February i, igio.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



171 



rubber had not then become so pressing as to make the 

 Madeira road appear to outsiders a necessity, and the fate 

 of the enterprise was left to those who could appreciate the 

 whole thing only as a football for speculative rivals in 

 finance or for politicians concerned only with private gain. 



Following his experience in connection with the Madeira 

 railway Colonel Church was entrusted with important gov- 

 ernment missions, and visited various South American coun- 

 tries in relation to financial and engineering affairs of im- 

 portance. He was a member of various learned societies, 

 particularly in Europe, and the author of a number of books 

 and scientific papers. He was a companion of the first class 

 of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and despite his long 

 residence abroad there was no better or more loyal American. 



The Royal Geographical Society, of London, will suffer a 

 great loss in the death of its former vice-president, for he 

 was considered unquestionably the greatest authority on the 

 geography of South America. Canada owes much to this far- 

 sighted engineer, for the new trans-Canada railroad was 

 originally promoted and surveyed by him. Colonel Church 

 last visited the United States in 

 the fall of 1908, at which time 

 among the many functions in his 

 honor was a special reunion and 

 banquet in Philadelphia of the 

 Madeira and Mamore Association, 

 composed of the survivors of the 

 "Ill-Fated Expedition." 



Colonel Church died on January 

 5, in London, at his home on 

 Cromwell road, Kensington, of an 

 internal malady from which he 

 had been confined to his bed for 

 some weeks. He married twice. 

 His first wife was Miss Alice 

 Church of New Jersey, who died. 

 Three years ago he married Mrs. 

 Chapman, daughter of Sir Robert 

 Harding and widow of the head 

 of the firm of Chapman & Ball, 

 publishers. Colonel Church was 

 buried in Brompton cemetery. 



THE LATE ENGINEER D'INVILLIERS. 



Camille S. d'Invilliers, who 

 died on January 2, was only 26 

 years of age when he joined the 

 Madeira-Mamore expedition. Af- 

 ter graduation from the Polytech- 

 nic College at Philadelphia he was employed (1870-74) as 

 assistant engineer on the Allegheny Valley railroad, and 

 later, until his departure for South America, he was employed 

 on the Pennsylvania railroad. "In addition to technical train- 

 ing and experience," writes Neville B. Craig, "he possessed 

 the equally important qualification of vigorous health, which 

 rendered him capable of more than ordinary physical en- 

 durance, and his popularity among the members of the en- 

 gineer corps secured for him at all times the loyal support 

 of his subordinates. 



The early failure in health of C. M. Bird, the first chief 

 engineer of the Madeira and Mamore railway, caused the pro- 

 motion to that position, within a few months, of Mr. d'Invil- 

 liers, who, although himself early attacked by severe fevers, 

 retained the position thereafter until the end. He, finally, 

 was obliged to obtain a leave of absence — he left San An- 

 tonio for Para, February 17, 1879 — and that marked, in 

 the words of Mr. Craig, "the complete collapse of the 

 undertaking." 



Following his experience in South America, Mr. d'Invilliers 



resumed his connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 

 for which he was, until the time of his death, engineer of 

 construction at Cresson, Pa. 



TWO NEW SUBSTITUTES FOR RUBBER. 



THE Protal Co., of Bridgeport, Connecticut, will shortly offer 

 to the trade two new products, to which they have given 

 the names of "Protal" and "Protal-Bakelite." Both of these 

 materials consist of a base derived from vegetable substances to 

 which are added substances which render them adaptable for all 

 uses heretofore supplied by rubber and rubber compounds. In 

 physical characteristics these materials resemble rubber, and they 

 may be manipulated by machinery such as is used in the produc- 

 tion of rubber or rubber compounds. 



In the form of "Protal," the material is suitable for use where 

 the articles produced therefrom are not permanently subjected 

 to the action of moisture, and in the form of "Protal-Bakelite," 

 in any situation where rubber in some one of its forms may 

 be used. "Protal-Bakelite," however, is referred to as having 



an advantage over rubber in that 

 it is non-oxydizable and therefore 

 does not deteriorate; it is not sol- 

 uble in oils, in acids or other sim- 

 ilar disintegrating agents; it is 

 infusible, and an excellent electri- 

 cal insulator. Both of these 

 bodies may be loaded with any 

 of the materials used in the man- 

 ufacture of rubber, and so far as 

 the tests which have been made 

 show, are excellent substitutes for 

 rubber in any of its forms, 

 whether soft, semi-hard or hard — 

 i. e., vulcanite. 



The Protal Co. control the 

 manufacture of the materials spec- 

 ified, by reason of patents which 

 have been obtained by Dr. F. G. 

 Weichmann, the inventor, and 

 also licenses for one of the ingre- 

 dients (a new chemical sub- 

 stance) obtained by Dr. L. H. 

 Baekeland. It is stated that the 

 cost of this material in any form 

 in which it may be manufactured 

 compares favorably with that of 

 corresponding rubber products. 



COMMUNICATION ON THE AMAZON. 



THE plan of the Amazon Telegraph Co., Limited, to extend 

 their cable facilities in the Amazon River, has been men- 

 tioned already in The India Rubber World. The manufacture 

 of cable for the extension is already in progress in England, and 

 a recent issue of The Brazilian Reviezv states that by December 

 next the line from Para to Manaos will have been duplicated 

 throughout. This, it is felt, will prevent any such interruption 

 of communication between these two rubber centers as has oc- 

 curred so often within the past two years, such interruptions 

 being mentioned, whether correctly or not, as the cause of many 

 disturbances in the rubber market, the effect of which is felt as 

 far around the world as Colombo and Singapore. 



The trade generally has been notified that owing to the higher 

 cost of cotton and rubber than prevailed when present prices 

 were established, manufacturers of fire hose will be obliged to 

 make an advance of at least 10 cents per foot. 



