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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1911. 



Time was when the peripatetic formula seller 

 was listened to with respect by most rubber manufac- 

 turers and his wares had a value proportionate to the 

 air of mystery he could assume and to his eloquence. His 

 day is done, however. A broader knowledge of crude 

 rubber, of ingredients used, and of course, has dissipated 

 the fog that enveloped the "secret compound" and in- 

 stilled confidence in one's own where once was uncer- 

 tainty. But there is another factor, the appreciation of 

 which has done much to discourage compound selling. 

 Climatic conditions affect not only the ingredients enter- 

 ing into various compounds, but their use in making up 

 and the cures. Approved German compounds may not 

 do at all in England or the United States. Formute 

 •used for years in Japan would have to be radically 

 •changed to do in Italy. French practice in nn'xtures is 

 not adapted to our own rubber mills. Indeed, locally the 

 same is true. Massachusetts factories must use com- 

 pounds and cures different from those used in New 

 Jersey. Akron and Xew York have varying climatic 

 .conditions. It may be that one day one of the bright 

 young investigators who are doing so much to stand- 

 ardize the various steps of rubber factory practice will 

 take this subject up as a whole and formulate rules for 

 compound and cure that will take into account humidity, 

 temperature, etc. Until that is done, however, com- 

 pounds from a distance will be viewed with distrust. 



The report, that the "chewing gum trust" are to put 

 upon the market special extra large packages of gum for 

 -cows, so far lacks verification. The plan, however, is not 

 without its points. Cows are the most natural constant 

 and contented cud chewers of all the animals. A cud of 

 chicle flavored with vanilla, spearmint or sen-sen would 

 be far more lasting and genteel than the slippery grass 

 ball now in general use. It might also add an aromatic 

 flavor to the milk. Just how much chicle would be re- 

 quired to supply the 21,000,000 odd bovine chewers, it is 

 hard to estimate. It is safe to say that it would take the 

 whole of the visible supply, not an unmixed evil, for it 

 might limit the use of gum by the present small army of 

 human cud jugglers whose endless mastication in public 

 is far from pleasant, to say the least. 



It sounds paradoxical, but rubber manufacturers 

 dread a sudden drop in the price of crude rubber, just 

 as much as they do an advance. Take, for example, the 

 late break. Manufacturers here and abroad had millions 

 of dollars worth of goods made up for spring and sum- 



mer. These goods were made of crude rubber for which 

 they paid a high price. When the market went off, 

 however, they were forced by customers and by com- 

 petition to take much less for them than if no such drop 

 had taken place. There was no way out of it but to sell 

 and pocket their losses. 



Akron, Ohio, with its fourteen (or is it more) rub- 

 ber factories, regards itself as the greatest rubber manu- 

 facturing center in the world. It does not take into 

 account, however, the great rubber town of Setauket, 

 Long Island. The rubber names that odorously cling to 

 that burg are the Long Island Rubber Co., L. B. Smith 

 Rubber Co., Brookhaven Rubber Co., North American 

 Rubber Co.. Liberty Rubber Shoe Co., Manhattan Rub- 

 ber Co.. Manhattan Rubber Shoe Co., Iroquois Rubber 

 Co.. Montauk Rubber Co., Para Rubber Mfg. Co., Ex- 

 celsior Rubber Co., together with some dozen whose 

 names cannot at the moment be recalled, and further 

 together with the new Co-operative Rubber Co. All of 

 these and more centered about one modest plant and 

 were largely dominated by one interest-^and operated by 

 the same half hundred workers — a far more conservative 

 and concentrated procedure than is evinced by the "Sum- 

 mit City's" huge factory buildings, millionaire stock- 

 holders and 13,000 employees. 



The pneumatic tire user must wonder at the re- 

 markable mileage that the other fellow occasionally gets, 

 if he reads the advertisements of the great tire makers. 

 He does not have the same experience and thinks he is 

 robbed. But he isn't. Tire life depends upon five condi- 

 tions besides good material and construction. Intelligent 

 driving, good roads, the weight of the car, tire size, and 

 good luck. To these might well be added climate. The 

 man who happens to have all of these factors operating 

 in his favor will get a wonderful mileage. When most 

 or all of them are against him he will not. 



The sometimes .\ccurate Hartford Times, under 

 "Science Notes," reports that a German professor has 

 produced artificial rubber by boiling "isofrem" in acetic 

 acid. He thus produces "a grayish composite having all 

 the qualities of rubber." The trouble is to secure the 

 first ingredient. "Isofrem" is a distillate of Iceofrom, 

 which is boiling water kept at 375 degs. Fahr., until it 

 freezes solid. It is then cut into inch cubes, shellacked 

 and exposed to the rays of the moon until they turn 

 greenish pink. It is then ready for use. 



