198 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



IMarcii 1, 1911. 



recently : "It is an excellent machine, superior to any on the 

 market; in fact, it is quite unique. These machines will be used 

 very largely, and we shall require a large number of them to 

 handle all of our rubber. The centrifugal rubber now being 

 shipped sells at from Is. 6d. to 2s. more per pound than our 

 other rubber." 



The Empire Cream Separator Co. (Bloonifield, Kcw Jersey) 

 now report the return from Brazil of a representative sent out 

 to test their machine on the latex of Hevea, which was done on 

 the Diamantina plantation near Santarem, on the Amazon. The 

 representative before his return visited London, where the prod- 

 uct of the centrifugal process was well received, and the "Em- 

 pire"' collector is now offered for use on plantations of llevea, 

 or on scriii^acs. The process removes impurities and leaves a 

 small percentage of the moisture. 



The machine will be shown at the International Rubber Ex- 

 hibition in London in June and July next, together with speci- 

 mens of Hcvea and Castilloa rubber coagulated with its use. 



THE "FIXITE" LATEX CUP. 



AXEW design in latex cups for use either on plantations or 

 in gathering forest rubber is illustrated on this page. 

 The firm responsible for it were the originators of glass latex 

 cups, of which they are stated to have supplied several millions 

 already to planters in the Far East. This cup is formed with a 

 concave side, and thus can be fitted more closely to the tree than 



The "Fi.kite" L.vtex Cl-i'. 



a cup of any other design yet produced; it may be attached at 

 any height, or embedded in the ground at the root of the tree. 

 It is molded with two rims at tlie top, between which a string 

 or wire can be passed round the cup and the tree, thus securely 

 holding it in place. One advantage of the new design is that its 

 use obviates the driving of nails into the tree, and the consequent 

 damage to the bark. The new cup is called the "Fixite." The 

 standard size is 12 ounces. [C. J. Dams & Co., Limited, 121 

 Newgate street, E. C, London.] 



FILTER PRESS PROCESS FOR RUBBER. 



AN excellent sample of Cnsiilloa rubber sent to The Iniii.\ 

 Rubber World by The West Coast Rubber Co., from tlieir 

 "Punian" plantation, in Guatemala, is described as having been 

 prepared by a new process. The method used, it is explained, 

 is an adaptation of the filter press process frequently used for 

 extracting the moisture from raw sugar or starch. 



The first step in this process consists in washing the latex by 

 putting it in water, of four or five times its volume, after which 

 the material is strained through two or three sizes of .wire net- 

 ting. The rubber has now become coagulated to the extent that 

 it can be placed in the filter press without running. 



Alternate layers of the rubber thus prepared and of sand are 

 put into the press, with sheets of wire netting and thin cotton 

 cloth between the layers. After placing eight or ten layers of 

 rubber in this way pressure is applied, and in the course of an 

 hour or two the sheets are taken out in readiness for shipment. 



The sand can be dried and used over again. Tlie specimen 

 referred to in this article is clean and dry, about % inch in thick- 

 ness, and has the appearance of crepe rubber, though bearing 

 the marks of the wire netting. 



The "Punian" estate is exporting forest rubber, while estab- 

 li.-hing plantations of Castilloa. The locati( n is in the district 

 of Escuintia, not far from San Jose, Guatemala. The West 

 Coast Rubber Co. was incorporated in New York, in 1907. A 

 view of their factory interior appeared in The India Uubber 

 World July 1, 1908 (page 324). 



FIREPROOF STORAGE FOR COTTON. 



/'^OXCRETF. construction is regarded as most desirable for 

 ^^ buildings designed for the storage of large quantities of 

 material of an inflammable character, and a notable building of 

 this description has recently been completed for tlie Massachu- 

 setts Cotton Mills, at Lowell, Massachusetts. 



This building stands twelve stories high, and occupies a site 

 100x256 feet in the heart of the city, amid surroundings that 

 made the storage of building material in any quantity impossible, 

 and compelled the contractors to plan its delivery as required, in 

 order to prevent at once, accumulation or delays. 



The plans were prepared by the company's engineers. Lock- 

 wood, Greene & Co., Boston, and the Aberthew Construction 

 Co. of that city were the general contractors. The interior plan 

 provided for mushroom columns and floors of re-inforced con- 

 crete slabs, thus doing away entirely with girders and saving 

 much overhead space, the distance between floors being only 

 eight feet. The columns, of latticed steel, encased in concrete, 

 take up comparatively little room, and the outer walls are for the 

 three lower stories, solid reinforced concrete, and above this, 

 concrete panelled with brick. The grooving of the concrete on 

 the lower floors, with the contrasting brick and concrete above, 

 surmounted by a heavy moulded concrete cornice, give the build- 

 ing an attractiveness of appearance that detracts neither from 

 its massive solidity nor from its practical adaptation for the 

 purposes for which it is intended. 



The fireproof quality of the structure is enhanced liy the divi- 

 sion of each floor into four separate comi)artnients l)y reinforced 

 concrete fire-w-alls extending the width of the building. All the 

 window's, which are set in pairs between the concrete panels, 

 are of sheet metal, with wired glass lights, the whole of extra 

 heavy and fire resistant construction. 



For convenience in handling the cotton, two elevators are pro- 

 vided in the rear, each so located alongside one of the end fire 

 walls as to serve two compartments, the openings into which are 

 protected by automatic fire doors, as are also the openings from 

 one compartment into another. Each of the four sections is also 

 provided with a series of hatchways to facilitate the lowering of 

 material from floor to floor, all these hatchways have automatic- 

 ally closing fireproof doors, so that, in the event of an outbreak 

 of fire, it w-ould be confined to one section. The elevators are 

 served by a concrete platform extending along the rear of the 

 building. The only connection with any adjacent edifice is by 

 means of a bridge of structural steel, covered with corrugated 

 iron, which extends to another of the mill buildings across an 

 intervening street. 



To provide sufficient head room in the apartment known as 

 the breaking and opening room on the ground floor at one end, 

 the second story floor has been omitted, so that there are in all 

 47 compartments in the building, each separate and of such fire 

 and waterproof construction that an outbreak of fire in the cot- 

 ton stored in any one of them would not endanger the contents 

 of any other. 



The speed with which the building was erected is also a feature 

 in connection with it. The piling was completed in July, 1910, 

 and on January 1, 1911, the structure was ready to be turned over 

 to the owners. 



