144 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1905. 



DtATH OF UR. C. O. WEBER. 



THE news of the sudden death of Dr. Carl Otto Weber, 

 which occurred at his liome in Newton, Massachusetts, 

 on Saturday evening, January 14, caused a great shock to the 

 rubber trade. Dr. Weber had been long before the public as an 

 expert chemist in India-rubber, but was perhaps better known 

 in Europe than in the United States. Although he had visited 

 this country several times, it was only two years ago that he 

 decided to make his home here and carry on his valuable re- 

 searches at his India Rubber Research Laboratory in Boston. 

 He came primarily in the interest of the Hood Rubber Co., 

 but did expert work for several other large corporations. In 

 addition to this he found time to do much literary work. 



Dr. Weber was born October 26, 1S60, of German-Scotch an- 

 cestry, in Pforzheim, the leading manufacturing city of Baden, 

 and spent his early life in Germany. He studied chemistry at 

 Heidelberg and took the degree of 

 Doctor of Philosophy in 1880. His 

 first successful work was in the ani- 

 line color industry in which he rose 

 to the management of a large estab- 

 lishment in Silesia. Becoming in- 

 terested in the chemistry of India- 

 rubber, he accepted in 1S92 the po- 

 sition of managing chemist in the 

 large rubber works of Isidor Frank- 

 enburg. Limited, at Manchester, 

 England, and later became a director 

 in that corporation. While at Man- 

 chester Dr. Weber devoted himself 

 closelv to the analysis of vulcanized 

 India-rubber, following the line of 

 research in which the brilliant and 

 lamented Henriques wasthe pioneer. 

 He was a prolific contributor to 

 technical literature in many chan- 

 nels, being the author of a number 

 of papers in the transactions of the 

 Society of Chemical Industry, and 

 a special contributor to The India- 

 Ritbher Journal, of London, and the 

 Gummi /.eitung, of Dresden. His 

 principal work, which appeared a 

 year ago, was a treatise on 



the chemistry of India-rubber. , 



He occupied the chair of phys- ] 

 sics in a college at Manchester, 

 and was expert to the British 

 Admiralty and the War and 

 Colonial offices. He was elec- 

 ted to the presidency of the 

 India-rubber section of the 

 fifth International Chemical 

 Congress, held in 1904 at Ber- 

 lin. 



Prior to the time when he 

 decided to make America his 

 home, Dr. Weber went to Pan- 

 ama, then a part of Colombia, 

 and spent some months study- 

 ing the methods of gathering 

 and curing India-rubber from 

 cultivated trees. The infor- 

 mation obtained there was of 



THE LATE CARL OTTO WEBER, I'H. D. 



TRIBUTE OF THE 

 NEW ENGLAND RUBBER CLUB, 



Whereas : Death has suddenly removed from our midst our 

 friend and fellow-member, Dr. Carl Otto Weber, we, the mem- 

 bers of the New Kngland Rubber Club, in token of our sincere 

 sorrow, record the following resolutions : 



Resolved. That in the untimely death of Dr. Carl Otto Weber, 

 the rubber trade of the whole world has sustained a severe loss. 

 Strong, courageous, of rare scientihc and technical ability of 

 worldwide reputation, his name will be long remembered with 

 respect and esteem. 



Resolved, That we extend to his family our deepest sympathy. 

 Resolved, That these Resolutions be spread on the records of 

 the Club, and copies engrossed and sent to his family. 

 L. D. Arsi.EV, President, 

 A. W. SrED.MAN. Vice President, 

 Henry C. Pearson, Secretary. 

 George P. Whiimore, Treasurer, 

 E. E. Wadbkook, .Assistant Secretary. 

 Boston, Massachusetts, January 16, 1905. 



the utmost value, but no doubt his exposure in that malarial 

 climate during the rainy season was a factor in shortening his 

 life. He also went to Mexico about a year ago and investigated 

 thoroughly the subject of securing rubber from the " guayule " 

 plant. It is said that at the time of his death he also had 

 under advisement a trip to Ceylon and the Malay states in the 

 interests of certain large Hevea plantations there. 



In addition to his work in India-rubber, Dr. Weber did much 

 other research work which added notably to his reputation. 

 For example, while at the "Las Cascadas " plantation, in 

 Panama, he made hundreds of micro-photographs of malarial 

 mosquitoes, discovering several new varieties, all of which work 

 was given to the famous Dr. Ross and later published in the 

 work of the latter on that subject. 



He was in every sense of the word an enthusiast and rarely 

 gave himself a moment's rest. He was a brilliant conversa- 

 tionalist, a forceful and easy writer, and a musician of un- 

 donbted talent. One of his ambi- 

 tions was the manufacture of syn- 

 thetic rubber from some simple base, 

 such as cellulose. To this he gave 

 much thought and study, and he is 

 said to have expressed the belief 

 that he could accomplish this great 

 task within the next five years. 



Dr. Weber's death was due to 

 apoplexy, induced no doubtby the 

 strenuous, laborious life that he led. 

 Never a physically strong man, he 

 demanded of a rather frail body 

 more than it was able to accomplish. 

 He is survived by a widow, and a 

 son who lately entered Harvard 

 I'niversity. 



Funeral services were held in 

 Newton, on January 17, the Rev. F. 

 S. Hatch officiating. They were 

 brief, but the touching and eloquent 

 tribute paid to the memory of the 

 departed by the clergyman will long 

 linger in the memory of those pres- 

 ent. There were present many mem- 

 bers of the rubber trade as well as 

 distinguished professional friends. 

 while the floral tokens were 

 abundant and beautiful. The 

 interment took place in New- 

 tori cemetery. 



There were shipped from 

 New York, early in January, 

 six antomobile street cars, of 

 American make, to be used in 

 the operation of a regular line 

 at Lima, Peru. They are es- 

 sentially street cars, and not 

 omnibuses, each 18 feet in 

 length and seating 32 passen- 

 gers, with straps for those not 

 able to find seats. The vehi- 

 cles are electrically driven, 

 equipped with solid rubber 

 tires, and will run on the 

 road free from rails. 



