172 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March i, 1902. 



undertaken if they have been incurred with full knowledge of 

 the facts. It may not be without interest to enlarge upon the 

 subject of the rubber specifications, representing as they do 

 the extremest length to which any buyer has as yet imposed 

 restrictions on the rubber manufactures. 



The vulcanized rubber is to be manufactured from fresh, 

 well-washed, new rubber of the best class, compounded with 

 sulphur and mineral matter, the class of rubber and the kind 

 of mineral matter to be mentioned by the contractor. No previ- 

 ously vulcanized rubber scrap, or crumb rubber, charcoal, lamp- 

 black, cork, rubber substitute, or any organic substances other 

 than new rubber are to be used in carrying out the contract. 

 The India-rubber exclusive of sulphur is in no case to be less 

 than 48 per cent, of the finished rubber ; the vulcanizing sul- 

 phur is not to be less than 2 or more than 4.5 per cent, of the 

 finished rubber. The mineral matter and sulphur combined is 

 not to exceed 52 per cent, by weight of the finished rubber, and 

 is to consist ol not more than three different substances to be 

 named in the tender, no one of which is to be present in less 

 quantity than 8 per cent. On boiling rubber finely rasped 

 from the finished article, for six hours in 6 per cent, alcoholic 

 soda, the loss must not exceed 12 per cent, calculated on the 

 organic matter only, and similarly on boiling for six hours in 

 absolute alcohol the loss must not exceed 5 per cent, calcu- 

 lated on the organic matter only. In both cases the alcoholic 

 extract must contain sulphur and India-rubber resins only. 

 The vulcanization of the rubber is to be effected directly by 

 means of pure sulphur and not by any compound of sulphur. 



It will be acknowledged that strict attention on the part of 

 the contractor to the above details does not leave much room 

 for the application of those mysteries or trade secrets which 

 are supposed, though on a slender basis of fact, to form part 

 of the good will and fixtures of any rubber factory. The speci- 

 fication is not merely a matter of form, for inspectors are en- 

 gaged to superintend the manufacture and to make the speci- 

 fied mechanical tests, as well as to take samples for chemical 

 analysis. It is not proposed on the present occasion, even if 

 consideration of space were not all powerful, to discuss the 

 specification or to point out spots of inherent weakness ; it will 

 be enough to bring its existence to the knowledge of American 

 manufacturers, and it this has the result of eliciting some ex- 

 pressions of opinion as to the advisability of putting so much 

 restriction upon the trade, some good purpose will undoubtedly 

 have been served. The writer is not aware of any complaints 

 having been lodged against contractors for using any other 

 rubber than that specified, and although the term " Para" has 

 a somewhat wide connotation nowa-days, it will be noticed 

 that the use of Para rubber is not compulsory, and rubber of 

 the best class is a term that admits of various readings, accord- 

 ing to the ideas of individual manufacturers. If, for instance, 

 you state that you will use Para rubber only, and this is un- 

 derstood to include negroheads, it would be rather difficult for 

 the chemical examiner, let alone the inspector, who is usually 

 a young engineer, to certify that a violation of the treaty had 

 occurred if the best quality of African rubber was used to some 

 extent. Of course the object of the extraction tests with alco- 

 holic soda is to detect the use of resinous rubbers, bat as high 

 class Africans are now obtainable with a very low content of 

 resin, it appears that the chemical tests at the disposal of the 

 Westminster engineers are insufficient to enable them to lay 

 down for rubber such stringent regulations as in the case of 

 metals and alloys, any deviation from the specifications of 

 which are easily and accurately detected by analysis. There 

 is this to be said for these Westminster specifications : the time 

 for which a guarantee is required to be given is 3>i,years, and 



not five or six years, which some of our principal railways 

 imagine should be cheerfully given by rubber manufacturers. 

 It seems to me, and no doubt I am not alone in this opinion, 

 that i'/i years is quite enough, when one has practically no 

 means of ascertaining whether the goods have been subjected 

 to specially adverse conditions or not, in cases where com- 

 plaints as to defects arise. It would place the average in- 

 spector under these contracts in a somewhat awkward position 

 if all the clauses of the " general conditions of contract " were 

 duly observed. 



Thus it is laid down that the contractor shall before proceed- 

 ing to execute any wo'k submit for the approval of the engineer 

 the way in which he proposes to execute each portion of it. 

 This sounds like the reprint from some stereotyped metallurg- 

 ical contract form, and, as far as my knowledge of the inspecting 

 engineer goes, it had better be honored in the breach in the 

 case of rubber goods, otherwise the said engineers might easily 

 be the victims of practical joking. Not so long ago this subject 

 of inspection by the buyers' engineer was treated in a satirical 

 vein in this journal, and perhaps it may be news to many 

 readers to hear how far it has attained in Great Britain. 



» » » 



The India Rubber World has at hand copies of specifica- 

 tions for India-rubber stores required by several British rail- 

 way companies, and the conditions under which tenders are 

 invited. From these have been compiled the details below, as 

 indicating the items of rubber manufactures which find use in 

 railroading. Only one of these documents specifies the quan- 

 tities required for twelve months — the Great Northern Railway 

 Co. (Ireland) — whose requirements, relatively, would not be 

 large. The details are condensed herewith : 



8 gross Springs, Spencer's patent. 

 I gross " " " Iron, imbedded. 



224 pounds Strips, rectangular. s"X%" and 4"Xl". 

 144 pounds Rests for carriage windows. 

 300 pounds Carriage body blocks, 8"X4°Xi." 



15 gross Washers, for vacuum brake couplings, etc. 

 254 pounds Sheet, various thicknesses. 

 60 pounds Washers for gauge glasses. 

 2 gross Regulator rings. 

 yi gross Buffers for patent door steps. 

 j4 gross Door stops. 

 10 gross Joint rings, 15", 18", and 21". 

 1500 feet Hose for gas, wired, f^" to }(". 

 1020 feet Feed pipe, wired, 4 ply, ^" to 2^" bore. 

 2112 feet Wash-out pipes, 4 ply. J^" t0 2l^". 

 700 feet Tube for water, 3 and 4 ply, J^" to 2j^". 

 100 feet Tube glazed for gas, }^" outside diameter. 

 50 pounds Solution. 

 336 pounds Tires for truck wheels. 

 2000 feet Belting, 3 to 8 ply, i}^' to 8" wide. 

 18 gross Rings for cylinders, 15' to 21 ". 

 15 gross Rod packing rings for auto-brakes. 

 12 gross Vacuum brake hose pipe connections. 

 2 gross Drip balls. 

 3000 yards Roofing Cloth, Jeffrey's patent. 

 2 dozen Miniature sacks for horse boxes. 

 4 dozen Diaphragms, 18". 



6 dozen sheets Vulcanized fiber flexible sheeting. 

 pounds Loco packing. 



The specification sheet from the Great Northern Railway of 

 England comprises 107 items under the heading " India-rub- 

 ber," embracing the following, which do not appear in the pre- 

 ceding list; 



Hose pipes for vacuum brakes. 



Hose pipes for steam heating. 



Hose pipes, Westinghouse brakes. 



Sleeves for the same. 



Water crane pipes. 



Hydraulic tubing. 



Draught tubing. 



Pyramid mats. 



Balls. 



Cement, 



Cones for water closets. 



Dust shields for axle boxes. 



Knee aprons. 



Lamp head stops. 



Oilskin suits. 



Sheet — for squeegees, etc. 



Stair nosing. 



Vestibule wind guard covers. 



Water bottle washers. 



Asbestos sheeting. 



