September 1, 1911. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



501 



This was then given another coat of pure rubber and then vul- 

 canized. The strips of the finished fabric were about a yard 

 wide and more than 2,200 pieces were used in the construction 

 of the bag. 



The seams are all double, machine sewed, and test out a little 

 better than 100 per cent, both as to strength and leakage. This 

 means that the seam is even stronger than the rest of the enve- 

 lope. They were made gas-tight by cementing a very thin strip 

 of rubberized fabric on both sides. 



As the entire weight of the car is attached to the envelope at 

 the sides, the fabric on the upper half of the bag, had to be es- 

 pecially strong. That on the under side, which only has to sup- 

 port the pressure of the gas, which is very slight, is made of two 

 layers of cotton cloth and three layers of rubber. 



Of course every detail of the construction of the envelope was 

 watched most carefully and not a penny of labor or expense was 

 spared to make it perfect. Nevertheless, it was built in less than 

 half the time ever given to a similar work. The first designing 

 was done May 1 and the construction began just a month later. 



He is a son of John F. Seiberling, the first man to invent a 

 reaper, which both cut the grain and garnered it ready for binding, 

 and who shared with McCormick the honor of making the mod- 

 ern reaper possible. Having been closely associated with his 

 father, Mr. Seiberling also took up the development of these 

 machines and invented a "knotter," which tied the grain in 

 bundles with a bow knot. With his parents he moved to Akron 

 in the seventies and soon became interested in the rubber in- 

 dustry. Among other things, lie invented a quick-detachable 

 tire, and he is one of the prominent figures of the rubber world. 



Melvin Vaniman is a native of Illinois and was at one time a 

 stationary engineer in the town of Paris in that State, but for a 

 score of years he has traveled over Europe and America in 

 the interests of flying machines. In the early days when any 

 man that talked seriously of such a device was scoffed at, he 

 and Frank S. Lahm built a tri-plane in France, which did much 

 to further the science of aviation. Almost ten years ago he 

 became connected with the Wellman expedition and was chief 

 engineer on all of the unfortunate voyages of the "America." 



Fr.\nk a. Seiberling. 



Melvin Vaniman. 



Eight weeks later it was loaded in the train and shipped to 

 Atlantic City — a record that will probably stand for many years. 

 The reason this was possible was that the work was done in 

 the fully-equipped Goodyear factory, where large, well-lighted 

 workrooms and expert labor were available. 



The envelope alone weighs 4,400 pounds, and it has a capacity 

 of 375,000 cubic feet. It is of the approved cigar-shape, with the 

 extreme diameter 45 feet a quarter of the way back from the 

 bow. This method of tapering the bag toward the stern allows 

 for a minimum amount of air-resistance. The outer coating is 

 yellow, not as might be supposed to make it conspicuous, but 

 to protect the inner rubber coats from the ultra-violet rays of 

 sunlight. These rays have been found injurious to rubber, but 

 in passing through a yellow medium their chemical composition 

 is changed so that they become harmless. 



As an inventor and a man of affairs, Mr. Frank A. Seiberling 

 has long been interested in aeronautics and aviation, and when, 

 after the failure of the Wellman expedition, Mr. Vaniman 

 broached the subject of another such venture to him the engi- 

 neer found a ready listener. Mr. Seiberling is president of The 

 Chamber of Comirere, of Akron, president of The Goodyear 

 Tire & Rubber Company, and has a number of traction and other 

 business interests. 



Undaunted by his dip in the Atlantic last year, he no more than 

 set foot on shore than he began to plan another ship, this one to 

 be made wholly after his own ideas. The loss of the "America" 

 served to prove that an equiliberator, dragging like a long tail 

 over the waves, was a poor device to keep a dirigible at a uni- 

 form height. Mr. Vaniman expects to accomplish this by means 

 of a ballonet inside the gas bag of the "Akron," the ballonet 

 to be filled with or emptied of air as becomes necessary. 



But whatever happens to the dauntless half-dozen souls after 

 they see the outlines of Atlantic City fade into the west and 

 look down to see only the waves beneath them and the clouds 

 around them, they will nevertheless live in history as pioneers 

 in a limitless field. Mr. Vaniman says they will get safely and 

 quickly across — and he has studied the proposition more than 

 anybody else and ought to know. 



GOVERNMENT REFLECTION ON WHITE RUBBER RINGS. 



According to a statement of the Washington Agricultural De- 

 partment in its Farmers' Bulletin, vegetables often spoil after 

 being sterilized, because of defective fruit jar rings. It is poor 

 economy to buy cheap rubbers or to use them a second time. 

 Black rubbers, it is added, are more durable than white ones. 

 This last statement seems open to question. 



