October 1, 1912] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



45 



The India-Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



CLIMATIC conditions have been tlie reverse of those which 

 obtained in the long, dry summer of 1911, cold and wet 

 having been most persistent. Last year there was a run on 

 garden hose, and extreme slackness in the waterproof garment 

 trade. This year it has been the other way about, and the mackin- 

 tosh has been in almost daily use — a fact 

 THE LATE which, if Hot reflected in an immediate 



SUMMER. , , ^ ■ t \. 



nicrease of sales, must certamly have 

 shortened the life of those in use, and cause renewals to be sought 

 at an earlier date than would have been the case as the result of 

 a normal season. 



Lawn tennis, which I may say is increasing in popularity, and 

 calling for a larger supply of balls than ever, has suffered by 

 tlie weather; but if the ordinary player has saved on his ball 

 accounts, the wet weather prevailing during many of the tourna- 

 ments, has led to the use of a greater number of new balls ; so 

 I do not suppose that the season's consumption will show much 

 falling off compared with last year. The latest novelty in balls 

 is a corrugated-surface, uncovered white ball, which can be 

 easily washed. This has not been recognized by tournament 

 connnittees, but private players have spoken highly of it, espe- 

 cially for use on wet lawns, near smoky towns, chiefly because 

 the ball can be so readily washed. 



One of the disadvantages of the mackintosh for pedestrians is 

 that in heavy rain the drippings fall on the trousers. Of late 

 this has been remedied by the introduction of loosely fitting 

 trouser overalls. These, made of light double-texture waterproof 

 cloth, are becoming very popular for pedestrians and general 

 country wear, as they are very little weight to carry when not 

 in use. The weather has given an impetus to the sale of top- 

 boots for children to use in gardens. I have come across quite 

 a number of these diminutive boots this summer, and as a patriot 

 was pleased to find that they were made by the North British 

 Rubber Co. 



The lamentable conflagration in a celluloid workroom, in Lon- 

 don, whereby several girls lost their lives, resulted in a good 

 deal of correspondence in the press, and 

 in questions being asked in Parliament. 

 It has transpired that no special regula- 

 tions were in force with regard to the storage and use of large 

 amounts of this material in crowded localities ; but irf the future 

 special rules regarding it are to be enforced. It was stated at 

 the inquest that the material used was German, which was 

 cheaper than British, although acknowledged to be more in- 

 flammable. One would have thought that here was a golden 

 opportunity to advertise the merits of non-inflammable celluloid, 

 but I did not see any correspondence on the point; though of 

 course there may have been such, which escaped my notice. 



Exactly what success has attended the manufacture and sale 

 of non-inflammable celluloid, I do not know, though at least 

 one factory for making it has been established in England. Mr. 

 Worden, in his treatise of last year on the nitra-cellulose industry, 

 refers to the methods for destroying the inflainmability as having 

 been attended with varying degrees of success, though he says 

 that the rapid growth of the moving picture industry has invested 

 the topic with increased importance. I believe that Mr. Worden 

 is officially connected with the section in "Plastics," at the forth- 

 coming Congress of Applied Chemistry in New York, and any 

 information which he could announce to the world, by way of 

 bringing the position up-to-date, would I am sure be appreciated 

 generally. As to the cause of the London fire there was no 

 mystery, flaming sealing-wax in the hands of a boy being re- 



THE CELLULOID 

 DAMGEK. 



Sponsible. Christmas cards were the principal goods manufac- 

 tured, and the firm have decided not to use sealing-wax in the 

 future in doing up parcels. Whenever there is a conflagration 

 of celluloid goods, there is usually some agitation that the 

 business should be suppressed, and this question was put to the 

 jury, who, however, thought that such business might continue 

 to be carried on in towns, if under proper registration and 

 supervision. We must now await the action of the Home Office, 

 in regard to this proviso. 



This new company, which is situated at Sculcoats, Hull, has 

 taken over the rubber manufacturing business of Messrs. Major 

 THE PARAGON RUBBER & Co., Limited, a firm which has been 

 MANUFACTURING loug established in connection with tar 

 CO., LIMITED. distilling, in the Hull and Birmingham 



districts. The flotation of the Reinforced Rubber Co., Limited, 

 in 1911, will be recalled by some of my readers. With this com- 

 pany Messrs. Major & Co. were connected, the factory being 

 located on their premises. The Paragon Rubber Co. is an 

 extension of the Reinforced Rubber Co., taking over the patents 

 and goodwill of the latter under new management. Messrs. 

 Major, Hanson and Pilling are the directors, and the general 

 manager is E. L. Carbishley, so well known to the trade 

 generally, owing to his past connection with Messrs. Capon, 

 Heaton & Co., Limited, Birmingham, and the Gorton Rubber 

 Co., Limited, Manchester. 



Reinforced rubber differs from ordinary insertion, and in ap- 

 pearance is just like ordinary rubber, the fibres of cotton being 

 completely incorporated in the rubber, in a tightly twisted state. 

 The efifect is to increase the stability of the rubber, while increas- 

 mg its specific gravity ; thus acting as a restraining influence over 

 undue extension while in work. The works have been fitted with 

 modern machinery for making many classes of mechanical goods, 

 further extensions being contemplated. Rubber-covered rollers 

 are a specialty, the firm having exceptional facilities for produc- 

 ing these accurately and quickly, up to 11 feet long and 30 inches 

 ni diameter. In a general way the establishment of a rubber 

 works on the east coast is of interest, it being somewhat strange 

 that rubber manufacturing proper has never had any location 

 in the large Yorkshire towns. There must be a large demand 

 for mechanical rubber goods in an important shipping centre 

 like Hull. The manufacture most prominent in the district is 

 that of oil seed crushing, Hull I believe ranking next to Mar- 

 seilles as regards this business in Europe. 



I DO not propose to refer to this matter again at length, but 



feel constrained to mention one point in the interesting leading 



article in the August number of The 



"""^.^.^J"^" India Rubber World. The credit for 



AFFAIR. 



the exposure of that wretched business 

 belongs solely to "Truth." which journal alone was bold enough 

 to print copious extracts from Messrs. Hardenburg's and Per- 

 kins' MS. What appeared in other papers was given in a 

 halting way on the authority of "Truth" — jyalmam qui meruit 

 ferat. As indicating how public feeling has been stirred in this 

 country by the disclosures, I may say that a town meeting to 

 discuss the matter was called by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, 

 on the request of many prominent business firms ; and it is stated 

 that the Blue Book has been sold out, — a fact which must have 

 startled the purveyors of government literature. With regard to 

 further action the position is that the government has promised 

 to appoint a Departmental Committee to inquire into the aflFairs 

 of the British Amazon Co.. Limited, and the responsibility, or 

 otherwise, of the directors thereof for what has taken place. It 



