August 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



589 



of accurately prognosticating the life of rubber goods directly 

 they were made, so as to obviate dependence upon the time test. 

 Of course, this is what we have all been waiting for the last 

 fifty years, and it would seem as if the period of wailing will be 

 further prolonged. Rubber, Mr. Potts said, in reply to a question, 

 was dried at 110° C, which from a chemical point of view was a 

 low temperature. According to the usual procedure in British 

 rubber works, 110" C would be considered a very high tempera- 

 ture; about 110° F being the ordinary figure, though in certain 

 special cases higher degrees are used. As I am referring to the 

 Society of Chemical Industry at Liverpool, I may add that the 

 annual meeting of the society tool: place there in July, when the 

 president, Prof. Marston T. Bogert, of America, gave his address. 



NEW WORKS. 



Mr. E. L. Curbishley, lately connected with the Reinforced 

 Rubber Co., Ltd., at Hull, has commenced manufacturing on 

 his own account as the Lloyd Rubber Co. at West Didsbury, 

 Manchester ; and with the long experience of the trade ho 

 has behind him should do well. The business is at present 

 confined to rubber heels, though it is intended shortly to 

 put several other lines on the market. Mr. George Spen- 

 cer, who was for some time associated with Mr. Curbishley 

 at the Gorton Rubber Co.'s works, has started in the proof- 

 ing business for himself, under the title of the Monarch 

 Waterproof Co., at Victoria works, Prinblett street, Man- 

 chester, thus adding another house to this well-known quar- 

 ter of the proofing trade. The works will be under the charge 

 of Mr. F. Dale, who has had considerable experience. It is 

 understood that rainproof as well as macintosh garments will 

 be manufactured. 



RUBBER PAVING IN LONDON. 



A MONG the many prospective new uses for rubber, none 

 ** is more important than its employment as a paving 

 material. Hence special interest attaches to details lately 

 published of results obtained at two noted London hotels 

 and one railway station. 



In this connection, two essential points call for attention — 

 efficiency and durability. Some ten years ago rubber sheets 

 two to three inches thick were laid in the courtyard of the 

 Savoy Hotel, for the purpose of deadening the clatter of 

 horses' hoofs and the noise of vehicles. These are reported as 

 being in very fair condition, although the slabs do not in 

 all cases fit very closely. Certain portions have been sub- 

 jected to special wear, owing to the stopping and restarting 

 of vehicles, particularly where studded tires were used. Oil 

 dropping from motor cars has likewise affected the surface 

 of the rubber paving, and it has been found necessary to 

 relay some of the slabs, possibly owing to their not fitting well. 



Claridge's Hotel, the resort of crowned heads and aristo- 

 cratic travelers, has less exacting traffic than the Savoy, and 

 its rubber paving, laid 13 years ago, is only about one inch 

 thick. In no case has it been necessary to replace the paving, 

 but the old slabs have been relaid, as they were working out 

 of position. This was caused by their not having been se- 

 curely fastened down in the first instance. At neither hotel 

 has the pavement been slippery for horses. 



Owing to the nature of the traffic, a better judgment can 

 be formed of the possibilities of rubber as a road material 

 from the results obtained at Euston station than from those 

 recorded for the two hotels named. 



At Euston the vehicles reach the station by one archway 

 and leave by another, the roadway under the arches being 

 rubber paved. The paving was originally put down in 1881, 

 the slabs used having a thickness of two inches. Twenty- 



one years later the approach portion had been worn down to 

 half an inch and the outgoing paving to an inch and a half. 

 The former was re-laid, the slabs being fresh, while the rub- 

 ber in the latter is the same that was originally put down 

 thirty-two years ago. Its early renewal is, however, antici- 

 pated. This unequal wear has been attributed to the grit 

 brought from outside by incoming vehicles, from which out- 

 going ones are relatively free. 



The fact that rubber pavement has been in use for re- 

 spectively 10, 13, 21 and 32 years in the cases quoted, is 

 considered to show the durability of rubber paving. It is 

 no longer in the experimental stage and it has been suggested 

 that its efficacy should be tested on some busy thoroughfare; 

 but, as it has been remarked, tests of durability take a long 

 time, and necessitate the lapse of many years before their 

 results can be conclusively established. 



THE FUTURE OF THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



jV/IUCH interest has been shown in London in the recent lec- 

 ■^"* ture of Dr. Philip Schidrowitz at the Chemical Engineering 

 Exhibition on the "Future of the Rubber Industry." The lecturer 

 recalled the fact that the increased supplies attracted by the 

 "boom" of three years ago again brought prices to a reasonable 

 level. He considered, however, that some critical years were at 

 hand, involving for manufacturers a period of interest and 

 difficulty. 



The problems of the future he briefly summarized as follows: 

 "How much rubber may we expect on the market, and how will 

 price be affected thereby ? What are we going to do with all this 

 rubber that is coming? Will it be for the benefit or to the detri- 

 ment of the industry?" 



Apart from the question as to whether the new Brazilian "De- 

 fence Law" would produce the anticipated results of increased 

 yield and reduced cost. Dr. Schidrowitz expressed the opinion 

 that the production of plantation rubber is sufficiently large to 

 make it the dominant factor in the world's rubber markets. The 

 future increase in that production might effect a radical change 

 in the various branches of the industry. Assuming this year's 

 plantation output as 50.000 tons, he estimated the quantity for 

 1915-16 as possibly 100,000 to 150,000 tons, and for 1920 as 200,000 

 to 300,000 tons. Even without any material increase from Brazil, 

 the world's production in two or three years' time might be 

 quite double that of the present day, while in six to seven years 

 the supplies might have trebled or quadrupled. 



The variable quality of plantation kinds has militated against 

 their general use as cr.mpared with Brazilian hard fine, which, 

 the lecturer remarked, is a commodity of known quahties. A 

 scientific method of valuation he regarded as one of the most 

 urgent requirements of the crude rubber industry. 



SCIENTIFIC VALUATION. 



The lecturer urged the need of some system by which manu- 

 facturers might test the value of samples offered to them. What 

 might be expected from Amazonian rubber they know roughly, 

 but they are puzzled by the variations in the plantation article. 

 It is only possible for works with highly specialized technical 

 laboratories to form a reliable opinion. A manufacturer with 

 the ability to select a batch of rubber worth 10 to 25 per cent. 

 more than its price is in a position to pick and choose in his 

 purchases. 



The lecturer, while advocating the importance of standardiza- 

 tion, considered that subject as less urgent than the establish- 

 ment of a scientific basis of valuation. 



In conclusion, he referred to the relatively small amount of 

 £3,000, annually devoted to scientific investigation by the leading 

 association of plantation rubber producers, although millions are 

 at stake in the industry. 



