Aprii- 



19!!. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



217 



LIBRAI 



Publiihed on the lit of each Month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO. 



No. 15 West 38th Street. New York. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORLD, NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, Editor 



Vol. 44. 



APRIL I, \9\\. 



No. 1. 



Sdbscriptions : $3.00 per year, J1.75 for six montbs, postpaid, for the 

 United States and dependencies and Mexico. To tbe Dominion 

 of Canada and all otber countries, $3.50 (or equlralent funds) 

 per year, postpaid. 



Adtibtisinq : Rates will be made known on application. 



Kkmittances : Should always be made by bank or draft, Postofflce or 

 Express money orders on New York, payable to The India 

 Rdbbee Pdblishinq Company. Remittances for foreign sub- 

 scriptions should be sent by International Postal Order, payable 

 as above. 



DiscoNTiNDANCBs : Yearly orders for subscriptions and advertising are 

 regarded as permanent, and after the first twelve montbs they 

 will be discontinued only at the request of the subscriber or ad- 

 vertiser. Bills are rendered promptly at tbe beginning of each 

 period, and thereby our patrons have due notice of continuance. 



COPYRiailT, 1911, BY 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 



Entered at New York postoffice as mall matter of the second class. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE READING MATTER. 



RUBBER GOODS NOT HIGH. 



The constantly increasing price of the crude ma- ^ . ... 

 terial, it will he admitted by all, necessarily increases. 

 the price of finished goods to a degree. But that is . .^^^ 

 ciiily the beginning. Once the rubber is purchased 

 there comes into play the important item of shrinkage. 

 This may be safely set down as 25 per cent. In other 

 words, the purchaser of one pound of crude rubber 

 actually receives only three-fourths of a pound, so that 

 the market quotation, the foundation upon which the 

 critic builds, is of no value at all. When he reads, 

 "fine Para $3 a pound," he should read, as must the 

 manufacturer, "fine Para (less shrinkage) $3.75 a pound. 



Another fact that he is likelj' to be totally ignorant 

 of, nor in this is any manufacturer likely to inform 

 him, is the added cost that comes through damaged 

 goods. 



Factory damage is a bugbear to the whole industry, 

 and is feared and guarded against on every side. 

 There are, for instance, goods made up, but not vul- 

 canized, that are defective and are "scrapped." This 

 is not usually serious, as often the rubber can be re- 

 worked, with only a loss of a few cents a pound. 

 \\'hen, however, goods are discovered to be worthless 

 after being vulcanized the loss is very great. Then, 

 a compound worth a dollar a pound before vulcaniza- 

 tion may as scrap be worth only five cents a pound. 

 In other words, there is an actual loss to the factory 

 of 95 cents a pound, in addition to the labor and other 

 expense. 



A third type of loss from damage, and an infinitely 

 troublesome one, occurs when goods that have passed 

 all inspection and have been sent out as perfect, sud- 

 denly deteriorate from some hitherto unsuspected 

 cause and are thrown back upon the manufacturer. 



There miglit right here be added a fourth class — 

 goods wilfully injured by purchasers after partial use, 

 together with false claims for damage, both of which 

 manufacturers are often obliged to shoulder for pol- 

 icy's sake. 



It would not be fair to say that all suffer alike from 



MOST men believe that their own line of business 

 is far less remunerative and presents more diffi- 

 culties that any one of a dozen others which their 

 neighbors follow. Thus, the maker of machine tools, 

 for example, wishes he were a rubber manufacturer. 

 He and nearly all others not engaged in rubber think 

 it is a business of singular simplicity, free from minor 

 troubles, and profitable beyond the ordinary industrial damage, but it is perfectly true that all suffer. The 

 dream. Hence the general impression that rubber history of the trade aflfords instances of capital loss 

 goods showing such great profits, are of course ex- and companies wrecked from the above causes alone, 

 travagantly high in price. A fragmentary knowledge Considering the fact that every known kind of rub- 

 of rubber compounding, of reclaimed rubber and its ber, nearly all of the plastics, all types of metallic ox- 

 ilk, also fosters the belief that little real rubber is used ides and earthy materials, and various oils and waxes, 

 in most goods. As for the last-mentioned heresy, it are used in rubber compounding, that they require 

 may be said that all of the crude rubber produced is special processes in manipulation and a great variety 

 used very promptly, and the purchaser gets quality of heats in vulcanization, it is a marvel that the per- 

 and quantity when he pays a fair price for them. ccntage of perfect goods is so uniformly high. 



In regard to large profits in any staple line of rub- The damage danger is ever present, and those who 



ber work, that day has long since passed, as it is prob- congratulate themselves upon a period of freedom will 



able that a net profit of 6 per cent, on the world's do well to "knock wood," for it comes in the most niys- 



business would be a reasonable estimate. terious of ways. For example, a maker of sheeted 



To those who, standing on the outside of tiie busi- fabrics had thousands of yards of material thrown back 



ness, are figuring its big gains, should be given a les- upon his hands. The sheetings had left his factory 



son in manufacturing losses. apparently perfect. They came back in six weeks' 



