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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November 1, 1913. 



Interesting Letters From Our Readers. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF BALATA BELTING. 



Editor, The India Rubber World; 



Dear Sir: In the issue of October 1, this year, your mag- 

 azine had an article with the heading as above, taken from 

 "The Goodyear — A Family Newspaper," published by the 

 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. of Akron, Ohio, in which Mr. R. D. 

 Burr, manager of the mechanical goods department of the com- 

 pany's Chicago branch, explains his experience in the ad- 

 vantages of balata belting. 



Having had twenty years' experience as manufacturer of 

 leather and balata belting, I take the liberty to further point 

 out the advantages of balata belt over leather and rubber 

 belting. 



Mr. Burr points out five conditions to be considered in the 

 purchase of belting. He is right in saying that balata belt is 

 little known and used in this country, but does not give his 

 reason for saying so. Its little use in this country is due to 

 the high tariff on it of 35 per cent.* ad valorem and about 10 

 per cent, for transportation. It has only been made in the 

 United States during the last few years. Most users of belt- 

 ing have never seen nor heard of balata belting and of its 

 many advantages over other belting. Owing to the high 

 tensile strength of balata belt, which is practically double that 

 of leather and rubber belting, and its high co-efficient of fric- 

 tion between it and the pulley face, a thinner balata belt can 

 be used to transmit the same horse power that thicker belts 

 transmit, thus reducing the cost of belting and giving less 

 shock to pulleys and bearings in that we have a less thick- 

 ness of belt to bend when it passes over the pulley. 



I do not agree with Mr. Burr that balata belt is especially 

 adopted to certain few conditions of power transmissions. 

 Experience all over Europe has proved that balata can be 

 used advantageously to transmit power under practically all 

 conditions. Speaking about heat, it can be used wherever 

 man can work. 



Let me cite a specific case of the less cost of balata belt. 

 A four-ply balata belt and a single leather belt cost the same 

 per foot of length, but a four-ply balata belt has twice the 

 strength that a single leather belt or a four-ply rubber belt 

 has and will consequently transmit twice the power that a 

 single leather belt will, so the balata belt will cost just half 

 as much. I know this to be true of the comparative tensile 

 strengths of the three belts, as I have made comparative 

 tests of the same. 



The balata belt increases in strength with age. Rubber 

 belting decreases with age and oxidizes. Most all dealers as 

 well as consumers of rubber belting keep their belts in 

 storage. 



For conveying or elevating, balata belting is especially 

 adapted. It will stand all kinds of weather, is tough, does 

 not rot, shrink, stretch, nor become affected by any atmospheric 

 conditions. It can be used thinner, owing to its great 

 strength, and in places where no roof is needed. It can carry 

 rocks, sand, coal, ore or any other material, wet or dry. 



Mr. Burr speaks of a machine running at five to seven 

 thousand feet per minute. He must mean that the belt runs 

 at that speed. 



Mr. Burr recommends the balata belt for high speeds, on 

 account of the greater strength, and on small pulleys. Now 

 balata belting can be used on slow speeds as well, because a 

 slow-speed belt has to have a greater initial tension and con- 

 sequently a greater pull than high-speed belts. 



What has happened in Europe and other countries I am 

 sure will happen in the United States, and that is the balata belt 

 will increase in demand and will replace rubber and leather 

 belts, provided the balata belt manufacturers in the United 

 States keep up the quality. 



Anthon Berg. 



Akron, Ohio, October 13, 1913. 



Editor The India Rubber World: 



Dear Sir: — My attention has lately been called to some re- 

 marks in a recent issue of The India Rubber World with 

 reference to the School of Rubber at the Northern Polytechnic 

 Institute (London). Those remarks do not, I am afraid, do 

 justice to either the school or its tutor, and as I recently took 

 the day course of study there (whilst on vacation from the 

 Orient) I know perfectly well just how useful such a course can 

 be under the able tuition of Mr. Kaye ; especially to those such 

 as myself, who desire a further insight into the higher chemistry 

 of rubber. 



Students at this school come from various parts of the world, 

 and are drawn from all branches of the industry, including 

 chemists, superintendents of departments, factory men, salesmen 

 (who desire to know something about the goods they carry),^ 

 plantation assistants, etc. ; and each one receives individual atten- 

 tion and may take a course suitable to his own requirements. The 

 two laboratories are well equipped with an up-to-date reference 

 library, testing machines, rolls, compounds, latices, etc., and the 

 institute contains a restaurant, clubs, and all the usual accessories 

 of a polytechnic. 



Of course, as you say, the correct place to learn the industry 

 is in the factory, but then there are many things one cannot 

 learn, or sometimes one is prevented from learning, in a factory. 

 I enclose syllabus which gives further information. Hoping 

 I have not trespassed too much on the space of your valuable 

 journal, I remain, 



Yours faithfully, 



(Signed) Stafford H. Pratt, 

 Chemist to the Star Rubber Co> 



Akron, Ohio, September 24, 1913. 



•R«luced to 15 per cent, in the new Underwood-Simmons Bill. ; 



AS TO 0PP0ETTJKITIE3 Df CENTSAL AMEHICA. 



In a recent consular report Commercial Agent Garrard Harris 

 is quoted as stating, in reply to an oft repeated query as to the 

 opportunities in Central America and Panama, especially in a 

 business way, for a young man of practically no capital, that 

 many young men of the United States have been misled by the 

 optimistic views expressed in the discussion in the daily papers 

 as to the future of these republics. He goes on to say that "there 

 are no opportunities in any of the Central American Republics 

 for a man, either young or old, who lacks capital. To go there 

 without ample resources usually means an ultimate call on the 

 folks back home for help to get away, unless, of course, the per- 

 son intends to take up a tract of land and farm it. In this 

 event he had better bring his labor with him, for lack of labor 

 is what prevents the more rapid development of the entire 

 region from Belize to Puerto Bello. While, as a rule, land may 

 be had cheaply in Central America, except on the Canal Zone, 

 and settlers' effects may be brought in free of duty, the problem 

 of clearing and putting the land in cultivation is a serious one, 

 and calls for considerable money. Moreover, there must be a 

 reserve to support the developer until his land produces some- 

 thing besides a weekly pay roll." 



