August i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



325 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE cable manufacturing firm of Johnson & Phillips, of 

 Charlton, near London, are putting down rubber ma- 

 chinery, so as to make their own strip and compounds. 

 This firm has up the present contracted with rubber 

 manufacturers for its insulation, the compounds being made to 

 the firm's own formula. This move will neces- 

 "'"^^ sarily mean loss of business to certain rubber 



...,.,i,c.^T.ic,,r works, as the orders given out were of some 



MANUFACTURE. ° 



magnitude. Other firms who have not so far 

 put down their own rubber machinery are Messrs. Glover, of 

 Manchester; Messrs. Rickard, of Derby; Messrs. Conolly, of 

 Blackley, Manchester; and the Northern Electric Wire Co., of 

 Halifax. So far there is not much progress to report about the 

 works of the new Anchor Cable Co., of Leigh, Lancashire, and 

 I am unable to give the name of the manager; as far as the 

 board itself is concerned, I hardly imagine that the bulk of the 

 members would claim anything more than a very superficial 

 knowledge of the business into which they are entering. The 

 Northern Electric Wire Co., of Halifax, though at one time an 

 independent concern, is now practically in the hands of Messrs. 

 Patchett, the well known card clothing manufacturers. The 

 business done is that for house wiring purposes, what may be 

 called the heavy cable trade not being touched. 



I SEE it is announced that a rubber boot and shoe varnish 



of American origin is now for sale by a Liverpool agency. It 



certainly is a fact that the British makers of these 



RUBBER SHOE „qqjJs are open to listen to suggestions as to the 



VARNISH. ? , . • • r , , , 



improvements of their varnish as they acknowl- 

 edge the superiority of the Russian finish. Whether they will 

 get now what they want is a matter in which I may be excused 

 (or having my doubts, as I know the secret of the Russians is 

 religiously kept. A point about the success or failure of such 

 varnish is the composition of the rubber mixing; what may 

 give perfect results with one firm may not turn out at all satis- 

 factory in another case. It is this point which makes it so dif- 

 ficult for an outsider to supply advice of value except in those 

 rare cases where the rubber manufacturer makes no secret of 

 his mixings and methods. 



This branch of manufacture.from all reports.shows no diminu- 

 tion. Despite counter attractions, the game shows no falling 

 off in popularity in this country, and it is con- 

 tinually finding new openings abroad. The fact 

 that the regulation match ball has to be of uniform size and 

 elasticity has led in some cases to a good deal of bother, and 

 one at least has decided to have nothing more to do with 

 making the balls to any definite standard, the business they 

 obtain from quarters where exactness is not required being 

 enough to keep them going. In some cases the balls are fin- 

 ished outright at the rubber works, while in other cases the 

 cloth covering is put on by the middleman. Besides the ordi- 

 nary ball there has been for some years a steady demand for the 

 uncovered red ball, the Irwell Rubber Co. being well known in 

 connecti >n with this variety, their ball being much more free 

 from that efflorescence of sulphur which disfigures the product 

 of competing firms. I never seem to come across these balls 

 myself, either in clubs or on private lawns, but there evidently 

 is a demand for them in some quarters. Perhaps a number of 

 them are used simply as toys by children, as I believe is the 

 case with a good many of the ordinary tennis balls which are 



TENNIS BALLS. 



sold uncovered. With regard to the inflation during vulcani- 

 zation in the mould, carbonate of ammonia still holds the field, 

 the various substitutes that have been from time to time pro- 

 posed not having proved their utility. 



Some flutter in the dove cotes inhabited by Paris agents for 

 recovered rubber firms has been caused by an anonymous arti- 

 cle in a recent number of L'Auto- VHo, the Par- 



" o'?ir'Al^° 'sian organ of the cycle and motor interests. The 

 article referred in condemnatory terms to the use 

 of recovered rubber generally, but with especial reference to 

 tires. With what was said as regards tires, especially motor 

 tires, I am almost entirely in agreement, but the writer, in my 

 mind, has allowed his indignation to get the better of him in 

 referring to rubber goods generally, and further, he rather writes 

 as if the term " recovered rubber " applied to a substance of a 

 definite uniform make, whereas, of course, there are bodies de- 

 scribed thus of very different quality and price upon the market. 

 As long as the motor people ask for and are willing to pay for 

 the very best quality rubber that can be made, it would certainly 

 be suicidal policy on the part of makers to attempt economies, 

 though, of course, the case is quite different where there is a 

 demand for a cheap grade of goods and which can not at the 

 price possibly be made entirely of new rubber. The remark 

 made in the article with regard to the very small progress which 

 has been made in devulcanizing I am in perfect accord. I won- 

 der how long it will be before a really useful product is made 

 from pure vulcanized waste. 



I UNDERSTAND that a new tire is being made by the Leyland 

 and Birmingham Rubber Co. and rumors are about regarding 

 the entry of other firms into this business. 

 Meanwhile foreign competition is increasing, 

 the British agent of the New York Belting and Packing Co., 

 Limited, having recently, I understand, done considerable busi- 

 ness with the motor firms at Coventry. This tire is practi- 

 cally a tubeless one, as the inner tube and outer cover are vul- 

 canized together. The increasing weight of the vehicles and 

 the high speed at which racing contests are run are factors of 

 primary importance with regard to the life of the rubber tire, 

 though the suggestion to use a covering of leather — by no 

 means a novel idea— is hardly likely to prove of value. What 

 with the danger from speed and the annoyance by the raising 

 of clouds of dust, the automobilist is not looked upon with too 

 friendly an eye by the public. By way of checking the latter 

 evil, a prize is offered, value ;£ioo, by the Automobile fourna 

 for the best way of laying the dust — rather a difficult problem it 

 strikes me. 



The decision come to by the shareholders to put the pen 



through a large amount of the capital of this concern, seems to 



be the only course to pursue under the circum- 



PEQAMOID, stances of the declared invalidity of the patent. 



LIMITED. „, ,. L L J 



The proceedings about to be commenced against 

 the original vendors should be productive of some interesting 

 evidence. I note that Mr. Fletcher Moulton, k. c, explains 

 that his opinion on the patent was obtained under a miscon- 

 ception. Some such explanation is certainly desirable, but it 

 may not strike everyone as being quite complete enough. Ac- 

 cording to the directors' statement, a genuine and increasing 

 business is being done by Pegamoid, Limited, but I imagine 

 that whatever may be the amount of capital, the concern is 



THE MOTOR TIRE. 



