SErTEMBER 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



677 



THE GERMAN RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



AV/IIILE America and England divide the honors of making 

 ** the first attempts to use rubber industrially, Austria 

 and Ciermany soon followed. In 1828, Johann Xeponiuk Reit- 

 hoffer of \'icnna was granted an .Austrian patent for the manu- 

 facture of rublier thread, cut out of Para liottlcs and covered 

 with worsted, silk or wool. .\ factory was then established by 

 Francois Fonrobert in 1829 at Finsterwalde, near Berlin, for 

 the working of a similar process; this being the start of the 

 German rubber industry. 



Scientific rubber investigation cointuenced in Germany in 

 1832, when Dr. F. Liidersdorff of Berlin discovered that rubber, 

 treated at the temperature of 12.25 deg. C. (54.05 (leg. I'".) with 

 oil of turpentine and sulphur, displayed a notable resistance 

 to light and o.xidation. It was. however, reserved for Charles 

 Goodyear to discover and improve the process of vulcanization 

 with sulphur in 1839. 



In the year 1846, Werner Siemens, then a German artillery 

 officer, proposed the use of gutta percha for the insulation of 

 telegraph wires, building the first gutta percha press in 1847 ; 

 while the first submarine cable was laid in 1850 between Dover 

 and Calais by Brett. The first rubber shoe factory in Germany 

 was that established in 1850 at Mannheim by the Etablissements 

 Hutchinson, a Paris concern, of .\nierican personnel. 



l>KOr,RF.S.S OF t;KUM.\N RUIiHKK M.\NrK.\('Tt:RK. 



.A notable discovery of that period was that of the manufacture 

 of hard rubber, by Nelson Goodyear, that process being em- 

 ployed in .\merica by Meyer & Poppenhusen, branch of the 

 German linn, II. C. Meyer, of Hamburg. In 1856 the first 

 German hard rubber factory was established, that of the "Mar- 

 burg Ruliber Comb Co.," now Dr. Heinrich Traun & Sons. The 

 same year witnessed the installation of the rubber shoe factory 

 of .Mbcrt & Louis Cohen, now the "United Ilarburg-Vienna Rub- 

 ber Factories'; this combination also including the .Austrian 

 Reithoffer factory. 



Notwithstanding these successes, progress in Germany was 

 slow until the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, the 

 effects of whicli were experienced in a marked development of 

 the industry. This has been noteworthy during recent decades 

 in the development of the tire and airship industries, under the 

 additional infiuence of various important consolidations. 



Statistics of German rubber goods manufacture show that 

 from 36 concerns in 1861, with 1,788 workers, it gradually 

 attained the following dimensions: 



1875, 120 establishments with 5.635 hands 

 1882, 243 " " 8,975 " 



1895. 450 " " 16,366 " 



1907, 539 " " 31,909 " 



Since 1907 official figures of the number of factories are 

 wanting, but according to the estimate of the "(iummi-Zeitung" 

 there are now about 150 important concerns, in addition to a 

 large number of small ones. Of greater importance are the 

 cstiiuatcs of the increase in the number of hands employed, 

 from 31,909 in 1907 to 40,000 in 1911 and to 45,000 at the present 

 time. According to the census of 1907, 23.347 horse power 

 was then used in 252 out of the 539 factories. The mechanical 

 equipment at that time included 8,837 inachines. 



The results of 33 iinportant rubber .goods manufacturing 

 companies for 1912 showed that 25 of them made profits, and 

 that an average dividend of 12.3 per cent, was distributed in 

 22 cases ; the lowest rate being 2 to 3 per cent, and the highest 

 25 to SO per cent. The aggregate capital of the .W companies 

 equaled $20,943,500. 



.Among special new features of Gentian production during the 

 last half century were : in the "sixties"- — asbestos goods, hose, 

 ice bags, air cushions and rubber balls ; in the "seventies" — 



rubber stamps, tricycle tires and belting; in the "nineties" — rubber 

 toys, rollers, seamless and cut goods, garments, automobile tires 

 and balloon materials, as well as regenerated rubber. Sundries 

 have also constituted an important section of German production 



EXPORTS OF GERM.XN RUBBER GOODS. 



Exports of German rubber goods for a series of years equaled : 

 1889, $5,663,750; 1899, $13,590,000; 1909, $13,792,500; 1910, $16,- 

 713.500: 1911, $18,529,000; 1912, $31,351,000; 1913, $.32,500,000. 



The principal foreign outlets for German rubber goods were in 

 1910: Great Britain about $3,500,000 (largely sheet rubber in 

 conjunction with fabrics, hard rubber goods, textiles with rubber 

 threads, and insulated wire) ; France, about $1,250,000 (to a large 

 extent hard rubber and rolled sheets of soft rubber; Italy, about 

 $1,0(X),(XX), and Austria-Hungary a like amount. Among the 

 nations consuming German rubber manufactures is also Switzer- 

 land, which takes about $1,000,000 worth of sheet rubber com- 

 bined with fabrics and textile goods in the jiiece, coated with 

 rubber. 



CONSUMPTION OF RUHHEK. 



The consumption of crude rubber in Germany, as shown by 

 the difference between the imports and exports, was : 1889, 

 3,329 tons; 1899, 8,295 tons; 1909, 18,117 tons; 1910, 23,179 tons; 

 1911, 23,534 tons; 1912, 19,249 tons; 1913, 18,833 tons. 



GERMAN COLONIAL RUBBER. 



Supplies from the German colonies have been as follows: 



German German 



East Togo Kamerun Xew Samoa Total 



.Africa Guinea 



1891 t,:iis 189 53 377 — — 619 



1909 474 147 1,518 — — 2,139 



1912 754 166 2,541 3 9 3,473 



These figures, it is remarked, show the increasing supplies 

 received by Geririany from the -African colonies of that country. 

 It was estimated in 1910 that about 60,000 acres had been planted 



with rubber at various points. 



LABOR CO.NDITIONS. 



The peaceful and harmonious relations existing in the German 

 rubber industry between employers and employed are illustrated 

 by the large number of workers who have celebrated their silver 

 jubilee, while a much larger number have lieen awarded bronze 

 medals for ten years' service. Workmen's insurance and various 

 pension fund arrangements have been largely carried into effect, 

 while workers' dwellings are prominent features of the system 

 in force. Strikes and other forms of labor disputes are thus 

 rare in the German rubber industry ; there being a mutual recog- 

 nition of the fact that successful results are only to be achieved 

 when satisfaction exists on both sides, with due regard to the 

 enforcement of the discipline necessary in large plants. 



In the opinion of competent ob.servers the German rubber 

 industry is resting on a secure foundation and is well equipped for 

 meeting competition with its rivals in foreign countries, the attain- 

 ment of the highe-st possible capacity of its manufacturing plants 

 forming its most important object. This aim it hopes to reach 

 through the technical knowledge, perseverance and enterprise 

 which have marked its efforts in the past. 



SPECIAL RUBBER GOODS FOR THE SUMMEE SEASON. 



German manufacturers arc giving iiarticular attention to rub- 

 ber goods suitable for use in the usual summer outings — such 

 as bath accessories, for instance, for the older people, and toys 

 which children can use at the beach. One article in particular 

 might be mentioned — a seat made of rubberized material for pro- 

 tection — to ward off rheuTiiatism — when people are sitting on the 

 wet sand or damp ground. This rubberized seat is thin and 

 light, and can easily be carried in die pocket. 



