Septembek 1, 1905 ] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORUO 



395 



eUn 



W-Po^ 



Fablished on the Ist of eaoh Month by 



Tllli INDIA RUBHHR PUBLISHING CO. 



No. 150 NASSAU ST.. NEW YOEK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, 



EDITOR. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 



ASSOCIATE. 



Vol. 32. 



SEPTEMBER 1, 1905. 



No 6. 



HuBSCKiPTiONB: <3.00 per year, SI.75 for six montbs, postpaid, for the United 

 States and Canada. Foreign countries, same price. Special Kates for 

 ('lul)s of Hvf, ten or more sul)scribers. 



1.DVBBTI8IN(!: Kates will be made known on application. 



Rrmittancks: Slioiiid always Lie made !)y tjanli draft, Post OlHeeUrd.' or 

 Express Money orders on New York, payalile to Tub India Kiiuhkb 

 Publishing Company. Itemittances for foreign subscriptions siiould 

 be sent by Interuational Post order, payable as above. 



COPYRIGHT, 190s, B y 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 



Entered at New Yorit Post Oftlce as mail matter of tbe second-class. 



TABLE: OF CONfENTS. 



PAOK. 



■«ltorlal: 



Dangerous Klectrlc WlrlDR .W5 



Keclaiined Rubber 39B 



Minor l-'.dit(irlal .... 3!)6 



An Insulated Wire Inspection Bureau 398 



Thomas W Lawson as a Rubber Historian O.H.C 399 



The Kleinert Rubber Co. and its Head 401 



[With 2 Illustrations.] 



Thelndia-Rubber Tradein Great Britain- Our Regular Correspondent 403 



[Motor I'Tirc iNotes. Red Ruliber Dang^rr Society of Chemical In- 

 dustry Financial Resuhs. Mr. J. K. Hurbndge. Naval Fisheries 

 Exhibition. The Colonial Exhibition.] 



Literature of India- Rubber 404 



Air Brake Hose Testing Apparatus 405 



[With 2 Illustrations.] 



Adamson's Self Contained Vulcanizer 406 



[With I Illustration ] 



New Hose Vulcanizing Mold 406 



(With 4 Illustrations.] 



New Goods and Specialties in Rubber , 407 



[The ■' Penna " Nose Guard. Rubber Poker Chips. Attractive Toy 

 Animals. A New Trouser Robe. The Indented Fiber Sole. The 

 "Dime" Screen Door Check Marvin's Emergency Fire Hose 

 Mender. Combination Water Bottle and Syringe.] 

 [With II Illustrations.] 



Recent Rubber Patents 409 



[United States, (ireat Britain. Germany. France.] 

 IWith 6 Illustrations J 



New Trade Publications 411 



The New Revolution in Kubber .. 412 



The Rubber Planting Interest 413 



[American Capital in Straits Rubber. Injury to Rubber Trees from 

 Tapping. Tracing Rubber to its Sources. Notes from Ceylon and 

 the Straits Settlements ] 



[With I Illustration.] 



Obituary 415 



[With Portrait of Rhodes Lockwood.l 



The Textile Goods Market 416 



Rubber Goods in Commerce 417 



President Diaz on Rubber Planting 418 



lliscellaneons : 



Syiitlietic Kubber from Bastard Gums 397 



How One Rubber Factory .Makes Money ] 307 



Death of a Ceylon Editor \ 3;,7 



Wireless Telegraph on the Amazon S97 



Money lu Colorado Rubber ' .' 397 



F, ectrical Enterprises in Pui.l 39,s 



Kucker'3 Tire Profits and Losses '. ,, 400 



Tbe Ubero Planting Companies 402 



Fire Department Carts '. 402 



"Jottings by an -Vmerlcan In Europe " 40G 



Toe Latest Artificial Kr.bber 408 



An Erasing Machine i/liiMtratad) 412 



Araenoan Kubber .Shoes In Turkt-y 417 



Standard Threads for Fire H ise Nozzles ,. 4 it 



" An American Aniilo^y " 41m 



News of the American Rubber Trade 419 



Xeview of the Crude Rubber Market 424 



DANGEROUS ELECTRIC WIRING. 



T N view of the recent destruction of St. Thomas's church, 

 ■*■ in New York, and some other serious fires charged to 

 defective wiring, it is high time for preventive measures. 

 To be sure it is very easy to make electric lighting a sca[)e- 

 goat in cases where, as is indeed usual, the fire has de- 

 stroyed all important evidence as to its origin, but it is only 

 too certain that defective circuits are res])onsible for heavy 

 annual losses, which could for the most part be prevented. 

 There are certain risks which come unavoidably as the re- 

 sult of modern improvements and which must be taken as 

 the penalty of progress. I'^lectrical fire risks do not be- 

 long to this privileged class ; they are the result ii! nearly 

 every case of using poor material, of careless installation, 

 or of lamentable lack of foresight in the provisions made 

 for electrical equipment. To strike at the root of the mat- 

 ter, the first cause of disaster is the attempt, which almost 

 rises to the dignity of a national vice, to make about si.xty 

 cents do the work of an honest- dollar. Let us follow up 

 the matter seriatim. 



The projector of a building casts about for some prac- 

 ticable means of screwing an extra per cent, out of his in- 

 vestment, and worries his architect into producing a set 

 of plans scamped at every point, on pain of losing his job. 

 The smallest possible allowance is made for wiring, both 

 in space and in money, and when bids are finally called 

 for they are upon a basis from which no honest contractor 

 can work and live. So the cheapest bid gets the work ard 

 the bidder, always looking for profit, casts about for cheap 

 workmen and cheap material. The former he can find 

 only too easily and the latter, thanks to the competition 

 forced on the manufacturers, is ready at hand. So into 

 the cheap building cheap goods are put, with little regard 

 to consequences which come in due season, and then fol- 

 lows the usual wail over the dangers of electric lighting. 

 These dangers disappear when first class material is hon- 

 estly and skilfully installed, and the problem of safety in 

 electrical installations practically resolves itself into a 

 question of business morals. 



The fire underwriters being chief among the sufferers have 

 done for many years sterling work in raising the standard 

 of installations, and they have been effectively seconded 

 by the wire manufacturers, but there is precious little use 

 in solemnly issuing lists of approved material so long as 

 its use is not peremptorily enforced. Every time a la.\ or 

 too good iiatured inspector lets down the bars danger walks 

 through, and even the underwriters themselves, under the 

 stress of competition, have sometimes winked at the use of 

 questionable material. So long as bad material is placed up- 

 on the market it will find plenty of users, and even good 

 material may be so misused as to be dangerous. In our 

 judgment far more electrical fires are due to careless 

 installation than to downright poor wire and fittings. 

 This class is preventable just in proportion as inspectors 

 can be depended upon to do their whole duty in spite of 

 obvious opportunities for temptation. Any insulation can 

 be damaged by violence or placed in a situation wnere it 

 will inevitably deteriorate. As a rule poor material and 



