January i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



127 



The Late B. Barker, Sr. 



[Founder of the firm of Eakker & Zoon, 

 rubber manufacturers.] 



Dr. a. G. X. Swart. 



[President Netherlands Commission at 

 Ulympia Rubber Exhibition. ] 



The Late Julius Weise. 



"^^ [Founder of the crude rubber firm of 



Weise & Co.] 



senior Merens, his son and nephew. They took us through the 

 factory, which was exceedingly well equipped for the manufacture 

 of the smaller lines of rubber goods, such as general mold work, 

 jar rings, pads and molded articles in semi-hard rubber. The 

 most bulky of the goods manufactured were asbestos packings, 

 deckle straps and garden hose in continuous lengths averaging 700 

 feet to the length. This hose was apparently made on the mandrel 

 somewhat as regular )4 garden hose is made. There was a 

 smooth inner tube covered with plies of friction cloth cut on tlic 

 bias and an outer cover and the hose was cloth wrapped and steam 

 vulcanized. If it was made in short lengths and the ends butted 

 and joined after semi- vulcanization, it was so done as to defy de- 

 tection, and if it wasn't done that way a new and simple process 

 in hose making had been evolved. 



On the subject of just how they manufactured this hose, Mr. 

 Merens was silent. He was justly proud of the product and per- 

 fectly willing to have any one examine it and describe it but as to 

 how it was done, they must do their own guessing. This hose, 

 by the way, was exceptionally strong, the fabric being woven from 

 a mixture of cotton and linen. 



The mechanical equipment of the factory was such as one would 



find in any mechanical factory employing from 50 to 100 men. 

 The washers, grinders, tubing machines, vulcanizers, spreaders and 

 the two-rolled calender were products of French, Dutch and Eng- 

 lish machine sliops, and while none of the machines were of the 

 "Jumbo" type, they were all well fitted for the work to which they 

 were put. 



I was much interested in the old building which dated back to 

 the beginning of things in rubber. It was built of small hand made 

 bricks set in mortar that had turned as hard as flint. With its 

 low ceilings, heavy beams and queer half circle windows, it seemed 

 a modest, yet solid monument to one of the real pioneers in the 

 business and one that would probably remain standing when great- 

 er and more modern factories had crumbled to dust. 



The factory fronts on one of the great canals, so that freights of 

 all sorts, to and from, are exceedingly cheap and the business is 

 evidently prosperous. The workmen looked intelligent and had 

 somewhat the air of old retainers who were proud of their em- 

 ployers and the feeling seemed to be reciprocal, as shown when 

 one of the partners called attention to a youngster in the office 

 who, he said, spent an hour each evening studying English. 



After inspecting the factory, we lunched at Die Kroon, opposite 



, ,^jg||||^^iPliPW^^P^ ' 



Bakker & Zoon's Dreugin'c Sleeves. 



[Length 64 inches; diameter 21 inches.] 



Bakker & Zoon's Suction Hose. 



[Length, 13 feet 2 inches; diameter, ig->4 inches.] 



