122 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January 1, 1911. 



The use of such extreme figures is one of the worst possible 

 mistakes observed in some specifications. 



The first step to be taken when preparing to draw up a com- 

 plete specification is the gathering of information from all avail- 

 able sources. Samples may be gatliered from the works, and 

 data attached thereto, stating whether the results obtained from 

 the same were good, fair, or bad. Tlie chemical and physical 

 properties of these samples are carefully noted, along with their 

 price and date of purchase ; their quality has of course been de- 

 cided by actual service. 



In certain cases, the service does not give so much information, 

 or it takes a long period to determine which is good and which 

 is undesirable. In such cases, general knowledge is made use 

 of, the resulting specification being designated as "provisional," 

 and the material delivered on it is carefully watched, to see how 

 it behaves. In some cases, direct, positive experiments are made 

 with samples which have been obtained and analyzed, or with 

 material which has already been purchased. In such instances 

 it is of course possible to obtain more complete records than 

 when older samples are analyzed. 



Those samples which fail to give good results should be very 

 carefully examined, in order that their objectionable features 

 or constituents may be ruled out when drawing the specifi- 

 cations. In the accumulation of information it is frequently 

 desirable to pay a visit to the parties who make the materials in- 

 volved, and learn from them as far as possible, the grade or 

 quality wdiich it is /rnssible to maintain in commerce, when proper 

 precautions are used. Xo specification should be drawn before 

 a fair knowledge of the manufacturing process (for the material) 

 has been obtained. 



-Another important factor which enters into the framing of 

 specifications is the information obtained from experienced men 

 as to the characteristics and the behavior of materials which 

 have been used for many years. As an example of the care 

 taken by representative corporations in conducting all these 

 preliminary investigations it might be stated that the railroad 

 companies frequently work for two or three years before printing 

 final specifications. 



After all possible information has been accumulated, it is di- 

 gested and framed into a tentative specification, strictly omit- 

 ting an exposition of all the knowledge which has been ob- 

 tained. If a specification is issued for a hitherto untested 

 material, it may sometimes be necessary to alter the method of 

 manufacture, and if the change is too drastic, the manufacturers 

 of that material may resist any attempt at delivery on specifica- 

 tion. This would result in a worse condition, for the consumer 

 may then find it itnpossible to supply his wants in the market. 



After the preliminary specification is drawn, the chief chemist, 

 the mechanical engineer, the general superintendent, and the 

 purchasing agent confer and criticise the draft, making correc- 

 tions and suggestions, adding at one place and eliminating un- 

 essentials at another. The printed copy is now placed in the 

 hands of the foremen of the several departments in the mill 

 where the material is to be used. It is also sent to all those 

 manufacturers of the material involved from whom the pur- 

 chasing agent desires to buy. In both cases the recipients arc 

 asked for the freeest passible criticism (from their standpoint). 



It is a matter of frequent experience that certain manufac- 

 turers state that their "brand" is a sufficient guarantee, and that 

 they decline to meet specifications ; others desire that a particular 

 brand be specified (no doubt, in order to eliminate competition) ; 

 while still others, who have not perfected their methods of 

 manufacture, w^ould like to see the specifications bent in order 

 to meet the low quality of their product. 



A PROPHETIC VIEW OF RUBBER. 



[new YORK "journal OF CO.M .MERCE," AI'RII- 22, 1910.] 



""THE most conspicuous example of adance in price of an arti- 

 ^ cle of common use is that of india-rubber. About that 

 there is no mystery, and yet there is the usual variety of explana- 

 tions of the cause of higher prices for articles made of rubber. 

 The price of the best grade of Para rubber in this market in 

 the last few days has reached $2.90 a pound, and in London 

 Ceylon rubber, which is inferior to the Brazil product, has been 

 sold as high as $3.10. In April last year Para rubber was quoted 

 at $1.26, and in April, 1908, at 84 cents. The cause of this ad- 

 vance has undoubtedly been a large increase in the demand with- 

 out anything like a corresponding increase in the supply. The 

 president of the United States Rubber Co. is quoted as saying 

 that 60 per cent, of the world's output of this material is taken 

 by the United States and that one-half of this goes into automo- 

 bile tires. 



The great increase in the manufacture of automobiles and the 

 constant demand for new tires for old machines go far to explain 

 the extraordinary advance in the price of the crude material. 

 These tires are said to cost three times as much as they did less 

 than a year ago, but the prices of goods in which the material is 

 a comparatively small item and workmanship a much larger one, 

 show no similar advance, but are affected in varying degrees. 

 The natural effect of the greatly increased demand and high 

 price is to give a strong stimulus to the effort to produce on a 

 larger scale. This is not shown so much in Brazil and other 

 Latin American countries as in the Far East, where plantations 

 are cultivated, and where labor is plentiful and cheap. There it 

 is possible to increase production almost indefinitely, but it re- 

 quires four or five years' time to bring new plants to the stage 

 of yielding much of the gum. 



It is the greatly increased demand, the difficulty of increasing 

 supply rapidly to meet it, and the consequent high price that has 

 stimulated the formation of many new plantation companies and 

 the extraordinary speculation in the shares w'hich has caused so 

 much excitement in London. There is no doubt that this promis- 

 ing, exploiting and speculating has been overdone, and is in 

 danger of reaching a climax that will be followed by collapse, to 

 the destruction of the weaker companies and the ruin of unwary 

 speculators in shares who have ventured beyond their depth. 

 It is not the spirit of investment in the hope of large profit a 

 few years hence that developed this "speculative mania" for 

 rubber shares so much as the gambling spirit excited by the rapid 

 advance in the price of these shares occasioned by the eager de- 

 sire to obtain them and profit by that same advance. 



That lure cannot hold out indefinitely, and when the climax is 

 reached it will be found that many have bought at prices that 

 had no commensurate present or prospective value, and there 

 will be disastrous recessions. The fact will remain that reason- 

 ably capitalized ventures with productive plantations in view 

 will reap large profits in time ; but the result o fthe increase in 

 supply when the new output is realized must be a fall in prices 

 far below the present level. 



The Peat-Rubber Substitutes. Limited, was registered No- 

 vember 8, 1910, with ISOO capital, to deal in the commodity re- 

 ferred to in the title, the registered offices being at 21, Great 

 Winchester street, E. C, London. 



KiESEi.GUHR is the subject of a report by the United States 

 consul at Stavanger, Norway (Mr. P. Emerson Taylor), who 

 states that in job lots of 100 tons of the quality known as "No. 

 2c. (calcined)," the price will be $14.75 PC ton, cash, f. o. b. 

 ship at Stavanger. To this price, however, must be added the 

 cost of sacks, making the total cost per ton $18.13. This is 

 described as being the quality suitable for insulating purposes. 



It is reported locally at Webster, Massachusetts, that manu- 

 facturing is expected to begin by November i by the Webster 

 Felt and Rubber Co. [See The India Rubber World, October 

 I, 1910 — page 31.] The machinery is reported to have been fully 

 installed. 



