however, to say that there is such a thing as low- 

 class leather and the purchasers of it may possibly be satis- 

 fied with rubber heels of corresponding quality-. To conclude, 

 as these heels are largely sold in the West End as well as the 

 East, to use a London expression, it behooves those who do 

 the better class trade to see that for the sake of snatching a 

 small extra profit they do not follow the lead of the small 



CAB TIRES- 



dealer. Since writing the above I have had an opportunity 

 of discussing this matter with an authority on the business 

 done bj- the Wood-Milne Co., who are the largest producers 

 of these goods, and I was told that there is no decrease in the 

 demand for this firm's special qualit}' pad. 



Popular attention has been directed of late years so much 

 to the development of the motor tire that the solid ''ab tire 

 has been somewhat put into the shade. Still one 

 hears on all sides that the business has increased. 

 Perhaps the greatest novelt}' to the eye at all events is 

 the white cab tire recently put on the market by Messrs. 

 Moseley & Sons. Its appearance at once distinguishes it 

 from all competitive tires, though whether it has any special 

 merits I am not in a position to sa}'. On the firm's stand 

 at the recent Manchester motor show it looked spruce enough, 

 but how long will its color withstand the black mud of 

 our English manufacturing towns ?^^The whilom Wedge 

 Tyre Co. of Soho Works, Ancoats, Manchester, is now re- 

 placed by a company to be known as the Dook-Swain Tyre 

 Co. The latter name will be familiar to many in the trade 

 in connection with the Swain Tyre Co., of Harwich. I un- 

 derstand that in addition to taking over the business of the 

 late Wedge Tyre Co. the new company are enlarging the 

 works and will deal in tires of all kinds. ==I may mention 

 as of possible intere.st to some one over the water that as re- 

 gards compounding, tensile strength, and general suitabil- 

 ity for its required uses the Kelly solid tire has been referred 

 to in nu' presence as being ideal, the excellence of which it 

 is the object of competitors to attain to. 



Asbestos, as is well known, enters largely into engine 



packings, both alone and in conjunction with rubber. In 



hardly any case do the rubber manufac- 



ASBESTos WEAVING j prepare their own asbestos from 



IN ENGLAND. f r ... 



the raw material, but buy it in the woven 

 state from firms who make its preparation a specialtj-. The 

 amount of business passing between the asbestos manufac- 

 ture and the rubber works in Great Britain appears to find 

 no reflection in America, where I understand this branch of 

 trade has been neglected by the rubber companies. The 

 largest firm of asbestos manufacturers in Great Britain is 

 that of Messrs. Turner Brothers, Limited, of Spotland Mills, 

 Rochdale. They buy the raw material direct from the Can- 

 adian mines, and put it through the various processes inci- 

 dental to spinning and weaving. They are large manufac- 

 turers of finished asbestos goods, such as proofed sheeting, 

 cloth packing, etc., besides supplying yarn and cloth to the 

 numerous packing manufacturers and rubber companies. 

 They have long held an important position as contractors for 

 asbestos goods to the Admiralty and other government de- 

 partments. Rubber machinery has recently been installed 

 in their works and this in enabling them to do their own 

 proofing puts them in a iinique position for turning out goods 

 consisting of rubber and asbestos, such as sheeting, packing, 

 tape, rings, and the like. I am not an expert on the asbes- 

 tos manufacture, but have ever}- reason to suppose that the 

 claim of Messrs. Turner of having the most up to date as- 

 be tos factory in existence by reason of having re-equipped 

 the works with the latest labor saving machinen,', is not at 

 all an exaggeration. The firm have recently extended their 

 premises with the view of making Balata driving belting, 

 which branch they anticipate will shortly become one of the 

 most important of their business. 



