October i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



9 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



STATE OF TRADE. 



IT would be harping on a worn string to say that universal 

 grumbling exists about the high price of rubber and the 

 uncertainty regarding its position from week to week ; 

 almost, one might say, from day to day. It is still the 

 general thing to be told that the acuteness of the situation is 

 entirely due to the wicked Liverpool mer- 

 chants, but those who loudly proclaim such 

 opinions do not bring forward anything substantial in the way 

 of proofs. No doubt those who can control themselves so as 

 to make a judicial survey of the situaiton will be forced to the 

 opinion that after all it is merely an ordinary case of supply 

 and demand, and must perforce be put up with. However, 

 despite the price of rubber, it is in no way the fact that the 

 manufacture is paralyzed. Dullness is certainly reported, but 

 at any rate as far as the north of England is concernd, this 

 must be largely attributed to the short time in the cotton 

 mills and to the depression in the engineering industry. There 

 are no signs of material improvement in either of these in the 

 near future, so the mechanical rubber trade in these markets is 

 likely to remain quiet. In one respect the present price of 

 rubber is playing an important part, and that is where it is 

 customary at this season of the year to make special articles to 

 stock for next season's demand. In certain cases, the details of 

 which I do not consider it advisable to enter into, passivity 

 instead of activity is ruling in marked contrast to what has 

 been the general rule. It is a pretty safe assumption that the 

 diminished profits on an increased turnover as shown in the 

 report of the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber Co. [Given on 

 another page of this paper. — The Editor.] would be reflected 

 in the balance sheets of other concerns both of greater and less 

 magnitude if the accounts became public property, though it 

 may be mentioned that there is considerable disparity between 

 the methods adopted by different firms to increase their turn- 

 over. In some cases it is clear that little or no profit can 

 accrue from transactions which bear a prima facie indication 

 of good business. Looking at the situation broadly, it seems 

 clear that a rise in the price of raw rubber aflects the industry 

 much less than would a similar contingency in other indus- 

 tries which come to mind. The principal users of rubber, 

 among whom may be mentioned the railway and steamship 

 companies, must have rubber, and although they may grumble 

 somewhat at a rise in price, yet a few pence per pound in weight 

 does not really represent much to them, and the orders come 

 in as usual. It is not generally recognized by writers in the 

 daily press what important customers shipbuilders and steam- 

 ship companies are. A new battle ship, for instance, will ab- 

 sorb an amount of rubber which would, 1 imagine, rather sur- 

 prise those who attribute the rise in price of rubber to the de- 

 mands of the tire industry. The public judge by what they 

 see, and one need not emphasize the fact that motor and cycle 

 tires are more apparent than is the rubber in use on railways or 

 on board ship. That the tire industry is absorbing an increas- 

 ing amount of rubber is of course true, but it is fallacious to 

 suppose that this demand is the sole important factor in the 

 unique situation which is now being experienced. 



The practical article on this subject in the September issue 

 of The India Rubber World will, I am sure, 

 be read with much interest on this side, where 

 the subject is attracting so much attention. Some makers 



RUBBER HEELS. 



here seem to think that the poor quality of so many of the 

 heels that are turned out will have the inevitable end of bring- 

 ing them into discredit, and consequently of reducing the 

 business. However, there is an increasing demand for good 

 quality stufi, the price not being a matter of the first import- 

 ance. The reference to the black heel that will not bloom is of 

 interest; some good work of this kind is being turned out by 

 The Hyde Rubber Works, Limited, their best black quality 

 showing no tendency to bloom. This result, I understand, is 

 due to a careful selection of materials, and not to the use of 

 potash, as laid down in the article referred to. By the way, the 

 term potash is a somewhat loose one ; is it caustic potash, car- 

 bonate of potash, or what is known as American black ash, 

 that is used ? It is not particularly easy for the uninformed 

 buyer to purchase potash that is not largely composed of soda. 

 Potash, I may say, is but rarely used in England for desulphur- 

 izing purposes, though the goods subjected to it have a superior 

 finish and feel than where caustic soda has been used. The 

 idea of the black heel is of course that it may be indistin- 

 guishable from the rest of the boot to which it is attached. 

 There are rather a confusing number of titles by which these 

 heels are known on the market. In very few cases do these 

 represent a patent. The middleman in the business merely se- 

 lects some fancy name which is impressed on the goods to 

 order by the manufacturer. 



I NOTICE that a patent has recently been taken out by the 



Dental Manufacturing Co., Limited (London), with regard to 



the insertion of nickel gauze in the rubber sheet 



DENTAL used in the artificial teeth business. The nickel 



R U 8BER 



PATENT g^"ze forms a thin layer in the interior of the rub- 

 ber sheet. The use of metal for this purpose is not 

 new, as I am informed by a dentist of repute that over twenty 

 years ago it was customary to use platinum gauze in this con- 

 nection. The use of nickel, however, may be new. Certainly 

 at the present price of platinum, which is higher than that of 

 gold, there is little inducement for its use by anyone but the 

 chemist who cannot do without it. Nickel, on the other hand, 

 is now produced in much larger quantities than formerly, and 

 the reduction in price no doubt commends it for the purpose 

 referred to. 



I AM informed on what appears to be reliable authority that 



variations in the selling price of rubber solution are due to the 



employment by some makers of rosin as anadulter- 



RUBBER gjjj I use the word adulterant, because I am ignor- 



SOLUTION. , . , . ,_• u ■-• u J 



ant of any special advantages which this body can 

 give to the solution. It may be that for some purposes, and 

 when price is a desideratum, that the admixture may be per- 

 fectly justifiable, though I know that rosin is not used by the 

 principal makers. It is not so many years since rubber solu- 

 tion was made and supplied by the rubber works alone ; now- 

 adays, however, what with the greater spread of knowledge 

 and the difficulties concerning transport, the position has 

 changed and there are now numerous makers of solution on a 

 greater or less scale. Some make for their own use alone, 

 others do a retail trade in it. The rubber of course comes 

 from the rubber works, and it is the exception rather than the 

 rule, as of old, to use fine Para only. Cheaper brands of rub- 

 ber are more generally bought, and as far as one can tell seem to 

 answer the purpose well enough. One source of rubber for so- 



