December 1, 1920 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



205 



The Rubber Trade in Great Britain 



By Our Regular Correspondent 



THE twice-adjourned coal strike finally materialized and oc- 

 casioned a general upset. The outlook for the rubber trade, 

 however, was by no means so serious as in other industries, 

 where much larger quantities of coal are used. Electric power 

 is now largely employed in rubber works, and, although the 

 supply was reduced by most municipalities, there was no total 

 cessation and work was carried on much as usual. The time 

 taken for the strike to mature naturally gave firms an opportunity 

 to look after their coal supplies, so most of the works had reserves 

 which they utilized with care. Had the strike extended over a 

 longer period, short time would no doubt have become general, 

 but this is rather looked for, owing to the gciu-ral slackness in 

 the trade. 



GERMAN COMPETITION 



A matter which some firms are seriously taking to heart is the 

 rejuvenation of German competition. Not only are Continental 

 tires and packings of the Klingerite type again in our market, 

 but there is plenty of evidence that overseas orders, which have 

 been prominent in recent years, are being withheld owing to the 

 attraction of German ofifers at lo'wer prices. This is a matter 

 which is by no means peculiar to the rubber trade and it is the 

 inevitable outcome of reduced production at higher pay which now 

 characterizes all our industries and which the exhortations of 

 our politicians and leaders of industry have so far failed to 

 remedy. 



THE PROPOSED RUBBER CLUB 



A meeting attended by about forty was held at the Queen's Ho- 

 tel, Manchester, on October 8, to discuss this project. Mr. 

 Brooking of the St. Helens Cable & Rubber Co., Limited, was 

 in the chair. An important point brought out by the personnel 

 of the attendance and the speeches was that so far the proposal 

 had not received any active support from the leading manufac- 

 tures with one or two exceptions. It appears that the India 

 Rubber Manufacturers' .Association imagines that the clul), if 

 formed, will become a focus of discussion of trade matters and 

 thus poach on the preserves of this well established organization. 

 Mr. Standring. honorable secretary pro tern., strongly combated 

 this idea, the object of the club being, he said, to provide means 

 for social intercourse, together with the discussion of matters 

 relating to developments which affect the progress of the in- 

 dustry. There seemed to be a diversity of ideas among those 

 present, both as to the object and the scope of the movement. 

 While some favored the idea of a permanent club house, others 

 pointed out that most existing clubs with large memberships 

 had difficulty in paying their way and that the contingent ex- 

 penses of such a club house would far exceed what would be 

 reasonably expected from members' subscriptions, making a sub- 

 stantial subsidy from the big manufacturers an imperative neces- 

 sity. At the moment there was no evidence that such generosity 

 would be forthcoming. Other speakers who favored the idea 

 of a club advocated meetings once a month or so in a hired 

 room, in which case a moderate yearly subscription would 

 cover all expenses. The chairman broached the question of 

 the formation of a rubber institute on the lines of existing 

 scientific and technical institutes, but the idea found little sup- 

 port and certainly the meeting as constituted could hardly he 

 expected to deal intelligently at a moment's notice with a pro- 

 posal of such novelty and magnitude. Speakers who .said they 

 always read with interest the reports of the proceedings of The 

 Rublier Association of .Xmerica in The India Ri'nnER World ex- 

 pressed disappointment that no details of the constitution of the 

 club were available for the meeting. The important matter as to 



who would or would not be eligible for membership was de- 

 bated at some length, but no decision was reached. As it was 

 obvious that there was among those present no general unanimity 

 on the various points raised, it was decided to form a com- 

 mittee to consider the whole matter and make a report at a further 

 meeting to be called when the result of the London meeting would 

 also be known. A committee comprising the following six was 

 therefore appointed and held its first meeting immediately after 

 the luncheon : J. H. C. Brooking, Dr. Betteridge, H, W. TIatton, 

 II. Hewlett, F. J. S. Gray, L. Minton and J. Walwork, with 

 Mr. Standring as honorable secretary. The London meeting 

 was held on October 13 at Anderton's Hotel, and a general 

 discussion ensued on much the same lines as at Manchester. Mr. 

 Standring, who presided, said that as far as anything had been 

 decided, the intention was to have two centers, one at Manchester 

 and one at London, with central control and meetings alternately 

 at London and Manchester. It was emphasized by one speaker, 

 as at Manchester, that if the club was to be a success it would 

 be necessary to have the support of the leading manufacturers 

 and he proposed that an expression of opinion should be sought 

 from the India Rubber Manufacturers' Association. The meeting 

 had an advantage over that at Manchester in hearing an account 

 from H. H. Holland of the nature of the activities of The Rubber 

 .Association of America, whose hospitality he has enjoyed. In the 

 e\ent a provisional committee was appointed, consisting of For- 

 dyce Jones, A. U. R. Ryall, Dr. P. Schidrowitz, A, B. Cooke, 

 J. L. Lake, William Abbott and T. R. Buldock. 



R. & J. DICK, LIMITED 



In accordance with the present popular form of raising addi- 

 tional working capital this well-known firm of balata manufactur- 

 ers has made an issue of £250,000 eight per cent seven-year notes 

 at 97 per cent. The present company was incorporated in I90S 

 to take over the successful private company of the same name. 

 The company owns a belting factory in the United States, and 

 the boot department is carried on in numerous retail shops in the 

 United Kingdom, as well as at the factories in Glasgow. As the 

 assets of the company cover the principal of the loan over five 

 times and the annual profits cover the interest over five times, 

 the investment must be considered an attractive one by those who 

 are in favor of such short term investments and do not anticipate 

 a lower value for money in seven years' time.. 



THE INDIA RUBBER & TYRE CO. 



This firm, which is located at Clower street, Salford, Man- 

 chester, makes a specialty of rubber solution which it supplies to 

 a considerable number of firms in the Manchester district that 

 send their cloths out to be proofed and do the making up into 

 garments at their own factories. The making of rubber solutions, 

 or rubber cement, as I believe it is called in .America, is not at 

 all commonly carried on as a special industry outside the rubber 

 works proper and I do not remember having referred to it before 

 in this correspondence. John Markus, the proprietor of the bus- 

 iness, has the advantage of a life-long connection with the trade, 

 having been manager of a proofing works at the early age of 

 fifteen. .Although the principal users of the rubber solution are 

 the waterproof garment manufacturers, customers are also found 

 in the bookmaking, millinery and hatting industries, the require- 

 ments as to composition and strength not being similar in all 

 cases. 



THE REVOLITE CO.. LIMITED 



This concern, situated at Cambridge street, Bradford road, 

 Manchester, and mainly concerned with the manufacture of rub- 

 ber heels and rubber composition soles, has been reconstituted 



