42 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November i, 190 i. 



and it is all in the interest of the trade that the sort of work 

 that has been done at Oxford and Kew should meet with en- 

 couragement. There Is perceptible at the present time a 

 greater interest in the botany of the trade than was at one time 

 the case ; manufacturers are evincing interest in the names and 

 geographical distribution of the rubber-yielding plants, and 

 there is no doubt that we have commenced an era which in its 

 progress will show the rubber manufacturer more and more 

 cognizant of details which he has hitherto not troubled to ac- 

 quaint himself with. A thorough acquaintance with structural 

 and physiological botany would of course necessitate the expen- 

 diture of a good deal more time than would be justifiable, but 

 in these days of legitimate enterprise in rubber planting the 

 acquirement of a certain degree of botanical knowledge 

 seems to be most desirable. As a general guide to the geo- 

 graphical distribution of rubber trees the map given in the 

 price list pamphlet issued this year by the Dermatine Co., 

 Limited (London), will be found useful for reference, and no 

 doubt before long we shall see something of the sort on a more 

 comprehensive and detailed scale. It may be mentioned that, 

 in addition to the attention that has long been paid to rubber 

 botany at Kew gardens, the Imperial Institute has of late de- 

 voted attention to the same subject, as may be seen by a per- 

 usal of the proceedings which are issued from time to time for 

 the information of the public. Its research laboratories for in- 

 vestigating the value of newly discovered species should un- 

 doubtedly prove of increasing interest and importance. 



The impression that Michelin's agency for motor tires in 

 Great Britain is held by the Dunlop company is not quite cor- 

 rect. It is the Clipper company, which, however, is a 



MOTOR distinction without much difference, as Mr. DuCros is 



^'"^ a leading spirit in both concerns. As regards the 

 AFFAIRS. & t' » 



evolution of the motor car the present tendency is to 



reduce the diameter of the driving wheels and in fact to make 

 all the wheels of equal size. This may seem at first sight to 

 be indicative of a decreased demand for rubber, but it must 

 be remembered that the number of revolutions will be in- 

 creased, and therefore the wear on the tire will be greater, thus 

 tending to equalize things. With regard to re-rubbering of 

 covers, although this may be successful enough for bicycle 

 tires, motor car owners have come to the conclusion from ex- 

 perience that it is only a waste of money in their case, as the 

 attachment by solution nearly always fails. 



The somewhat dubious policy of exposing rubber to the 

 vulgar gaze in shop windows is evidenced by the rather de- 

 plorable condition of the rubber " in its various 



EXPOSURE stages of manufacture "on the framed and glazed 



OF RUBBER. ,^ ,. ...ttt iji^ 



show cards issued by the Waterman Ideal Fount- 

 ain Pen Co. of Broadway, New York. Some of those in our 

 shop windows show in a state of resinous pulp what is em- 

 blematically described as rubber sheet, which no doubt it once 

 was. 



The only redeeming feature as regards the trade generally is 

 that coal has come down in price, thus lessening the burden of 

 manufacture a good deal compared with last year. 



CONDITION 

 OF TRADE. 



Otherwise there is no mistaking the rather pessi- 

 mistic tone which is indulged in on all hands, ex- 

 cept in isolated cases where special goods are in demand. The 

 cause of the depression is no doubt rightly attributed to 

 the war, which drags its slow length along and which has para- 

 lyzed to a great extent many of our industries. Perhaps the 

 fall in the price of metallic oxides, such as those of zinc and lead 

 should be mentioned in addition to coal, as aflording relief from 

 the conditions of last year, but of course, however great the re- 

 duction in price of chemicals, the matter is only a comparatively 



small one compared with the price of rubber or decreased de- 

 mand for finished products. 



Mr. Bamber, recently secretary to Mr. Baxter at the Leyland 



Works, has been appointed works manager at the St. Helens 



Cable Co., at Warrington. ==It is reported that Mr. 



f^?!*! Michelin is growing rubber trees underglassin France 



NOTICE. o r^ fe 



on an extensive scale. My informant, who, however, 

 is not exactly a rubber expert, seemed to think that it was the 

 intention of the Clermont-Ferrand works to supply their own 

 requirements of raw material at home, and so to avoid having 

 recourse to the tropics. To me, however, there seems to be 

 too much of a Jules Verne flavor about the report — that is, as 

 far as the ultimate object indicated is concerned, The cultiva- 

 tion of the Ficus elastica as a greenhouse plant has long been 

 common in Europe, but no question of its utility otherwise 

 than as an ornament has ever arisen. ==At a recent inquest 

 held at an explosive factory the cause of death was found to 

 be the inhalation of naphtha or benzol vapors. I don't know 

 that any actual fatality has occurred from this cause in rubber 

 works, but the fact that such vapors cannot be inhaled with 

 impunity unless they are largely diluted with air cannot be too 

 strongly insisted on.==The New York Wheel and Rubber 

 Tire Co. of 377, Kennington road, London, S. E., have recently 

 put down new plant for making solid rubber tires. This firm, 

 of which Oscar Comte de Nevers isthe moving spirit, describes 

 itself on its business paper as the largest rubber tire makers in 

 the world. Personally I know nothing which should cause me 

 to consider the statement as an exaggeration, but it occurs to 

 me that firms such, for instance, as the Continental, of Han- 

 over, might possibly have something to say on the point.=-= 

 At the October sale by tender of condemned stores of the 

 General Postoffice, London, the quantity of Gutta-percha on 

 oflfer was 38 tons. There is no doubt that this amount will 

 show a marked decrease in future, owing to the substitution of 

 Gutta-percha covered wires by those insulated with paper. 



GERMAN ELECTRICAL COMPANIES. 



AT a recent general meeting of the Felten & Guillaume 

 Gesellshaft (Miilheim-on-Rhine, Germany), accounts 

 were presented for the 18 months since the company became 

 constituted in their present form. The profits during that 

 period are reported at £400,308 (=$2,001,545), out of which 

 was written oft for depreciation lyi per cent, on buildings and 

 12 per cent, on machinery. A dividend at the rate of 10 per 

 cent, for the 18 months was declared, amounting to _^225,ooo 

 (=$1,125,000). The distribution was made on a basis of _£i,- 

 500,000 capital, though the capital account now stands at £1,- 

 800,000. The company's balance sheet showed liabilities of 

 _£84o,ooo, and bills receivable for _£i, 147,500. 



Mention was made in the last India Rubber World of 

 the establishment of a branch in Milan (Italy) by the Elektri- 

 citats-Aktiengesellschaft, vorm. W. Lahmeyer & Co. (Frank- 

 fort o/M., Germany.) They have also established a branch in 

 England, under the title of the Lahmeyer Electrical Co., Lim- 

 ited, with £ 100,000 capital. The company had previously es- 

 tablished branches in Russia and in Norway, the operation of 

 which is understood not to have been profitable. The Lah- 

 meyer company's total capital has increased during six years 

 from £85,000 to £500,000, and it is now proposed to make it 

 £1,000,000. During the last business year the gross earnings 

 reached £215,805 ( = $1,079,025). The dividend distributed 

 amounted to £50,000, or 10 per cent, on the capital of £500,000. 

 During the five years previous the yearly dividends were, re- 

 spectively, S, 8, 10, II, and 11 per cent. 



