178 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1, 1913. 



the figures quoted prove that the statistical position 

 of rubber has never been stronger than today. 



Coming a little ahead of the usual annual statistics 

 and based on actual results as far as the end of October 

 (with careful estimates for November and December), 

 Mr. Lampard's statistics arc of marked interest as 

 indicating the prospects of the rubber market, and in par- 

 ticular his recognition of the importance of the American 

 outlet. 



SIMPLIFYING RUBBER NOMENCLATURE. 



THE BLOOMING OF SHOES. 



ONE of the most important problems before the rub- 

 ber trade today is the simplification and standard- 

 ization of the nomenclature of crude rubber varieties. 

 Twenty years ago this problem did not exist, as the crude 

 rubber that arrived at our ports came practically all from 

 one source, and while there was some variety, to be sure, 

 there was not enough to be especially confusing. 



But all that is now changed. With the exploitation of 

 manv forest trees — hitherto untouched — for an additional 

 wild rubber supply, and with the great development of 

 rubber plantations in all parts of the tropical world, the 

 variety of crude rubber now coming to our ports is very 

 large and constantly increasing, and necessarily occasions 

 much confusion. 



This matter was the subject of no little discussion at 

 the Rubber Conference held in New York last September, 

 and a committee was appointed of eleven members — three 

 of them appointed by the Rubber Club of America, and 

 eight of them by the Conference — to see what measures 

 could be taken to simplify and systematize the crude rub- 

 ber names now in vogue. This committee represented in 

 its membership American importers, the plantations of 

 the Middle East, and of the Pacific, and the wild rubber 

 interests of the Amazon. A number of meetings were 

 held and tentative lists of names for the more important 

 varieties of crude rubber were submitted. 



With the ending of the Exposition and the conclusion 

 of the Conference, the members of the committee — many 

 of whom were from foreign countries — became widely 

 scattered, but the American members, together with the 

 representatives of the Rubber Club, have been going over 

 these lists with most painstaking care, and The Indi.\ 

 Rubber World hopes very soon to be able to publish the 

 result of these deliberations. 



There will be no suggestion of finality about these lists, 

 but they will no doubt constitute an excellent beginning 

 in the solution of one of the most pressing problems in the 

 rubber industry today. 



f F there is anything that fills the rubber footwear manu- 

 ■*• facturer with keen regret that he did not embark 

 upon some other calling, it is a ''blooming" shoe, or even 

 more, a boot that "blooms," because the boot is worse, 

 inasmuch as there is more of it. Any light on the 

 wherefore of blooming is welcome to anyone whose du- 

 ties include the successful vulcanization of rubber goods. 

 A superintendent relates in another column of this issue 

 some of his experiences with footwear that bloomed. It 

 will be found interesting to those who have had like 

 experiences. 



He found that in tlie same lot of footwear made from 

 the same rubber, with the same compounds, and sub- 

 jected to the same degree and duration of heat, some 

 shoes were entirely free from bloom, others bloomed a 

 httle, and still others a great deal. But when he axam- 

 ined his crude rubber he found that while it had been 

 taken from the same lot, there was in reality a marked 

 kick of uniformity in the dift'erent sheets, and in some 

 instances in dift'erent parts of the same sheet ; the rubber 

 as a whole being hard, but having certain soft spots. He 

 then made a trial mixture, vulcanizing three batches at 

 the same time, all being similar except that one contained 

 nothing but hard crude rubber, while the second con- 

 tained a combination of hard and soft, and the third was 

 made up entirely of soft rubber. The result was perfect 

 vulcanization where the hard rubber was used, a notice- 

 able bloom where some soft rubber was used, and a pro- 

 novmced blooming where the rubber was taken entirely 

 from soft spots, which shows the necessity of examin- 

 ing lots of crude rubber carefully, and — where there is 

 any lack of uniformity — of separating the lots according 

 to their quality, so that the different qualities may be 

 subjected to different vulcanizing conditions. 



Frequent mention has been made in these columns 

 of late of the great industrial awakening that is tak- 

 ing place in Brazil. In connection with this situation 

 it will he of interest to the readers of The India Rubber 

 World to learn that the editor, Mr. Henry C. Pearson, 

 is now on his way to that country, having sailed on 

 December 16. He will make a brief stay in Barbados, 

 and will proceed thence to the great South American 

 Republic, where he will be able to observe at close range 

 the New Brazil. The result of his observations will ap- 

 pear from month to month in these columns. 



