July 1, 1914] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



559 



The India Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



I'AVF.A SVNTIllCTIC RUBBKR. 



THIS lopk. which I referred to in my notes of May 1, 

 continues to attract general attention. Financial and 

 trade papers have expressed the opinion that it is the 

 usual h()j;y which their readers can afford to ignore as of 

 no importance. The facts, however, arc against them, and 

 there is no doubt that the samples sent out to the rublior 

 manufacturers have had the effect of depressing the market 

 for plantation rubber by at least Id. per pound. I was in- 

 formed by a raw rubber merchant in May that manufacturers 

 would not follow their usual custom of buying two or three 

 months ahead, as they preferred to wait for Pavea Synthetic 

 Rubber, as it is termed. F. R. Mullcr & Co., of Uverpool, 

 are the sole selling agents for Great Britain, and they liave 

 booked numerous orders for small trial lots as the result of 

 past distribution of samples. These trial lots were to have 

 been delivered in June or July, but I understand that it will 

 be much nearer the end of the year before delivery can be 

 made. 



All sorts of rumors are extant as to the mode of making 

 this rubber, the cost price of which is put as low as 4d. per 

 pound and the selling price of which is fixed at 10 per cent 

 below the market price of the day for first latex. Various 

 vegetables and wild plants are mentioned as the source of 

 the rubber. If, as staled, the output is to amount to 1.000 

 tons per week, it is evident that an enormous quantity of raw 

 material will have to be handled. The process has been 

 worked as a secret by Mr. Russell, the inventor, at the 

 Brmiscombe works near Gloucester, and it will continue to 

 be worked as a secret process at the large new works near 

 Manchester, all the officials having been sworn to secrecy and 

 many of them being shareholders in the company, which is 

 said to have a capital of .£200.000. Some little comment hav- 

 ing been aroused by a rumor that it is intended to make a 

 public issue of shares before the manufacture has material- 

 ized, I may say that there is no intention of doing anything 

 of the sort. 



LEGAL CASE. 



The trial brought by the Weber Rubber Co., of Manchester, 

 against the Lancashire Revolving Heel Co.. Limited, also 

 of Manchester, was commenced before Justice Bray at the 

 Manchester .Assizes in May. but after the first day's hearing 

 a private settlement was effected between the parties and the 

 court proceedings were abandoned. 1 give herewith a brief 

 summary of the case: 



The Weber Rubber Co. made a large number of rubber 

 heels in four qualities, priced at Is. 2d., Is. 4d., Is. SVid. and 

 Is. 6d. per pound, for the defendants, who posed to their cus- 

 tomers abroad as manufacturers, though being in reality only 

 merchants. At one period the plaintiffs' manager — now in 

 the employ of the defendants — made a small allowance to 

 settle a claim for defective deliveries. .At a later date when 

 the plaintiffs claimed payment for a large quantity of heels 

 it was asserted by the defendants that numerous complaints 

 had come from customers in Belgium, France and Italy and 

 they sought to have the whole of the deliveries — amounting 

 to many tons — charged at a job price of 8d. per pound. This 

 the plaintiffs would not agree to, and action was brought for 

 the amount due to them. The defendants then made a coun- 

 ter claim amounting to something like £400 for losses in 

 cash, prestige, etc., on account of allowances made to cus- 

 tomers and loss of trade. They stated that the goods were 

 not up to the samples they bad in their possession. As to 



the returned goods, samples of these were shown to the 

 plaintiffs for the first time in court. The plaintiffs' case was 

 that the goods supplied were made of the same quality as 

 the samples and, in the words of their counsel, they sub- 

 milted that the claim generally was a fraudulent one. Owing 

 to the counter claim the plaintiffs' counsel took advantage of 

 his right to have the defendants' case opened first, and it was 

 after the somewhat severe cross-examination of their man- 

 ager, not yet concluded, that overtures were made for a set- 

 tlement. The terms which were agreed upon two days later 

 were as follows: The defendants pay £250 for the plaintiffs' 

 claim and £125 for costs ; they abandon the counter claim of 

 £420 and in addition take the stock of two or three thousand 

 heels at a price agreed on. With regard to the business in 

 the cheaper rubber heels, which are largely made in England, 

 the bulk of it is done on the continent. 



TIRE FABRIC MANUFACTURE. 

 Some months ago I mentioned the registration of two 

 private limited companies, called Tyre Yarns, Limited, and 

 Tyre Fabrics, Limited. To recapitulate briefly, I may say 

 that the main object of these concerns was to supply the 

 Dunlop Rubber Co. with tire fabric, an agreement being made 

 with the Uunlop company, which appoints one director of 

 each concern, the other directors all being men well known 

 in the Lancashire trade. A new mill is now in course of 

 erection at Castleton, near Manchester, and such good 

 progress has been made that it is anticipated that production 

 will commence before the end of the year. The yarns and 

 fabric will be made from Egyptian cotton, and with regard 

 to the disposal of the output I understand that business will 

 be done if desired with other tire manufacturers, under the 

 stipulation that cloth woven according to the special specifi- 

 cation of the Dunlop company is not supplied to other firms. 



I.AWN TENNIS. 

 This is proving quite a boom year for dealers in lawn 

 tennis requisites and in the opening weeks of the season it 

 was found impossible to supply the demand for balls. The 

 reason seems to be that the "masses" as well as the "classes" 

 are now taking to the game, facilities being afforded by the 

 municipal authorities. Hard courts are also being put down 

 in the public parks for winter play, so manufacturers of balls 

 will find a demand all the year around. In the announce- 

 ments issued to the press by the authorities of the Rubber 

 FIxhibition it is stated that a tennis court made of plantation 

 rubber will be a feature at the Agricultural Hall and that the 

 leading amateurs and professionals will disport themselves 

 upon it. Reference also is made to the great popularit)' of 

 tennis. This notice does not make it clear whether tennis, 

 the old game played by very few people, is meant, or whether 

 lawn tennis is what the court is for. I am, however, informed 

 by the Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Co., Limited, who are 

 making the court, that it is for lawn tennis 



THE VISCOSITY OF RUBBER SOLUTIONS. 

 This is a topic which has been discussed scientifically for 

 some years, the view having been put forward that the 

 viscosity of a rubber solution stands in intimate relationship 

 with the quality and technical value of the rubber. Up to 

 now, however, this form of laboratory procedure has not 

 found any acceptance in trade circles. A recent paper on the 

 subject by Mr. R. Gaunt, of the Imperial Institute, London, 

 summarizes what has been done by others and the recent 

 work of the author. Those interested will find it in the "Jour- 



