Il'NK I, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



293 



Third. — Independent retaining wires passing entirely through the 

 rubber tires horizontally, and located below the outer periphery of the 

 flaring sides of the channel seat. The drawings heretofore set out will 

 better explain these parts, especially if examined in the light of the de- 

 scription of the patent also fully set out. 



The decision points out, " first, that it was not new to set 

 solid rubber tires into iron channels with flaring flanges, the 

 widest part of the rubber being below the periphery of the 

 channel sides ; second, that it was not new to use solid rubber 

 bands of the ' peculiar shape ' of that employed by Grant so far 

 as that shape has any substantial bearing upon the question of 

 novelty here to be considered ; and third, that it was not new 

 to use one or two or more wires for the purpose of retaining 

 the rubber tightly in the channel seat. 



•■ The mere bringing together of old parts and allowing each 

 to work out its own old efltort without producing some new ma- 

 chine or product is not invention. 



" A combination of old elements, to be patentable, ' must 

 produce a different force or effect, or result in the combined 

 forces or processes, from that given by their separate parts. 

 There must be a new result produced by their union ; if not, it 

 is only an aggregation of separate elements.' " 



After analyzing various claims made regarding the functions 

 of a rubber wheel tire, the decision continues : " Grant has 

 shown great industry in acquiring knowledge of what others 

 had done or taught in the attempt to make a marketable rub- 

 ber tire wheel, and has shown good judgment in selecting from 

 earlier structures or earlier teachings the best of the devices 

 thus made known, and good judgment in combining them with 

 mechanical skill. But we can discover no trace of invention or 

 original thought, for his parts as combined do substantially the 

 same operations which they did in the combinations from 

 which he took them. He has united the most beneficial fea- 

 tures of other patents, and in that sense has made a new com- 

 bination. But he has not produced a new manufacture or a 

 new result in a patentable sense." 



The decision says in one place : " Much of the superiority, or 

 rather superior durability, of Grant's tire is undoubtedly due to 

 the quality of the rubber used, in respect to which there has 

 been in late years a great improvement." 



The Rubber Tire Wheel Co. (Springfield, Ohio) were incor- 

 porated under the Ohio laws, June 2, 1894, to manufacture 

 solid rubber tires under a patent issued in 1893 to Arthur W. 

 Grant. The original capital was $10,000, which was gradually 



increased to $45,000. The Grant patent which has been the 



subject of later litigation was issued in 1896. In April, 1899, 

 the Rubber Tire Wheel Co. were merged, for a consideration 

 reported at $1,250,000, into the Consolidated Rubber Tire Co., 

 together with several tire selling concerns, the authorized cap- 

 ital of the new corporation being $10,000,000. At that time 

 The India Rubber World was informed by E. S. Kelly, one 

 of the original incorporators of the Springfield company, that, 

 datmg from February i, 1899, contracts were entered into by 

 which the company's orders for rubber would be divided be- 

 tween The B. F. Goodrich Co., the Diamond Rubber Co., The 

 India Rubber Co., and the Hartford Rubber Works Co., said 

 contracts to last during the life of the leading patent. Subse- 

 quently, however, the Consolidated company arranged for 

 their own manufacture of rubber, under the name of the Buck- 

 eye Rubber Co., since which time a disposition has been appar- 

 ent on the part of the other rubber companies to enter the 

 trade on their own account, especially since the demand for 

 vehicle tires has become so great. 



The B. F.Goodrich Co. inform The India Rubber World: 

 " We first commenced to manufacture tires for The Rubber 

 Tire Wheel Co. early in 1894. For some years we were the ex- 

 clusive manufacturers. Our relations with The Rubber Tire 

 Wheel Co. and their successors. The Consolidated Rubber Tire 

 Co., have always been very close and friendly. Now that the 

 circuit court of appeals has declared the Grant patent void, we 

 propose to market these tires ourselves. We will also market 

 the Firestone side wire tire, which we consider fully equal to 

 the Kelly tire. We will have branches or connections for ap- 

 plying our tires in all the principal cities. Heretofore, we have 

 confined ourselves to manufacturing tires for The Consolidated 

 Rubber Tire Co. Hereafter, however, we will be prepared to 

 manufacture any tires that may be wanted." 



The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. advise The India Rub- 

 ber World : " This decision in our judgment forever elimi- 

 nates the Grant patent from consideration in the solid tire 

 business. So far as this company is concerned, it has from the 

 beginning believed that the Grant patent could not stand the 

 final test of a contest upon its merits. The sympathy of the 

 trade has been with us in this fight, and very naturally we shall 

 profit more largely than any of our competitors as the result of 

 this decision. Our solid tire department has been running 

 night and day steadily all through the season and expects so to 

 continue until it is over." 



THE RUBBER PLANTING INTEREST. 



THE ninth annual report of the Selangor Planters' Asso- 

 ciation, in the Federated Malay States, for 1901, states 

 that during the year 247,458 rubber trees, from Para 

 seed, had been planted by its members, bringing 

 the total acreage up to 7487, which equals 11. 7 square miles. 

 The number of trees per acre is not indicated. Of " rambong " 

 (Ficus elasiica), 34,804 trees were planted on about 700 acres, 

 or an average of about 50 per acre. Trees of this species grow 

 so large that some authorities consider 10 to the acre enough, 

 when full grown. The report indicates that an encouraging 

 view of the rubber prospect exists. The association numbers 

 68 members, with about 14,661 acres under cultivation, mostly 

 in coffee, the acreage of which is decreasing, on account of de- 

 clining prices for the product. The high prices obtained for 

 sample lots of rubber sent to London prove to have been most 

 encouraging to the planters. 



BUFFALO AND HONDURAS CO. 



[Plantation office, Chemelicon, depanment of Cortez, Honduras. Head office: 

 No. 1000 Ellicott square, Buffalo, New York.] 



Incorporated under the laws of New York state ; capital. 

 $400,000. A tract of 1225 acres has been acquired near San 

 Pedro Sula, in northeastern Honduras — on the north bank of 

 the Sula river, and 37 miles from Puerto Cortez, on the gulf, 

 the principal port of the country. It is also convenient to a 

 railroad. The work of clearing has been begun, to prepare 

 for planting rubber and bananas next month. Officers : George 

 H. Dunbar, president; George R. Howard, vice president; 

 Harry Yates, treasurer ; F. B. Walker, secretary — all of Buffalo, 

 Messrs. Dunbar and Yates are now on the plantation. The 

 resident manager there is Howard Sawyer Reed, whom the 

 Smithsonian Institution sent to Honduras at one time to make 

 a scientific collection. He favorably impressed the govern- 



