576 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1913. 



NON-SKID SHOES FOR DANCING. 



TPHE old adage says "There's nothing like leather." But 

 ^ this does not mean that there's nothing better than 

 leather. The up-to-date faddist finds that leather can be less 

 satisfactory for some purposes than some other substance. 

 And the up-to-the-minute dancer has found that rubber, as 

 an auxiliary, at least, has it uses in the Terpsichorean freaks 

 and fads of the concert hall and ball room. 



Time was, and not so long ago, either, when tlie dancing- 

 pump had a sole as polished and shiny as brush and burnisher 

 and heel-ball could make it. and the dancer could glide over 



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Rubber Plugs for D.\nxing Pumps. 



the polished floor with lissome grace to the strains of the 

 seductive waltz. The janitors, however, learned new stunts 

 in waxing and polishing, until the floors rivaled plate glass 

 in smoothness, and glacier ice in slipperiness. 



Meanwhile, the character of the dances changed, and even 

 as the stately minuet of past cultures gave way to the polka 

 and the galop, these have been followed by the "barn dance," 

 the "turkey trot," the "tango," and by steps and dizzy gyra- 

 tions which would make a whirling dervish turn green with 

 envy, could anything change his color, or reveal it, under 

 the dirt incrusted on his skin. 



There are modern dances which require a course in gym- 

 nastics as a preliminary to their accomplishment. Perhaps 

 the stunts of the cabaret and the vaudeville stage are re- 

 sponsible for the present-day fad. At any rate, modern 

 dancing is to some degree dangerous, and the remedy is — • 

 rubber. 



Today dancing pumps have as glassy soles as ever, but 

 not all over. Even as the automobile must have a brake, the 

 pump requires one friction-spot, at least, to save the wearer 

 from the slip and fall which are made possible by the wild 

 contortions, the speedy steps and the quick changes of direc- 

 tion in the dances And the remedy is a little piece of rubber 

 in the sole. 



There arc two stories as to the origin of this marked 

 improvement, which is now becoming so popular that manu- 

 facturers are adding it to their lines of samples; so that 

 what has hitherto been a made-to-order specialty is now a 

 mercantile proposition. 



It is said that a couple of vaudeville stars, whirlwind 

 dancers, found that while their act required them to wear 

 shoes or slippers with polished, slippery soles, some of their 

 steps were difficult and positively dangerous, because of this 

 very fact. How to combine two opposite qualities in a sole 

 was solved by inserting a plug of rubber where it would 

 serve as a safety tread, much the same as the friction plug 

 does in the rubber heels of the present day. These actors, 

 having found by experiment the value of such a combination, 



imparted their discovery to others, and in the end brought 

 about a demand for dancing pumps having this improvement. 

 The other story is that a well-known firm of Boston shoe 

 dealers, which makes a practice of sending its salesmen, with 

 samples, to all the college towns throughout the country, 

 found that the young college chaps complained that the glassy 

 soles of the dancing pumps were too slippery. The head of 

 the house, himself a society man and a dancer, set to work 

 experimenting. First a half sole of rubber was tried. It 

 didn't slip, but it didn't slide. Further experiment proved 

 that the insertion of rubber golf plugs at the ball of the foot 

 was fairly effective. The smaller ones, of half an inch in 

 diameter, were not large enough, but the inch-wide circular 

 golf studs or plugs, set three in each sole, and pared down 

 even, or nearly so, with the sole, answered the purpose. But 

 as is usually the case, tastes or experiences differ, and while 

 some prefer an irregular square of corrugated soling, others 

 order a two or a two and a half inch circle, while another 

 favorite shape is a square, set corner-ways, as shown in the 

 diagrams. 



The method of inserting these safety patches is to cut 

 out a portion of the sole to the shape of the rubber, which 

 is cut with a flange all around, similar to a golf plug. This 

 lip or flange is cemented to the under surface of the sole, 

 thus securing it in place. Some are finished even with the 

 face of the sole, while others are left with their corrugated 

 surfaces slightly higher than the leather. 



In use it has been found that the leather wears away faster 

 than the rubber, thus allowing the latter to do its work. The 

 dancers soon learn to glide on the shiny leather surface, and 

 to stand firmly on the rubber. 



As has been said above, manufacturers are now showing 

 these new pumps among their samples, and shoe dealers who 

 cater to the society and the college trades are carrying them in 

 stock, and working up an increasing business. Thus a new use 

 of rubber has been discovered and utilized. 



BALATA BELTING AS VIEWED BY AN EXPERT- 



IN the Akron letter in our June issue mention was made of 

 the fact that Mr. Anthon Berg, of Christiania, Norway, had 

 just completed the installation of a balata belting and asbestos 

 sheet packing plant for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. of 

 that city. Mr. Berg recently sailed for his home in Norway, 

 but expects to return in the fall and may install other balata 

 belting plants. He is a great enthusiast on this sort of belt- 

 ing. It is a well known fact that balata belting is the toughest 

 kind made. In Mr. Berg's opinion it is at least 100 per cent, 

 stronger than leather belting. He states that in Norway- 

 twenty years ago belting was about evenly divided between 

 leather and rubber, but that now there is no rubber belting 

 in that country, about one-third of the belting there used being 

 made of leather, the other two-thirds of balata ; and he states- 

 that this same condition exists practically all over Europe. 



In this country probably not over 5 per cent, of the belting 

 used is made of balata, but the proportion is constantly increas- 

 ing. Besides the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., where balata 

 belting machinery was recently installed, there are three other 

 companies, viz., the New York Belting & Packing Co., the Re- 

 public Rubber Co. and the R. & J. Dick Co., Ltd., which are 

 making balata belting. 



In addition to its superior strength, a balata belt takes a more 

 tenacious hold on the pulley and is practically stretchless, while 

 other belting stretches from 6 to 10 per cent. This stretchless. 

 quality, which eliminates the necessity of stopping machinery 

 to tighten up a belt, makes it less expensive to use, and its- 

 lightness also makes it economical. 



