382 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April I, 1913. 



TRAVELERS' 

 AGREEMENTS. 



determination. Such a source of error applies also to other 

 fusion methods, and further, as sulphates are by no means widely 

 employed in rubber compounding, it need not be taken as de- 

 structive criticism of what promises to be a decidedly useful 

 process both in point of accuracy and saving of time. 



On February 21, in the King's Bench Division, London, Mr. 

 J. A. Heath, late traveler for the firm, was sued by the Con- 

 tinental Tire and Rubber Co. (Great 

 Britain), Limited, in respect to an agree- 

 ment not to enter the service of a com- 

 peting firm for one year after leaving the plaintiffs' employ. 

 After a year's service with the plaintiffs Mr. Heath was dis- 

 charged with a month's salary in lieu of notice, and subsequently 

 was engaged by the Bavarian Rulilier Co. Mr. Heath had had 

 considerable experience in solid tires, the manufacture of which 

 is a comparatively new departure for the Continental Co., 

 and it appears that he brought in business amounting to about 

 £1,000 a year with Messrs. Pickford, the well-known carriers. 

 This business had recently, the plaintiffs stated, been transferred 

 to the Bavarian Rubber Co., which sold Metzger tires. Evidence 

 was given by Mr. Wolff, manager of the Michelin Tire Co., that 

 his company's travelers all entered into similar agreements, five 

 years being a common period of time. The main defense was 

 that sucli agreements were harsh and against the public interest, 

 especially in the present case, w'hich applied to all rubber goods, 

 whereas the defendant's business at the Continental Co. had 

 to do w-ith solid tires alone. The judge found for the Con- 

 tinental Co., holding that it was incumbent on the defendant to 

 keep to his agreement. Recent decisions of the courts, he said, 

 were against such contracts being held to be in restraint of trade, 

 freedom to make agreements as to terms of service being con- 

 sidered as of importance in these days of trade competition. 

 Tlie judge also thought that the application of the agreement to 

 rubber goods generally was fair, in view of the facilities a tire 

 traveler would have of getting information on other goods from 

 a company doing a general business. The result of this case 

 is doubtless considered satisfactory by those tire companies 

 which make it a rule to bind their travelers down. This 

 procedure, though cotnmon, is not universal, as I know of at 

 least four large manufacturers who do not insist on any such 

 agreements being entered into. In the bulk of cases where 

 such agreements are signed it is more or less en compulsion, 

 the travelers as a whole being naturally averse to them because 

 of the prospect of being out of work for one or more years, 

 if their engagements are suddenly terminated. That this feeling 

 is general is seen in the action which is being initiated by a 

 certain travelers' association to have the matter discussed, with 

 the view of getting all travelers to agree not to sign any such 

 documents. It is recognized that it is only by concerted action 

 that any effective steps can be taken to deal with the matter. 

 There is. of course, plenty to be said on the other side, but 

 space prevents the matter being discussed now at greater length. 



ENGLISH WOMEN WEARING SUSPENDERS. 



The differences between men and women grow less with the 

 revolving years. One of the vital distinctions for some time has 

 been the fact that men wore suspenders and women did not; 

 but that distinction is soon to be oliliterated — possibly. The 

 London department stores have recently displayed, among their 

 other attractions for women, feminine suspenders. Just how 

 generally they will be adopted remains to be seen. Some women 

 hardly appear to need them, but for perpendicular spinsters, for 

 instance, who are straight up and down, suspenders would cer- 

 tainly appear to be a convenience. According to the best in- 

 formation at hand, this article has not yet appeared in the 

 American stores. 



A WELL-KNOWN MAKER OF GLASS HOLDS, ' 



One of the best known makers of glass molds for rubber 

 goods is Arnold Prox, of Leyland, near Preston, England. He 

 has been blowing glass molds for rubber manufacturers for a 

 great many years. He began making glass teat molds for the 

 trade about 20 years ago, and has supplied a great many of the 

 leading English firms ; such for instance as Imgrain & Son, of 

 London ; Macintosh & Co., of Manchester, and John Dowell &. 

 Son, of London. He has recently applied for a patent for a 

 dipping-board, which is very simple and inexpensive, and said to 

 be a great time saver. 



THE LONDON COTTON AND FIBRE EXHIBITION, 1914. 



Rublier, however important, is only one of the tropical products 

 which have been taken up by the industrial nations of the world. 

 Hence much attention is being paid in the East to the First Inter- 

 national Exhibition of Cotton, Fibres, Tropical Products and 

 Allied Industries, to be held in London June, 1914, concurrently 

 with the Fourth International Rubber Exhibition. 



Efforts are being made by the exhibition authorities to secure 

 the co-operation of local experts in tropical countries. Reports 

 from Manila state that Mr. M. M. Saleeby, chief of the fiber 

 division of the Bureau of Agriculture, has been invited to join 

 the advisory cotrimittec of the exhibition. Director F. W. Taylor 

 and Mr. Otis W. Barrett, chief of the horticultural division, have 

 also been asked to participate. 



There are so many points of connection between rul)ber and 

 fibres in their distribution, if not in their cultivation, that the 

 two exhibitions will be complementary to each other. 



PURCHASE OF MANUFACTURED RtTBBER GOODS. 



In commenting upon the recently published work of Pierre 

 Pcllier on the above subject, the "Revue Internationale" of Paris 

 remarks that buyers of rubber manufactures, in addition to the 

 necessary information as to the nature and properties of rubber 

 need guidance as to the choice of qualities specially applicable to 

 their contemplated employment. 



Rubber, it is remarked, has many new and growing applications, 

 being required in most branches of industry. From pumps to 

 pneumatic tires and balloon coverings it is used for the most 

 varied purposes. It would, however, be a mistake to think that 

 for all uses it is indispensable to insist on a large proportion of 

 rubber or upon the best qualities. In many cases it is necessary 

 to incorporate with the rubber other substances in greater or 

 less quantity, imparting to the compound special qualities in view 

 of the uses contemplated. 



To make a judicious choice it is necessary to be well acquainted 

 with the properties of all the substances entering into the com- 

 position of manufactured rubbers, and in particular the influence 

 of each of them upon the qualities of the compound. 



In further illustration of this point, it is added that vulcanized 

 rubber placed in contact with liquids not exercising any chemical 

 action on it, such as water, only absorbs a small quantity of 

 these liquids. 



Should be on every rubber man's desk — The Rubber Trade 

 Directorv of the World, 1912. 



CORK-LINED BALLOONS. 



One of the theories, and one quite widely accepted, advanced 

 to explain the disastrous termination of Vaniman's balloon ex- 

 periments, accounted for the explosion of the ill-fated "Akron" 

 by the fact that the heat of the early sun breaking suddenly from 

 the morning mists inflated the gas of the balloon so rapidly 

 that the fabric was not able to stand the strain, and burst. A 

 German manufacturer believes that he has found a way of 

 counteracting the effect of external heat on the gas enclosed 

 within a balloon. He is making a balloon fabric with a layer 

 of pulverized cork on its inner side, on the theory that cork be- 

 ing a very poor conductor of heat, will render the enclosed gas 

 less liable to rapid expansion. The cork is not a separate layer, 

 but is incorporated and vulcanized into the fabric itself. 



