72 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[No\T.MBF.R I, 1908. 



The Continental Caoutchouc Works, at Hanover. 



By Our British Correspondent. 



FOR some years it has been customary for me at this season 

 to write a few notes in reference to rubber matters which 

 have come under my notice during my summer vacation on 

 the continent. Certain country districts in Bohemia, in which 

 the bulk of my time was spent this year, are briefly referred to 

 in my regular correspondence this month, and I propose to devote 

 the present article to the important works mentioned above, as 

 I had the opportunity afforded me, when passing through Han- 

 over, of making an inspection of the principal factory. It is 

 hardly necessary to say that this was not accomplished in a few 

 minutes, and I have to express my indebtedness to Herr Adolf 

 Prinzhorn, the senior director, for my courteous reception and 

 for the time he personally put at my disposal. This is by no 

 means the first occasion in which these 

 works have been referred to in The 

 India Rubber World, and it would there- 

 fore be superfluous to enlarge particularly 

 upon their evolution, capitalization and 

 statistical position. Suffice it in this re- 

 spect to say that, starting in 1872, with 

 200 men and a very modest capital, the 

 company now have a capital of 4,200,000 

 marks [=: about $1,000,000], employ 6,000 

 hands exclusive of staff, and are almost 

 the largest rubber manufacturing concern 

 in the world, using, I am told, one- 

 thirtieth of the total output of raw rub 

 ber. 



Some eight miles off an additional fac- 

 tory has recently been completed, the great 

 increase in the cycle and motor tire busi- 

 ness being mainly responsible for its erec- 

 tion. In the Hanover factory about 6.000 

 cycle and motor covers are made per day 

 in the busy season, in two rooms each 

 500 feet long. In this department I was 

 interested to see at work the large fabric 

 bias cutting machines which have taken 

 the place of hand cutting, with marked 



economy. These machines are of German make, a remark which 

 applies pretty generally to the machinery throughout the factory, 

 with the notable exception of the fine sheet cutting machines, 

 which emanate from Salford, Manchester. It appears tliat while 

 the wired-on cycle tire cover is the type prin- 

 cipally made for export, the beaded edge is 

 the most popular in Germany. The inner 

 tubes, both for cycles and motor tires, are all 

 made in the seamless fashion by the tubing 

 machine, red rubber being used much more 

 extensively than grey in their manufacture. 



Going back to the raw material, mention 

 may be made of the extensive use of the hol- 

 lander in washing. The drying is all done 

 by steam heat, the chambers being situated 

 on the second floor. The management is not 

 enamored of vacuum drying, rolling out thin 

 and the use of exhausting fans enabling 

 the drying by heat to be carried out ex- 

 peditiously. The arrangements in the cut 

 sheet department with regard to the freezing 

 cham.ber for block; and the cutting process 

 are practically identical with those of the 

 English firms engaged in this branch, and 

 from what I was told, the Continental is 



Adolf Prinzhorn, 



producing counts quite as fine as those of its old established 

 competitors. The ball department was of special interest to me, 

 because here I saw for the first time the patent ball-making 

 machine of Wolcott and Ryder, who are connected with the New 

 York Rubber Co. The patent rights for Germany are in the pos- 

 session of the Continental company, and Mr. Prinzhorn e-xpresses 

 himself as perfectly satisfied with the working of the machines, 

 which are much superior to earlier efforts in their direction, and 

 show a great economy in production compared with hand labor. The 

 exact composition of the rubber mixing is an important matter. 

 The English rights for this machine are in the hands of a 

 prominent north of England rubber firm, but I have no informa- 

 tion as to whether it is being used. The number of balls auto- 

 matically made at one movement of the 

 machine varies from four to eight, accord- 

 ing to diameter. It should be mentioned 

 that so far only hollow playing balls are 

 being made by this machine, it not being 

 considered accurate enough for lawn ten- 

 nis balls, in the manufacture of which 

 I noticed an amount of precision which 

 rather surprised me. On the Continent 

 and in the Colonies the uncovered red 

 ball has a much greater vogue than in 

 England, and I was not surprised to find 

 numbers of them in process of manufac- 

 ture Space will not permit of my notic- 

 ing all the departments I visited, but I can- 

 not refrain from expressing my satisfaction 

 at the complete freedom from bisulphide of 

 carbon vapors of the air of the workroom in 

 which a certain process of cold curing 

 was being actively carried on. The Ger- 

 man regulations, I was informed, are even 

 stricter than those in force in Great 

 Britain, but judging by the very perfect 

 way in which the Continental company 

 have overcome the difficulties involved it 

 cannot be contended that the German 

 regulations are too onerous in a hygienic matter of such great 

 importance. Glancing for a moment at the power department, 

 it may be mentioned that considerable alterations have been 

 made in recent years on up-to-date lines. Mechanical stokers 



Works of the Continent.^l Caoutchouc- und Gutta Percha Compacnie. 



