February i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



163 



self greatly encouraged by the attention which it attracted from 

 automobilists and tire men throughout the show. 



* * * 



Motorcycles did not figure largely. Not more than a score 

 were to be seen. Five of these were exhibited by the Pope 

 Manuficturing Co., in a suitable position, while of the re- 

 maining machines each was shown by a diflferent maker, and 

 practically out of sight, most of them in the balcony It is true 

 that this was a show of automobiles, and not bicycles, but the 

 motorcycle makers who were represented were among the lead- 

 ers in their trade, besides comprising almost the whole list. 

 These figures seem particularly small compared with the 247 

 motorcycles at the Paris automobile show, in December, and 

 240 at the Stanley show, in London, which, while avowedly a 

 cycle show, yields more and more to the pressure for the ad- 

 mission of automobiles. Prices of the motorcycles at the Gar- 

 den ranged from §200 to $300. The tires were mostly the G & 

 J detachable, 2 to 2'/i inches, and understood to be principally 

 from one factory. No tires specially adapted for use on motor- 

 cycles were shown in the rubber exhibits. 



♦ » » 



A SUCCESSFUL rubber manufacturer who has given much 

 study to the cause and effect of high prices in crude materials, 

 recently said : " When the bicycle business was at its height I 

 looked into the whole subject and made up my mind that in a 

 very short time it would drop down to a normal demand. In 

 other words, that the fad part of it would disappear. Now in 

 a measure the automobile industry is an exaggerated bicycle 

 business. I do not believe that the horse is going to dis- 

 appear, nor do I believe that the automobile will continue to 

 draw on the supply of crude rubber as it has. The presence of 

 leather covered tires and a variety of non slipping devices that 

 almost envelop the tire leads rfie to think that somebody will 

 get up a resilient tire which is not made of plies of canvas 

 welded together by expensive friction, and that the only rubber 

 part of the automobile tire will be a good inner tube made, of 

 course, of high grade rubber." 



THE importers' SHOW. 



During the continuance of the show at Madison Square 

 Garden another exhibiton was in progress — the Importers' Au- 

 tomobile Salon, at Herald Square Hall, January 11-24. This 

 is an extensive hall, covering the entire upper floor of Macy's 

 large store at Thirty-fourth street and Broadway, and it was 

 well filled with foreign makes of automobiles and accessories. 

 Special efforts were made to attract the attendance of society 

 as well as the public in general, and half a dozen ambassadors 

 from European countries were named as "patrons" of the 

 show. From all accounts, however, the interest in the exhibi- 

 tion was by no means comparable with that evinced for the 

 Madison Square show, which may prove a comforting thought 

 for American manufacturers of automobile tires, who naturally 

 will be interested in the growth of the American motor indus- 

 try. 



The Michelin tires were prominently exhibited at the Im- 

 porters' show, and were not exhibited at Madison Square Gar- 

 den. The " Continental " tires were also exhibited, and the 

 •' Samson " and " Republic " and other non-skidding devices. 



» » • 



Other Shows. — The Chicago National automobile show 

 will open in the Coliseum on Saturday evening, February 4, 

 and continue until the following Saturday evening. To a very 

 large extent the exhibits made at Madison Square Garden, in- 

 cluding the principal tire displays, will be duplicated there. 

 This is the fourth great annual automobile show at Chicago. 



The usual number of smaller automobile shows — though each 



is of local importance — will be held this season. The first to 

 follow the New York show was that in Philadelphia, given by 

 the Automobile Dealers' Association of that city, January 23- 

 28. It was largely attended, with a large number of exhibits, 

 including tire displays by The Hartford Rubber Works Co., 

 The B. F. Goodrich Co., The Diamond Rubber Co., The Fisk 

 Rubber Co,, and the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. 



Other shows have been scheduled as follows: Detroit, Feb- 

 ruary 13-18; Cleveland, February 20-25; Buffalo. March 6-1 1 ; 

 Boston, March 1318 (with an " Importers' Show " on the same 

 dates) ; Washington, D. C. March 27 to ApriL The National 

 Association of (American) Automobile Manufacturers has an- 

 nounced a show for Toronto, Canada, during the last days of 

 February, but these dates have been cancelled. 



LITERATURE OF INDIA-RUBBER. 



THE ci;ltivation and preparation of para rubber, by w. h. 



Johnson, k.l.s., f.r.h.s.. Director of Agriculture, Gold Coast Colony, West 

 .Africa. LoDdon : Crosby, Lockwood & Son. 1904. [Cloth, Svo. Pp. 99. 

 Price, 7J. 6rf.] 



'['HE author of this treatise was commissioned by his gov- 

 *■ ernmentin 1902 to visit Ceylon, to study the methods em- 

 ployed there in the cultivation and preparation of Para rubber 

 and other agricultural staples for market, with a view to their in- 

 troduction into West Africa. Owing to the gradual extinction 

 of native rubber species in Africa, Mr. Johnson considers the 

 question of replanting with Para rubber trees as well worth the 

 consideration of the authorities, and he is convinced that there 

 is in tropical Africa much land suitable for the cultivation of 

 Hevea. Beginning with a general account of the growth of de- 

 mand for rubber, and of the " Paid rubber tree" at home and 

 abroad, he notes the methods which have been successful in 

 the Far East in propagating and caring for this tree, and in 

 the preparation of rubber from the latex, together with some 

 estimates on the cost of rubber culture in Ceylon and the Ma- 

 lay states. The book closes with a chapter on the commercial 

 value of the oil in Hevea seeds. 

 reports on rubbkr in the gold COAST AND sierra leone- 



[Colon'al Reports— Miscellant'ous No. 28.] London: His Majesty's Station- 

 ery Office. 1904. l8vo. Pp 20. Price. i}4 pence.! 



This report deals with the causes of decrease in the quantity 

 of rubber exported from British West Africa, and with the ef- 

 forts made thus far in replanting. In 1898 Great Britain im- 

 ported from all her West African colonies 94.301 hundred- 

 weight of rubber, the amount decreasing annually until it 

 reached only 18,486 cwt. in 1902. The concluding words of the 

 pamphlet before us are : " The Sierra Leone rubber industry is 

 nearly dead, and, unless it is taken up in earnest by enterpris- 

 ing Europeans, it is unlikely ever to be revived." It appears 

 that ellorts to interest the native chiefs in rubber culture have 

 been entirely unavailing. The report on the Gold Coast is 

 made by Mr. W. H. Johnson, f.l.s., whose recent book is re- 

 viewed above, and that on Sierra Leone by Mr. C. W. Smythe, 

 curator of the botanical stations. Mr. Johnson regards Hevea 

 brasiliemis (Pard rubber) as the most satisfactory rubber tree 

 to cultivate in West Africa, next to which he places the native 

 l-'untiimia elastica. Castilloa has not succeeded, and he is not 

 favorably impressed with the rubber of Ceara. Rubber plant- 

 ing experiments in Sierra Leone have not progressed so far as 

 in the Gold Coast, and Mr. Smythe is less definite in his con- 

 clusions. 



BljDRAGE tot de geschiedenis der Getahpertja-cultuur op Java. 

 (Contributions to the history of Guttapercha culture in Java.) By Dr. 

 \V. Burck= A very thnrough resume, with references to authorities.] 

 De Indische Mercuur, Amsterdam. XXXVIII-52 (December 27, 1904.) 

 Pp. 881-882. 



