226 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 



'90S- 



THE LATE 

 MR BRUCE WARREN. 



to some extent by the water of the wash bottle. For all chem- 

 ical purposes where accuracy is of account, it would seem ad- 

 visable to extract rubber corks with alkali before using them. 



The variable fortunes of the rubber factory situated at 

 Woodley, near Manchester, have more than once attracted no- 

 HYDE ^"-^ '" 'hese columns. It is with regret that I 



RUBBER notice that The Hyde Rubber Works, Limited, 

 WORKS. which rose Phanix-like from the ashes of the 

 Hyde Imperial Rubber Co., have had to call their creditors to- 

 gether, and that on February 17 a resolution for voluntary 

 winding up was confirmed. Mr. George W. Dawes, who had a 

 good deal to do with the formation of the present company, 

 retired therefrom a year or more ago, owing to disagreement 

 on matters of policy; he cannot therefore be considered di- 

 rectly responsible for the existing situation. 



Bv the recent death of Mr. T. P. Bruce Warren rubber 

 chemistry loses an exponent whose name has been but little 

 before the public in recent years. Perhaps 

 in his capacity as chemist to the Silvertown 

 company it was more or less obligatory for 

 him to pursue "the miserable policy of secrecy," to use the 

 words of the late Dr. Weber. At any rate the latter could 

 never draw Mr. Warren into print, and really there is hardly 

 anything of his in the technical literature of the last ten or fif- 

 teen years to which one can point as advancing the chemistry 

 of rubber. It would be illogical to infer from this that he has 

 not done original work of value or interest; one can only say 

 that he has not made his results public. Of course the deceased 

 as a chemist did not confine himself entirely to rubber, the 

 articles which he contributed so frequently to the Chemical 

 A'irzt/.f covering quite a wide range of topics. It is almost thirty 

 years since he joined the Silvertown company as electrician 

 and chemist, having gained considerable experience in cable 

 matters by his association with Mr. Hooper, of rubber sub- 

 marine cable renown. Though the deceased will undoubtedly 

 be missed by the company with which he has been so long con- 

 nected it will be acknowledged that the spread of knowledge 

 in recent years renders the choice of a successor an easier task 

 than was the case in similar circumstances thirty years ago. 



Four rubber manufacturing firms had exhibits in this show 



(February 11-18), namely: The North British Rubber Co., 



Charles Macintosh & Co., David Moseley & Sons, 



"^^l^'ciTfJ! and J. E. Hopkinson & Co. The North British 



CYCLE SHOW. 



exhibits comprised the Bartlett clincher tires in 

 the four grades. The company's position with regard to claims 

 differs from what is now customary amongst their competitors. 

 They do not give any guarantee for a specified period, though 

 they state that they are at all times prepared to make good any- 

 thing defective in workmanship or quality. At Moseley 's stand, 

 however, where the "Moseley" and " Ardwick " tires were 

 shown, a notice was displayed to the effect that the former tire 

 was guaranteed for fifteen months and the latter for nine 

 months from the date of delivery. A peculiarity about Moss- 

 ley's best quality tire rubber is its mottled appearance, other 

 makers turning out a product of uniform tint. The biggest 

 show was made by Macintosh's, including such accessories as 

 rubber solution and waterproof clothing, in addition to their 

 well known " Macintosh " and " Coventry " tires. Here the illus- 

 trated price list was conspicuous by its absence, a policy which 

 doubtless has Its advantages, though it must militate against 

 the retention in mind of the details of exhibits in the case of 

 visitors from a distance. Messrs. Hopkinson showed the Dray- 

 ton tire (wired on or beaded edge) and the Hopkinson patent 

 solid tire for motor cycles, claimed to be being the first solid 

 tire to effectually " supersede " the pneumatic. Perhaps com- 



pete with would be a better verb than supersede, but as a 

 judge recently said, every sane man makes an allowance for 

 trade puffs. With this tire any standard artillery wheel can be 

 fitted with but slight alteration and the method of attachment 

 with aluminium flange plates renders creeping impossible. 



This show (February 24-March 4) was quite the most suc- 

 cessful of its kind held so far in Manchester. The rubber tire 



department, however, did not contain anything 

 Mor'orstow °' striking novelty. Most of the well known 



makers were represented on one car or another, 

 the Collier, Michelin, Continental, Clincher, Dunlop, Swain, 

 and other tires occurring in close proximity. As far as the rub- 

 ber trade was concerned the only houses well represented were 

 the North British, Macintosh, and Moseley companies. The 

 booklet given away to visitors by the North British company 

 entitled " Hints and Instructions " in mounting, detaching, and 

 repairing Clincher motor tires is a veritable mine of informa- 

 tion of use to the increasing army of motorists. The Seddon 

 tubeless tire was shown prominently on the Messrs. Moseley 's 

 stand. Certainly the testimonials to which these firms draw 

 attention form an effective counter blast the oft repeated state- 

 ment that first class tires are not being produced in Great 

 Britain. Besides the " Macintosh " motor tire the firm had a 

 large show of motorists' clothing and among other accessories 

 I noticed dry electrical batteries, which are now being regu- 

 larly supplied.=^Perhaps at the present moment popular at- 

 tention centers on the motor bus, the rapidly extending em- 

 ployment of which is agitating the breasts of those interested 

 in street tramways and suburban railways. So far the firm 

 whose name has been almost exclusively concerned with the 

 tires for such heavy vehicles is the Shrewsbury & Challiner 

 Tyre Co. of (Vrdwick (Manchester), though judging from reports 

 of the show recently held at Olympla, London, it is clear that 

 they are threatened with opposition. However as far as the 

 Manchester show is concerned the local firm had the field to 

 itself and its exhibit attracted a good deal of attention. There 

 was nothing new to be seen in non-skidding devices, which but 

 re echoes the comments made by reporters as regards the de- 

 partment at the recent Olympia show. 



REPAIRING RUBBER BOOTS. 



THE New York Prwj recently printed the following con- 

 tributed paragraph : " I sent a pair of rubber boots 

 to a shoemaker to be repaired, and he nailed on leather heels 

 and soles. Is there a cobbler in New York who can patch rub- 

 ber footwear with rubber ? He ought to advertise his business. 

 Here is a single firm in New England making and selling 

 5,000,000 pairs of rubber shoes and boots every year. The 

 principle of no guarantees and no repairs means a fresh sale 

 whenever a rubber begins to leak. A competent repairer 

 should make a handsome income." 



A few days later the Press mentioned that this had brought 

 17 letters from people in the business of repairing rubber foot- 

 wear — from Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark, and 

 New York. One New York city firm says : " Never too old to 

 mend ! Rubber boots soled and heeled with solid rubber soles 

 and heels." It was established in 1863. The manager writes: 

 " I do this work regularly for the police force, letter carriers, 

 firemen, and truckmen, and some of their boots stand heeling 

 and soling twice." 



While advertisements of such work are not usual, it may be 

 mentioned that the footwear announcements In the local news- 

 papers of the Ailing Rubber Co. (Meriden, Connecticut) make 

 prominent mention of " Repairing." 



