October i, 1909.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



11 



The India-Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By ihir Regular Correspondent. 



UP to the first week in August the weather conditions 

 during this summer, since the third week in May, 

 were continuously bad, a low temperature and contin- 

 uous rain being the prevailing feature. It is not surprising 

 that under these circumstance the proofing branch of the 

 THE rubber trade has done well. In fact this 



proofing is putting it too moderately, as some, at 



TRADE. -juy rate, in the trade, report business as 



having been excellent, and even in August the work on hand was 

 such as to preclude further orders being taken. This applies 

 especially to the ladies' trade, but all round I understand the 

 year has shown a great improvement on preceding years. 

 Things are in a different and more healthy condition than 

 in the years immediately preceding the great decline of some 

 years ago. The-get-business-at-any-price man is now prac- 

 tically extinct, and with him has gone the macintosh of 

 cheap cotton and oil substitute. The demand of today is for 

 goods that are really waterproof and that will wear. A 

 point that has done a good deal towards improving the trade 

 is the formation of two associations in the Manchester dis- 

 trict, which may be considered the headquarters of the 

 waterproofing business. One of these associations is repre- 

 sentative of the proofers — that is, the actual rubber manufac- 

 turers — and the other is concerned with the dealers who buy 

 the proofed cloth and make it up into garments in their 

 workrooms. These bodies are by no means representative 

 of the whole trade, but those important London firms who 

 remain outside are in entire sympathy with their aims as 

 they have always discountenanced the price-cutting which 

 had become so characteristic of the Manchester center. The 

 trade is now in fewer hands than was the case twenty years 

 ago, and it will be generally admitted that a working ar- 

 rangement as to prices, without there being anything in the 

 form of a trust, is in the interests of of all concerned. Al- 

 though, owing to the rise in the price of rubber, retailers' 

 prices have been raised twice, no noticeable effect on the 

 volume of trade has to be recorded. In this respect the 

 proofing branch is better off than others where the amount 

 of rubber present forms a larger percentage of the whole 

 article. 



With the continued receipt of notices referring to in- 

 crease in prices, it is not altogether surprising that buyers 

 of rubber goods, or, at any rate, of some 

 classes of such goods, are casting about 

 to see if they cannot find efficient substi- 

 tutes. This can hardly be to the ultimate welfare of the 

 industry, which in previous times has received a setback in 

 certain classes of goods by reason of reduction in quality 

 due to competition. Present conditions certainly favor the 

 manufacturers of non-rubber packings, and the asbestos 

 people will not grumble. I notice that a writer in a con- 

 temporary says, that owing to the high price the use of 

 rubber-faced card clothing is likely to die out altogether, 

 and that a substitute has been found to take its place. With 

 regard to this I may point out that both felt and composition 

 cards have been on the market for years, and have had in- 

 creasing sales, especially in woolen mills, where the de- 

 structive action of grease on rubber has to be contended 

 with. Inquiries I have made in the trade indicate that there 

 are no changed conditions which can be attributed to the 

 rise in price of rubber, and that there are no present signs 

 of the decease of the rubber card-clothing. Doubtless where 

 elastic bands have been largely used instead of string there 



HIGH PRICES 

 AND SUBSTITUTES. 



BALATA BELTING 

 PATENTS. 



will be some reversion to the latter. On this point I may 

 mention that in Germany the elastic band is largely used by 

 shopkeepers for tying up small parcels, while in England 

 it is rarely used for this purpose. Of course the Germans 

 don't give too much away for nothing, and the bands 

 are only very narrow ones, but they answer their purpose, 

 and are appreciated by ladies. In periods of high prices of 

 materials there is always a tendency to reduce the quality. 

 This is apt to induce the use of other material, and if this 

 proves satisfactory there is no return to rubber. The rub- 

 ber-insulated cable has suffered in this way in the past, but 

 at the present juncture history is unlikely to be repeated, 

 because of the existence of the Cable Makers' Association. 

 At the same time it is more than probable that the present 

 situation will lead to more business going to Germany. The 

 existence of the association, with its uniform prices for 

 standard qualities, has led in several instances to substantial 

 orders being given for German cables at a lower price, a 

 fact which at Edinburgh has given rise to some acrimonius 

 discussion in the city council. 



A patent has recently been granted to Mr. Charles Kay 

 Sagar, of St. Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire, for improvements in 

 solid woven balata and gutta-percha belt- 

 ing. Mr. Sagar, I may say, is managing 

 director of and has been associated many 

 >>_ars with the well-known cotton belting firm of Messrs. George 

 Banham & Co., Limited. This firm's work were for many years 

 at Pendleton, Manchester, not far from those of F. Redda- 

 way & Co. A few years ago more commodious premises 

 were taken at Limefield Mills, Farnworth, near Bolton, and 

 it is here that work is now carried on. Mr. George Banham, 

 the founder of the business, died a year or two ago, as was 

 reported at the time in these notes. A patent taken out 

 about ten years ago by Mr. Banham was in connection with 

 the same purpose as the recent one of Mr. Sagar, only it 

 was sought to attain the end by employment of vacuum 

 machinery. Although plant on a working scale was erected 

 at the Pendleton works the patent was never actively 

 worked. In Mr. Sagar's patent the vacuum is dispensed 

 with, the cotton yarn being immersed in a solution of bal- 

 ata and after the solvent has been driven off, being woven 

 in the ordinary way into belting. After compression at a 

 temperature sufficient to soften the bala the result is a com- 

 pact homogeneous belt which has certain definite advan- 

 tages over the ordinary balata belting claimed for it. 



In all the more important mining operations, and more 

 especially in deep shaft sinking, the modern tendency is to 

 fire the gelignite cartridges by electricity. 

 MINrNG-FTJSE. The current is obtained from a battery 



at the top of the shaft and is conducted 

 to the scene of operations by a thin rubber insulated cable rolled 

 on a drum. As many as 30 shots may be fired at once, 

 the necessary connection between the wires and the primer 

 cartridge containing the detonator being made by an expert. 

 As this system allows of the men being drawn up without 

 any rush or anxiety, it is, of course, much preferable to the 

 use of the fuse, with its attendant dangers. Still it is more 

 expensive, and the fuse is still largely used, especially in 

 metal mining ventures on a small scale. Various qualities 

 of fuse are supplied, but as water tamping is now so much 

 in vogue, the waterproof kinds have come into increased 

 demand. These cost more than the cotton covered, but this 

 is always preferable to having a missfire with a greased cot- 



