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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



N'OVEMBER 1, 1920 



own great home market, and which must plan for a larger 

 share of overseas commerce, may well study closely the 

 intensive methods and far-reaching experiences of the 

 big European nations in developing their foreign com- 

 merce. 



A TROPICAL COLLEGE FOR TRINIDAD 



WORD comes that the long continued efforts of Sir 

 Francis Watts have been successful in securing an 

 Agricultural College for the West Indies. The location 

 will be the tropical island of Trinidad which is ideal as 

 to climate and soil and its contiguity to Central and South 

 America and the United States. 



The experiment station at Port of Spain, Trinidad, has 

 done much already in rubber, cotton, and the like, and 

 the college will begin with a wealth of material right at 

 its doors. A university so close to our borders, with a 

 faculty made up of the best talent from the vast posses- 

 sions of Great Britain is now to attract scholars from our 

 universities who more and more are turning to tropical 

 work. 



LIGHTER CARS AND SMALL TIRES 



IT may be hard to convince Mr. Average Car-Owner 

 that gasoline consumption is really exceeding produc- 

 tion, and that the report is not a cunning canard put out 

 by the great oil companies as a pretext for raising prices ; 

 but it is a fact, nevertheless, and the most unbiased 

 authorities say that there is no reason to believe that 

 gasoline will ever be cheap again or that the output will 

 ever keep pace with the demand. 



Limiting the number of cars or rationing gasoline 

 might be suggested as alternatives ; but, inasmuch as 

 neither course would be popular, and as no satisfactory 

 substitute for "gas" is being marketed, the rational rem- 

 edy for such a situation would seem to be the manufac- 

 ture of motor vehicles which will not require nearly as 

 much fuel as those now in vogue. In other words, cars 

 must be made lighter; and, while having engines of 

 ample power, the excess now provided and so often mis- 

 used must be greatly lessened if not eliminated. 



Thus the heavy passenger car will gradually disappear, 

 and a small, light motor vehicle appear. There are signs 

 that in the near future such a car will be put on the mar- 

 ket for as low a price as $250 and will use scarcely half 

 the "gas" now ordinarily consumed, and the cost of 

 which must rise in direct ratio to its increasing scarcity. 



Already the Germans, forced to deal with a serious 

 "gas" shortage, are turning out a small, light, cheap car 

 said to be quite efficient. Other European countries, 

 also confronted with a scarcity of petrol, are planning to 

 do away with cumbersome cars that are veritable locomo- 

 tives consuming an inordinate amount of valuable fuel. 



In this country a famous electrical wizard announces 

 the invention of a remarkably light, power-economizing 

 motor car, and soon to be marketed. Evidently necessity. 



"invention's mother," is preparing us for a radical change 

 in automobile construction and incidentally for a great 

 output of light, low-priced, economical cars — perhaps for 

 the millions, all of which must stimulate to a greater 

 degree than ever the manufacture of rubber tires, the 

 sitie qua non of the modern automobile. 



NOT HEVEA ONLY 



WITH the very commendable preparation that is going 

 forward for study of and experiment upon Hevea 

 trees no one can quarrel. It is not only wise, but 

 necessary. Nevertheless, would it not be *the part 

 of wisdom to bring both the Castilloa and the 

 Manihot up to a greater productiveness also? In 

 many instances individual trees have shown a surprising 

 product. Furthermore, who knows that wound response 

 cannot be brought about in these trees? If so, with their 

 abundant flow of latex they might in time rival the Hevea. 

 Then, too, there is the immunity to disease that Castilloa 

 particularly enjoys. The Hevea has proved such a won- 

 der that the others are for the time being about forgotten, 

 which is a pity. 



FACTORY ORGANS 



THE House Organ, so-called, is quite likely to be 

 shaped for the selling force, the dealer and some- 

 times the ultimate consumer. The Factory Organ, how- 

 ever, is the newspaper of the mill and, in its present de- 

 velopment, is proving a power for good that it is hard 

 to overestimate. It gives just the needed opportunity 

 for the wise executive to talk to his employes in terms 

 they understand and in a way that makes a permanent 

 impression. The publication is the forum of the fac- 

 tory. It chronicles the minor happenings, the pleasant 

 personalities, corrects errors in thought and gives merit, 

 even minor merit, a chance for appreciation. 



As a means of Americanization, of welfare work, or 

 assistance to all of the right thinking, it is priceless. 

 More power to it. 



CONFIRM.-\TION HAVING BEEN MADE OF THE REPORT OF 



a $300,000,000 merger of the General Chemical, Solvay 

 Process, Semet-Solvay, Barrett, and the National Aniline 

 and Chemical companies into what will be the largest 

 concern in the world manufacturing and distributing 

 chemical products, the rubber industry, one of the great- 

 est users of chemicals, is pardonably curious to know 

 how its interests will be affected by such a gigantic con- 

 solidation. Assurance is given that the new corporation 

 does not intend to increase its profits by raising prices, 

 but rather by effecting numerous economies, by lessen- 

 ing waste and "lost motion," by more efficient produc 

 tion, and by wisely coordinating the forces of the hun- 

 dred and one establishments that will pass under single* 

 control. 



