November i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



45 



out is, it is claimed, superior to that done in the old type of 

 machine. The machine is attended to by one man, the labor 

 necessary being very slight, as there is no carrying of the 

 pieces backwards and forwards, some four, five, or six times, un- 

 til the spreading is completed, as is the case with the ordinary 

 machine. The fabric once passed through this machine is 

 completely proofed and also calendered at one operation, and 

 is ready for the vulcanizing process. The contingent risks of 

 damaging the fabrics are thereby minimized, as when spread- 

 ing in the old way on each operation of coating, there is liability 

 to accident. Absolute uniformity of spreading is also obtained 

 by this machine. The process being completed in one run, it 

 is not necessary to alter the " doctor," which has to be done 

 with each coating of the fabric in the ordinary machine. 

 There are consequently no risks from friction, which are inci- 

 dental to the high speeded machines known as flyers, a type 

 which for years have been tried unsuccessfully. The space 

 required for the machine is the same as that of the ordinary 

 spreader. The plans required for a good sized factory, viz., six 

 ordinary machines and a calender worked by seven men, would 

 be reduced to one machine attended by one man and a boy 

 and in the space oc- 

 cupied by one ordi- 

 nary spreading ma- 

 chine. The rubber- 

 covered roller is 

 naturally, on account 

 of its large size, an 

 item of considerable 

 expense, and it has 

 been raised as an ob- / 

 jection to this pat- f^ 

 ent machine, that in 

 case of fire the loss 

 incurred would be 

 large. To this it 

 should be said that ^ 

 inquiries made at 

 the works where the 

 machine has been in 

 constant use for three 

 years shows that the 

 probability of loss 

 from this cause has 

 been exaggerated, no fire having occurred, an immunity 

 which is due a good deal to the fact that the non spreading 

 is not so tight as in the ordinary machine. A large diam- 

 eter roller is necessitated because of the three " doctors " 

 employed. It may be said, in conclusion, that the machine is 

 in regular use at some of the most important rubber works in 

 Great Britain, and that its potentialities as described are not 

 the outcome of calculation, but the results of actual practice. 



The next machine that demands attention on the present 

 occasion, is the Rowley and Walmsley double deck machine, 

 made by Messrs. Iddon, of Leyland, Lancashire. There are 

 two spreading gages and calender rolls at each end of the ma- 

 chine, two rolls of cloth being coated simultaneously by one 

 man from alternate ends of the machine, until finished. It is 

 claimed that by the dough being thus spread in alternate di- 

 rections, liability to porosity is removed. The chief saving in 

 labor is in the winding back and handling of the rolls of cloth, 

 as in the ordinary machine, and this saving, together with one 

 or two others, amounts to something considerable in a week's 

 work. Both in this machine and in the last one, the drying 

 tables are considerably longer than in the old type, and this of 



ROWLEY AND WALMSLEY SPREADING MACHINE. 



course has a good deal to do with the extra cost of both. In 

 the machine under notice, the two drying tables are each 20 

 feet long, which is found sufficient to expel the naphtha when 

 the cloth is passed at the rate of 8 to 10 yards per minute. 

 The total length of the machine is 27 feet long and 10 feet 

 wide over all, the rollers, of the hard rubber type, being 10 

 inches in diameter — very much less than in the machine just 

 described. It is understood that, besides having been adopted 

 in English works, a French works has taken it up. 



Seeing that somewhat serious allegations have been made 



from time to time by the lower ranks of the army against the 



ground sheets served out in South Africa, I took 



RUBBER GOODS , ■ , , j , . 



IN THE LATE ^"^ Opportunity the other day of interrogating 

 SOUTH AFRICAN an officer who has been largely concerned with 

 CAMPAIGN. supply and transport duties in South Africa. 

 His reply to my query as to whether any complaint as to qual- 

 ity had come to his knowledge was in the negative ; as far as 

 his sphere of operations had extended he said he had heard 

 nothing in the nature of a complaint as to bad or inefficient 

 waterproofing. This of course does not say anything as to the 

 case in other districts of the wide area of operation, but at any 



rate it seems worthy 

 of mention as the 

 complaints that have 

 been made have 

 gained considerable 

 publicity in the press. 

 It is possible that a 

 shortage of new ma- 

 terial was experi- 

 enced at a certain 

 time, as a consider- 

 able number of 

 ground sheets fell 

 into the hands on the 

 occasion of a train 

 capture the details of 

 which it hardly seems 

 necessary to revive 

 on the present occa- 

 sion. With regard 

 to other waterproof 

 goods, the valise bed 

 which forms part of 

 the officers' equipment on the ve/iii has had a good trial and 

 is highly spoken of. I don't know who are the makers of 

 this article, but it is probably some firm who buy the water- 

 proof double texture from the rubber works and who make up 

 the valise attheir own factory. Another article which may be 

 mentioned as having been found of great service by officers is 

 the rubber Wellington riding boot, commonly known out there 

 as " gum boots." These of course do not form part of full dress 

 equipment, but they have been found very useful by the army 

 service corps officers whose varied duties outside the sphere 

 of active belligerency render it advisable to have recourse to 

 the outfit of the sportsman rather than of the soldier. The 

 particular gum boots which I have inspected bore the name of 

 the Liverpool Rubber Co. I don't know whether other firms 

 have shared in the business, but I was informed that a much 

 larger business might be done in them, as the supply had not 

 kept pace with the demand. This fact might be worth the at- 

 tention of those whom it chiefly concerns. Though not exactly 

 apposite to this paragraph, I may perhaps say that the old cus- 

 tom of serving worn out material to our volunteers in camp 

 has not yet fallen into desuetude. I had an opportunity this 



