September i. ijio.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



423 



RE-EORMED 

 RUBBER. 



though it is certainly a fact that the British manufacturer is 

 not as cognizant of it as is the American and German, who so 

 far have taken the bulk of the output. The experts of this 

 company seem to have no doubt whatever of the continuity of 

 supply of the shrub. 



I read with interest the article dealing with Gare's waste 

 rubber process in The India Rubber World (July I — page 358) — 

 a process which has already been re- 

 ferred to more than once in this corre- 

 spondence. The article, of course, dealt 

 specially with Gare's process, and it was not incumbent on the 

 writer to go beyond this. As, however, it might be imagined that 

 in the matter of reforming rubber Gare's patent confers a monop- 

 oly, it may be of interest to say that there are other patents in 

 the field which claim to effect the same end in a somewhat differ- 

 ent manner. The first patent is the French one granted to 

 Karavodigue, and it was this patentee who opposed the granting 

 of Gare's patent, though without avail. Then there is the patent 

 of Hutchinson and Milne, of Glasgow, already detailed in these 

 notes. The next on my list is the patent of Hyatt and Penn 

 (No. 13,599 — ic jo8), the amended specification of which was 

 dated April 26, 1909. In this patent, which was ineffectually op- 

 posed by Gare — Mr. Grist giving evidence before the court — 

 the novel application of a vacuum to remove the air from the 

 mold is protected. The latest patent I have to mention is that 

 of Immisch, which was granted, I believe, at the end of last 

 year. In this case the air is expelled from the mold by means 

 of a small quantity of a volatile oil. 



Besides the £150.000 company referred to in the article, which 

 I presume is the Simplex Rubber Co., owning the Gare patents, 

 there is also the Premier Reforming Co., Limited, of £150,000 

 capital, working the Immisch patent. There seems to have 

 been some delay in raking in the large profits adumbrated 

 in the prospectus, but according to the remarks made by 

 Mr. Rawson at the recent meeting of the Endurite Manufacturing 

 Co., which promoted the Premier company working Immisch's 

 patent, the latter company is now going ahead. It will be seen, 

 then, that there is by no means a monopoly in the reforming 

 business, though I do not say that all the patents are of equal 

 merit. Gare heats his crumb rubber to 400 F., to effect 

 solidification, while in Hyatt and Penn's vacuum process perfect 

 solidification is effected at 280° F. In this process, while 

 any oxidation as well as revulcanization is prevented owing to 

 the complete absence of air, the reforming of the goods from 

 crumb rubber at the vulcanizing temperature produces a rubber 

 of the greatest uniformity throughout its mass and with its con- 

 tent of free sulphur reduced to a minimum. I understand that 

 the reformed rubber made by this process has been very favorably 

 reported upon by rubber manufacturers and excellent prospects 

 would seem to await any company formed to work the patent. 



Some exception has been taken by this company to the ob- 

 servations I made in the June issue of The India Rubber World, 

 crude rubber ^ n tne f"~ st P' ace > tnev say they are not 



washing CO., interested either directly or indirectly 



limited. i n the London Venture Corporation, or 



the Madagascar Rubber Co. My reference to the business ar- 

 rangements existing between the latter company and the Crude 

 Rubber Washing Co. was solely with regard to the Guignet 

 machine, and I hasten to correct any impression that other re- 

 lations exist. With regard to the London Venture Corporation, 

 I did not suggest that any business relations existed. I said 

 that the Venture Corporation promoted the Crude Rubber Wash- 

 ing Co. ; this is not disputed by the latter. I quite understand 

 that the two concerns are widely different in character, the one 

 being engaged in promotion and finance work, while the other 

 is a purely technical concern formed for the specific object of 

 supplying washed rubber to the trade. I don't know that I in- 

 ferred that the company were "concerned in the share market 

 or the promotion of companies," but I gladly make their disclaim- 



ance known. In my further remarks I allowed myself to sug- 

 gest that competition might arise from the use of another 

 patented washing machine. If I enlarged on this topic I might in- 

 volve myself in further correspondence, and I don't feel in- 

 clined to do more than give publicity to the statement made by 

 the Crude Washing Co., that they are using their own machine, 

 which is different from any other, because they have proved it 

 to be the most satisfactory. They are quite disposed to use 

 any other machine if it can be shown to be superior. To conclude 

 I may say that I was commending on a published prospectus 

 quite impartially and the reference to another machine was 

 quite justifiable under the circumstances. 



Ix the interesting account of the Liverpool Rubber Co.'s 



changes published in The India Rubber World for July 1 



there is a note with reference to the 



A correction, re-arrangement of capital in the new 



company. This is obviously incorrect, 



but as the necessary correction may be beyond the power of many 



readers I may say that the paragraph should read : "The terms 



under which the new company gains control of the old are 



that for each ordinary £5 share is given two preferred shares of 



£1, debenture stock of £1, and about £1 in cash — or a total of 



nearly £4 " 



A company capitalized at £80,000 has recently been formed to 

 take over the business and works of the New Motor and Gen- 

 eral Rubber Cos., Limited. Its title 

 new company js t)]e rat j ier pecu lj ar ne of Almagam, 



FLOTATION 



Limited, this being the name given to 

 a product or a process connected with the re-treading of tires. 

 This is put forward as the main asset of the company. Some 

 of the papers hail Almagam as a substitute for rubber, but as 

 far as I understand the prospectus it consists of rubber treated 

 in a special manner which is stated to confer on it novel and im- 

 portant properties. The process is said to have proved very sat- 

 isfactory during the few weeks it has been in operation, and the 

 profits are certified by chartered accountants. A financial paper, 

 however, says that a much longer period ought to have elapsed in 

 order to thoroughly favor the invention before going to the 

 public. The works are situated at Harpenden, near London, 

 and some of the directors of the new concern have been identified 

 with them for many years. 



GUAYULE AS A MONEY TREE. 



THE story is told in the New Orleans Times-Democrat of one 

 Henry Clausner, who, in search of fortune, landed in 

 Mexico with only a few hundred dollars. Happening to be in 

 Saltillo at the time of the starting of the first guayule rubber 

 factory there, he felt that he foresaw a great future in this in- 

 dusry, and determined to invest his savings in it. He started 

 to look for a tract of good guayule land, and near Mazatil, in the 

 state of Zatatecas, he bought 5.000 acres of land at 25 cents 

 (Mexican) per acre, or about $625 in United States currency. 

 Mr. Clausner then found work on a neighboring ranch as 

 foreman, and there he has been working since, refusing all 

 sorts of offers for the guayule shrub upon his land. Recently 

 he accepted an offer of $200 (Mexican) per ton for the shrub, 

 based upon an estimate of one-and-a-half tons an acre, the 

 proceeds working out at $1,500,000 (Mexican), or one-half 

 this amount in United States currency. And he has the land 

 left. This fortunate young man is quoted by the New Orleans 

 newspaper as saying: "I resigned my job on the ranch, and am 

 off to Europe to spend the summer." 



Interest in rubber planting continues to be developed in South 

 India. The formation is reported of the Malankara Rubber 

 and Produce Co., in the State of Travancore, at the southern ex- 

 tremity of the peninsula, in which district several rubber planta- 

 tions have been formed already. 



