June 1, 191!. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



307 



A Last Word Before the Exhibition Opens 



SIR HliNRV ARTHUR BLAKE, G.C.M.G., President a{ the 

 International Rubber Exhibition, is peculiarly fitted for his 

 important position. His government work for years was 

 in the tropics. As Governor of Jamaica, of Ceylon, of [long- 

 kong, he did notable work. As a presiding officer his dignity, 

 wit, and eloquence are rarely equalled. 



The work of organization and its infinite detail are all liandlcd 

 easily and successfully by Mr. A. Staines Glanders, tlie organiz- 

 ing manager. jNIr. Manders was early in life a newspaper man, 

 but drifted into the management of government and public 

 exhibitions. He found a fitting field in London, the city of exhi- 

 bitions, and from one year's end to the other lias something of 

 interest, of educational value, and of success to attract the public. 

 While the visiting rubber men will meet and know Sir Henry 

 Blake and appreciate Mr. Manders' ability, it will be to the 

 secretary of the exbibiticm, Miss D. Eulton, that the details of 



For Americans, or visitors otlier than P'nglish, it is sufficient 

 to say that the general offices of the exhibition are at 75 Chan- 

 cery lane (Holborn), London, where every courtesy will be 

 extended to those visiting tlie exhibition. 



FREAKS or FOOTWEAH. 



'T'HE pliilosopher who is interested in the progress of the 

 ■*• human family, often permits himself great satisfaction 

 in recalling certain human follies of the past and in assever- 

 ating that mankind lias now become too sane and settled 

 ever again to revert to these particular exhibitions of unwis- 

 dom. But you can't always tell what mankind will do. 



Men whose personal recollections or historical researches 

 carry them back to the middle fifties, will recall the "Duck 

 Bill" toe, aflected by the advanced dressers of those days. 

 It was an impossible, not to say satanic, shoe, with a toe 



A. Staines Manders. Sir Henry Arthur Blake, G.C.M.G. 



Organizing Manager. President. 



[Photogratlts by Kate Pragncll.] 



their many necessities will be referred, and that quiet, modest, 

 level-headed little English woman will prove herself capable 

 of coping with and settling any exhibition question. 



It must be remembered that this exhibition is to be much 

 larger and infinitely more informing than was the first. 



Foreign governments have taken a keen interest in it, and are 

 not only sending representatives, but putting in costly exhibits. 

 From the Americas, Brazil will have a notable exhibit ; the 

 West Indies, British Guiana, and Trinidad will be adequately 

 represented, while from the tropical colonial possessions of 

 Great Britain, Holland, France, and Germany, will come tons 

 of crude rubbers, gutta-percha, plantation rubber, etc., etc. 



To the men interested in rubber culture a great number of 

 planters have tapping tools and machines for coagulating and 

 drying, which will be of exceeding interest. 



To those who yearn for excellence in product or new inven- 

 tions, the artistic trophies to be awarded will be of paramount 

 interest. In addition, there will be exhibits of manufactured 

 rubber goods, American, English, German, French, Belgian ; 

 banquets of various societies, lectures, publications, indeed, the 

 whole exhibition will be a round-up of practically everything 

 modern in crude and manufactured rubber. 



Miss D. Fulton. 



Secretary. 



that first grew narrow, anil then flared out much wider than 

 the rest of the shoe, at the same time extending from one 

 to three inches beyond the foot. Of course, the rubber men 

 had to produce goods to fit these freaks, but that was not 

 their fault, though distinctly their misfortune. 



You would certainly say that it was a safe conjecture 

 that no such pedal monstrosity could reappear in this day 

 of acute reasoning and general uplift. Perhaps it could 

 not ; but have you seen the "Rhino Toe"- — happily named from 

 its resemblance to the forward part of the rhinoceros? This 

 toe instead of widening like the old "Duck Bijl" of our 

 grandfathers, rises majestically into the air. To any one 

 whose five toes are grouped perpendicularly instead of in the 

 usual horizontal arrangement, the "Rh.ino" must certainly 

 prove a boon ; but to the normal man it is a sad freak. 



The purpose of this paragraph, however, is not to animad- 

 vert upon human frailties, but to call attention to the alert- 

 ness of the rubber footwear manufacturers, practically all 

 of whom are out with samples of "Rhino Toe" rubbers, which 

 is most praiseworthy, for obviously it is theirs not to argue 

 with the vagaries of fashion, but to match every leather shoe 

 with its rubber equivalent. 



