January i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER '*VORLD 



101 



A GERMAN OPINION OF THE RUBBER SHOE MACHINE. 



From the " Gummi-Zeituitg" {Dresden). 



UNDER the heading "A Revolution in the Manufacture 

 of Rubber Footwear," The India Rubber World, 

 of New York, presents an alarming article on a newly 

 invented machine for the manufacture of rubber 

 shoes, excluding all hand work. Generally we view these 

 alarm articles written on the other side of the ocean from a 

 skeptical standpoint, and if the article cited above did not em- 

 anate from our otherwise well informed — and in matters per- 

 taining to the rubber industry well versed — American cousin, 

 we would have scarcely taken any notice of it. Our American 

 cousins are incorrigible optimists, and even if, through this 

 tendency, they have sometimes made rapid advances and 

 flitted over harrowing obstacles, which others had with diffi- 

 culty to climb, fatal disappointments have occurred to them 

 oftener than to any other nation, and untold capital has been 

 lost by thern in unlucky inventions and revolutionizing im- 

 provements, which afterwards proved premature and imprac- 

 ticable. With us events move more slowly, and, therefore, 

 more surely and thoroughly ; in consequence of which, we are 

 constrained to accept this story of the manufacture of rubber 

 shoes entirely by machinery, with prudence. But let us first 

 hear what The India Rubber World has to say. [Here fol- 

 lows the article published November i, 1901 — page 51.] 



This much for The India Rubber World. The difficulty, 

 in the face of this enthusiastic description of this wonder 

 working machine, to maintain the cool deliberation of those 

 interested, is at once apparent. But within this fabulous de- 

 scription lies the very point which awakens distrust. Until 

 now the American gentlemen have praised their rubber shoes 

 as being the very acme of elegance and beauty, unsurpassable 

 in quality ; they described their factory methods of thorough- 

 ness, practical exploitation of space and labor, etc., as inat- 

 tainable by others — no necessity existing for improvement. 

 To day they rudely term their shoes " uncouth abortions,' 

 and their method of manufacture "clumsy, of the middle 

 ages"; this, of course, for no other reason than to " boom " 

 the new machine to the extreme. 



As far as we are concerned, we can but remark that the now 

 existing condition of our rubber shoe manufacture is to us en- 

 tirely satisfactory, having no occasion to denounce it as crude 

 and ancient. The German shoe is handsome, light, and cheap, 

 and exceptionally durable. The German methods of manufac- 

 ture, as, for instance, we witnessed them in Harburg, have at- 

 tained the same high standing which characterizes all other 

 branches of our German industry. Machine work, wherever 

 possible, has superseded handwork, and this, where actually 

 necessary, has been organized to precision, and so trained as to 

 obtain the highest possible results. It is certainly possible 

 that further improvements and inventions can be made, 

 whereby the high cost of production may be lessened — our 

 manufacturers not objecting while the quality of their product 

 IS not deteriorated, but in this, as well as in all other things, 

 the advances are made carefully, step by step, systematically 

 improving one after the other. A wonder machine producing 

 in one minute a complete rubber shoe of superior quality to 

 any heretofore had, and that by using inferior material, and at 

 a lower cost, must arouse the suspicion of every rubber man 

 who is at all familiar with the many sided perplexing details, 

 and exacting demands made of the rubber shoe. It must also 



be considered that with us, in Germany, where labor is not so 

 costly as in America, the saving derived from machine work 

 does not figure in the same ratio as there. It is our belief, 

 therefore, even if everything should transpire, as told in the 

 above description, the "revolution" in the manufacture of 

 rubber shoes will progress but slowly in Germany. 



We do not maintain, however, that it is impossible to manu- 

 facture a complete shoe entirely by machinery ; human skill 

 and ingenuity have solved more difficult problems than that, 

 and why should it not succeed in this? It may also be pos- 

 sible that a shoe thus manufactured may present a more pleas- 

 ing appearance, and be cheaper, but in one essential it is bound 

 to be inferior to the now existing product, and materially so — 

 i.e., durability, a feature which especially distinguishes our 

 German shoes. Machine work has succeeded in many instan- 

 ces, producing handsome articles of pleasing appearances with 

 the greatest of ease where handwork would be laborious and 

 difficult, but, simultaneously, with the machine work appears 

 its inseparable companion — less durability. This is within the 

 order of all things and will be so in this instance ; in fact, from 

 the few remarks made by The India Rubber World, in re- 

 gard to the manner of manufacture, it may be taken for 

 granted. Apparently the rubber is sprayed into a form, or, 

 in a softened condition, is pressed over a model. Every rub- 

 ber manufacturer is aware of the fact that sprayed rubber, or 

 rubber which has to be softened beforehand, becomes less dur- 

 able. It is, furthermore, plainly to be seen that the shoes have 

 to undergo cold vulcanization, and it is equally well known 

 that goods vulcanized by that process are less durable than 

 those which undergo heat vulcanization. Added to these de- 

 fects is the fact that cheap mixtures are used, which give, with 

 mathematical precision, a corresponding cheapness in quality 

 and durability. 



Now, as to the details. In handwork the materials are se- 

 lected according to the amount of wear imposed upon each 

 particular part ; strong reinforcements are made where needed ; 

 the uppers are to be elastic and should not tear; the counters 

 must be stiff, and not break ; soles and heels should be elastic 

 and tough. For all these a different grade of rubber and ma- 

 terial is used. These painful details are the factors producing 

 durability ; they are unattainable by machine work. Therefore, 

 the rubber shoe, made by hand, as it now exists, will no doubt 

 remain supreme in solidity and durability, not to be crowded 

 out by machine made shoes. If we were made to believe every- 

 thing as described by our worthy contemporary on the other 

 side of the ocean, on this point we could never be brought to 

 agree. Similar stories have been told about the manufacture 

 of rubber balls, and pneumatic tires, from which several years 

 ago much was expected, and which were also termed a " revo- 

 lution " in their manufacture. Well, time has proved that 

 it is impossible for machine work to compete with carefully 

 planned hand work, where everything is considered. The skill 

 of human hands in many instances is as indispensible as the 

 detailing and parceling in manufacturing, made possible by it, 

 which is not within the scope of a machine, and, if we are not 

 far wrong, this pertains especially to the manufacture of rub- 

 ber shoes. 



A noticeable point is that it is claimed for the described ma- 

 chine to have been patented in " America and foreign coun- 



