March i, 1910.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



201 



RUBBER IN CABLE INSULATION. 



' I 'lli ; . London Electrical Review (January 21, 1910 — page 82) 

 ■*■ comments editorially at length on a recent article in The 

 India Rubber World, on "India-Rubber in the Electrical Field," 

 by Mr. Ira W. Henry. In this connection some comparisons are 

 made between the American and English practice which will 

 prove of general interest. It will be remembered that the first 

 great increase in the use of cables for electric light circuits was 

 ascribed by Mr. Henry to the action of authorities of New York 

 and other large cities in requiring the removal of overhead wires. 

 In New York the passing of such an ordinance was followed by 

 protests from the electrical companies, and at a meeting of elec- 

 trical engineers it was asserted that it was impossible to furnish 

 current of sufficient voltage to light the streets with insulated 

 wires placed underground. The Electrical Review says : 



"Such a statement reads strangely now, in the light of our pres- 

 ent knowledge of what has since been done in the transmission of 

 high voltage currents by underground cables ; but it must be re- 

 membered that, at that time, there was practically no experience 

 of underground cables in America. In England, owing to the 

 objections which have always been raised to the use of overhead 

 wires, we were somewhat more advanced ; rubber cables drawn 

 into pipes were used in 1884 at Hastings for the Brush series 

 system of lighting at 1,600 volts, and at Eastbourne about the 

 same time for transmitting current at 2,000 volts. When the 

 public supply of current was commenced in London and else- 

 where after the passing of the Act of 1888, the undertakers were 

 obliged to use underground cables, and rubber cables drawn into 

 cast iron pipes were laid in connection with" — [here follow de- 

 tails of installations at that time]. 



As to the covering of conductors our contemporary says : 



"The method of covering the conductor with rubber which 

 was adopted by the earlier American companies was that em- 

 ployed in England, and consisted of laying two longitudinal 

 strips of rubber, one above and one below the conductor, and 

 pressing them round the conductor, and making longitudinal 

 joints by passing the conductor and rubber strips between semi 

 circular rolls ; but a little later another method was largely 

 adopted in the Lhiited States, in which the rubber was fed into a 

 screw machine, which forced it in a compact and seamless mass 

 around the conductor as it emerged from a die. This method, al- 

 though in regular use in England for coating conductors with 

 gutta-percha, has never been largely used for putting on rubber 

 insulation ; but it is said to have proved very satisfactory in 

 America, where it has been used not only for the manufacture of 

 lighting cables, but also for making the core of submarine 

 cables." 



Regarding the use of rubber insulated core for submarine 

 cable work, as sanctioned by the American government, after 

 summarizing the details in Mr. Henry's article the Electrical 

 Review remarks : "Although rubber-insulated submarine cables 

 were made by Hooper some 40 years ago, and several thousand 

 miles of cable have been made with Hooper's core or on similar 

 lines, yet amongst English manufacturers the gutta-percha core 

 has always remained the standard, and it would be interesting to 

 know more fully the reasons which have led the United States 

 war department to the conclusion that the rubber cable is the 

 better." This subject has been treated at some length in various 

 issues of The India Rubeer World during ten years past, though 

 it is possible that no single article can be pointed to as a com- 

 prehensive answer to the query of the London paper. 



An example of the use of rubber cable which the Electrical 

 Review regards as of particular interest is in the construction 

 of land lines in Alaska. On account of the cost of telegraph 

 poles a rubber-insulated cable has been used in the goldfields, 

 laid on the surface of the snow covered ground, and in many 

 cases it soon becomes buried under snow and ice. The final 

 comment of the Review is: 



"As it is reported that communication has been well main- 

 tained, it would appear that a rubber-insulated cable has proved 

 its value both for land-lines and for submarine work under ex- 

 treme conditions of. temperature, either in tropical or semi- 

 arctic regions, and that it may become a more serious rival than 

 hitherto to the gutta-percha cable, as soon as the price of 

 rubber falls to a more moderate figure." 



WESTERN ELECTRIC CO.'S AFFAIRS. 



"THE annual report of Western Electric Co., presented at the 

 ■*■ shareholders' meeting in Chicago on February 3, related 

 to conditions as of November 30, 1909. Sales during twelve 

 months had amounted to $45,575,138, compared with $32,313,500 

 in 1908; $52,724,168 in 1907; and $69,245,332 in 1906 — the year 

 of the largest volume of business. In recent years lower prices 

 have been realized, and a period of general depression has been 

 undergone, at the end of which the financial position of the 

 company has been strengthened. Two years ago the share- 

 holders authorized an issue of $15,000,000 in first mortgage 5 per 

 cent, bonds. Of these $8,750,000 have been sold, and $6,250,000 

 are in trust to secure $5,000,000 in two year 4I/2 per cent, collateral 

 notes issued toward paying off a floating debt. The trust notes 

 were sold recently at 99, the subscriptions totaling more than 

 $16,000,000. The company now have 17,835 employes, against 

 14,449 one year previous, and the business prospect is regarded 

 as most favorable. 



The company have discontinued the manufacture of electrical 

 power apparatus, with the idea of concentrating more largely 

 upon the telephone industry, in which connection they operate a 

 large hard rubber plant, inaugurated in 1905. Their patents, tools, 

 and patterns used in the manufacture of power machinery have 

 been sold to the General Electric Co. The Western Electric will, 

 however, continue to accept orders for machinery. 



The Western Electric Co. was formed in 1881. Sales in 1884 

 amounted to $1,534,784. Since that date the capital has not been 

 increased from $15,000,000, but the surplus by the latest report 

 is $17,436,786. No reference is made in the report to the com- 

 pany's foreign business, which has been important for years, par- 

 ticularly in the telephone branch. 



On the same date as the annual meeting the newly elected 

 board — there was no change — reelected the following officers : 



Chairman of the Board — E. M. Barton. 



Vice-Presidents — II. A. Halligan, F. R. Welles, W. P. Sidley. 



Treasurer — J. W. Johnston. 



Assistant Treasurers — John Bray, E. R. Gilmore. 



Secretary — G. C. Platt. 



Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer — R. E. McEwen. 



Among the other important corporations in which President 



Thayer is a director are the Western Union Telegraph Co., and 



various telephone companies. Although he makes frequent visits 



to the Chicago plants and offices of the Western Electric Co.. he 



continues to regard New York as his official headquarters and 



residence. 



THE WESTERN ELECTRIC CO. IN EUROPE. 



The Western Electric Co., Limited, with £500,000 [= $2,433,- 

 250] capital, was registered in London, January 10, 1009, to ac- 

 quire the business and undertaking carried on in the United 

 Kingdom by the Western Electric Co., of Chicago, Illinois, and 

 carry on in the United Kingdom or elsewhere the business of 

 dealers in telephones, telephonic, telegraphic and electric lighting 

 apparatus, instruments, and machinery, electrical cables, wires and 

 goods, electricians, etc. The signatories are : F. R. Welles and G. 

 E. Pingree, both of Norfolk house, Victoria embankment, W. C. — 

 the business address of the Western Electric Co. in London. The 

 company's works in England are at North Woolwich. The com- 

 pany is private. The two gentlemen named and A. Williamson 

 are the first directors. Mr. Welles is a director in and one of 

 the vice-presidents of the American company. The factory at 

 North Woolwich, on the Thames, was established by the Fowler- 

 Waring Cables Co., Limited, registered August 13. 1889. 



