April 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



381 



The India Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THIS Xorlh of England Show, organized by the Society of 

 Motor Alanufactiirers and Traders, was held at Manchester 

 February 14 to 22. There were really two exhibitions, the 

 pleasure cars being located at the Rusholme exhibition buildings 

 in the suburbs and the commercial vehicles at the city exhibition 

 hall in the center of the town near to 

 ..„-,Jtrt.J™ Deansgate, where the offices and show 



MOTOR SHOW. , , . 



rooms of so many motor and tire com- 

 panies are to be found. With the idea of expediting business and 

 relieving the congestion of former years no free admission tickets 

 were given to exhibitors to distribute among their friends, the 

 result being that at no time were the premises overcrowded. 

 The lessened attendance, however, must not be taken as reflecting 

 in any way upon the importance of the show, which was the 

 largest and most complete ever held in the provinces. Prospective 

 purchasers attended in satisfactory numbers and the bulk of 

 exhibitors seem to have been well satisfied with the business 

 done. This applies more particularly to the motor vehicle show 

 which, though sparsely attended by the public, was officially 

 visited by deputations from corporations and other public bodies 

 interested in traction engines and motor fire engines. 



The question of motor lorry transport (the lorry is a long 

 low platform wagon) is one of great interest to the industrial 

 centers of Lancashire. It is recognized that for going to and 

 fro in towns the horse lorry has the advantage, but in conveying 

 goods such as machinery and cotton for distances of five to 

 twenty-five miles the motor vehicle is being increasingly used. 

 With regard to the port of Manchester it is estimated that 7 per 

 cent, of the traffic is now dealt with in motor lorries, and, though 

 this figure is not an imposing one, it is higher than pertains to 

 any other British port. Though motors of several types and 

 capacities are employed, there is a consensus of opinion that 

 the best paying vehicle is the 5-ton wagon with rubber tires 

 and with steering lock so arranged as to enable the wagon to 

 turn in a small space. It has not been customary in these notes 

 to go beyond tires when referring to motor shows, and with 

 regard to these important accessories there was very little of 

 novelty. Practically all the prominent British makers, as well 

 as half a dozen leading European manufacturers, had stands, 

 the show in this respect being far more complete than any of 

 its predecessors. Shrewsbury, Challincr and Dunlop tires were 

 shown at both Rusholme and City Hall, the other makers con- 

 tenting themselves with one exhibit. Various bodies of the 

 plastic nitrocellulose class have now for some time been used 

 as leather substitutes in the upholstering of cars, and a quite 

 modern use of plastics is the case of the wind-screen. 



Stand.\rd specification and tests for rubber draw-bar springs 

 used on private owners' wagons have recently been issued from 

 the London Railway Clearing House. 

 Embodied with the letterpress is a draw- 

 ing showing the construction and di- 

 mensions of the spring, it being also laid down that the manu- 

 facturer is to guarantee a life of three years. After this it is 

 not surprising to read that only vulcanized rubber of good 

 quality is to be used, and that this must be thoroughly com- 

 pressed, of a homogeneous character throughout, and free from 

 defects. With regard to tests five per cent, of the springs are 

 to be submitted for testing purposes. Rigid adherence to the 

 detailed specification is not a sine qua non, as it is stated that 

 springs of approved design may be used, provided they comply 

 strictly with the test enunciated. This specification, I may say, is 

 a new departure, buffers in the past having always been sup- 

 plied according to the particular manufacturer's ideas of what 



RAILWAY 

 BUFFERS. 



OBITUARY 

 NOTICTE. 



is wanted. If it has the effect of doing away with the cheap 

 bufler it will serve a useful purpose. 



In February occurred the death at the age of 72 of Mr. 

 Benjamin Blundstone, manager of David Moseley Son's India 

 Rubber Works, Manchester. He had 

 been in the employ of the firm for 52 

 years, having commenced work with Mr. 

 David Moseley, founder of the firm and grandfather of the 

 present partners. The deceased was of a retiring disposition 

 and was very little known in the trade, though Mr. J. B. Dunlop 

 consulted him in 1888, soon after he invented the pneumatic 

 tire, and for some years they worked together at this matter. 

 As late as January 28 of this year he took out a patent for 

 improvement in pneumatic tire air tubes. 



In the "India Rubber Journal" of December 7, 1912, Frederick 

 Kaye and R. S. Sharp describe a method for the estimation of 

 sulphur in vulcanized rubber and other 

 SULPJUH^T^MATION. ^^^^ compouuds. Of late years sev- 

 eral new or modified processes have 

 been evolved by different chemists, but it is generally recognized 

 that all of these have some drawbacks more especially in point of 

 accuracy or in the length of time required for the determination. 

 An important point which seems to be frequently lost sight of 

 is the extremely heterogeneous character of what is sold as 

 vulcanized rubber, and it may easily happen that a method w-hich 

 will work well for a certain range of compounds will prove 

 unsatisfactory in the case of other vulcanized rubbers. This is 

 testified in the variations in the sulphur figures which usually 

 characterize rubber analyses when carried out by different 

 chemists ; though the other figures may agree closely, yet it is 

 generally found that those for sulphur differ considerably. A 

 matter which has perhaps not always been allowed for is the 

 migration of sulphur from the interior to the exterior of the 

 rubber goods, thus leading to segregation. Unless therefore 

 each analyst takes his sample in exactly the same way dis- 

 crepancies in the results may easily occur. 



Not to linger further, however, on generalities. I proceed to 

 the new method which resembles a good many previous ones 

 in being a fusion method, while it differs from them in that 

 zinc oxide is the base of the fusion mixture. The process in 

 a few words is as follows : .25 to .5 of a gram of the finely 

 divided sample is weighed out into a porcelain crucible and 

 mixed intimately with eight times its weight of pure zinc oxide 

 and four times its weight of potassium nitrate. Ignition with 

 the lid on is effected by cautious heating after a layer of pure 

 zinc oxide has been put in the crucible. After the reaction the 

 crucible is heated strongly and after cooling the contents are 

 dissolved in hydrochloric acid and the sulphur weighed as barium 

 sulphate ;n the usual way. This method is certainly a simple 

 and rapid one, and is admirably adapted for a great many cases. 

 In all fusion methods, as distinct from wet methods, a good 

 deal depends upon the state of subdivision of the rubber; i. e., 

 the finer the particles the better the result. Unfortunately there 

 are many rubbers which either from their purity or their oil 

 content cannot be finely divided, and it would be interesting to 

 know how far the accuracy of this method is affected in cases 

 where the rubber cannot be finely divided. 



One other point which is not without importance may be men- 

 tioned. This has reference to the presence of sulphates such 

 as barytes and sublimed lead in the mixing. These are decom- 

 posed to a variable extent by the fusion mixture and will add 

 considerably to the amount of sulphur found, thus necessitating 

 a correction if the sulphur of vulcanization is the object of the 



