Z72 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1909. 



With regard to other forms of cotton hose than a multiple 

 woven fabric — which is composed of two or more plies so dis- 

 tinct as to permit the removal of one without injury to another, 

 and yet are all woven together into a solid homogeneous fabric 

 — it is not possible, even with the best machinery, to secure such 

 uniformity of separately woven fabrics as is regularly secured 

 hy weaving all plies simultaneously by one operation of the 

 loom. In the case of the solid woven hose in case the other 

 ply becomes cut, the edges are bound down to the inner ply and 

 do not readily fray out. Again, the binder warps of solid woven 

 hose serve to carry any dampness that there may be in the inner 

 ply to the outer surface, thereby accelerating the drying of the 

 hose. 



Some years ago a prominent fire chief expressed surprise at the 

 -extent of the plant employed by the Eureka Fire Hose Manu- 

 facturing Co. for the antiseptic treatment of hose, and the 

 proof, which the great cost of maintaining such a plant affords, 

 that the company does not consider the antiseptic treatment of 

 Jiose merely a talking point for salesmen. The company's anti- 

 ■septic department occupies more than 20,000 square feet of floor 

 area ; it has an extensive equipment of dry rooms, and machines 

 .and appliances for handling the hose during the processes, and 

 .employ a considerable force, night and day, to do its work. It 

 •consumes a large amount of expensive materials. The company 

 antiseptically treats all of its fire hose. 



The process employed by this company protects the fabric 

 "by removing the elements within the cotton that tend to its 

 decay, so that fabrics treated by it are softer and lighter than 

 before treatment, in contrast with some so-called waterproof and 

 antiseptic treatments, which not only stiffen the fabrics, but add 

 to their weight by saturating them with a lot of low-priced 

 materials. More than 34 years' trial of the Eureka processes 

 have demonstrated that hose receiving ordinary fire department 

 ■care is effectually protected by them against rot and mildew. 



A CRUDE RUBBER LAWSUIT. 



A CASE decided recently in the supreme court of New York — 

 a suit brought by an importer of rubber against a manu- 

 facturer, to enforce a contract for the sale of raw material — 

 •embodied some points of a nature to be of interest to the trade 

 generally. The case was tried before a jury, which gave a 

 verdict for the plaintiff. Counsel for the defendant moved to 

 ■have the verdict set aside, when the judge called for briefs, 

 rendering some weeks later a decision in which the motion was 

 denied. 



The defendant questioned the jurisdiction of the court in a 

 case involving a "foreign" corporation, and both parties to this 

 action were corporations of other states. The court construed 



the New York statute differently, however, and was guided by 

 precedents, involving cases where one or both litigants were 

 foreign corporations. 



The court's jurisdiction was further questioned on the ground 

 that if any contract did exist for the sale of rubber in this 

 case, it was not made within New York, and that any action 

 growing out of such contract should be in the state where it 

 was made. The court held that this action did not grow out 

 of the making of the contract, but out of its breach, which oc- 

 curred in New York. The plaintiff contracted to deliver 15 

 tons of rubber "ex dock. New York," and the failure of the 

 defendant to accept it there constituted a breach of contract. 

 Where the contract was made was immaterial. 



A further claim of the defendant company was that its offi- 

 cial alleged to have made th© contract in question — though 

 president of the corporation — lacked authority to purchase sup- 

 plies without the cooperation of the treasurer, this being one 

 of the provisions of the corporate by-laws. Counsel for the 

 plaintiff said, in his brief: 



The general understanding in the business worlld, to-day, is that the 

 president of a corporation, in the absence of specific notice to the contrary, 

 may be regarded as possessing such authority to bind his company as the 

 name of his office would naturally lead one to suppose he possessed. He is 

 generally regarded as being at the head of the company. 



The brief quoted from a decision confirmed by the New York 

 court of appeals in which it was held : 



It is well settled that a business corporation cannot by its by-laws so limit 

 the power of its executive officers that the corporation shall not be liable 

 for ordinary engagements made by such officers in the transaction of the 

 company's business with those who have no knowledge of such limita- 

 tion • - - and in the absence of express notice, a person dealing with such 

 corporation is entitldd to assume that in the ordinary transaction of its 

 business the president is authorized to act for it and the corporation is 

 liable for contracts made in the conduct of its business. 



The court in the case under review decided in accordance 

 with this precedent. 



The style of contract submitted by the plaintiff company as 

 the basis of its action was that customary in the sale of crude 

 rubber in the United States, in which the importer or broker, 

 on a printed form, delivers to the buyer a memorandum of the 

 grades and amount sold, price, and conditions of delivery and 

 payinent. It is not usual for the buyer to confirm such con- 

 tract, but the defendant asserted that in the absence of such 

 confirmation no legal contract existed. The court held, how- 

 evei, that the memorandum of sale referred to, together with 

 certain correspondence which ensued in this case, constituted a 

 valid contract, no particular form being essential. 



Send for Index (free) to Mr. Pearson's "Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients." 



Review of the Crude Rubber Market. 



THE entries at the port of Para for the crop year which ends 

 with this date, of rubber of all grades (including caucho), 

 appear to have been as large as in any former year, if not 

 exceeding all records. The figures for the last year are available 

 only to June 28, and it is possible that the remaining days of the 

 month brought into Para enough rubber to bring the total for the 

 twelve months up to or beyond the record figure of 1906-07. The 

 official returns for several years past have been — 



1901-02 (0)1^30,000 1905-06 /oMi 34,490 



1902-03 29,850 1906-07 38,00s 



1903-04 36,580 1907-08 36,650 



1904-OS 33.060 1908-09 037.970 



[a — To and including June 28.] 

 Whatever interest these figures may possess from any other 

 point of view, they afford no guide to the tendency of prices from 



year to year. Else the large production of the past season might 

 indicate a decline in prices, whereas the quotations at this date 

 are far above those reported at any other period in the history of 

 the trade. While on the subject of the production of the Amazon 

 regions, one suggestion that has been heard may have some per- 

 tinence, namely, that the steady advance in the consuming markets 

 for some months past has stimulated shipments from the seringaes 

 to such an extent as to leave smaller stocks than usual upriver. 

 In this event the trade will be obliged to depend wholly upon 

 stocks already shipped from the Amazon while awaiting the ne.xt 

 crop, the first returns from which are not due much before the 

 end of summer. 



As this paper goes to' press cables from London indicate prices 

 there as high as 6s. 3j4rf.@6j. 4d. [=$1.54] for Para rubber, and 

 as high as 7 shillings [=$1.70.3] for plantation, smoked. 



