August 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



623 



laboratory processes patented each step as they progressed, 

 whereas it is understood that the Pavea rubber is to be pro- 

 duced by a secret unpatented process. Secret processes are 

 <:ontinually being evolved in factories of one sort or another, 

 and those associated with them are not commonly called upon 

 to stand and deliver. 



I hold no brief for Pavea rubber but am merely trying to 

 put forward a common sense view of the situation which has 

 arisen and which has given rise to considerable comment. A 

 manufacturer who has had the Pavea rubber closely examined 

 in his laboratory states that it differs from Para rubber in 

 the absence of insoluble matter and in the constitution of the 

 resin. Pavea rubber, despite the fitting up of large works for 

 its production, is not yet upon the market, so it is too soon 

 to see what the plantation producers will do to meet the new 

 competition. I hear, however, that if it is a success the High- 

 lands & Lowlands Co. are prepared to sell their produce at 

 a figure as low as l.j. 3d. per lb. A fairly large sample of Pavea 

 rubber has attracted a good deal of attention at the Rubber 

 Exhibition, where it was shown by F. R. Muller & Co., the 

 sole selling agents, and it need hardly be said that it has proved 

 a very general topic of discussion. 



ENGLISH COMPANIES RECENTLY REGISTERED. 



Baker Rim Co., Ltd., 59 Hagley Road, Stourbridge. Capital, 

 i25,000— 15.000 "A" and 10.000 '-B" shares of £1 each. To ac- 

 quire inventions belonging to F. W. Baker relating to motor car 

 rims. First directors F. W. Baker, A. Round, E. S. G. Hicks 

 and C. A. Mills. 



Fabricless Rubber Products. Ltd.. 8 Laurence Pountney Hili, 

 E. C. Capital. £100,000. To acquire the business of the Azulay 

 Syndicate. Ltd. First directors 1\ R. Hill. F. C. Roles, W. B. 

 Wright and Sir W. H. Porter. 



Sewn Rubbers, Ltd., 59 Chisweil street, E. C. Capital. £2.000 

 in £1 shares. To manufacture and deal in all kinds of motor 

 and other tires. First directors A. T. Collier and F. M. Beck. 



Weber Rubber. Ltd. Capital, £1.000 in £1 shares. 



BRITISH GROWN RUBBER. 



In addressing the Sussex Road (London) Commercial In- 

 stitute on a recent occasion, Mr. Herbert Wright said that Great 

 Britain should take the lead in technical rubber instruction. 

 British possessions alone contained more than half the total 

 planted acreages under rubber, the balance being largely con- 

 trolled by companies registered in England. British possessions 

 alone would soon give rubber at 2s. 6d. (60 cents) per pound, 

 valued at £28,000.000 sterling ($140,000,000) per annum. The crop 

 would be ultimately greater than the combined crops from trop- 

 ical America, Mexico and Africa. He had no doubt that in- 

 creased supplies of rubber would create improved demand for 

 that product. 



THE BYRNE CURING PROCESS. 



Mr. F. A. Byrne, director of the Rubber Curing Patents Syn- 

 dicate, Limited (who has lately been visiting the East), has 

 stated in an interview that the new method obviates the ex- 

 penses of the installation and upkeep of washing and creping 

 machines. It has been adopted by a large additional number 

 of estates in the Malayan peninsula and Java, while Ceylon 

 planters have been awaiting Mr. Byrne's personal explanations 

 before taking up the new process on an extended scale. 



In his opinion an improvement in the quality of plantation 

 rubber is needed, with the view of securing the large market 

 which awaits it for tires when, it is brought up to the standard 

 of fine, hard Para. Some of the large makers are said to be 

 using plantation rubber for their covers, but not for their inner 

 tubes. 



ENGLISH CABLE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES. 



The old adage, "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," is 

 being exemplified in the case of the English cable construction 

 companies, which have in most cases been enabled through the 

 fall in rubber, to pay increased dividends, while carrying over 

 larger balances than a year ago to new account. 



A comparison of the dividends paid for the two years by 

 eight companies gives the following results : 



Ordinary dividend, 



, '• > 



1912-13. 1913-14. 



Anchor Cable per cent. 13 15 



British Insulated & Helsby Cables 10 13 



Ericson Manufacturing 8 8 



Callenders Cable & Construction IS IS 



Craigpark Electric Cable S 6 



W. T. Glover & Co 7^ 7^ 



W. T. Henley Co IS 20 



Telegraph Construction & Maintenance 20 20 



An increase of about $4(X),000 is represented by the amounts 

 carried forward to new account by the above eight companies for 

 1913-14, as compared with 1912-13. 



Cheap rubber is a boon to the cable manufacturing industry, 

 however badly it may hit investors in plantation shares. 



ENGLISH CONSUMPTION. 



Of the 31.000 tons of rubber imported by England in the five 

 months ending with May, 1914, no less than 24,0(X) tons were 

 re-exported, leaving only 7.000 tons for home consumption, 

 or little more than half the amount for the corresponding time 

 last year. English manufacturers were thus apparently prepared 

 to let their stocks become depleted, while the foreigner took 

 as much cheap rubber as he liked. 



GERMAN MANUFACTURING STATISTICS. 



The eighth annual census of German manufacturers shows the 

 total earnings of the nine principal tire manufacturing concerns 

 operating in that country to have amounted in the past eight 

 years to $16,332.288— a yearly average of $2,041,536— on a capital 

 investment of $10,675,000. Of this amount the Continental com- 

 pany (the largest of the nine companies) realized earnings 

 amounting to $9.904,285— a yearly average of $1 .238,036— on a 

 capital of $3,750,000, representing an average yearly dividend of 

 42.5 per cent., the largest average for any of the companies ; while 

 five of these nine largest concerns have lost in the eight-year 

 period a total of $2,011,719. 



Statistics also show that on January 1 of this year there were 

 in the German Empire 70,515 motor vehicles — an increase of 

 59,443 over the number recorded when the first census was taken 

 in January. 1907 — also 22,457 motorcycles. 



TURKEY'S COMMERCE IN RTTBBER. 



Statistics covering the commerce of Turkey show the imports 

 of rubber and gutta pcrcha goods during the year 1911-12 to have 

 amounted to $954,521, divided between: Rubber overshoes, $454,- 

 349; raincoats, $138,421, and all other rubber goods, $361,751. 

 Of these imports the United Empire supplied rubber goods to 

 the value of $479,656, Austria Hungary $261,109 and the United 

 States $192,179. The quality of the rubber goods received from 

 the United States is said to have been unsatisfactory to the 

 Turkish trade, but there seems to be no reason why American 

 goods might not regain favor in that country if the quality is 

 improved. 



Turkey's exports of rubber and gutta percha goods in the year 

 1911-12 were valued at $59,403, and the exports of old rubber to 

 the L'nited States amounted in 1912 to $64,790. in the year 1913 

 to $51,769. 



