Januakv I, 1933 1 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



109 



THH CONDITION OF THE TRADE. 



Pnblished on the 1st of each Month by 



THH INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 



No. 150 NASSAU ST.. NEW TOEK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, 



KDI IllR. 



HAWTHORNE HILL, 



ASSOCIATE. 



Vol. 27. 



JANUARY 1, 1903. 



No. 4. 



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COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 



Knierecl ai NVw York Post Office as mail matter of the second-class. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Editorial: page. 



Tie Condition of the Trade 109 



A Fifth vviit-el Nut seeded 110 



Not s .ell H Had Showing 110 



A sew Kubber Swindle . Ill 



Minor K litorial Ill 



Dr. Weber s New Book on India Rubber 112 



Regeneration of Old Rubber and Waste Rbuber L.Ed^ar Andes 113 



Rubber 1 lanting and Exploi' ation 114 



[Yield of * Pdri Rubber " in Penang. An Official View of Rubber 

 Culture Rubber Plantations in Costa Rica. Impoitation of Rub- 

 bfr trom the Ptiilij>pincs {Illustrated ^ Rubber in Formosa. 

 Pliintmy ■ Pard Rubber'' in Cubi. Mexican Plantation Notes ] 



Variable Speed Devices for Rubber Mills -H J. O.DefTolf 117 



[Wah Three Illustrations.] 



Rubber Notes from Europe ■ 118 



[In^ludinj^ Prnfits of English Tire Companies ] 



The India- Rubber Trade in Great Britain 



Uitr Regular Correspondent 119 



[R.iw Rubber Prices Rainproof Garments. Theoretical Chemistry. 

 Stanlc-y Cycle Show. British Pluvium Cn , Limited.] 



An Attempt to" Make Rubber " that Failed fV.H.Slayton 121 



Sole and Blank Cutting Machines 124 



[With Three Illustrations] 



The Rubber Trade at Akron. U/ir Correspondent 125 



Recent Rubber Patents [American, British, German] 127 



New Goods and Specialties in Rubber (Niiisirofcd) 129 



fApsicv Adjustable Invisible Rubbers. A Masli for Varnishing. The 

 " Unive sal " Cement. Patent Beer Hose Protector and Clamp. 

 The " Peerless " Knob Step Malting, New Machine for Putting on 

 Tires ] 



The Textile Goods Market 131 



India-Rubber Goods in Commerce 132 



[U itii uliicial Statistics for the United Slates, Fiscal Year of 1901-02.] 



Miscellaneous : 



Uui. oiii.iule Cabling on the Amazon 120 



Tluj Kiiuner .aron the Acre 123 



• 'ahl.-' and Wireless Telegraphy 123 



New Tia.le Pub icatlons 130 



Amazon steam Navigation Co 131 



Th- New Pacific Cables 140 



Hewa.of the American Rnbber Trade 134 



[VVitb Portrait of Charles H. Dale.] 

 Review of the Crude Rubber Market 140 



T^HE record of the past year in the India-rubber indus- 

 *■ try in the United States, on the whole, has been sat- 

 isfactory. The demand for goods has been steady and 

 in good volume, but without showing any advance over 

 the best recent years, and in most branches the prices of 

 products have been well maintained. The feature least sat- 

 isfactory to the manufacturer has been the upward tendency 

 in the cost of raw materials — of crude rubber, latterly, and 

 of cotton and other goods throughout the year. The gt n- 

 erally satisfactory condition of business has been favorable 

 to the rubber trade, but the year has shown no such sptrc- 

 ially marked development in the various industrial 

 branches as to create a larger demand than usual for rub- 

 ber goods. In this respect the growth in the trade for 

 two or three years past has not been duplicated Pur- 

 chasers of large amounts of belting, hose, and the like, are 

 desirous of making them last as long as possible, and the 

 equipment of a given large new industrial plant is not re- 

 peated every year. 



The considerable development in the mechanical rubber 

 branch, keeping pace with improved industrial business 

 conditions, which followed the last period of general de- 

 pression, resulted in the establishment of a number of new- 

 rubber factories, so that to day the capacity of the indus- 

 try is perhaps 25 per cent, in excess of the normal demand 

 for products. In some instances a result of this condition 

 has been a disposition to make concessions in prices, in 

 order to capture trade, especially on the part of the newer 

 establishments. This has been resisted, however, to the 

 general advantage of the trade, by the more conservative 

 companies, whose position in the matter has been strength- 

 ened by the increased cost of production due to advances 

 in raw materials. 



During the year there has been no further development 

 in the consolidation of the industry in so far as the inclu- 

 sion of other companies in the existing combinations is 

 concerned. A feature not without interest to the trade as 

 a whole has been the policy on the part of the consoli- 

 dated company in the mechanical goods trade of unifying 

 its management in each of the more important branches of 

 production, which may be expected to produce better re- 

 turns and place the company in a more stable position, 

 with the general effect of steadying prices and lessening 

 the pressure of competition — a result which will be no less, 

 helpful to the independent companies. 



It is too early to comment in detail upon the rubber 

 shoe trade, since the showing of the balance sheets of the 

 manufacturing companies must depend upon the demand: 

 for footwear during the winter, the greater part of whichi 

 is yet to come. It may be said, however, that productioni 

 has been active since April i, and manufacturers have hadi 

 the benefit during much of this time of rubber at a lower 

 cost than for three or four years past, while sales to the 

 trade have been made on rather more favorable terms. 

 Besides, the winter has opened well, from the rubber 

 standpoint, rain and snow having fallen in most parts of 

 the rubber shoe wearing belt in sufficient quantities to 



