356 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1906. 



RUBBER WASHING MACHINE. 



THE simplest things mechaiiicallj' are 

 ofttimes most diflicult to describe, 

 which doesn't mean that simple things are 

 not good, but on the contrary thej' arc very 

 near perfection. Mr. F. C. Hood's machine 

 for washing rubber recent!}' patented and his 

 process for purifying rubber appears to the 

 writer to be both practical and valuable. The 

 machine itself is a washer enclosed in a water- 

 tight box where the rubber running through 

 the corrugated rolls is not onlj- constantly 

 plunged into water, but is submerged through- 

 out the whole purifying process. There is 

 the attendant advantage also that neither rub- 

 ber nor rolls can get heated during the process 

 of washing. Further than this, the water 

 may be drawn off at an j- time and fresh water 

 substituted, or liquid solutions nia\- be intro- 

 duced, for neutralizing vegetable acids and 

 bringing poorer grades of rubber up to a 

 higher standard of excellence. The patent 

 specifications take many pages to describe 

 this, but the above is the gist of the matter. The illustra- 

 tion shows the exterior of the washing machine. United 



A NEW MACHINE FOR WASHING RUBBER. 



RUBBER HEELS ON FLAT DWELLERS 



States patents Nos. 

 1906. 



821,716 and 821 



issued May 29, 



I 



WHERE RUBBER HEELS ARE MADE. 



WHEN an}- commodity so generally known as rubber 

 heels is spoken of, there must be many people who 

 would feel interested in knowing something of how they are 

 made. A single rubber heel is a small thing, but in the 

 aggregate the business of making them is very large, and 

 there enters into the manufacture of each one a number of 

 processes, calling for a varied equipment of machinery. An 

 important .producer of these goods is The .Springfield Elas- 

 tic Tread Co. (Springfield, Ohio), whose output is known as 

 the "Easy Walker" heel. Among the features that par- 

 ticularize these heels is a patent spring heel holding plate, 

 instead of the ordinary washers often used ; they are at- 

 tached without gum or cement, the joints are water tight, 

 the best rubber is used, and they are made by skilled me- 

 chanics. The accompanying il- 

 lustrations show one end of the 

 vulcanizing department and 

 part of the trimming depart- 

 ment, only a small proportion 

 of each appearing in the pic- 

 ture. Other departments of the 

 factory are the rubber mixing 

 room, the department where the 

 rubber heels are molded, and 

 the packing and shipping de- 

 partment. A single pair of rub- 

 ber heels seems .so small a mat- 

 ter that the average reader may 

 not appreciate that large facto- 

 ries are needed to supply the 

 millions of pairs sold. 



T may be true and it maj- not ; at any rate, the New York 

 Sun prints a storj' that will be passed along gleefully 

 among the makers of rubber heels. A landlord in Harlem, 

 says this chronicler, has inserted in his leases a clause mak- 

 ing it obligatory on the tenant and each member of his family 

 to wear rubber heels. The redeeming feature of the thing is 

 that the landlord agrees to bear all expense of fitting the 

 shoes of the tenants with rubber heels. One prospective 

 tenant had the temeritj' to ask what would happen if he 

 should refuse to wear rubber heels. "We would find some 

 one who would wear them," was the reply. "We're going 

 to stop the • noise overhead ' nuisance." 



Till-: program of the French colonial congress to be held 

 at Marseilles on September 5-9 provides for a full considera- 

 tion of topics connected with the production of rubber, par- 

 ticularly in the French colonies. One topic planned is: 

 "The falling off of the rubber production in certain places 

 and rubber adulteration, and their causes and remedies." 



4ji 





V-ir^^' 



Tiininiing Uepartmeiil. 



Vulcanizing Room. 



WHERE RUBBER HEELS ARE MADE. 



