90 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1910. 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 



PATENTS ISSUED (with Dates of Application). 



414,878 (.April 16. 1910). G. Metcalle. Non-ptrfor.nble substance for pneu- 

 matic and other tires and its process of manufacture. 



F. Faurc. Pneumatic headgear, for protection against 



iipcrforablc 



and 



414.616 (Feb. 25). 



shocks. 

 414,6J0 (Feb. 26). Niedergang. Shoe with flexible 



bellows-sole, to the heel. 

 414,893 (April 12). L. Gamier and U. Raymond. Elastic lire. 

 414,901 (April 18). F. H. de Lostalot. Elastic tire. 

 414,926 (April 19). J. Corwin. Anti skidding tire. 

 415,024 (July 1. 1909). C. L. A. Gaumy. Elastic tire. 

 415,069 (July 3). B. Demont. Flexible tire. 



415,098 (.April 14, 1910). R. J. Caldwell, Pfleumer, and the Pneumatic 



' Syndicate, Ltd. Improvement applied to apparatus intended for the 



manufacture of an elastic, cellular, mossy and spongy substance for 



filling the tires of vehicle wheels, cushions and other similar objects. 



415,177 (.April 25). E. Benjamin. Process for regulating the modifications 



' employed in the auto oxidation and polymerization uf certain organic 



substances, caoutchouc, gutta-percha, lacquer colors and other similar 



products, crude and manufactured. 



414,979 (March 14). M. Beyon and A. Millet. Application of caoutchouc 



' in the manufacture of leather footwear. 

 415 155 (April 23). Societe anonvme pour le Commerce et Tlndustrie du 

 ' Caoutchouc. Process and machine for the manuf.icture, mechamcally, 

 of caoutchouc balloons. 



[NorE Printed copies of specifications of French patents can be ob- 

 tained from R. Robet. Ingenieur-Conseil, 16 avenue de Villier, Pans, at 

 50 cents each, postpaid.] 



THE NEW "ESSEX" RUBBER MATS. 



ANEW rubber rug, designed for elevators, railway depots, 

 hotels, offices and public buildings, has been placed on 

 the market by the Essex Rubber Co. (Trenton, New Jersey). 

 It is made to take the place of perforated mats and other 

 floor coverings, and is designed for hard and heavy service, 

 and is well adapted for it. It is reversible and repairable, 

 can be rolled up tight and stood on end without injury, and 

 contains no cloth or other fabric to rot or break. It has a semi- 

 invisible, non-corrosive, metallic reinforcement, thus making it 

 practically indestructible. 



In addition to the "Essex" rug, the same company are putting 

 upon the market a switchboard mat, for use in front of such 

 high-voltage electrical apparatus as is found usually in all 

 modern central stations. This mat is inlaid in attractive colors 

 and is without perforations. It aflfords a footing for the station 

 men, impervious to moisture, and being free from metal or other 

 conducting material, safeguards them from a current of elec- 

 tricity being grounded through their bodies. Some very large 

 central stations have been equipped with it with most satis- 

 factory results. 



VACUUM DRYING OF CRUDE RUBBER. 



MR. ALEXANDER BETHUNE. 



THE objects of ihc Kul>l)er Growers' Association, formed in 

 London some three years ago, have been outlined already in 

 these pages. Without doubt this organization has proved of 

 great help in the tlevclopment, upon a sound basis, of the busi- 

 ness of producing rubber in Ceylon and Malaya, in which so 

 much British capital has been invested, and in the marketing of 

 the product. In The India Rubber World, November 1, 1907 

 (page 45), appeared a portrait and sketch of the first chairman 

 of the .Association, Mr. Henry Kerr Rutherford— a gentleman 

 who was among the first to take up the culture of rubber as a 

 promising field for investment, and whose continued interest in 

 the subject is indicated by tlie large number of important and 

 successful plant:itinus in thi- l~ar liast with which he is now 

 connected. 



OPINIONS still differ as to whether or not vacuum drying is 

 superior to drying in hot air, yet it is certain that vacuum 

 drying is winning more and more adherents on plantations and in 

 factories. The vacuum drying is said by some to weaken the 

 "nerve" of the rubber and to make it sticky, but this is the fault 

 of the method of procedure and not of the system. The above 

 depreciation of the rubber, according to J. B. Taylor, in Trotiral 

 Life [VI, No. 4], is caused by the needless overheating of the 

 rubber, after the greater part of the moisture has been removed. 

 Since it is impossible to remove the last 2 to 2^ per cent, moisture 

 by hot air, it follows that this ought not to be attemped in the 

 vacuum dryer. No trouble need then be apprehended of sticky 

 and "nerveless" rubber. The use of the vacuum dryer calls for 

 some practice and degree of intelligence. The drying should be 

 watched through windows in the apparatus provided for the 

 purpose, and stopped when two things arc noticed, viz : a marked 

 rise in temperature, and a cessation of the dropping of the con- 

 densed water from the condenser. Rubber dried in this manner 

 is faultless and hardly oxidized at all. In author's opinion, 

 vacuum drying is better than the hot air process. 



K. J. MAVWAI.D. 



.\|.K.\.\NDIR BeTHUXE, J. 1'. 

 [Chairman of the Rubber Growers' .Association.] 

 Here is presented a portrait of the present chairman of the 

 Association, Mr. Alexander Bethune, j. P. Mr. Bethune is to- 

 day a member of the boards of eleven rubber and tea plantation 

 companies, and a member of the Produce committee of the Cey- 

 lon Association in London. Lately he departed for Africa, in 

 connection with the important future program of the Mabira 

 Forest (Uganda) Rubber Co., Limited, the success of which, in 

 the application of scientific methods to the extraction of latex 

 of FwilKiiiia clastka has proved one of the most interesting de- 

 velopments in the forest rubber interest. Mr. Bethune, it is to 

 be added, is a member of the Mabira Forest company's board. 



Mr. Bethune for just eleven years has beeii the able cor 

 respondent in London of The Times of Ceylon, having never 

 failed during this time to forward a weekly letter to his paper. 

 'i he pressure of business alone has constrained hiiri to give up 

 the newspaper conneotirm, in which he is succeeded by Mr. J. 

 Cecil Cox. ^ 



The United States consul at Aguascalientes (Mr. A. Donald- 

 son Smith) reports that while there are no guayule rubber 

 plants in the state of .Aguascalientes, the whole northern part of 

 Zacatecas abounds therewith, and that a rubber factory has been 

 erected at the hncienda of San Nicolas in tliat state. The consul 

 adds : 



"If the destruction of the guayule plant continues at the 

 present rate, it is generally predicted that in five years, unless 

 success can be had from new plantings, the supply will be ex- 

 hausted." 



