Septejieer 1, 1911.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



465 



ment, no electrical metal gatherers, etc., etc. Moreover, 

 thanks to the immensity of the motor business, worn-out 

 tubes are gathered by the million. Figuring- that there 

 are 450,000 automobiles in commission in the United 

 States and that an average of eight tubes is used a year, 

 it would mean an annual crop of 3,600,000 tubes; say 

 that the average weight of the tubes be two pounds each. 

 the total weight would be 7,200,000 pounds. Reclaimed, 

 it would give certainly 6,000,000 pounds of high-grade 

 stock, mostly Para, and capable of taking its place in 

 eighty per cent, of the goods to-day manufactured. 



RUBBER SIDEWALKS FIRST, 



RUBBER pavements or roadways are very fre- 

 quently advocated by those who have a broad 

 knowledge of city needs, and of the lasting qualities 

 of rubber as compared with any other paving material. 

 The realization of such a dream is doubtless far away, 

 that is the general adoption by the great cities of the 

 world of rubber paving. It would undoubtedly add 

 much to the comfort of those who ride, and be better 

 for the horses. Those who ride, however, are in the 

 minority and the day is not far distant when horses 

 will not be allowed in the cities. There still remains 

 the vast crowds that throng the sidewalks, the sub- 

 ways and the halls of office buildings. Their echoing 

 footsteps on unyielding granite, marble, brick and 

 concrete should stir humanitarians more than the 

 aches of horses, or the pains of a few taxicab users. 

 What the cities need is rubber sidewalks before they 

 even consider rubber streets. 



In a blind way the great corporations have already 

 confessed to this need by covering decks of steam- 

 ships and waiting rooms of depots with rubber paving. 

 The rubber shod sidewalk is but an extension of the 

 same idea. 



HAMBURG OPINION UPON TRADING IN RUBBER 

 FUTURES. 



XVZHILE the introduction of organized trading in 

 '" rubber futures has been advocated by promi- 

 nent Hamburg banking houses, identified with copper, 

 it has been pointed out by opponents of the project 

 that what applies to copper does not necessarily apply 

 to rubber. One difference is that there are so many 

 descriptions of rubber, adapted for the most varied 



technical purposes, while copper alwa}'s remains only 

 copper. 



Recent local investigation at Hamburg showed that 

 there is already a large unofficial business done at that 

 point in rubber for future delivery, but, it is urged, 

 this is no reason for throwing the article into the hands 

 of professional speculators. Such proposals, it is con- 

 sidered, introduce a disquieting element into the busi- 

 ness. 



In various instances, the opinion was expressed, that 

 any official system of business in futures, must cor- 

 respond with actual Inisiness conditions. The appre- 

 hension has likewise been voiced, that the proposal, 

 if carried out, would tend to injure the established rep- 

 utation of Hamburg as the most steady and soundest 

 rubber market in the world. 



THE PASSING OF THE HORSE. 



A T a time when the problem of New York public 

 ■* * transportation is one of the most prominent 

 questions of the day conditions in Paris, as lately de- 

 scribed by Consul General Frank H. Mason, are of 

 special interest. 



By the terms of the forty years' concession granted 

 the General Omnibus Company in June, 1910, all the 

 horses on .the 38 omnibus lines (with an aggregate 

 length of 156 miles, and which in 1909 carried 

 115,061,498 passengers) are to be withdrawn from ser- 

 vice by June 1, 1913. At the same time, the last steam 

 or compressed-air tramcar will have been taken off, 

 leaving but three systems of public passenger traffic — 

 the autobus, electric tramways and the municipally- 

 built Metropolitan subway. 



In place of horse-traction two styles of autobus have 

 been adopted in which the upper story is discarded in 

 favor of a spacious rear platform ; the same total num- 

 ber of passengers (32 to 35) being carried as in the old 

 "double-deckers." One of the two new models has on 

 the rear wheels solid tires in three sections, sufficiently 

 broad to minimize the wear and tear upon the pave- 

 ments. Four hundred of the former and three hundred 

 of the latter have been ordered, a portion of which have 

 been in service this summer. 



How far the adoption of autobuses will be witnessed 

 in New York would apparently depend upon the in- 

 troduction here of a model embodying the latest. Paris 

 improvements, notably the carrying of .35 passengers 



