February i, 190 2. J 



THE INDIA RUBBER ^VORLD 



159 



HEARD AND SEEN IN THE TRADE. 



THE gradual decline in crude rubber prices for a year or 

 more past has not been accompanied by a corresponding 

 decline In the cost of reclaimed rubber. " The reason is that 

 crude rubber and reclaimed stock do not enter into competi- 

 tion," said a dealer in old rubbers. " When I first engaged in 

 the business I supposed some relation to exist between crude 

 rubber and reclaimed rubber prices, but I soon learned better. 

 The price for crude rubber is governed by the laws of supply 

 and demand. The same thing is true of rubber scrap, and of 

 reclaimed rubber. II there should happen to be a very substan- 

 tial and long maintained decline in crude rubber prices, it 

 might have the effect of increasing consumption in some lines, 

 and this might increase the demand for reclaimed rubber. But 

 in such case, instead of reclaimed rubber prices falling, in har- 

 mony with crude rubber prices, they would advance, on account 

 of the increased demand. But in fact the consumption of crude 

 rubber is not regulated by price. When a demand exists tor 

 rubber footwear, for instance, the manufacturers are going to 

 meet it, regardless of the price of crude rubber. But no matter 

 how low rubber may be, it will not lead to an increased sale of 

 rubber shoes if the weather is not such as make the people 



want such goods." 



♦ * * 



There isn't anything much more misleading than a com- 

 parison of the "capital" of different concerns in a given line 

 of business. One company may operate wholly on its own 

 money and other resources, while another works largely on 

 borrowed capital ; one reports only the original investment as 

 "capital," while using in addition a large accumulation of 

 profits, in the shape of surplus ; and there are companies which 

 have an " authorized capital " far in excess of what has actually 

 been paid in. Clearly a comparison of the stated capital of 

 companies cannot give much idea of their actual worth. The 

 last reported sale of shares of one large rubber manufacturing 

 concern was at $228 per $100 share, which indicates that in re- 

 porting their capital of $1,000,000 at par, they are far from ad- 

 vertising their full strength. 



* ♦ * 



A RECENT visitor to the offices of The India Rubber World 

 asked for the names of some rubber manufacturers. 



" In what branch ? " he was asked, for the rubber industry in 

 the United States is widely diversified. 



" Oh, any good factories will do. I am a chemist, with a new 

 rubber substitute to sell, and I don't know anybody in the rubber 

 trade." 



" Haven't you had it experimented with by any practical rub- 

 ber manufacturer or superintendent?" the visitor was further 

 asked. 



" Not yet. The substitute has only just been perfected, and 

 it is the best in the world." 



The discoverer of the " best rubber substitute in the world," 

 who had successfully guarded his secret from all rubber men, 

 left his card behind him, and the name it bore has appeared 

 since in the list of persons to whom patents have been granted 

 at Washington. The "best rubber substitute" now has gov- 

 ernmental protection. 



« * • 



As has been remarked before in this page, so-called rubber 

 substitutes are pretty certain to originate in the hands of per- 

 sons whose knowledge of India-rubber is nearest to nil. A 

 more recent visitor, also an avowed chemist of experience, is 

 confident of being able to produce a " substitute " that will ab- 

 solutely replace rubber in industry, possessing elasticity, insulat- 



ing properties, the quality ml being waterproof, and all. He, 

 also, has not taken the trouble as yet to become acquainted with 

 the practical side of rubber working. 



« * * 



There doesn't seem to be much respect shown for rubber 

 tire patents on either side of the Atlantic. To use a time dis- 

 honored rubber "joke," they certainly are "elastic." It is not 

 long since an official of the Dunlop Tire company in England 

 announced that the company had not earned the profits which 

 they had anticipated, because their patents had not protected 

 them from competition. Within a year they had been involved 

 in 162 cases of litigation growing out of alleged infringements. 

 And here comes an American tire company whose chief assets 

 consists of patents, advertising a list of thirteen rubber manu- 

 facturers against whom they will proceed " in due season," to 

 bring suits for infringement. But the making of tires doesn't 

 seem to stop. 



* ♦ * 



" We have developed some pretty good features in tire 

 making," said the president of a rubber company lately, " that 

 we have been advised were patentable, but we prefer not to 

 seek any protection for them from the government. It costs 

 too much to protect patents." 



• * « 



" The increased demand for Balata, and the advance in 

 prices as compared with former years," said a member of the 

 trade in New York, " is due to the great consumption of Gutta- 

 percha within the same period. The only thing that can lead 

 to an important consumption of Balata is a high price for Gutta- 

 percha, the best substitute for which is Balata. There has been, 

 during the past two or three years, an exceptionally active period 

 in submarine cable building. There is a British Pacific cable 

 under way, a contract is being executed for an American cable to 

 Hawaii, and cables have been laid recently from England to South 

 Africa and thence to Australia. besides two additional cables 

 across the Atlantic. But such activity cannot continue indefi- 

 nitely ; the commercial necessity for many more cables of such 

 lengths will not exist for years to come. With the pressure of 

 this unusual demand for cables removed. Gutta-percha prices 

 may be expected to decline, and with it the resumption of the use 

 of Gutta-percha for which Balata has been coming into use. At 

 the same time, the output of Balata has been increasing enor- 

 mously. It is safe to predict, therefore, lower prices for Balata 

 before they will be higher." 



* ♦ * 



It is only a few years since the rubber horseshoe pad was 

 considered a good deal of a luxury, and there are very few in 

 the rubber business who believed that the trade would amount 

 to very much. With the increased use of asphalt for city 

 streets, the business has, however, grown very large. A con- 

 servative estimate places the number of pads sold in New York 

 city daily, at 1000 pairs and in the whole United States, at 

 about 20,000 pairs. These pads last, as a rule, about a month, 

 and they certainly appear to be of great benefit to horses. The 

 business as a whole, from a manufacturer's standpoint, is said 



to amount to about $4,500,000. 



» » 



Whatever the character of the weather, it is certain to please 

 somebody in the rubber industry. The Akron Democrat of 

 November i said ; " Local rubber men are not averse to a long 

 continuation of the present dry, pleasant weather. It means 

 that much less rubber will go into boots and overshoes and that 

 the price of rubber may therefore be reduced — that it will not 

 be advanced because of the great demand, at least." The rub- 

 ber shoe people have since had reason also to be pleased. 



