June i, 1902.] 



THE iNDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



277 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



I DON'T know what the case is in the United States, but 

 on this side it is pretty generally the rule for firms to re- 

 fuse to allow their managers as subordinate employes to 

 give evidence in legal disputes between rival firms, or 

 where another rubber manufacturer is being proceeded against. 

 Although this decision reduces the field from 

 EXPERT whence real expert evidence can be obtained 



EVIDENCE. , '^ „ J. . , . 



to one of very small dimensions, yet there is un- 

 doubtedly much to be said in its favor. There is no reason, of 

 course, to suggest that a breach of the ninth commandment 

 would be imminent were various manufactures put in the wit- 

 ness box to testify to the demerits of a competitors' goods, yet 

 the undoubted existence of sharp trade rivalry is enough to 

 cause qualms in the mind of him against whom the evidence is 

 being given. Moreover, the existence of trade rivalry does not 

 presuppose the atrophy of honorable dealing, and a good many 

 manufacturers would just as soon that no suspicion of " hit- 

 ting below the belt "should exist. They may chuckle inwardly 

 at seeing a rival worsted in a legal encounter, but they much 

 prefer that \\\e. fulmen bruium was death by some other hand 

 than their own. I am minded to enlarge on this question be- 

 cause I remember once hearing a counsel in a rubber dispute 

 state that the North British Rubber Co. had given an opinion 

 as to the manufacture of some goods in dispute, but that they 

 made it their invariable rule not to allow any of their staff to 

 give evidence in court. How far the opinion of the North 

 British company in the case referred to had weight with the 

 judge I am unable to say, but, under the circumstances, seeing 

 that no cross examination could take place, it hardly seems de- 

 sirable that such evidence should be offered in court. If evi- 

 dence in person is not allowed by the company, then it would 

 seem only reasonable that opinion calculated to damage a 

 trade rival should not be paraded by counsel. At least this is 

 how it occurs to me : it is of course quite probable that the use 

 of the North British company's opinion in the above case was 

 quite unauthorized, and I have no wish to be understood as 

 going beyond the mere recording of a fact to indulge in the 

 luxury of a homily which may turn out to be totally unjustified. 

 The new building, both architecturally and in its ample di- 

 mensions, is certainly a great improvement on that which for 

 so many years attracted the searcher in patent 

 THE NEW lore and the reader of technical journals. It 

 PATENT OFFICE ^^^not be Said that the library shelf bearing the 



LIBRARY. •' ° 



label " India-rubber and Gutta-percha ' is par- 

 ticularly well filled, but that is not the fault of the librarians 

 who have put thereon what technical literature on the subject 

 is available, a prominent volume of course being that written 

 by the Editor of this Journal. ["Crude Rubber and Compound- 

 ing Ingredients."] The library as far as I have had experience 

 of it cannot have the complaint of vitiated atmosphere brought 

 against it. Probably recent advances in hygiene have had 

 their influence to obviate defects in ventilation which are so 

 painfully apparent in the British Museum library, for instance. 

 But whether this is so, or whether the result may be attributed 

 to the comparatively small number of readers to be found pres- 

 ent at anyone time, is a matter of no great import. The effect 

 is of more interest to the brain worker that the cause on which 

 it depends and it is a pleasure to be able to testify to the ad- 

 rnirable nature of the arrangements. Probably the librarian 



and his assistants rarely if ever look beneath the covers of the 

 various technical journals under their charge, but as The In- 

 dia Rubber World appears on the tables, there is a remote 

 chance that these few remarks may catch the eye of some one 

 in authority. 



With regard to the interesting notice in the March India 

 Rubber World of the sunning of vulcanized rubber goods, I 

 speak under correction, but I doubt if the 

 process is in use at all in Great Britain. I was 



SOLARIZATION 

 0FRUBBERG00D3- 



quite under the impression myself that the use 

 of the solar rays in this way had never been actually put in 

 practice, although suggested very many years ago. With re- 

 gard to its general application, the absence of strong sunlight 

 for a great part of the year in many British rubber manufactur- 

 ing centers would seem to be a serious drawback. We seem to 

 have an analogy in the use of the windmill ; it is awkward to 

 be dependent on a force which is not under control, and which 

 cannot be called into being at the will of the manufacturer. 

 As suggested in the article, the use of the actinic rays in this 

 way certainly raises strong doubts as to the correctness of the 

 general idea that sunlight is destructive to vulcanized rubber 

 goods, but I suppose that it islargely a matter of time, and itis 

 in the brevity of the exposure in the sun curing process that 

 safety and success lie. Increase the time of exposure to some- 

 thing approaching that which goods are expected to last when 

 in use and there would assuredly be a different tale to tell. 



The triple angled revolving spreading machine gage patented 



by Mr. William Coulter some few years ago has, I understand, 



quite borne out the expectations entertained by 



SPREADING those rubber manufacturers, both in Great Britain 



MACHINE 



QAGE. 3"d O" '"S Continent, who have given it a trial. 

 The fact that the North British Rubber Co. have 

 placed twelve in their mills is a safe indication of merit, and 

 one on which the patentee not unnaturally lays stress, when 

 endeavoring to combat opposition or to convince those who 

 view such novelties with complacent indifference. Space does 

 not permit here of entry into minute detail, but a word or two 

 seems desirable. The improvement consists in the application 

 of a revolving gage with different angles for the various classes 

 of work to be spread. Material is in this way saved as a sharp 

 angle gage will use less dough especially in first coating than a 

 deep one, afterwards in proofing up with a more blunt gage 

 a more thoroughly waterproof sheet is claimed to be made 

 than if the sharp angle gage had been applied throughout 

 the piece. It used to be rather a common excuse among 

 workmen that the gage of their machines was too heavy or 

 too light for the particular work given out, but it will be 

 seen that with the revolving gage such complaints are inad- 

 missible. Messrs. Joseph Robinson & Co., the rubber machin- 

 ists of Springfield lane, Salford. Manchester, are the makers, 

 and will give any desired information. 



As I write, at the opening of the lawn tennis season, a 

 rather perturbed state of mind is prevalent among club secre- 

 taries with regard to the balls. For years 

 " Ayres regulation " have been the best quality, 

 or, at any rate, nave had the highest reputation, 

 and have been universally adopted by the leading clubs and in 

 tournaments. This season, however, Slazenger's balls are to be 

 used in the tournaments, a change that has excited a consider- 



LAWN TENNIS 

 BALLS. 



