February 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



221 



iW-Ptf^ 



Published on the 1st of each Month by 



THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING GO. 



No. 25 West 45th Street, New York. 

 CABLE ADDRESS: IRWORl.D. NEW YORK. 



HENRY C. PEARSON, Editor 



Vol. 49. 



FEBRUARY 1, 1914. 



No. 5 



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COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY THE INDIA RUBBER PUBLISHING CO. 

 Entered at the New York postoffice as mail matter of the second class. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS ON LAST PAGE OF READING. 



THE AUTOMATIC INCREASE IN RUBBER CON- 

 SUMPTION. 



' I 'I lERE has been much agitation among the Eastern 

 planters as to means and methods of increasing the 

 use of rubber. This is very natural, under the circinn- 

 stances, for plantation rubber bids fair to come on the 

 market in tremendous volume within the next five vears. 

 In their desire to find new outlets for their jiroduct the 

 l)lanters have even considered the advisability of sui)ply- 

 ing manufacturers with a certain amount of crude rubber 

 either at a jirice much below the market or entireh- free 

 of cost, to be used exclusively in the manufacture and 

 marketing of entirely new articles not hitherto made of 

 rubber. 



While undoubtedly, either through these subsidized ef- 

 forts to discover new ways of consuming rubber or 

 through the natural competition of rival manufacturers. 

 each anxious to add to his output, many new rubber ar- 

 ticles will be manufactured and marketed during the next 

 few years, still, in addition to this method of increasing 

 rubber consumption, there is a process already going on 

 which will tend naturally and automatically to increase 

 the use of rublier — and that is the ijrachial reduction in 



the price of stajjle ruliber articles to the general ctjusumer. 



Attention was called in the January issue of Tin-; 

 India RLiniiiK World to the reductions during the year 

 l'^13, amounting to 25 per cent., in the price of tires to 

 the auto, owner — these reductions following an earlier 

 lowering of price <liuing the preceding year. Following 

 this decrease in tire prices, the new lists of the rubber 

 footwear companies, issued January 1, indicate a marked 

 ])rice reduction in their ])roducts. Elsewhere in this 

 iunnl)cr there will be I'ound a table showing in detail the 

 extent to which fot)twear prices have Ijeen reduced from 

 those of a year ago. The average of the items selected 

 proves tltat present prices are nearly 12 per cent, under 

 those of January, 1913. Another-new price list, issued the 

 first of this year by a prominent golf ball manufacturer, 

 shows a drop of i)rice amounting to 16 per cent, in that 

 popular line of rubber goods. 



These are just a few illustrations of the general tend- 

 ency toward lower prices in manufactured rubber goods. 

 And it is quite safe to assume that the increase in con- 

 sumption will be considerably more than proportionate 

 to the decrease in cost. Of course in some lines — belting 

 and packing, for instance — decreased cost may not great- 

 ly increase consumption, as the volume of consumption 

 depends on the necessities of trade rather than on tlie 

 price of the article. But in other lines decreased price 

 will mean a greatly extended use. In garden hose, for 

 example, if the price of the ordinary garden or lawn hose 

 could be cut to one-half its present figure it is safe to say 

 that the increase in consumption would be vastly more 

 than doubled, for many people would then be tempted to 

 use hose who now for reasons of economy (probably a 

 false econoni}' ) prefer to await the slow and uncertain 

 operations of nature. 



The planters, therefore, need not be greatly worried 

 about the 300.000 tons of rubber which they expect to 

 have ready for market five years from now, because, en- 

 tirely ajjart from new rubber articles for general con- 

 sumption, the old standard commodities, as their price is 

 lowered, will increase vastly in popularity and come more 

 and more into general use. 



RUBBER LITERATURE. 



T X the early days of the Lxdia Rnini'.R W'ori^d those 

 readers who found that drinking at its fount created 

 iti them a new thir.st for literature on the topic which was 

 part of their daily lives were constantly writing to the 

 editor for a list of books which would prove the royal 

 road to a complete knowledge of the rubber business. 



