150 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[FeiJruarv 1, 1903. 



teen years. Of course it may be urged that the wording is not 

 identical in each case, but the similarity is great enough to 

 cause confusion among customers, especially as in the case of 

 firms whose tides run to several words, there is a general dis- 

 position to use a contracted form. With regard to the Ken- 

 nington firm, they are about to remove the rubber manufactur- 

 ing part of their business to Cendon Valley, Wandsworth, 

 where special mills have been erected and a large plant has 

 been put down. The Kennington premises will be retained for 

 the purposes of fitting tires to wheels and for keeping a stock 

 of tires. Count de Nevers, it may be mentioned, is the sole 

 proprietor of the Kennington firm, and has taken a prominent 

 part in the development of the solid tire industry. 



I HEARD some time ago that Or. Weber had perfected a new 



arrangement for the recovery of naphtha used in spreading, 



and now the details are before me of the patent 



RECOVERY OF f^g_ 16,919-1901, granted to C. O. Weber and 

 Isldor Frankenburg, Limited. The actual per- 

 centage recovered of the solvent used is not given, but it has 

 been stated to be very high ; so high indeed as to excite a sus- 

 picion of exaggeration. However, I hope lobe in a position 

 to speak more definitely on this point shoiily. In the mean- 

 time it may not be uninteresting to say a word or two regard- 

 ing what has been done in the past in this way, though it must 

 be confessed that as the experience of firms who have adopted 

 recovery plants has been somewhat jealously kept from public 

 knowledge, one cannot affect to write with a great degree of 

 precision. Many years ago the Leyland company had a recov- 

 ery plant as had also Moseley's ; that of the former firm has 

 been abandoned while Moseley's have adopted a newer design 

 and are stated to be obtaining satisfactory results. The plant 

 designed by Mr. J. B. Piice for a prominent Manchester firm 

 was not an unqualified success, and as far as my knowledge the 

 only plant that has been really successful Is that made by 

 ■ Messrs. Siddeley, engineers of Liverpool, who have paid special 

 attention to the subject. There are now several of these 

 plants in rubber works and in card-clothing factories, an aver- 

 age yield of 45 per cent, of the naphtha used being recovered. 

 Of course in tlie absence of figures relative to working expenses, 

 the statement of the yield of naphtha is not of great value, but 

 I understand that In all cases Messrs. Siddeley 's plant, as im- 

 proved in late years, is working at a good profit. In some 

 cases the naphtha as recovered is fit for use over again without 

 further treatment, while in others it is taken back again for 

 distillation by the tar distiller at a reduction of a penny or 

 two per gallon on the contract price. This point as to the 

 purity of the product is one that should engage the attention 

 of those who propose adopting recovery plant, all the more as 

 with the improvements of late years there is now no ditTiculty 

 whatever in obtaining the naphtha pure enough for use over 

 again at once. What with the low prices that have ruled for 

 some time in regard to solvent naphtha, it cannot be said that 

 the present is an ideal time to bring out a new recovery ma- 

 chine, nor can it be contended that the profits of waterproofers 

 during the last year have been such as to cause them to con- 

 template an embarkation upon new capital expenditure with 

 equanimity. 



With regard to the advertisements of a recently started re- 

 claimed rubber company, astute people in the trade are won- 

 dering how it is that such rubber can be advertised 



RECOVERED ^^ f|.gg from oil substitutes and sulphur, seeing that 



RUBBER. , , , 



these components, or at any rate the latter two, 

 are so widely prevalent in the waste rubber of the day. I am 

 not attempting any reply myself, but am merely voicing the 

 expressions of incredulity which have fallen upon my ears. 



What speculation I may have, however, allowed myself to in- 

 dulge in seems to indicate that the advertisers have used an 

 abbreviated form of expression and that the meaning they in- 

 tend to convey is that none of the above mentioned materials 

 are purposely added to their products. ==Wlth regard to re- 

 covered rubber generally, there seems to be far more of the 

 black variety on offer than there is a market for. At the mo- 

 ment drab waste is rather in demand. Sometimes there is a 

 rush on red waste and holders thereof can realize at a satisfac- 

 tory profit, but as there is always the possibility of losses on 

 other kinds at the same time the business cannot, in these 

 days at least, be looked upon except as a risky and precarious 

 one. 



The contrivance invented by Mr. H. Paisons, of London, to 



prevent side slip in motor car tires, has attracted special notice 



in the " society"' as well as the technical press. It 



SIDE SLIP consists of two flexible wire hoops, one on either 



PREVENTER. .,,,,,,, ,. . . , 



Side of the wheel, the hoops being connected by 

 steel chains passing zig-zag from one to the other around the 

 tire. It will be possible to say something more fully about this 

 invention when its capabilities have stood the tests to which 

 they are about to be subjected. 



Mr. R. Openshaw has been appointed manager of the rub- 

 ber works of Messrs. Capon Heaton & Co., Limited, of Stirch- 

 ley near Birmingham. Mr. Openshaw has pre- 

 SHORT viously gained experience in the works of Charles 



MENTION. 



Macintosh & Co., and George McLellan & Co. 

 (Glasgow), and has also been connected with the Clipper Tyre 

 Co. ==The event of the closing month of the year has been 

 the long-delayed appearance of Dr. C. O. Weber's volume on 

 India-rubber. It will undoubtedly have a large circulation in 

 the trade. = = I notice that a section of the dally press is some- 

 what caustic about King Leopold's speech to the deputation of 

 the Baptist Missionary Society. The opinion is expressed that 

 a reduction of taxation on religious, scientific, and charitable 

 Institutions, though admirable in itself, would be more com- 

 mendable if it was accompanied by reform in administration 

 all round in the Congo Free State. The speech contained an 

 interesting announcement to the effect that replanting of rub- 

 ber trees is being regularly carried out in denuded areas. == 

 Another publication relating incidentally to raw rubber which 

 is being pretty widely read by the general public, is a volume 

 by Mr. Perez Triana, entitled " Down the Orinoco in a Canoe. " 

 The account of the immense virgin forests of Para rubber ob- 

 served by the author is hardly likely to reassure investors in 

 rubber plantations as to the value of their investments in the 

 immediate future. 



Thi.s company has been formed with a capital of ^25,000 



fro.Ti the wreck of the Hyde Imperial Rubber Co., at Woodley, 



and circumstances indicate its having a success- 



THE HYDE fu[ career under the management of Mr. Dawes. 



RUBBER CO. „, , J. ■ r> 



LIMITED. '■"^ names on the directorate point to Preston 

 capital being 'nvolved, to the exclusion of the 

 Birmingham element which was so prominent in the defunct 

 concern. 



AMAZON STEAM NAVIGATION CO. 



TO THE Editor of The India Rubber World : The di- 

 rectors of the Amazon Steam Navigation Co., Limited, 

 announced on November 12 that the company's contract has 

 been extended to July 31, 1910, subject to the approval of the 

 Brazilian federal congress, and they have now received a tele- 

 gram stating that the congress has given its approval of same. 



G. street i CO. 



30, Cornhill, I.onticip, DetcmDer 26, 1902. 



