208 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, igog. 



patent. A prominent partner in the business was Mr. Cresswell, 

 Birmingham interests being also represented. Mr. Cresswell 

 made a good deal of money out of the concern before he left it, 

 and got into financial low water. A new company, called the 

 Hyde Rubber Works, Limited, was then formed, and the 

 premises extended. This company after a year or two got into 

 difficulties and was carried on for some time by a receiver, who 

 about three or four years ago disposed of the property to some 

 capitalists, among whom were Messrs. Mandleberg & Co., Lim- 

 ited, the well-known \vaterproofers of Pendleton, Manchester. 

 Before the property was taken over a sale by auction of the. 

 stock of rubber and chemicals was held, the machinery and plant 

 being taken over by the new tenants, and those attending the 

 sale finding inspection prevented by locked doors. Some time 

 subsctiuently the concern was floated as a public company under 

 its present title, though from what I gathered from intending 

 subscribers there was nothing ver>- attractive in the prospects 

 for the outside investor. The business carried on was mainly 

 in mechanical rubber goods, which were not manufactured at the 

 Pendleton factory, and the present proposal is to transfer this 

 part of the business also to Pendleton, so as to have the proof- 

 ing and mechanical departments under one roof, so to speak. 

 The Gee Cross rubber works which were put up to auction about 

 a year ago and withdrawn, are in the same localitjs being 

 founded by Mr. Cresswell after he left the Hyde Imperial Com- 

 pany. A mile or two further on at Hyde the proofing business 

 carried on for some years by Messrs. Gotliffe & Co., has been 

 given up, so that this part of Cheshire seems to have fallen upon 

 troublous times as far as the rubber manufacture is concerned. 



This gentleman, who for some years has had control of the 

 waterproof garment department— that is, the making up of the 



proofed cloth — at Messrs. Charles Mac- 

 MR. w. s. ATKINSON, intosh & Co., Limited, has recently left 



the firm and taken up a post as repre- 

 sentative of Messrs. L Frankewburg & Sons, Liinited. In his 

 late position Mr. Atkinson, who altogether put in nineteen 

 years with Messrs. Macintosh, succeeded Mr. L. C. Clamfett, who 

 had succeeded Mr. S. T. Rowe. The last named also gave up 

 his post to take up an important position at Messrs. Franken- 

 burg, of which firm he subsequently became a partner. The 

 esteem in which Mr. Atkinson was held by the staff under him 

 was testified to by a presentation at a Manchester hotel. 



The robbery and murder outrage at Tottenham by Russian 

 miscreants was concerned with the money drawn to pay the 



weekly wages at Mr. Schnurmann's re- 



TOTTENHAM RUBBER , . . , , . 



WORKS. claimmg works. It is not surpnsmg 



that writers in the press refer to the 

 premises as a rubber works, and the point is of no great im- 

 portance. One daily paper refers to the long connection of Tot- 

 tenham with the rubber manufacture, pointing out that the 

 London Caoutchouc Co. was established in 1837 in an ex- 

 tensive building at Tottenham and that it was on the site of 

 the present Schnurmann's w-orks or immediately adjacent. Of 

 course the trade and public associate the rubber manufacture of 

 Tottenham with Messrs. William Warne & Co., Limited, who 

 have long heen located there. I don't know the history of the 

 firm, and it occurs to me that possibly they are the successors 

 of the old company mentioned above. It w-ould probably prove 

 of interest to many readers if the firm should enlighten the 

 Editor on this topic. 



In a patent of Degen and Kuth, of Diiren, Germany, it is 

 claimed that a solution of vulcanized rubber is obtained by add- 

 ing iodine to a rubber solution. The 

 IODIZED RUBBER. proportion mentioned is .4 grams iodine 

 in 100 grams carbon tetrachloride and 

 4 grams Para rubber in 100 grams carbon tetrachloride, the mix- 

 ing being effected in the cold. The solution is stated to lose 

 its stickiness and viscosity on standing, and to be capable of 



filtration and sterilization, giving a product useful for surgical 

 purposes. This is by no means the first time that the action of 

 iodine on rubber in solution has been observed, and I believe 

 the present position is that the chemical authorities are by means 

 agreed as to the reaction taking place. This of course need not 

 pre.vent the patent proving a success until a similar product is 

 obtained by some body other than iodine — an eventuality which 

 I am inclined to believe is by no means remote. With regard 

 to the use of the term vulcanization in this case it seems 

 altogether unjustified, as neither heat nor sulphur enters into the 

 reaction. To talk about a solution of vulcanized rubber which 

 can be filtered would lead to the supposition that something of 

 much greater importance had been effected than is really the 

 case. Iodized rubber seems to me a term which might con- 

 veniently be used. It will be noticed that the rubber solution is 

 only of 4 per cent, strength, and is therefore of much greater 

 tenacitv than wliat is usuallv found in commerce. 



USE OF THE WORDS "WIRE" AND "CABLE." 



THERE has Ijci-n and is a continued misunderstanding in the 

 accounting departments of large contracting firms, supply 

 houses, central stations, etc., as to the words "wire'' and "cable" 

 [says Electrical World]. The line department, for instance, of 

 an electric light company will report that it has on hand so many 

 feet of cable, leaving the purchasing department to guess what 

 is meant or to request more specific information. In order to 

 simplify matters one large company has restricted the use of the 

 word cable to lead-covered conductors used either overhead or 

 underground. The word wire is used to signify all conductors 

 which are not covered with a lead sheath. In making entries for 

 orders on the storehouse and in reporting material used on 

 return work orders, care is taken to specify whether it is wire 

 or cable, giving the insulation and size, such as, for example, 

 500,000 circ. mil, stranded, weatherproof wire, or No. 6 stranded, 

 rubber-insulated wire. Inasmuch as rubber-insulated wire is sold 

 by the foot, the report is made to state the number of feet of 

 such wire. Weatherproof wire being sold by the pound, the 

 quantity wanted or in stock is given in pounds. The reports or 

 requisitions specify the number of feet of cable on hand or 

 required. By this means all misunderstanding is avoided. 



The British courts have held the word "Diabolo," the name 

 given to a game, of which a top known as a devil forms a 

 part, not to be an invented word, and not to be registrable 

 under the statutes. Diabolo is an old Italian variant for 

 devil and the game to which it has been applied lately is an 

 old game which had been known in other countries under the 

 name devil, or foreign words having the same meaning. 



The "Cycloi's" Pneum.\tic Tire. 



[A new English design. The air carrying part is built up in sections, 

 each with a nipple at either end, the sections thus being connected into 

 a continuous ''tube." The Pneumatic Piston Tyre Co., Limited, London.J 



