June 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



451 



daily and periodical press. At any rate it shows a very himself of the instruction given by the best technical 



general interest in rubber in its relation to modern life, schools, the graduate can then enter the rubber mill 



Quite a number of the large manufacturers— with and ac<iuirc this particular instruction rapidly and ef- 



specially wise advertising departments— have recognized fectively. I'or instance, having devoted several years 



this general desire for rubber information, and have pub- to the general study of chemistry, the best place to 



lished little pamphlets giving a swift survey of the his- acquire a knowledge of the special chemistry of rubber 



tory, botany and general development of rubber produc- 

 tion and manufacture; concluding naturally with a more 

 or less extended reference to the particular product — boot 

 or belting, tire or hose — which that company may be inter- 

 ested in. Where the advertising is permitted to perme- 

 ate the entire story, the value of the pamphlet is nia- 

 tcriallv weakened, hut where the advertising is not al- 

 lowed to be too glaring, the pamphlet is liouiid to appeal 

 to the inquiring mind, is insured a serious reading, and 

 consequently is effective from an advertising standpoint. 

 The distribution of these booklets, which takes place 

 in response to requests from seekers after rubber light, 

 and particularly from students engaged in literary re- 

 search, is obviously a very valuable sort of distribution, 

 for this literature not only makes a lasting impression 

 upon the mind of the student who is deep in the prepara- 

 tion of his thesis, but is bound to lie duly impressed upon 

 all those who come in contact with him during this sea- 

 son of literary production ; for nobody feels his work 

 more profoundly than the undergraduate who is enjoying 

 the first thrills of authorship. 



is in the laboratory of the rubber mill. Possibly some 

 day our leading rubber experts will be found giving 

 courses of instruction in the schools, but at present 

 they are confining their attention to the practical run- 

 ning of rubber factories; and to learn what they know, 

 one must resort thither and put himself in contact with 

 them. 



THE CALL OF CHEAP LABOR. 



B 



Iv.VZIL'S crude rubber industry is threatened by 

 Eastern plantation rubber. Labor in the Brazilian 

 rubber sections was, and is, scarce and high priced. At 

 the call of the cheap and abundant labor in Ceylon, the 

 Malay States, Java and contiguous territory, the Brazilian 

 industry of Para rubber production was moved half 

 across the world in le^s than ten years. So- much for 

 tropical industries. 



Now as to those of the temperate zone. There are in 

 Central and Northern China tnillions of capable, thrifty, 

 industrious workmen who would joyfully hustle fifteen 

 hours a day for fifteen cents. They would make excellent 

 workers in any line of rubber manufacture where labor 

 is a chief consideration. Their call to American manu- 

 facturers has heretofore been unheeded. But, if com- 

 petition with European cheap help is forced upon the 

 American manufacturer, and further if to meet such com- 

 Y^VER in London they have inaugurated a rubber petition he is not to be allowed to adju.st his wage scale 



^^ school, or rather they have opened certain dis- to suit new conditions, will he not be forced to listen to 



tinctively rubber courses in one of their polytechnic this call.'' 



THE BEST RUBBER SCHOOL. 



institutes, on "The Chemistry and Analysis of Rub- 

 ber," "The Manufacture and Analysis of Rubber 

 Goods," and kindred themes. 



It is not the desire of this publication to belittle any 

 enterprise that makes for the development of the in- 

 dustry. This London rubber school will probably ac- 

 complish creditable results, and certainly can do no 

 harm, but in our own country at least, the best rubber 

 schools are still to be found within the four walls of 

 the factory. 



This does not mean that the best way to study rub- 

 ber is to enter the factory at an early age and grow 

 up exclusively in its atmosphere ; for in order to 

 achieve the best results, the factory school should not 

 be entered until a sound and broad foundation has 

 been laid in the technical school. But having availed 



In the light of rubber history will not the present taritif 

 program end in the establishment of great American shoe, 

 tire and sundries factories in Chinese centers of cheap 

 labor? 



Not alone ix the gre.\t company that he notably 

 helped to create, but all over the world is the passing of 

 Adolph Prinzhorn heard with sincere sorrow. His un- 

 ruffled friendliness, his broad charity toward human 

 frailties, and his genuine interest in all that was for the 

 good of the trade made him a most lovable character. 

 Ifis friends were not only the best and most distinguished 

 men in the Fatherland, but in the LTnited States, in Eng- 

 land, and in tlie Middle East. Such men. citizens of the 

 world, friends of humanity, are potent apostles of indus- 

 trial integrity and progress. We voice the thought of the 

 world's rubber trade in tendering sincere sympathy to 

 the Continental Caoutchouc &• Gutta Percha Company 

 for their great loss. 



