October i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



11 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent . 



ENQUIRIES among manufacturers show that the very 

 fine summer which we have experienced has not been 

 without its adverse effect upon this Dranch. More so 

 than is perhaps generally recognized, this business has 

 become one of hand to mouth, as far as the dealers are con- 

 cerned. The manufacturer cannot turn out 

 WATERPROOF pQofjs (q order at a moment's notice, and has 



GARMENT *' 



TRADE. perforce to Iteep a considerable stock, biding his 

 time in some anxiety as to how soon he will be 

 able to dispose of it. A succession of rainy days after periods 

 of drought, such as we have experienced this summer, may 

 make a difference of several thousand pounds to a proofing 

 firm in a day or two, owing to sudden demands for immediate 

 delivery. The regrettable failure of H. H. Royle & Co., Lim- 

 ited, may not have been entirely attributable to the bad season 

 it has been for the proofing trade, but it can hardly have been 

 independent of it. The withdrawal of Mr. Nadin, one of the 

 originators of the firm, was no doubt a source of injury, and it 

 hardly needs to be said that a new firm, unless very substantially 

 backed, finds considerable difficulty in making headway. The 

 falling off in the large government contracts for ground sheets 

 has made considerable difference in the amount of business 

 done in the proofing departments of several of our large fac- 

 tories this year compared with last year, and I hear of short 

 time instead of overtime being worked. 



Rkports of the state of business in this branch are quite re- 

 assuring, though one does not hear of any great activity. As 

 in the case of textures, the business has become 

 mech'^nical "^"ch more of a hand to mouth one than was 

 TRADE. formerly the case, practically no stock being 

 now held by the dealers. At one time it was 

 customary for dealers to buy sheets of mechanical rubber and 

 to cut from them valves, washers, etc., to their customers' 

 orders; now, however, the individual orders are sent on to the 

 works where they are expected to be delivered immediately, a 

 state of affairs not particularly conducive to the peace of mind 

 of the manager and his subordinates. As the manager of a 

 large works remarked the other day : " Things are very differ- 

 ent to what I can remember, and the alteration in procedure is 

 not acceptable to me, though I have to fall in line with it." 



The '• Kopalin " band for preventing puncturing in tires has 

 lately attracted some interest, though it must be confessed 

 from reports to hand that it has not come up to 

 MOTOR ji^g sanguine expectations of those who have pur- 

 iNTERESTs- chascd it. The band, which is composed of some 

 material of the nature of leather, is interposed be- 

 tween the tube and cover of pneumatics with the object as just 

 stated. The drawback, however, seems to be that as it is not 

 fixed rigidly in position it is liable to " creep" when the motor 

 is traveling at a high rate of speed, and the friction thus 

 caused sets up enough heat to seriously damage the adjoining 

 parts of the tire. It certainly seems desirable that the band 

 should be attached firmly to the cover, so as to entirely obviate 

 any such friction. It is hardly promising to hear of a new in- 

 troduction that it is not only of no benefit but that it destroys 

 the tire and causes breakdowns in inconvenient spots. In 

 saying this it is hardly necessary for the writer to aver his dis- 

 interestedness ; if the disasters which have occurred should 

 turn out to be isolated ones, which should not be taken as a 



basis for general condemnation, the fact will be notified in 

 these columns at the first opportunity. = = With regard to cer- 

 tain British attempts to produce motor tires of the first quality, 

 the complaints which have arisen seem to be attributable en- 

 tirely to defections in the canvas and not to the rubber, which 

 is said to be quite equal to that of Michelin's make. This is 

 evidently a matter which requires closer attention than has 

 been hitherto devoted to it. The motor tyre of the Collier- 

 Irwin Co., of St. Albans, is being »nade by the Leyland and 

 Birmingham Rubber Co. It is a pneumatic tire with a thick 

 thread, considerably elongated so as to reduce friction as much 

 as possible. There seems to be sone difficulty in the supply 

 of the Michelin tire by the Dunlop company, and a customer 

 who had to wait two or three weeks said he thought he would 

 be justified in importing it himself under the circumstances. 

 It is a matter of regret to some automobilists that the motor 

 tyre of the Continental company is not to be bought in Eng- 

 land, its reputation being such a good one. With regard to 

 the washers used with the clips for fastening the tires in the 

 wheels, it is pointed out to me that some which are sold at a 

 low price are bad economy, as when they crack water gets in 

 and rots the canvas, thus doing considerable damage : this 

 source of injury should be obviated by frequent examination of 

 the washers. 



It is interesting to read in The India Rubber World of 

 the recent growth of the Balata industry in Venezuela. With 

 regard to the extraction of the body from the bark 

 of felled trees, I was not aware that the use of 

 volatile solvents, which was proposed four or five years ago, 

 had been adopted in earnest. The reservation with which the 

 matter was treated in the report given in this journal pre- 

 cludes any comment of value. Perhaps the cost of naphtha in 

 such out of the way districts would not after all be prohibitive 

 when condensing [plant is in operation, though practical men 

 in the Straits Settlements have always been of opinion that 

 processes such as that of Serullas for obtaining Gutta-percha 

 from leaves could never succeed on account of the difficulty 

 attending the obtaining of supplies of naphtha solvent at a low 

 enough price. It is clear that Balata is finding increased ap- 

 plication, though I am not in a position at present to give any 

 statistics in reference to its employment for various purposes. 

 In a recent lecture in England Mr. Harrison, government chem- 

 ist and geologist of British Guiana, seemed to imagine that it 

 was chiefly used in England for insulation purposes, but as far 

 as I can make out this idea is totally erroneous. 



The very unsatisfactory results from the shareholders' point 

 of view, which have attended the large English textile com- 

 bines, have created quite a revulsion of feeling on 

 BRITISH jj^g pg^j q( ji^g investing public, and any further 



COMBINES. ,j- ■ ,j -uu 



attempts in this direction would meet with but a 

 sorry reception. One does not hear anything of an attempt to 

 revivify the dry bones of the defunct proposal with regard to 

 rubber works, although a certain amount of pessimism finds 

 expression with respect to trade prospects should the threat- 

 ened rise in the price of the raw material come to pass. It is cer- 

 tain that should any such attempts be made, the public would 

 be exceedingly shy about giving its support. Even where there 

 is no gross overcapitalization, the excessive sums which im- 

 portant firms wilKexact as good-will — that very intangible as- 



