March i, 1910.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



205 



The India-Rubber Trade in Great Britain. 



By Our Regular Correspondent. 



THE ASBESTOS 

 MANUFACTURE. 



AMI l.VTH or two ago the sort of combination which had ex- 

 isted among the principal asbestos manufacturing firms 

 came to an end, and close competition again ensued. 

 Another feature tending to make business difficult has been the 

 continuous rise in the raw material, which at the time of writing 

 stands at about SH pence per pound. 

 This means that when the waste, which 

 can only be used for common purposes, is 

 removed, the fibers suitable for spinning cost about 1 shilling per 

 pound. A third important development, which took place in the 

 middle of January, was the consolidation of Bells" Asbestos Co., 

 Limited, with the United Asbestos Co., Limited, with works in 

 East London and at Harefield, Middlesex. These two firms, with 

 Messrs. Turner Brothers, Limited, of Spotland, Rochdale, are the 

 only asbestos firms of practically any importance in the British 

 Isles, and competition for large contracts will now be entirely 

 between Rochdale and the Southern combination, which is to be 

 known as Bells' United Asbestos Co., Limited. Foreign com- 

 petition has, of course, to be reckoned with under the present 

 fiscal system, and I believe it is a fact that German producers 

 are always ready to quote a discount off British net price lists, 

 in order to get rid of their excess production of low-grade goods. 

 Important work, however, such as that of the government con- 

 tracts, is restricted to British manufacture by a special clause in 

 the specification, as foreign competition was not to be reckoned 

 with. I understand that with regard to these government con- 

 tracts it has generally been the rule to distribute the orders be- 

 tween the three firms mentioned above, though the same class of 

 goods is not supplied two or three years in succession by the 

 same firm. As in the case of vulcanized rubber contracts, inspec- 

 tion of the works and goods may take place at any time by gov- 

 ernment officials, and I heard of a case in which an inspector 

 traveled a considerable distance to inspect and pass two ounces of 

 material ! Bells' Asbestos Co. have been handicapped by not 

 having rubber manufacturing plant, while the United and Turn- 

 ers, having their own plant, have no need to buy anything from 

 rubber works. Only a few of the British rubber manufacturers 

 make asbestos goods, of these firms Messrs. George McLellan & 

 Co., of Glasgow, being one of the most prominent. Without, 

 however, wishing in any way to disparage the business done by 

 the rubber works, I believe I am correct in saying that the only 

 real opposition the three big firms mentioned have had to meet 

 in the large scale has come from Germany. 



Notification of a recent convention by this important company 

 may conveniently follow the topic just discussed. It is well 

 known that asphyxiating fumes, and in 

 cases explosions, occur as the result of 

 rubber cables firing in close situations, 

 and a contretemps due to the firing of some rubber cable on one 

 of the London tube railways has led to Messrs. Siemens bring- 

 ing out an asbestos insulated cable for use in car wiring — that is, 

 for the motor trade. I understand that such cables have given 

 every satisfaction for their particular purpose, though rubber 

 insulation manufacturers may take heart of grace from the fact 

 that they are not likely to compete with rubber where there is any 

 possibility of moisture being met with. The Siemens' firm of 

 course are well known in regard to Atlantic cable laying, their 

 Atlantic work exceeding that of any other company. They were 

 one of the first to run rubber washing machinery by electricity, 

 and it is interesting to note the development which has taken 

 place in this direction, in the case of plant which the firm put 

 in a year or two ago for the St. Helens Rubber and Cable Co.. of 



SIEMENS BROTHERS 

 & CO.. LIMITED. 



SCRAP 

 RUBBER. 



Wallington, the new washing rolls having five times the basic 

 force of the original ones at the London works on the Thames 

 The St. Helens Co. is the joint property of the Siemens and the 

 Callender cable companies ; and I am not sure that there is not 

 another permanent cable firm also in it. This join proprietor- 

 ship, however, of the rubber works does not affect the competitive 

 business of the cable works, these remaining in competition as 

 of yore. In recent years Messrs Siemens have erected a branch 

 factory at Stafford, but no cable work is done there, electrical 

 instruments and fittings alone being manufactured. It will be 

 remembered that the late Dr. Obach, who became widely known 

 for his "Cantor" lectures on gutta-percha, was head chemist at 

 Siemen's, and Mr. Eichenauer, formerly his chief assistant, is now 

 head of the laboratory. 



In the Twentieth Anniversary Number of The India Rubber 

 World some interesting tabulated statistics are given of the 

 scrap imports into America. The quan- 

 tity from the United Kingdom shows 

 a great appreciation in the last decade, 

 and this now forms one of the most prominent external sources 

 of supply for American reclaimers, though in no year has it 

 reached 3,000 tons. It will be interesting to see how this is 

 effected by the operations of the Premier Reforming Co., 

 Limited. In the prospectus of this company it was stated that 

 the waste rubber supply in the United Kingdom is believed to 

 exceed 50,000 tons per annum. Allowing that this figure is ap- 

 proximately correct it is clear that only a portion of it will be 

 suitable for remaking purposes, as a considerable quantity will 

 contain fabric. As far as my knowledge goes only a limited num- 

 ber of goods, or rather classes of goods, have been made by the 

 reforming process, these being made from scrap, such as solid 

 tires, inner tubes, buffers, etc., which contain no insertion. In 

 the above prospectus the existence of practically an unlimited 

 quantity of suitable scrap rubber at current market prices 

 seems to be taken for granted, but it rather looks as if the price 

 is destined to rise for purchases made in the open market if there 

 is an increased and steady demand for particular brands. If all 

 the rubber which goes into consumption was capable of being re- 

 formed to sell against new goods it is clear that the demand for 

 new rubber must be affected. As, however, this is not the case, 

 no very great dislocation in the raw market need be apprehended. 

 There will probably be competition between reclaimers and re- 

 formers for supplies of material, though if we take the esti- 

 mated prospectus profits of reforming it is clear that the latter 

 are in a much better position to stand a rise in the market than 

 may be supposed to be the case with the former. As an expert 

 opinion states that reformed rubber is superior in some cases to 

 new rubber, it will be interesting in the efflux of time to see 

 whether the rubber is of a higher quality still after a second 

 reformation, or whether it shows distinct evidences of senile 

 decay. However, this is only one of many interesting points 

 about reforming that remain for solution. 



An interesting article on "The Manufacture and Testing of 

 Rubber Gauntlets," by J. Lurtgarten, appeared in the Electrical 

 Fez-lew for January 21 (page III). Al- 

 though primarily concerned with the 

 goods of Messrs. David Moseley & 

 Sons. Limited, the elaborate series of tests from the electrical 

 standpoint are of wide general interest. To those, however, un- 

 acquainted with the details of electrical testing, any attempted 

 summary would not be easily intelligible, and I shall refrain 

 from anything of the sort in these notes for the general reader. 



RUBBER 



gauntlets. 



