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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1911. 



to be superior to Pfleidorcr's were not in evidence. Perhaps the 

 best shows of modern rubber machinery were made by David 

 Bridge & Co., of Castleton, near Manchester, and Francis Shaw 

 & Co., of Manchester, and I was specially interested in the 

 plant for making plantation rubber shown by the latter firm. 

 Among other machinery exhibitors were Messrs. A. Oilier & 

 Cie., of Clermont-Ferrand, whose specialties in rubber machin- 

 ery are being introduced into England by Mons. Vincent, who 

 is the patentee. Among their specialties are the vertical 

 spreader adopted b\ the Helsby Cable works and also a rapid 

 high temperature vulcanizing press for tires somewhat on the 

 lines of the Doughty machine, the patent for which was. until 

 it ran out last year, the property of the Dunlop Rubber Co. 



The raw rubber exhibits from the principal producing centres 

 were on the same imposing scale as in 1908 without any par- 

 ticular novelties being on view. In manufactured goods the 

 Premier Reforming Co. and the Millwall Rubber Co. were 

 new comers with a variety of re-formed rubber goods. 



With regard to the attendance of the public I should think 

 this must be considered unsatisfactory; at no time did I notice 

 any semblance of a crowd and at times the hall was practically 

 empty. A year ago, in the boom times, all and sundry were 

 talking rubber, which is by no means the case at the present 

 time. The disappointed holders of 2s. shares in various wildcat 

 companies were largely in evidence and took every opportunity 

 of getting opinions from exhibitors as to the possibilities of 

 their holdings. I need hardly say that the illness which pre- 

 vented the editor of the India Rubber World from coming to 

 London was sincerely deplored by numbers of visitors from 

 home and abroad who had anticipated the renewal of an 

 acquaintance made in former years. 



The conferences which were held in the second week of the 

 exhibition must be considered quite successful. They were well 

 attended and it was only the time limit which prevented the 

 discussions on many papers being prolonged. Considering the 

 many attractions in London during the week and the tropical 

 weather that prevailed it says a good deal for the interest in 

 the conferences, that the attendance, both morning and after- 

 noon, were so satisfactory. The arrangements also were much 

 more satisfactory than in 1908, the papers to be used being 

 announced in good time before the sittings. In the short space 

 at disposal. I shall not attempt even a summary of the proceed- 

 ings, but merely make casual reference to one or two points. Dr. 

 Huber, in a lengthy paper on the wild rubber reserves of the 

 Amazon, referred to the various species of Hevea, saying that 

 the southerly part of the Amazon basin contained most of the 

 true H. Bra'iliensis trees, while the northerly regions contained 

 mostly the other heveas which gave a weaker rubber. The 

 large area of untapped trees was emphasized. He sug- 

 gested with regard to the deficiency in tensile strength of 

 Eastern plantation rubber compared with Brazilian fine, that 

 the seeds had been mostly obtained from the regions where the 

 lower quality heveas abounded, a remark which was evidently 

 not to the mind of many planters present. The point seems 

 an important one and doubtless more will be heard of it. In 

 the discussion Mr. Terry and others referred to the use of the 

 term "reserves" and inquired when there was a prospect of their 

 realization, the reply given at some length indicating that ten 

 years might have to elapse before the transport facilities would 

 be such as to allow of any very large increase of production 

 from the virtually unexploited regions. In the course of the 

 discussion Dr. Esch referred to the cut sheet manufac- 

 ture in Germany, where he said that although plantation had 

 been used a year or two ago and found quite satisfactory it 

 had recently proved unsatisfactory. Dr. Stevens said that he 

 had recently seen cut sheet which had been made by an English 

 rubber works from plantation rubber and it was quite first class. 

 Mr. Terry said that other manufacturers might not agree as to 

 the quality of the cut sheet Dr. Stevens referred to and said 



that really hardly any progress bad been made in using planta- 

 tion rubber for this purpose since the last exhibition. The 

 manufacturers had no confidence that they could go into the 

 market and buy 10 or 20 tons of plantation of absolutely uniform 

 quality. They could do this in the case of Brazilian fine and 

 have no anxiety whatever as to the quality of the cut sheet. 

 There seemed to be great ambition in the past of Eastern 

 planters to cut out Brazil in this particular market, but looking 

 at the whole of the circumstances he doubted whether it was 

 really worth while troubling to enter into the competition. 



The thorny question of the utility of the viscosity test for 

 raw rubber was debated at some length when Dr. Schidrowitz 

 read a paper on the subject. To judge by the tone of the dis- 

 cussion the doctors seem to diflFer a good deal and it is evidently 

 not time yet for every rubber plantation or factory to buy the 

 necessary apparatus as a requisite part of the laboratory equip- 

 ment. 



The strike of dockers and carters in the first week of July 

 in Manchester proved a serious matter for local trade. Owing 

 to the riots large numbers of extra 

 police and military were brought to the 

 city. One of the immediate conse- 

 quences was the closing of many factories owing to inability to 

 obtain coal. Important rubber works were among those aflfected 

 and it is unnecessary to dwell upon the great inconvenience 

 which has been caused to business. 



The strike at the Openshaw and Droylsden works of the 

 Gorton Rubber Co. has been settled, concessions having been 

 made on each side. One of the subjects in dispute was the de- 

 sire of the management to get each worker to sign a form agree- 

 ing to be searched w-hen leaving the works. The company have 

 had to prosecute on several occasions in cases of pilfering and 

 they felt it incumbent on them to take extreme measures. 



Col. R. K. Birley, C. B. V. D., of Messrs. Chas. Macintosh & 

 Co., has for the second time been elected chairman of the India 

 Rubber Manufacturers Association. He is also chairman of 

 the Beaufort Borneo Rubber Co. 



UANCITESTER 

 TEADE 



KINDLY EXPRESSIONS FROM LONDON. 



Says The Financier, London, in an article describing the 

 International Rubber Exhibition : 



"A matter for real regret is the fact that we shall not have 

 among us the editor of the Indi.^ Rubber World, of New York. 

 Mr Pearson is sufifering from an affection of the eyes, the after- 

 math of fever contracted when exploring the rubber resources of 

 the Guianas on behalf of his journal. Mr. Pearson's absence 

 from the conference of specially-appointed delegates from all the 

 world's rubber centres who are to meet and discuss matters of 

 import to tlie industry during the run of the exhibition will be 

 the more widely regretted by those who remember the tow'er of 

 strength he proved himself on the side of commotr sense at the 

 1908 conference, held in connection with the first International 

 Exhibition at Olympia. We had been anticipating with no small 

 delight his views on 'synthetic' rubber, and as among the ex- 

 hibits at the forthcoming exhibition will be demonstrations of 

 one of these processes, a text to hand would have been available 

 for the editor of the Indi.\ Rubber World. As it is, however, 

 we have no doubt that the 'synthetic' rubber exhibitor will 

 receive from other recognized experts fortunate enough to wit- 

 ness his demonstrations all the attention and criticism which he 

 courts." 



(The affection of the eyes mentioned above is fast disappear- 

 ing. Except in strong sunlight the editorial optics are again fit 

 for duty. The cause of the trouble was probably poisoning from 

 "Manchaneel'' latex. — The editor.) 



A valuable deposit of asbestos is reported from Las Vegas, 

 New Mexico. It is of the chrysolite variety, and is said to be 

 accessible in large volume. 



