66 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November i, 1908. 



fiber was prominent in the large exhibit of Franz Lukeschi, of 

 Prague, and balata belting caught the eye in more than one direc- 

 tion. To leave Prague and glance at one or two other places 

 visited, I may say that in the metal mining districts the applica- 

 tions of rubber in the form of conveying belts, vanner belts, 

 etc., were noticeably absent. Despite the continuous wet weather 

 at Marienbad, very few mackintoshes were to be seen, though 

 goloshes were oflfered for sale in several establishments. An at- 

 tempt to examine the tires on the fine motor car belonging to 

 King Edward proved abortive, owing to the activity of the local 

 police. .\t Carlsbad plenty of mackintoshes were to be seen, 

 but these formed part of the regulation costume of the girl 

 attendants at the Spendel and other springs, the water of which 

 rises with considerable force and at a temperature not much be- 

 low the boiling point. As any attempt at a closer examination 

 might have been misunderstood and resented, I can only say that 

 they resembled the ordinary white coachman's mackintosh with 

 cape. 



In the course of my wanderings I fell in with Herr Albert 

 Schafor, Austrian representative of the firm of B. Polack of 

 Waltershausen (Thuringen), as well known in the motor tire 

 world, in England as well as on the Continent. The fact that 

 for more than a week I did not see a motor car and altogether 

 very few, shows that I was mostly off the recognized routes, and 

 it must have been merely coincidence that I specially noticed tires 

 bearing lettering "Goodrich, Akron." 



Judging from the annual meeting held in September, this com- 

 pany is still a long way from realizing the success predicted in the 

 THE LIBERIAN prospectus. Sir Raymond West, K.C.i.E., 



RUBBEK who presided at the meeting, told 



CORPOBATION, his hearers that the main thing necessary 



in this case was a return to normal rubber prices. I am rather 

 curious to know what is considered the normal prices for any 

 brand of rubber, and very much doubt if the term can be used 

 in connection with a raw material which fluctuates in price ac- 

 cording to supply and demand. No doubt producers look back 

 with envy to the higher prices which have obtained, but there 

 is no reason to doubt them normal any more than abnormal. 

 In my notice of this Exhibition a few months ago, I mentioned 

 that Reddaway's pavilion was only in process of erection. Re- 

 THE FRANCO- cently I had an opportunity of visiting 



BRITISH it and, speaking only of its contents, I 



EXHIBITION. was particularly struck with the dis- 



play of rubber goods intended specially for mining. As regards 

 conveyor belts, the firm can testify to the wearing capacity of 

 rubber both for coal and metallic ore belts of their make, hav- 

 ing been in use for many years at prominent mines. A model 

 conveyor plant formed an interesting part of the exhibit, and was 

 certainly of greater novelty than the coils of belting with the 

 manufacture of which the firm of Reddaway & Co. have been so 

 long associated. I was also shown the wide belts used on Frue 

 vanncrs, though I was previously under the impression that such 

 belts were only made in Great Britain, north of the Tweed. 

 Most of those v^'hich have come under my notice in England 

 were of American origin, but judging from what was told me 

 of the wearing capacity of the Manchester made belt, England 

 should be able to supply her own needs in this respect with ad- 

 vantage. 



One other pavilion not open on my previous visit was that of 

 the West African crown colonies. About the samples of raw 

 rubber shown there is nothing that calls for special mention, 

 but I noticed in the statistics given for Southern Nigeria, that 

 the value of the rubber exports had fallen from £307,077 in 1906, 

 to iiS3,gi4 in 1907. For the Gold Coast the figure was practi- 

 cally the same for each year. Now with regard to Nigerian rub- 

 ber, it has been noticeable for some time at Liverpool that the 

 quality has deteriorated, and the stickj' blocks which have been 

 offered have changed hands with some difficulty at prices which 



can hardly be considered satisfactory by the sellers. Presuming 

 that the rubber is available in sufficient quantity, as also the col- 

 lectors, it seems that some energetic action is required to preserve 

 the Nigerian rubber industry from decay. There may, of course, 

 be reasons for the decline mentioned which may have already 

 ceased to be effective, but this does not affect the statement as 

 to the deterioration in quality and the consequent decreased de- 

 mand. If the increased use of plantation rubber was the cause ot 

 the lessened demand one would expect to see the Gold Coast ex- 

 ports affected also, though I do not pretend to speak with au- 

 thority on a point of such intricacy. 



INDIA-RUBBER GOODS IN COMMERCE. 



EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES. 



OFFICIAL Statements of values of exports of manufactures 

 of india-rubber and gutta-percha for the month of August, 

 1908, and for the first eight months of five calendar years : 



Belting, Boots All 



Packing, and Other 



Months. and Hose. Shoes. Rubber. Total. 



August. 1908 $99,258 $270,751 $251,229 $621,238 



January to .July 7I4,I2S 656.333 2,120,145 3490.603 



Total $813,383 $927,084 $2,371,374 $4,111,841 



Total, 1907 ... 920,715 908,440 2,702,777 4,531,932 



Total, 1906 800,245 788,966 2,094,098 3,683,309 



Total, 190S 755.988 767,775 1,918,481 3,442,244 



Total, 1904 570,972 651,392 1,600,574 2,822,938 



IMPORTS INTO MEXICO. 



Owing to the system of classification in vogue in the Mex- 

 ican customs service it is not easy to determine the amount 

 of rubber goods imported. LInder two headings, however, the 

 details are definitely stated, and below are given the figures for 

 the fiscal year ending June 30, 1907, and the corresponding totals 

 for 1896-97 — ten years previously (values in Mexican silver) : 



Belting. Hose 



United States $257,252.88 United States $217,158.70 



Great Britain 83,028.38 Germany 25,662.05 



Germany 28.369.64 Great Britain n, 133-83 



France 14,616.60 France 587,00 



Belgium i,7<io.oo Austria-Hungary . . 104.00 



Switzerland 44-00 



Total $385,007.50 — 



Total, 1896-97. . . . 186,292 00 Total $254,689.58 



Total, 1896-97 174,452.00 



From the extent of mining operations in Mexico it is evident 

 that the importations of rubber packing are important. The im- 

 ports of rubber footwear are not important. Elastic webbing 

 and tissues, however, are taken in large quantities ; and tires 

 and dental dam also are embraced in the imports. 



"RUBBER HEELS BAD FOR THIEVES.' 



UNDER conviction for the larceny of rubber heels, valued at 

 $150, from the Plymouth Rubber Co. (Stoughton, Massa- 

 chusetts), James Chase, aged 68, was sentenced for one year 

 to the Dedham house of correction. It was not charged that 

 Chase had been a thief before, and burglary was not alleged, so 

 that he does not appear to belong to the same class with the 

 unfortunates whose experience with rubber heels was recorded 

 in The Indi.\ Rubber World, October i, 1908 (page 28). The 

 late news has the same bearing, however, in indicating that 

 rubber heels seem not to be desirable articles for thieves to 

 deal with. 



Somebody sends to this office the suggestion that some "rub- 

 ber heels" would be "bad for thieves" from a point of view not 

 yet mentioned. That is to say, if thieves were to break into 

 some stores and carry away the so-called rubber heels carried 

 in stock, the quality would be found to be such as to afford 

 them little reward for their trouble. 



