July i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



317 



of different names and physical properties, yet have the same 

 chemical composition. Take for instance, French chalk and 

 asbestos powder; these may both occur in the same mixing, 

 but the analyst cannot be precise upon the point, important 

 though it be, in the case of steam packing. If to the above 

 magnesium silicates, carbonate of magnesia is also added, the 

 difficulty with which the analyst is confronted is augmented, 

 and he must be excused if in his report he uses terms of con- 

 siderable latitude. 



Somewhat conflicting accounts continue to be received as 

 to the degree of favor which this ball has achieved. Certainly 

 in its later improved form, known as the " bram- 

 ble " pattern, it is thought much more of than as at 



GOLF BALL. 



first introduced, and just at present the supply 

 cannot cope with the demand, even at the price of 2 shillings 

 6 pence each. The new form having a thicker cover, is found 

 not so liable to split under a severe stroke, and this is consid- 

 ered a great advance. 



A GOOD testimony to the success which various American 

 rubber packings have attained over here is seen in the desire 

 which is evinced by many of our firms to make 

 *'ste'am'' similar products. Not that they are inclined to 

 PACKINGS, bow down before the American goods as some- 

 thing necessarily inferior to what they have been 

 accustomed to make themselves. The attempts to work on 

 American lines have been necessitated rather by repeated ap- 

 plications from their customers, and they have perforce found 

 it necessary to indulge in that imitation which we are told is 

 the best form of flattery. 



Some difficulty was at first experienced in making this sort 

 of hose of the high quality which is demanded by such buyers 

 as the British admiralty ; the difficulty lying in ap- 

 RUBBER plying the seamless rubber lining without destroy- 

 HOSE. '"8 °'' ^' *"y ''^^^ injuring the rubber in the process 

 if the rubber was of first quality. The idea that 

 only common quality rubber could be used for the purpose has 

 however been shown to be fallacious, and some of our promin- 

 ent firms are now turning out the hose in complete concord- 

 ance with the somewhat stringent regulations as to quality of 

 rubber which are embodied in the admiralty specifications. 



In this brief mention it is not proposed to give any details of 



the business carried on at the the two rubber works which the 



country possesses. The chief interest of Hol- 



HOLLAND j^^j jQ Qu^ ^^^^ manufacturers lies in the fact 



AND THE , . . , , ■ ,- 



RUBBER TRADE '"^^ ''• '* ^"^ Only country m Europe where 

 there are no patent laws. It seems rather 

 strange that Holland should occupy this anomalous position, 

 but though I have recently been sojourning in the land, this 

 subject was not one of those which came up for discussion, and 

 I am unable to give any reasons as to the why and wherefore. 

 I know that certain transactions in the tire business have in 

 recent years taken place between English and Dutch firms, and 

 which were of a nature not altogether palatable to the Dunlop 

 company. 



The manufacture of this rubber in Great Britain is largely 

 in the hands of the Dental Manufacturing Co., Limited, for- 

 merly Claudius Ash & Sons, a good many practi- 

 DENTAL tioners being interested as small shareholders. This 



RUBBER 



firm has a small rubber works in the east of London. 

 Another firm making rather a specialty of this class of work is 

 the Scotland Vulcanite Co., Limited, of View Forth Works, 

 Edinburgh, though I am not familiar with any of their products. 

 With regard to various other rubber firms who have dabbled 

 in the business from time to time, it appears that the chief dif- 

 ficulty experienced has been to turn out goods which will keep 



their color duiing vulcanization. The effect of the necessarily 

 large amount of sulphur used is to turn the bright red of the 

 vermilion to a dirty brown, a result not at all desired by the 

 man of the forceps. It has been suggested that some modifi- 

 cation of ordinary flowers of sulphur might solve the difficulty. 

 I don't know whether any such sulphur exists as a trade secret, 

 but am inclined to be sceptical on the point. 



The manufacture of these plasters, or such of them as are 

 based on rubber, is carried on by some of our rubber firms. 

 The goods as a rule are ordered by manufacturing 

 PLASTERS, pharmacists, who give close instructions, and as a 

 rule, send the correct proportions of gums and 

 drugs which are to be mixed with the rubber, these bodies, or 

 rather their constitution, not being revealed to the rubber 

 manufacturer. The business is not much run after as it is 

 somewhat difficult and by no means highly remunerative. At 

 the Chemists' and Druggists' Exhibition held in June in Man- 

 chester, under the auspices of The British and Colonial Drug- 

 gist, the old established firm of A. de St. Dalmas & Co. 

 (Leicester) had a large and varied assortment of rubber adhe- 

 sive plasters and bandages, Guttapercha tissue, etc. 



The North British Rubber Co., Limited, have been making 

 extensive alterations in their works, a good deal of rebuilding 

 having been necessitated. =^The Tubeless Pneu- 

 MENTioN. '"^'^'*^ "^y*^ ^""^ Capon Heaton, Limited, are still 

 being carried on under the surveillance of a receiver, 

 though it is now almost entirely in the hands of Mr. Palmer, 

 the chairman of the company, who holds nearly all the deben- 

 tures.==The Rowley puncture locater, brought out some lime 

 ago by Thomas Rowley, of Manchester, continues, from what I 

 hear, to gain in popular favor. It is claimed for this fluid, not 

 only that it is a ready means of detecting a puncture, but that 

 it also heals it, if a small one.=^ = The Clayton Engineering and 

 Electrical Construction Co., Limited, of Newton, near Hyde, 

 have recently gone into liquidation. This firm, on whose 

 board the Byrnes, of Birmingham, were represented, has been 

 largely engaged in the manufacture of rubber machinery dur- 

 ing the few years of its existence.==On June 6 a motion for 

 the winding up of the Hyde Imperial Rubber Co. was brought 

 at the Stockport county court on the initiative of Mr. Kram- 

 risch, a large creditor. The proceedings were lengthy and ani- 

 mated, the matter finally being adjourned for a week.==Dr. 

 C. O. Weber is about to start for Central America, in order to 

 give expert advice to a rubber planting company as to prepar- 

 ing the rubber for sale in a pure condition, so as to reduce 

 largely, if not to annihilate the customary washing expenses in 

 the rubber works. His visit will only be of short duration. 

 ■"=An advertisement recently appeared in a London paper 

 for a man conversant with the details of the rubber manufac- 

 ture, to go out to South Africa. This rather looks as if the 

 erection of a rubber works was in contemplation. I have 

 heard the opinion expressed that rubber factories in Africa 

 should pay, owing to the contiguity of the raw material, but 

 this advantage, if it is an advantage, which is by no means 

 clear, may easily be counterbalanced by difficulties in the way 

 of getting of other materials incidental to the manufacture. 



Uganda.— In the instructions to Lieutenant Colonel J. H. 

 Sadler, on appointment as British commissioner and consul 

 general in the Lfganda protectorate, in East Africa, stress is 

 laid upon the importance of developing the resources of that 

 region. India-rubber being mentioned specially. The reports 

 of the former British commissioner in Uganda, Sir Harry 

 Johnston, have made clear the existence of mbbtr {Landolphia 

 species) there, to an important extent. 



