August 1, 1914] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



599 



lift was then adopted, and it forces up a stream — of the size 

 shown — of a mixture of hot water and melted sulphur. The 

 sulphur comes up so free from impurities that it is guaran- 

 teed 99.S per cent, pure and runs considerably better than 

 that. 



The sulphur is collected and cooled in large bins about 150 

 to 250 feet square, made by setting posts into the ground and 

 nailing 2-inch planks to them. As the sulphur is delivered 

 into the center of the bins and spreads out into layers 3 inches 

 thick it cools so rapidly that continuous operation is possible. 

 A separate bin is used for each well so that a record of its 

 production can be kept. As the sulphur rises the bins arc 

 raised by more planking till they are sometimes over 60 feet 

 high. When one is full another is built alongside, so that 



Herm.vn Frasch. 



continuous blocks of sulphur arc formed. One of them is 

 shown in the second illustration which contains over 100,000 

 tons of sulphur; which is more than we used in 1896 in the 

 entire United States. When shipment is to be made a track 

 is laid alongside the sulphur, which is blasted down and 

 picked up with a 2-ton locomotive crane shovel and loaded 

 into flat cars — as shown in the third picture — and a 3S-ton 

 car can be loaded in 14 minutes. While some of the sulphur 

 is loaded directly into box cars at the works with a box car 

 loader, and shipped direct, most of it is shipped to Sabine 

 Pass, Texas, where it is loaded into steamers for the north 

 and for Europe. The company owns one steamer of 5,500 

 tons register, named the "Herman Frasch," and employs 

 several more in distributing its product. 



Herman Frasch, to whom this development is due, died in 

 Paris on May 1 of the present year. He received the Pcrkin 

 Medal in 1911 for his distinguished services. This medal is 

 awarded annually by the associated chemical societies of the 

 United States for distinguished work in chemical science and 

 is an indication of the honor in which the recipient is held 

 by the brother members of his profession. 



This deposit of sulphur in Louisiana, while being the most 

 remarkable, is not by any means the only deposit of the kind, 

 and there is said to be a large similar deposit near Freeport, 

 Texas, which was discovered in boring for oil. A syndicate 

 lias bought it up and has installed a large plant on it similar 

 to the plant described above, but the shipments as yet have not 

 been heavy. 



About three miles from Cody, Wyoming, there is a deposit 

 of native sulphur said' to be of varying thickness from 60 to 



75 feet, lying about 7 feet below the surface, and drill holes 

 show the presence of about a half million tons of sulphur. 

 .•\s the fuel cost is low, owing to the fact that the company 

 owns a coal mine nearby, they are mining about 25 tons per 

 day by digging it up and throwing it into a retort and steam- 

 ing out the sulphur with steam at 60 pounds pressure. The 

 sulphur of course liquefies and can be drawn off from the 

 bottom. 



There may, in the future, be a large quantity of sulphur 

 thrown on the market as a by-product of smelting copper 

 ores, as in many localities — notably California — the smelters 

 have been closed by court injunctions on account of the sul- 

 phur fumes, which destroy the vegetation for miles around. 



There are now two prominent processes being tried out for 

 saving this as metallic sulphur and so avoiding the production 

 of the sulphurous fumes. One of these is known as the 

 thiogene process and is based on the reduction of the sulphur 

 gases to free sulphur by passing them over hot lime while 

 spraying with crude oil. This process has not yet been per- 

 fected on a commercial scale. If it should be it would furnish 

 an unlimited amount of sulphur. The Hall process operates 

 on another principle, namely, that of roasting off the sulphur 

 in a closed vessel from which the air is excluded to prevent 

 the formation of sulphur gas fumes. This is usually done by 

 roasting with oil, using a spray and a very limited amount of 

 air, and at the same time blowing in steam. The process has- 

 been introduced at a large smelter in Shasta County, Cali- 

 fornia, but its success is not yet assured. Should it prove 

 successful the Shasta County smelters alone would produce 

 twice as mtich sulphur as the United States now consumes. 



While rubber men foresee a large expansion of the rubber 

 industry on account of the cheapening of the plantation gum, 

 which will compel them to consume much greater quantities 

 of sulphur in the future than they have in the past, it will not 

 be necessary for them to worry as to a future supply of this 

 article so necessary to their industry. From the present view- 

 point there will always be sulphur enough, and to spare. 



INDIA RUBBER GOODS IN COMMERCE. 



EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED STATES. 



/^FFICIAL Statement of values of exports of manufacturers 

 ^^ of india rubber and gutta pcrcha for the month of .April, 

 1914. and for the first ten months of five fiscal years, begin- 

 ning July. 



Belting, Boots AW 



Mo.NTHs. Packing and Other Total. 



and Hose. Shoes. Rubber. 



Apnl. 1914 $197,510 $59,652 $638,776 $895,938 



July-March 1,779,984 911,576 5,442,555 8,134,115 



Total. 1913T4 $1,977,494 $971,228 $6,081,331 $9,030,053 



Total, 1912-13 2.155.168 1.266.807 6,849469 10'71444 



Total. 1911-12 1.918,285 1.323.060 5.984 379 9"^57n 



Total. 1910-11 1,742,683 1.894.282 5 198^5 883^'960 



Total, 1909-10 1,580,088 1,593,696 4;082;427 /^Se.'ill 



The above heading, "All Other Rubber," for the month of 



.April, 1914, and for the ten months of three fiscal years, be- 

 ginning July 1, includes the following details relating to tires: 



For All 



Months. .Automobiles. Other. Total. 



April. 1914 $304,385 $48,!562 $352,947 



January-March 2,378,959 440,966 2.819,925 



Total, 1913-14 $2,683,344 $489,528 $3.172 872 



Total. 1912-13 3.115,279 494,101 3,609,380 



Total, 1911-12 2,063.603 467,290 2.530,893 



Should be on every rubber man's desk— Crude Rubber and 

 Compounding Ingredients ; Rubber Country of the .Amazon ; 

 Rubber Trade Directory of the World. 



