.uo 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1, 1914. 



in some form or other they are generally used. In some cases, 

 especially with the glass goggle — not the most approved type — 

 the rubber band to go round the head is of the ordinary braided 

 variety, like a hat elastic, and. like the latter, is frequently found 

 to be minus its elasticity after a comparatively brief use. A 

 better tho more expcn.s-ive form is the solid rubber cord about 

 ,'4-inch thick. I found this in use at one of our very largest 

 chemical works, 'lliis is employed for the brass wire goggles 

 which the firm makes on its own premises, the rul>1)er curd being 

 purchased from a particular rubber works. 

 xvi.dK urisnER CO. 



.A few months ago I mentioned that this company had licen 

 formed in luigland by the Firestone Tire & Rublier Co., of .-Vkroii, 

 for the production of reclaimed rulibcr. There are tw'o English 

 directors and considerable progress has been made on the build- 

 ings being erected in TrafTord Park, the walls of which are of 

 reinforced concrete. The contract for tlie machinery has been 

 given to Messrs. Francis Shaw & Co., of Manchester, and electric 

 power will be used throughout. Mr. E. L. Curbishley has been 

 appointed general manager. Mr. C urbishley has been connected 

 for the last year with the Lloyds Rubber Co., and it will be 

 remembered that for many years he was director and manager 

 of the (iorton Rubber Co.. leaving it some time ago. 

 KUniiKR TILING. 



-Mthci the future of the rubber pavement fur street or even 

 courtyard use is somewhat i)roblematical. manufacturers gen- 

 erally seem to be agreed that rubber tiling for indoor use will 

 increase in importance as an item in the mechanical rubber trade. 

 .V prominent firm in this connection is the Leyland & Birming- 

 ham Rubber Co., which, in addition to a considerable amount 

 of tiling put down at the E.xchange Hotel, Liverpool, and the 

 Metal Exchange, in London, has also secured the order for 

 doing Lloyds shipping offices in London. 



COUTO.N" Rrr.DER CO.. LIMITED. 



The Gorton and Droylsden works of the Gorton Rubber Co.. 

 Limited, now in liquidation, were put up for sale by auction in 

 Manchester on January 20. The i)roperties were oflfered as 

 going concerns, jointly or separately, but altho there was quite 

 a large attendance the auctioneer failed to obtain a single bid. 

 despite his assurance that the purchaser could not help making 

 money, seeing how much was being made by Moseley, Macin- 

 tosh and Mandleberg. The works are advantageously situated 

 and have been btted in quite recent years with a considerable 

 amount of up-to-date machinery. The opinion was expressed 

 after the abortive proceedings that the result was a foregone 

 conclusion and the break up of the works and the disposal of 

 the jdant and machinery by private treaty was inevitalile. 

 ".\MERIC.\N' HUSTLE." 



This term, "speeding up." and whatever other s\nonyms it 

 may have, have, until recently, had merely an academic interest 

 for British manufacturers. Times, however, are changing and 

 the development of .\merican enterprise in England has brought 

 the subject of American methods closely home to both capital 

 and labor in certain districts. Perhaps the most important of 

 these is Trafford Park. Manchester, the locality where, as I 

 mentioned in my last notes, the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., of 

 .\kron, is putting up a new reclaiming works. This company is 

 said to have been influenced i)itcr alia by the ruling wages being 

 lower than in America. This, of course, is the state of afifairs 

 generally in the labor market : and in the skilled engineering 

 trades the difference is sufficiently great to allow of a substantial 

 rise in the rate of wages over the ordinary English rate without 

 attaining to American expenses in this respect. In spite of the 

 hustling they are subjected to. the workmen in a large American 

 engineering works in Trafford Park are more than satisfied w'ith 

 their position, on account of the large weekly wage they draw. 

 This makes them disinclined to join their fellows in other works 

 in strikes, a matter which at the time of writing is portending 



serious trouble. Office boys also have stated, on leaving their 

 places, that they are going to the American works at several 

 shillings a week higher wages, so that it is not surprising that 

 the American invasion is being discussed witli interest in local 

 conunercial circles. At the moment the profit sharing scheme 

 announced recently by the Ford Motcr car works at Detroit, is 

 lieing much di.scussed in Manchester, as the company has two 

 works in Trafford Park. It appears that the floor sweepers in 

 the Manchester works are not to have one pound a day each. 

 as in Detroit, because the cost of living is much less in England 

 than it is in America. This decision is a great relief to British 

 employers of labor in that district, as they could not possibly 

 emulate such scales of payment, which it is felt would cause a 

 general upheaval in the local labor world. 



SOME ENGLISH RUBBER STATISTICS OF THE 

 WORLD. 



ACCORDING to English statistics, the worlds production of 

 rubber for 1912 was 99,000 tons, and for 1913 was 105.670 



tons. The distribution of consumption for the two years was 

 as follows : 



I.MiLI'. .\. 



1912. 1913. 



Tons. Per cent. Tons. Per cent. 



-America and Canada. . 47.500 48 47,200 44.6 



Germany and Austria. . 16.000 16.2 16.600 15.8 



England 14.500 14.7 18,000 17.2 



France 10.000 10.1 9.000 8.6 



Russia 9.000 9 11.500 10.9 



Italy 1.000 1 1,.W) 10.9 



Japan and Australia... 1.000 1 2.000 1.7 



Total 99.000 .... 105,670 



The increase in consumption of 6.670 tons, or about 6 per cent., 

 was thus principally due to England and Russia. 



The estimate for 1914 is 107,000 tons, being a .slight total in- 

 crease over 1913; the anticipated larger quantity of plantation 

 being offset by reductions in Brazil and miscellaneous rubbers. 

 On this basis the figures for the three years would stand; 

 T.\DLK li. 



1912. 1913. 1914 estimate. 



Plantation tons 28,590 47.200 65,000 



Brazil 42,410 .39.370 .52,000 



Miscellaneous 28,000 19,100 10,000 



Total 99.000 105,670 107,000 



.\s compared with 1912, plantation rubber would thus show for 

 1914 an increased production of 36,410 tons, while Brazil and 

 miscellaneous kinds represent respectively a decrease of 10.410 

 and 18,000 tons. The net increase since 1912 would be thus about 

 8,000 tons, or rather more than 8 per cent. 



ENGLISH IMPORTS AND EXPORTS 

 Official figures of English imports and exports for 1898. 1912 

 and 1913 show the following results, to which is appended the 

 difference, represented apparently by home consumption, tho dif- 

 fering somewhat from the figures shown in table A. 



T.XBLE C. Retained for 



Consumption 

 Imports. Exports, (estimated). 

 1898 Ions 24,476 14.742 9,734 



1912 55.023 36,299 18,724 



1913 70,287 45,011 25,276 



T.\RLE n— SOURCES OF ENGLISH RUBBER IMPORTS. 



1911. 1912 1913. 



French West Africa tons 1.2M 1,507 1,009 



Peru 1,570 1,606 1.301 



Brazil 15.752 15,175 16,2.12 



Gold Coast 1,215 784 667 



Straits Settlem'ts and Labuan 6,182 10,671 15,103 



Federated Malay States 2,918 6,354 9,880 



Ceylon '. 2,235 4,062 6,705 



Other countries 14,143 14,864 19,390 



Total 45,296 55,023 70,287 



