September i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^A^ORl-D 



377 



shoes, with proper discrimination in styles and sizes and 

 fit. These articles are conducive to health and comfort 

 and cleanliness — without which there can be no civilization 

 and the lack of which made impossible in life such Indians 

 as exist in fiction. And shall the Indian be denied " rub- 

 bers " because the very idea destroys the illusion wliich 

 made the " Indian novel " attractive ? 



There is here a practical consideration for the trade. If 

 the native red man of North America is capable of such 

 development as undoubtedly has been made by some of 

 his race on the reservations in the West — the world hears 

 less of it than of the former bloody uprisings that brought 

 fame to General Miles — no race is hopeless as possible cus^ 

 tomers for rubber shoes, and the demand for such goods 

 need not be confined to the present ranks of civilization. 

 The whole world will yet wear rubbers, for the tendency 

 in every land is to approach, even if slowly, the highest 

 stage of development in any other. Meanwhile let the 

 missionaries continue their work, but let them consider 

 whether they will not be aided in it by carrying rubber 

 shoes with them as a civilizing agency. 



A STANDARD STEEL CHANNEL FOR TIRES. 



H 



bar t 



iy4 INCHES 



2 INCHES 



ITHERTO there have been not less than ten different 

 standards for steel channel used in applying solid rub- 

 ires to vehicles. There has been no standard recognized 



among rubber 

 manufacturers, 

 each one mak- 

 ing his tires to 

 fit the particu- 

 lar channel he 

 used. As a large 

 part of the rub- 

 ber tire busi- 

 ness consists 

 in re- rubbering 

 wheels already 

 fitted with 

 channel, it has 

 very often hap- 

 2/. INCHES pened that the 



rubber would 

 notfitthechan- 

 nel perfectly. 

 This necessi- 

 tated taking off 

 the channel, 

 and putting on 

 a new one, or, 

 as was more 

 often the case, 

 putting the 

 rubber on re- 

 gardless of the 

 fit, and thus 

 m a k i ng a de- 

 fective job. As 

 a result, a great 

 many rubber 

 tires havegiven 



3 INCHES 



3'/4 INCHES 



poor service for this reason alone, as it is absolutely essential 

 to have a correct fit between the rubber tire and the steel 

 channel. 



To The B. F. Goodrich Co. (Akron) belongs the credit of 

 starting the movement which has resulted m a universal Stan- 

 dard channel having been adopted by the manufacturers of 

 solid rubber tires in the Unit.^d States. The American Steel 

 Hoop Co., of Pittsburgh, are now making a complete set of 

 new rolls for producing Standard channel, which will be ready 

 in a month, perhaps. The following tire manufacturers have 

 agreed to adopt channel made in accordance with this Stan- 

 dard, and will furnish their tires to fit: 



The B. F. Goodrich Co. (Akron, Ohio.) 



The Consolidated Rubber Tire Co. (New York.) 



The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (Akron, Ohio.) 



The Diamond Rubber Co. (Akron, Ohio.) 



The Hartford Rubber Works Co. (Hartford, Conn.) 



Morgan & Wright (Chicago, 111.) 



Calumet Tire and Rubber Co. (Chicago, 111.) 



The Victor Rubber Co. (Springfield, Ohio ) 



The Kokomo Rubber Co. (Kokomo, Ind.) 



The Gutta Percha and Rubber Manufacturing Co, of Toronto, Ltd. 



The India Rubber Co. (Akron, Ohio.) 



The Pennsyvania Rubber Co. (Erie, Pa.) 



The lasting benefit of this action will be apparent to all who 

 have had anything to do with rubber tires. Dealers in carriage 

 hardware everywhere can now carry steel channel with the 

 assurance that it is adapted for all tires, regardless of the man- 

 ufacturer. At present there are a great many tons of channel 

 in stock that does not conform to the Standard adopted. 

 Probably most of this will be sold as scrap, and the channel 

 now fitted to wheels, which does not conform to Standard, will 

 probably be changed when the wheels are re-tired, so that the 

 trade may expect soon to see the Standard channel in universal 

 use. 



A RAILROAD PROJECTED FOR BOLIVIA. 



4 INCHES 



A PAMPHLET entitled "Colonisation et Exploitations 

 •**■ dans la Republique de Bolivie (Brussels : 1902)" is de- 

 voted to the projected railway from Potosi, Bolivia, through 

 Santa Cruz to Bahia Negra, on the river Paraguay, at about 20° 

 N. latitude, where the latter river forms the eastern boundary 

 of Bolivia. The Paraguay, navigable to that point, discharges 

 into the Parana, and that in turn into the Rio de la Plata, at 

 the mouth of which is located the port of Buenos Ayres. For 

 the encouragement of this enterprise a liberal concession has 

 been granted by the Bolivian government to L'Africaine Banque 

 d'Etudes et Enterprises Coloniales, of Brussels. The idea is 

 that the profits of the proposed railway are to depend rather 

 upon the development of the country than upon direct finan- 

 cial aid from the government. There are conceded to the 

 company, however, extensive tracts of public lands, in alternate 

 lots adjacent to the line of the road, certain grants being made 

 in fee simple and certain other lands being subject to the pay- 

 ment of I franc for lo hectares (=24.71 acres). The plans of 

 the company involve the gratuitous cession of one-half of the 

 lands acquired, for purposes of colonization, with the idea that 

 the character of the climate, soil, and native products is such, 

 when improved transportation facilities shall have been intro- 

 duced, as will appeal strongly to immigration from Europe. 

 The resources of the country to be traversed, particularly in 

 the province of Santa Cruz, include important supplies of rub- 

 ber. The total length of road proposed, including branches, 

 is 850 kilometers ( = 527 miles). 



