November 1, 1920 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



131 



The Rubber Trade in Great Britain 



By Our Regular Correspondent 



THE TOPIC of the day is the low level to which raw ruliljcr 

 has fallen, a level which has confounded the prediction made 

 by experts a year ago that the price would go to three shil- 

 lings per pound on the resumption of Continental buying. There 

 is no need to say that the course of trade events in America, in 

 conjunction with the Continental exchanges, has been the chief 

 causes of the slump. The position is sufficiently patent to those 

 who are really interested or concerned. Moreover, it is not the 

 rubber manufacturer but rather the plantation shareholder who 

 is adversely afifectcd by the slump in American tire manufacture 

 and the reselling of raw rubber bouglit by .America. It is the 

 large increase in London stocks which is causing concern, and 

 much advice is being tendered to the plantation authorities as to 

 the necessity for an immediate curtailment of output. 



In view of the present state of affairs it is somewhat surpris- 

 ing that the pressure to realize share holdings has not been 

 more pronounced, and it may be taken to indicate a feeling that 

 ultimate recovery is certain. The threatened surplus of about 

 40,000 tons at the end of 1920 has, of course, caused the Rubber 

 Growers' Association much concern and it is not surprising that 

 at the council meeting on September 24 it was decided to recom- 

 mend that all producers eflfect a genuine reduction of 25 per cent 

 of their estimated normal monthly output. Warehouse accommoda- 

 tions being among the questions involved it is a logical argument 

 that the trees provide by far the best storage until the com- 

 modity can be absorbed by the trade. Naturally, consumers do 

 not view the situation through the same glasses as the growers, 

 and complaints are appearing in the press about the deliberate 

 and combined attempts to keep up the price of rubber to the 

 disadvantage of the motorist. It is averred that Stock Exchange 

 manipulation is back of the rubber growers' move. Well, I sup- 

 pose it is, as the rubber growers' shares are dealt with on the 

 Stock Exchange. 



THE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH RUBBER TIRE 

 MANUFACTURERS 



The announcement has just been made that the Board of Man- 

 agement has selected J. D. Fry, M. Sc, of Bristol University, 

 to assist the director of research, B. D. Porritt, in the important 

 investigations in connection with the physical properties of rub- 

 ber which are already under consideration. Mr. Fry was edu- 

 cated at the Merchant Venturers' College, Bristol, and at Bristol 

 University, of which he is a graduate. He subsequently received 

 an appointment on the staff of the University as lecturer in 

 physics, with sole charge of the junior physical laboratories. 

 In addition to designing much of the intricate apparatus used for 

 the expcriincntal work of his department, including an ingenious 

 instrument for measuring minute gas pressures, he has pulilishcd 

 numerous papers on a variety of scicntilic subjects. At the out- 

 break of war he volunteered his service in the capacity of quar- 

 termaster and radiographer in connection with Lady Paget's 

 Hospital Unit, which he accompanied through the Serbian cam- 

 paign, being awarded the Serbian Royal Red Cross and the Ser- 

 bian Charity Cross decorations. On his return from Serbia he 

 was appoinlcd to take charge of the radiographic department of 

 the Welsh Metropolitan War Hospital, and in connection with his 

 work there he devised a rapid method of locating foreign bodies 

 without the use of photographic plates and also a skin marker 

 which has been widely adopted. 



In 1916 the difficult problems arising in connection with balloon 

 fabric rendered it necessary for the R. N. A. S. to seek the serv- 

 ices of a competent physicist, and Mr. Fry was appointed senior 

 research officer of the Research Staff. From this date until the 

 termination nf hostilities Mr. Fry was occupied in investigating 



the many intricate questions arising in the manufacture, testing 

 and use of balloon fabric, more especially in connection with the 

 action of light on the physical properties of rubber. I under- 

 stand that Mr. Fry h-s already entered upon his new duties, and 

 the Research Association is to be congratulated on having se- 

 cured the services of a man who is not only a sound scientist 

 and skilful experimenter but who combines a considerable insight 

 into the peculiar problems of the rubber industry. 



DUNLOP RUBBER CO., LIMITED 



-A financial paper in commenting on the recent increase in the 

 Dunlop Rubber Company's capital to £20,000,000 confessed that 

 it was getting somewhat bewildered by Dunlop finance, .\lthough 

 not yet on the scale of Lever Brothers' finance, the figures keep 

 .steadily mounting. What with works in Birmingham, France 

 and America, cotton mills in Lancashire, and rubber estates in 

 the East, there has indeed been a startling progress since the 

 days of Byrne Brothers at Birmingham. The increase of capital 

 has been effected by the creation of 12.500,000 additional ordinary 

 £l-shares. Some i;7,50O,0(X), representing premiutns received on 

 shares and undistributed profits, is to be distributed as a bonus 

 to shareholders in the proportion of three to one. Of the bal- 

 ance, 3,0(X),000 is to be offered to existing holders of shares at 

 the price of il.10.0 per share. The financial position certainly 

 seems very satisfactory, showing a considerable increase on the 

 previous year. 



LEYLAND & BIRMINGHAM RUBBER CO. 



The trading profit of this company for the past year shows 

 a decline of £4,700, as compared with the high level of 1918-19, 

 but as a larger sum was brought forward and it is not thought 

 necessary to devote so much to depreciation, bad and doubtful 

 debts, etc., the sum actually available is larger. The dividend 

 is 15 per cent for the fifth successive year, but it is payable now 

 upon a larger capital, although the 125,000 shares issued last 

 .'Vpril do not participate in it. No allocation is made to reserve 

 this year. 



J. Mandlcberg Co., Limited, has declared an interim dividend 

 for the first half of 1920 at the rate of 10 per cent on the ordinary 

 shares up to 300,000. The recently created capital docs not share 

 in the above declaration. 



SHORTAGE OF CAMPHOR 



The present world shortage of camphor threatens to create 

 a serious position in Sheffield, where its use in celluloid for mak- 

 ing knife handles and razor hafts has developed ten-fold in the 

 last fifteen years. Sheffield's yearly requirements of celluloid 

 are now estimated at between 400 and 500 tons, representing half 

 a million sterling in value, and millions of dozens of celluloid 

 handles, scales, etc., are on order to provide for the cutlery out- 

 put of the next six to twelve months. This situation obviously 

 presents an opportunity for hard rubber manufacturers. 



NO NOTICE OF DISMISSAL 



A rather important case was recently before the Manchester 

 stipendiary magistrate in which a rubber worker who had been 

 discharged without notice sued the firm for a week's wages. 

 The firm's solicitor said that the usual custom in the rubber trade 

 was that no notice was given on either side. The magistrate 

 expressed surprise at this and adjourned the case for the firm 

 to bring evidence supporting this statement. .\t the resumption 

 of the case witnesses from three firms testified as to it being the 

 custom not to give or require notice, although in none of the 

 works was there any notice posted up to this effect. On this evi- 

 dence the plaintiff's claim was dismissed. The result of the case 

 has been that some of the rubber works have put up prominent 



