June i, 1901.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER W^ORLH 



261 



THE INDIA-RUBBER TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



WITH the amalgamation of the Dunlop Rubber Co. and 

 the Rubber Tyre Manufacturing Co., Limited, and 

 the absorption of the business of the Dunlop Pneu- 

 matic Tyre Co., Limited, all under the name of the 

 Dunlop Rubber Co., cosmos may be said to have taken the 

 place of chaos as far as the general public is con- 

 DUNLOP earned with regard to the real ownership of these 



RUBBE R 



COMPANY concerns. There has been a good deal of confusion 

 outside the firms themselves as to the business 

 relations previously existing between the three companies just 

 named, a fact which need cause no surprise, but the consolida- 

 tion effected will remove this. Those who know him say that in 

 losing Mr. Finlay Sinclair, their late manager, the Dunlop 

 Rubber Co. have suflfered a reverse, the full effect of which will 

 be experienced as time proceeds. Mr. Sinclair has joined the 

 board of the Preston-Davies Tyre and Valve Co., whose 

 factory is about to be removed from Glasgow to Coventry. 

 The " Scottish " tire of this company has been highly praised to 

 me by riders whose long distance experiences entitle them to 

 speak with authority. At present this tire is made under 

 license from the Dunlop company, but it is not improbable that, 

 when the monopoly runs out, in about three years' time, the 

 Preston-Davies company will be opponents to be reckoned 

 with. With regard to the motor tire business, I understand 

 that an arrangement has been come to between the Dunlop 

 company and Michelin et Cie., of Clermont-Ferrand (France), 

 by which the former company becomes the sole agents in the 

 United Kingdom for the well known Michelin motor tires, one 

 term of the agreement being that tires up to the value of ^80,- 

 000 must be purchased by the Dunlop company. By this 

 arrangement it is now impossible for motor-car enthusiasts in 

 this country to buy Michelin tires at the price they are sold at 

 in France, but only at what the Dunlop company choose to sell 

 them for. With regard to the appointment of Mr. Edward J. 

 Byrne as advisory expert to the Dunlop Rubber Co. for twenty 

 years at a salary of ^2500 per annum, somewhat caustic remarks 

 have been made by individuals, but it is not unlikely that 

 " envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness " have had some 

 influence in the framing of these comments. The expert's 

 principal task in the near future will be to make a motor tire 

 equal to Michelin's. Will he be able to do it ? 



Some surprise has been expressed that while the use of rub- 

 ber lined fire hose in the country as a whole is anything but 

 extensive, the Metropolitan fire brigade should use it 

 '^'"^ exclusively. The reason, however, appears to be that 

 the rules and regulations under which the fire brigades 

 of the metropolis and of the country towns carry out their du- 

 ties differ to some extent. Thus in London the firemen have 

 the power, if not exactly to break, at any rate to enter, any 

 dwelling house in which they have reason to suppose their ser- 

 vices are required, while the firemen in the country cannot 

 enter until they are invited, so to speak. The use of the rub- 

 ber lined hose in London is to prevent damage to house prop- 

 erty by leakage, which so commonly takes place in unlined 

 hose, especially at first until the flax has absorbed the neces- 

 sary amount of water to render it subsequently water-tight. 

 Outside the metropolis it cannot be said that the rubber lined 

 hose is increasing rapidly in favor, on account of its greater 

 cost, heavier weight, and inferior longevity compared with flax 



VISCOSE. 



hose pure and simple. With regard to the two varieties of 

 rubber-lined hose — namely, that which is made in the ordinary 

 way with a seam, and that which is made by the seamless meth- 

 od — practical men seem to think that the objection that the 

 seam in the rubber retards the flow of water to some extent is 

 unworthy of serious consideration. 



We are soon likely to have the cellulose product patented by 

 Carl Otto Weber on the market, if what I hear is reliable. So 

 far the attempts which have been made by other in- 

 vestigators, notably Messrs. Cross & Bevan of Lon- 

 don, to make a satisfactory rubber substitute from cellulose have 

 not achieved any real success. I don't quite know how the 

 new viscose diflers from what has previously been experimented 

 with, though I believe that in its main composition it is very 

 similar; that is, it is a solution of highly mercerised cellulose 

 fiber in bisulphide of carbon. The term " mercerised," it may 

 perhaps be mentioned, refers to the treatment of cellulose in 

 various forms with strong caustic soda solution. The viscose 

 product is expected to take the place of rubber largely in me- 

 chanical mixing and points which are certainly in its favor are 

 its comparatively low price and non-liability to oxidation. 



Thre/; engineering firms are now engaged making the neces- 

 sary plant for carrying out the vulcanization of rubber tires in 

 about 2]4 minutes, so it looks as if the pro- 

 HiGH (,ggg },^(j Qome to stav, despite the forebod- 



TEMPERATURE /•,,-,,' u j .n 



VULCANIZATION. '"8^ °' ^^'' which have been and are still 

 expressed about the future of the process. 

 It will hardly, however, be contended that it is applicable to 

 rubber of any thickness, unless it happens to be nearly all 

 mineral of fire brick nature. Of course, with thin tire strips 

 the case is very different, and there is nothing inherently im- 

 probable about success being attained in this direction. 



On May 9 a demonstration of this patent machine took place 



at the rubber machinery works of Messrs. Iddon, at Leyland, 



in the presence of a numerous gather- 



ROWLEY AND WALM3LEY ■ ^f representatives of the rubber 



SPREADING MACHINE. , ,, . , , • u • u 



trade. Mention of this machine has 

 already been made in this correspondence, and a few supple- 

 mentary remarks will be all that is necessary on the present oc- 

 casion. There are two spreading gages and calender rolls at 

 each end of the machine, and two rolls of cloth are coated 

 simultaneously with perfect ease by one man, the coatings pro- 

 ceeding alternately from each end of the machine until com- 

 pleted. Each film of dough is thus spread the reverse way and 

 calendered at the same time, any liability to porosity being thus 

 removed. It is claimed that with this machine a smaller 

 quantity of dough is used than under the old system, the saving 

 effected being estimated at from 6/8 to i^i on each piece of 80 

 yards. Less labor is required, as there is no winding back or 

 handling of the rolls after placing in the machine until they 

 are completed. With regard to the construction of the machine 

 inspected, which, it may be mentioned, was made for the 

 Northern Rubber Co. (Retford), the two drying tables are 

 each 20 feet long, which is found sufficient to dry well on pass- 

 ing the cloth at the rate of 8 to 10 yards per minute, and the 

 gearing is so arranged that it can be worked as two single 

 machines if so desired. The total length of the machine is 27 

 feet long and 10 feet wide over all, the rollers covered as usual 

 with hard rubber being 72 inches in length by 10 inches diaro- 



