SEPTEMnER 1. 1913. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



615 



STEAM HOSE. 

 (Specification No. 34H5a, July 30, 19U.) 

 M.MtKi.M. : The tube, cover and washers to be properly vul- 

 canized, and made from a compound containing not less than 

 35 per cent, of washed and dried line Para rubber, not more 

 than 3 per cent, of total sulphur, and not more than '/2 of 1 per 

 cent, of free sulphur, with tlic remainder suitable mineral fillers. 

 Tests : The hose shall be tested as indicated in general speci- 

 fications for rubber material, 33 R. 3 (latest issue). 



AlK HOSE FOR USE WITH PNEUMATIC TOOLS. 

 (Specification No. 34H8. January 2, 1913.) 

 Ri'BnER Parts: The tube, cover and washers to be made of 

 a properly vulcanized rubl)er compound. The friction shall con- 

 sist of a properly vulcanized rubber compound best adapted for 

 the required service. 



I'UUK CIM RUIUiER TUBING. 



(Specification No. 33Tla, July 25, 1913.) 



M.\teri.\l: The tubing shall be properly vulcanized ami made 



from a compound containing not less than 35 per cent, of washed 



and dried fine Para rubber, not more than 2.5 per cent, of 



sulphur, with the remainder suitable mineral fillers. 



Tests: When test piece is stretched 2 to 8 inches, ■permanent 

 elongation not to exceed 25 per cent. Tensile strength shall be 

 at least 1,000 poimds per square inch. 



HARD RUBBER. 



(Specification No. 33R2a, July 25, 1913.) 

 Construction : The hard rubber shall be furnished in slab, 

 rod or tube form and shall conform to the dimensions specified 

 in original proposal. If required in sheet form, it shall be of 

 uniform thickness, smooth finish, perfectly flat and polished on 

 both faces. 



M.\TERi.\l. : The hard rubber shall be made from a properly 

 vulcanized compound best adapted for the required service. 



Tests : When broken, to show a shiny black fracture. To be 

 sufficiently tough to be worked with machine tools, and to take 

 a jet-black polish. To show a high insulation and dielectric 

 strength. To stand exposure to live steam at 212° F. for 2 hours. 



RISKS OF POISONING IN RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



AV/ITII the increased variety of chemicals employed in the 

 *' rubber industry, there is a corresponding increase in the 

 risks of poisoning arising from their use. This subject is treated 

 in a lucid and comprehensive manner in the "Gummi-Kalender" 

 for 1912, by Dr. Rambousek. 



CARBON DISULI'HIDE. 



Chronic disulphide of carbon poisoning has formed the ob- 

 ject of researches by various experts. According to the re- 

 sults obtained, the minimum proportion of sulphide producing 

 noxious effects is one milligram (0.015432 grain) of di- 

 sulphide to one liter (61 cubic inches) of air. A protracted 

 stay in such an atmosphere, to which rubber workers are in 

 some cases exposed, is sufficient to cause chronic poisoning. 

 This limit is often exceeded in vulcanizing workrooms, par- 

 ticularly in the absence of special protective measures. It is 

 remarked, however, that the limit of safety is not likely to be 

 exceeded in modern plants, if the ventilation is even mode- 

 rately satisfactory. In some cases the air in older Berlin fac- 

 tories has been found to contain 3 to 6 times the minimum 

 quantity of carbon disulphide where poisonous effects com- 

 mence. 



Laudenheimcr, while recording the comparatively favorable 

 results of precautionary measures at the principal Leipzig fac- 

 tories, adds that the percentage of mental and nervous atTec- 

 tions among rubber workers, caused by carbon disulphide, is 



higher than in other branches of industry under like working 

 conditions. In the years 1896 to 1898 there were in the Leip- 

 zig rubber plants averages of 1.95 per cent, of nervous and 

 0.22 per cent, of mental affections, while in the textile branch 

 the proportitms were respectively only 0.92 per cent, and 0.03 per 

 cent. 



Kecenl statistics of Berlin rubber factories showed that with 

 a total working staff of 2,228 there had been in one year 1,041 

 cases of illness and 20 deaths. Of the former, the percentage 

 of nervous disorders was 2.83 per cent., and of poisoning 1.40 

 per cent. Compared with the Leipzig averages for the years 

 1896 to 1898, it would seem that the proportion of nervous 

 diseases had increased in the rubber industry. 



BENZINE AND BENZOLE. 



Benzine poisoning seems to be of minor importance in the 

 rubber industry, and of much less moment than that resulting 

 from carbon disulphide. Benzole poisoning has been described 

 by Santesson as having occurred in a factory at Upsala 

 (Sweden), where nine young women, employed iri making 

 pneimiatic tires, became seriously ill, four of them dying. 



In another case quoted, rubber dissolved in benzole was ap- 

 plied in the usual way by a spreading machine. Of tlie three 

 workers occupied on this machine, one became unconscious 

 and succumbed to the poison. In a rubber extracting plant, 

 a worker tending a benzole distilling apparatus was overcome 

 by the fumes of the benzole. Two other workers, who tried to 

 save him, were affected in a similar way, only one of the 

 three escaping with bis life. Dr. Rambousek criticizes the man- 

 ner in which two substances so different as benzine and benzole 

 have been confuundcil by certain technical writers. 

 ANILINE. 



.At a plant eng.-iged in the extraction of crude rubber from 

 rosin by means of aniline, out of seventeen workers eleven fell 

 ill within two months, 



HARD RUBBER WASTE. 



Crzellitzer has recorded a case of poisoning through the grind- 

 ing of hard rubber waste, which affected the workers engaged in 

 the process. 



VULCANIZING FLUIDS. 



.Attention is called to the noxious effects on the skin, of the 

 liquids used in vulcanizing. This result is attributed in the 

 lirst place to the benzine and carbon disulphide present in the 

 solutions. 



Such are a few of the principal sources of poisoning in rub- 

 ber manufacturing, quoted by Dr. Rambousek, who has, more- 

 over, given copious references to various authorities on the sub- 

 jects treated. 



to get rubber from the sagebrush. 

 Congressman Baker, of California, recently introduced a re- 

 solution in the House, asking for an appropriation of $5,000, to 

 be used in analyzing and testing the sagebrush and greasewood 

 which grow so extensively in California. Nevada and other parts 

 of the far W'est. In fact they grow far too extensively for the 

 comfort of the farmers, who have found these growths a 

 tremendous pest. Some experiments tried a while ago, how- 

 ever, by chemists, brought out the fact that sagebrush has quite 

 a large content of rubber, alcohol and acetic acid, and it is 

 hoped that some system of treatment may be discovered that 

 will render it possible to extract these constituents, and espe- 

 cially rubber, in profitable quantities. 



INCREASED AMERICAN TRADE WITH TASMANIA IN RUBBER GOODS. 



Statistics from Consul George M. Hanson, of Hobart, show 

 imports of American rubber goods into that colonv as $5,508 in 

 1911 and $9,408 in 1912. 



